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A review by bookswithlydscl
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75*
I was so intrigued by the premise of this book and loved the idea of a book within a book with sci-fi elements and for the most part I was really satisfied with what I found.
This is definitely sci-fi lite and felt much more literary and family drama focused (which if you've read any other books with Nigerian families will feel very familiar). I thought the writing was fantastic and I loved the slower character focused build up in the first half. We have events happen but they feel natural and well paced and I loved the quasi future elements (the self-driving cars, the exoskeleton) mixed in with the 'Rusted Robots' book excerpts.
It really was building up to be a high 4* read for me but I felt that the story took an abrupt turn with the introduction of the space launch prospect and it just didn't feel as grounded in reality as the rest of the book had been to that point. The pace then ramped up so that the careful story telling of the first half turned about face as we raced to the end which felt a little too abrupt for me.
Don't go into this expecting a true science fiction novel and you will be more likely to enjoy it. Thankfully I'd seen some reviews highlighting that so went into it with the right level of expectation and I really did like it, I just ended up not loving it overall as much as I hoped to.
Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group | Gollancz for this digital review copy of "Death of the Author" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
I was so intrigued by the premise of this book and loved the idea of a book within a book with sci-fi elements and for the most part I was really satisfied with what I found.
This is definitely sci-fi lite and felt much more literary and family drama focused (which if you've read any other books with Nigerian families will feel very familiar). I thought the writing was fantastic and I loved the slower character focused build up in the first half. We have events happen but they feel natural and well paced and I loved the quasi future elements (the self-driving cars, the exoskeleton) mixed in with the 'Rusted Robots' book excerpts.
It really was building up to be a high 4* read for me but I felt that the story took an abrupt turn with the introduction of the space launch prospect and it just didn't feel as grounded in reality as the rest of the book had been to that point. The pace then ramped up so that the careful story telling of the first half turned about face as we raced to the end which felt a little too abrupt for me.
Don't go into this expecting a true science fiction novel and you will be more likely to enjoy it. Thankfully I'd seen some reviews highlighting that so went into it with the right level of expectation and I really did like it, I just ended up not loving it overall as much as I hoped to.
Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group | Gollancz for this digital review copy of "Death of the Author" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.