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buuboobaby 's review for:
Home
by Nnedi Okorafor
3.75 stars ( a small deduction for ending on a cliffhanger)
Home picks up a year after the events of the previous novella. Binti and Okwu are attending to their studies at Oomza Uni, where they are both having difficulties adjusting to their new lives. Okwu, warlike and at odds with its instructor, is always a hair trigger away from a violent outburst. Binti, while more successful in her relationships with her professor, is hindered by bursts of blazing rage or moments of pure panic after her experiences with the Meduse on her journey to Oomza Uni. The rages make her feel unclean, because it is not the Himba woy, or that of a master harmonizer, to cause discord. In distress, she decides she needs to return home, face her family, and go on a pilgrimage with other Himba women. Her journey to find peace is not easy and does not go as planned.
I completely empathized with Binti and her panic attacks. Her time on the ship after the Meduse attacked it and slaughtered almost everyone on board haunts her, and even little things bring the memories flooding over her. I still don't know that I would have been able to forgive Okwu - the Meduse are part of a hive mind, and it most definitely had a part in the murders of her friends on the ship. Instead, they are best friends, and Okorafor does a good job emphasizing the differences between the two species. Okwu is unquestionably alien, and Binti is challenged on the trip back to Earth to not allow her past trauma on the ship to change her friendship with it.
It's when Binti returns home to her extended family that things get dicey for her. She has done everything against the Himba way of thinking, and her family, while happy to have her home, harbor grudges against her. By leaving in secret, she has caused hardships for her father, and her siblings just don't understand and can't forgive her. It's obvious that Binti doesn't belong in her little village any more; her experiences have changed her, and not always for the best. When the desert people come unexpected to collect her and instruct her in the use of her edan, she is forced to confront the same prejudices that are often directed at her for following her Himba customs. Like in the first story, she is forced to see that not everything is black and white, and that just because something is different, alien, doesn't mean it is to be scorned or seen as primitive.
I am bummed beyond words that this ended in a cliffhanger. I made a slight rating deduction because of that. The last story was a complete adventure, and I was so enthralled by the characters that I wanted more. This is NOT a complete adventure; it's an adventure that is cut short before it begins. I would have preferred a longer wait and a longer book that had an ending, but your mileage will probably vary.
Home picks up a year after the events of the previous novella. Binti and Okwu are attending to their studies at Oomza Uni, where they are both having difficulties adjusting to their new lives. Okwu, warlike and at odds with its instructor, is always a hair trigger away from a violent outburst. Binti, while more successful in her relationships with her professor, is hindered by bursts of blazing rage or moments of pure panic after her experiences with the Meduse on her journey to Oomza Uni. The rages make her feel unclean, because it is not the Himba woy, or that of a master harmonizer, to cause discord. In distress, she decides she needs to return home, face her family, and go on a pilgrimage with other Himba women. Her journey to find peace is not easy and does not go as planned.
I completely empathized with Binti and her panic attacks. Her time on the ship after the Meduse attacked it and slaughtered almost everyone on board haunts her, and even little things bring the memories flooding over her. I still don't know that I would have been able to forgive Okwu - the Meduse are part of a hive mind, and it most definitely had a part in the murders of her friends on the ship. Instead, they are best friends, and Okorafor does a good job emphasizing the differences between the two species. Okwu is unquestionably alien, and Binti is challenged on the trip back to Earth to not allow her past trauma on the ship to change her friendship with it.
It's when Binti returns home to her extended family that things get dicey for her. She has done everything against the Himba way of thinking, and her family, while happy to have her home, harbor grudges against her. By leaving in secret, she has caused hardships for her father, and her siblings just don't understand and can't forgive her. It's obvious that Binti doesn't belong in her little village any more; her experiences have changed her, and not always for the best. When the desert people come unexpected to collect her and instruct her in the use of her edan, she is forced to confront the same prejudices that are often directed at her for following her Himba customs. Like in the first story, she is forced to see that not everything is black and white, and that just because something is different, alien, doesn't mean it is to be scorned or seen as primitive.
I am bummed beyond words that this ended in a cliffhanger. I made a slight rating deduction because of that. The last story was a complete adventure, and I was so enthralled by the characters that I wanted more. This is NOT a complete adventure; it's an adventure that is cut short before it begins. I would have preferred a longer wait and a longer book that had an ending, but your mileage will probably vary.