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nmcannon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Binti was an impulse borrow from the library. Like speculative fiction fans the world over, I know Nnedi Okorafor is a master at the craft, a true magician with her words, and her ability is never more apparent than in this small novella.
Far in the future, Binti is a genius “harmonizer” among the Himba people. In other words, she has a talent for bringing nature, numbers, and people into harmony. Though the Himba people are highly talented engineers, they rarely interact with the neighboring Khoush people, and they’re thought to be “savages” on the outskirts of society (while somehow also producing the planet’s most advanced tech—listen, prejudice doesn’t make sense). It’s absolutely unheard of for a young Himba woman to travel in space or attend the prestigious Oomza University. Yet Binti does both. Things seem to be going well right up until the alien Meduse begin ritualistically slaughtering everyone on the ship, except for her.
Okorafor does so much in such a little page count. The world-building is top-notch, especially with the aliens and technology. Neil Gaiman wasn’t kidding when he said readers will fall in love with Binti—I love her too. She carries and draws strength from Himba culture, and Himba culture, in turn, saves her. She’s wise and knowledge, but also incredibly young and fragile, and Okorafor doesn’t shy away from that. I’m lucky I found this series so late, because I can immediately continue reading Binti’s adventures.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Racism, and Xenophobia
translove's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Racism, Murder, Grief, and Blood
ejb44's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor centres itself on Himba woman Binti who decides to go against what her village expects of her and go to university. On this journey she faces one of the hardest experiences of her life, one that will follow her through the rest of the series and be a key factor in her trauma-healing and decision making. From themes of identity and culture-mixing to friendship and family struggles, Okorafor doesn’t fail to beautifully explore what it means to be from various cultures.
For such a short book, Okorafor manages to create such a detailed world without compromising character and plot development. This skill is fairly unique, and I think the balance between these three aspects of a novel entangle with each other so well. Every aspect of the science fiction in this novel is capitalised to its maximum, without feeling overbearing like I felt it did in her other novel Lagoon.
Okorafor’s exploration of identity, migration and how others’ perceptions of you can shape those aspects of your life really root this story – it is obvious from the beginning the message she is trying to put across. By placing themes of migration and identity in a post-colonial context and exploring these conversations free from European influence, Okorafor is expanding the limitations faced by black women. These themes permeate the other books in the series and never once become repetitive. The message really hit home for me, as someone who has grown up not really fitting in with any other culture in my family (the perks of growing up with parents from two countries!). Okorafor brings in her own ideas as she is Nigerian but was raised in America, and you can tell from the writing it really is a topic that means a lot to her and is close to her heart.
Overall this book is fantastically brilliant, short, vibrant and deals with important topics in such a short space of words. I would also recommend the book Shame On Me by Tessa McWatt to accompany you’re reading of this series as it deals with the same subjects from a non-fiction point of view.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
hanathemah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Blood, Grief, and Racism
ellornaslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Given I was taking part in the 4 Nations Readathon round for July, I needed a book that fit a 'one word' title prompt and remembered that I wanted to read the audiobook. Plus it made sense as well since I wanted to finish this book come August as part of a yearly goal and as part of The Final Book Support Group's 48hr Readathon round. So, I grabbed the book off Scribd and tucked in for a re-read. I knew already that I enjoyed this book — my rating for the Kindle Edition was 4/5 stars — yet I didn't expect the audio would jump my rating up an entire star. The narrator does such an amazing job that it felt like a fresh read. While the content of the book is powerful, and Binti's journey definitely traumatizing, you feel all the things Binti does more strongly due to the emotions that comes through in Robin Miles' voice. A testament to her skill. I was excited to continue on, and finish, this series before, but I'll definitely be doing it on audiobook going forward.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Xenophobia, and Racism
babayagaofficial's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I stood there, frozen, hearing my mother’s voice in my head. “There is a reason why our people do not go to that university. Oomza Uni wants you for its own gain, Binti. You go to that school and you become its slave.”
A beautiful novella about connection and cultural integrity in the face of otherness and exploitation. Well worth the read, and I'm looking forward to picking up Home and The Night Masquerade as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Xenophobia
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Grief, and Racism
Minor: Confinement
zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Gore, Death, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: War
Ethnic discrimination
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