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A review by doesntread
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
This is going to stick with me for a very long time. It is the real kind of science fiction, with imaginative rich world building that help us process the issues (privacy, renewable energy, natural disasters, and corporate exploitation for example). We experience the drama of this world through AO and DNA, two very different but similarly tortured characters. They are excellent foils for each other, and I quickly found myself rooting for them.
AO is a disabled character who feels real. I am thankful that the author is speaking from experience here because it really really adds to the richness of AO as a narrator. Technology is not a cure that erases all disability in the future, but something that has pros and cons. Taking a psych med might help you but might have side effects too. AO speaks similarly at the beginning of the book about her high-tech sci-fi treatments. If you are disabled and/or chronically ill oh my god please please at least check out the first chapter of this book, it will feed your soul.
Plot-wise, this book is fast paced and stays pretty tense throughout, though there are times of rest for our heroes as they find shelter for a bit while on the run. This is a very hopeful book, but it is the kind of hope that is generated through very very bleak moments, making it even stronger. I really adore this book.
AO is a disabled character who feels real. I am thankful that the author is speaking from experience here because it really really adds to the richness of AO as a narrator. Technology is not a cure that erases all disability in the future, but something that has pros and cons. Taking a psych med might help you but might have side effects too. AO speaks similarly at the beginning of the book about her high-tech sci-fi treatments. If you are disabled and/or chronically ill oh my god please please at least check out the first chapter of this book, it will feed your soul.
Plot-wise, this book is fast paced and stays pretty tense throughout, though there are times of rest for our heroes as they find shelter for a bit while on the run. This is a very hopeful book, but it is the kind of hope that is generated through very very bleak moments, making it even stronger. I really adore this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Hate crime, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Xenophobia and Animal death
The book holds your hand through it as you gradually get more information of the hate crime that triggers the events of the book. There is not a sexual violence component. If an ableist hate crime with some misogynistic and racial components is a trigger, proceed with caution, but know you are in good hands with the author and it is never trauma porn or left unresolved. Chronic illness: AO has mystery chronic illness symptoms such as headaches and bleeding through the eyes and ears. She pushes through a lot of it, and the people around her worry. She also reminisces on her time stuck in the hospital after her car accident before the events of the book. Animal death Cows. The emotional toll of this is very intense, but not much time is spent on describing the death. Xenophobia: DNA's subplot involves his dwindling herdsman tradition being framed as terrorists, and violence is motivated against him, his peers, and his family because of this. They get justice and hope, but there is also a lot of loss. This book covers some really painful stuff, but it does so respectfully, with appropriate gravity, and facilitates the emotional processing of it.