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africanbookaddict's review against another edition
5.0
!!! http://africanbookaddict.com/2014/12/29/the-spider-kings-daughter-by-chibundu-onuzo/
What a page-turner! This novel was more or less a thriller. Its heavily driven by suspense and was written concisely. After the first 30 pages, you could clearly see that Abike is a controlling bitch, and I loove it! The hawker's situation is rather unfortunate. I sympathize with his predicament....but I did not agree with the way he strived to achieve justice for his family and his friends. Chibundu Onuzo thought this storyline through thoroughly! I'm very impressed- the intricacies of this novel go deep.
What a page-turner! This novel was more or less a thriller. Its heavily driven by suspense and was written concisely. After the first 30 pages, you could clearly see that Abike is a controlling bitch, and I loove it! The hawker's situation is rather unfortunate. I sympathize with his predicament....but I did not agree with the way he strived to achieve justice for his family and his friends. Chibundu Onuzo thought this storyline through thoroughly! I'm very impressed- the intricacies of this novel go deep.
yasminpluto's review against another edition
4.0
I started thinking this book would be a sort of Romeo and Juliet story but I was gagged ! Honestly it made the whole thing more interesting
Definitely recommend
Definitely recommend
nanaaax3's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
2.5
quizoola's review against another edition
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cricca's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
misspalah's review against another edition
4.0
“Sometimes you want to possess someone so badly, you trick the person into believing you’re something you’re not. You almost trick yourself’
- Chibundu Onuzo, The Spider King’s Daughter
.
.
All i can say that the narration of the same events by 2 main characters worked in this novel. Most of the time it wont work due to the feeling of redundancy but since these are the two perspectives of 2 different person separated by class and status ; one is Abike whose belonged to an elite group, a rich man’s daughter and soon will go to Yale university to further her study and another one is the street hawker (or knowns as Runner G by the other hawkers) that’s entirely opposite of Abike, poor, deprived of education and lived in the shambled neighbourhood. It might started as a star cross lover romance tale due to its young adult novel genre but after few twists and turns of the plot, i am starting to think that whether this can be count as Young Adult Genre. Some of the characters was not developed well like Cynthia and Mr. T and some of the side stories went away without any details hence it got choppy in certain part. However, The story of Aunt Precious, Abike’s father and The Street Hawker’s father real cause of death added into the thrill and suspense of how their story could be taken from the get go. Besides, Abike’s relationship with her father is pure toxic and dysfunctional. They are close to each other but for the wrong reasons. As a debut novel by Chibundu Onuzo, i would say this is a gripping novel. The first half was so good only to be let down by few parts at the second half of the novel. However, i will still recommend this. Read it for the vivid description of Lagos and read it for the right depiction of inequalities that was portrayed by the author through the characters in her novel.
- Chibundu Onuzo, The Spider King’s Daughter
.
.
All i can say that the narration of the same events by 2 main characters worked in this novel. Most of the time it wont work due to the feeling of redundancy but since these are the two perspectives of 2 different person separated by class and status ; one is Abike whose belonged to an elite group, a rich man’s daughter and soon will go to Yale university to further her study and another one is the street hawker (or knowns as Runner G by the other hawkers) that’s entirely opposite of Abike, poor, deprived of education and lived in the shambled neighbourhood. It might started as a star cross lover romance tale due to its young adult novel genre but after few twists and turns of the plot, i am starting to think that whether this can be count as Young Adult Genre. Some of the characters was not developed well like Cynthia and Mr. T and some of the side stories went away without any details hence it got choppy in certain part. However, The story of Aunt Precious, Abike’s father and The Street Hawker’s father real cause of death added into the thrill and suspense of how their story could be taken from the get go. Besides, Abike’s relationship with her father is pure toxic and dysfunctional. They are close to each other but for the wrong reasons. As a debut novel by Chibundu Onuzo, i would say this is a gripping novel. The first half was so good only to be let down by few parts at the second half of the novel. However, i will still recommend this. Read it for the vivid description of Lagos and read it for the right depiction of inequalities that was portrayed by the author through the characters in her novel.
idenkimifah's review against another edition
3.0
The switch between the characters was what really carried the book, can't say much about the plot.
Strong opening
The middle was ...okay I guess
The ending was just ... Just
It could have been better.
Strong opening
The middle was ...okay I guess
The ending was just ... Just
It could have been better.
fa_biene's review against another edition
2.0
This is Onuzo's first novel, written when she was just 21. The first half is a gripping page-turner, and shows her skill as storyteller and writer. The story drew me in very quickly, and the fast-paced build-up (heightened through the alternating chapter-narration) worked well. However, after around the middle, the story started to "fizzle out" a bit, and by the last third or so, the plot, characters and writing seemed increasingly disjointed.
I can't wait to read Onuzo's more recent publications (such as Welcome to Lagos or Sankofa ), which will hopefully mirror the promising and interesting first half of this debut novel.
[2.5 stars]
I can't wait to read Onuzo's more recent publications (such as Welcome to Lagos or Sankofa ), which will hopefully mirror the promising and interesting first half of this debut novel.
[2.5 stars]