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jlr14's review
adventurous
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence
purplepenning's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Bullying, and Child death
Moderate: Body shaming, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Death, Murder, and Violence
Serial killer preying on children for ritual murders; corporal punishmentdreareads_'s review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.75
This book is everything I wanted HP and Percy Jackson to be and more ✨
(Full video on insta and tiktok)
(Full video on insta and tiktok)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Xenophobia, Violence, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Kidnapping, Death, and Torture
turrean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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? No
5.0
The audiobook narration was stellar: distinct voices for all characters, seamless transition among American and several African accents.
Watching Sunny—accustomed to being a misfit—uncover a magical world to which she truly belongs is a delight. And exactly in parallel to her confidence, her awareness of the truly horrifying evil approaching grows, too.
Watching Sunny—accustomed to being a misfit—uncover a magical world to which she truly belongs is a delight. And exactly in parallel to her confidence, her awareness of the truly horrifying evil approaching grows, too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Bullying, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexism and Ableism
maresuju's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Bullying, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Kidnapping, Ableism, Child death, and Murder
greymalkin's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read this book first as an audiobook for the first half and then as an ebook for the second. The audiobook is excellent. The book itself is very enjoyable. My only real quibble is that after all that buildup, the end was a bit of an anticlimax. I wish that there had been more teamwork involved and that Sunny didn't just learn important info like a mcguffin at the very end. It wasn't a bad ending, just that everything else was so detailed and hard-earned and the end was sort of a hand-wavey "and then it just works". I still plan to read the next in the series though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, and Child death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Ableism
city_girl_writer's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. This is something I would have been ecstatic for as a younger reader, and this book touched that. I really liked our protagonist, Sunny, and her friends. The magic was unique and loved how it was set in Nigeria. It touched me, and I appreciate this book for it. Very curious to see what happens in Akata Warrior.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicide
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: bullying, fantasy violence, death of a child mention, mutilation mention, physical abuse/corporal punishment, swarming insects
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor is book one in the Nsibidi Scripts series. This book was great! This is another of those books I wish had been around when I was in middle school. This would honestly make a great replacement for HP if you need Magic School recs.
We follow Sunny, a girl born in the US to Nigerian/Igbo parents, but raised in Nigeria, and is albino. Sunny starts making friends with a boy named Orlu after he helps stop bullies from hurting her. Orlu has another friend named Chichi who doesn't attend school, is very direct, antagonistic, and mysterious about her age. When Chichi and Orlu tell her about juju, she discovers she's like them: a Leopard Person, a person with magical abilities using natural talents and powders and symbols and such. Sunny gets to join Orlu and Chichi in what is basically juju school, but Sunny is at a huge disadvantage since she's the only one who didn't grow up knowing about any of it.
I loved the group we got. We meet an African-American boy named Sasha who was sent to Nigeria for bad behavior and will be studying with them. This whole group was about balancing each other out: Sasha and Chichi being the hard headed, firery ones; Orlu and Sunny the more calm, sensible, and quiet ones. Together they make an Oha coven, and they are tasked with something no teen should have to deal with alone.
I loved the world-building in this! So many cool and interesting things! In Leopard People world, knowledge is the most valuable thing and so as you learn new things you earn chittim (various precious metals that serve as currency). Since Sunny is completely ignorant of Leopard People ways, she earns big chittim. Each Leopard Person has innate magical abilities they can utilize without powders or using a juju knife. The abilities usually correlate to the person's physical appearance, often a disability or deformity, and is seen as a good thing. I loved the concept of spirit faces and I hope we learn more about them throughout the series. I want Della the Art Wasp! So tiny and desperate for praise.
It was interesting reading about the way Native Nigerians view African-Americans. The word Akata in the title refers to Black Americans or foreign-born blacks as bush animals, and is very rude. Since Sunny is also albina she gets called a witch a lot, and she has taken these names back. I want more African fantasy!
Definitely looking forward to Akata Warrior and to Okorafor's other books.
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor is book one in the Nsibidi Scripts series. This book was great! This is another of those books I wish had been around when I was in middle school. This would honestly make a great replacement for HP if you need Magic School recs.
We follow Sunny, a girl born in the US to Nigerian/Igbo parents, but raised in Nigeria, and is albino. Sunny starts making friends with a boy named Orlu after he helps stop bullies from hurting her. Orlu has another friend named Chichi who doesn't attend school, is very direct, antagonistic, and mysterious about her age. When Chichi and Orlu tell her about juju, she discovers she's like them: a Leopard Person, a person with magical abilities using natural talents and powders and symbols and such. Sunny gets to join Orlu and Chichi in what is basically juju school, but Sunny is at a huge disadvantage since she's the only one who didn't grow up knowing about any of it.
I loved the group we got. We meet an African-American boy named Sasha who was sent to Nigeria for bad behavior and will be studying with them. This whole group was about balancing each other out: Sasha and Chichi being the hard headed, firery ones; Orlu and Sunny the more calm, sensible, and quiet ones. Together they make an Oha coven, and they are tasked with something no teen should have to deal with alone.
I loved the world-building in this! So many cool and interesting things! In Leopard People world, knowledge is the most valuable thing and so as you learn new things you earn chittim (various precious metals that serve as currency). Since Sunny is completely ignorant of Leopard People ways, she earns big chittim. Each Leopard Person has innate magical abilities they can utilize without powders or using a juju knife. The abilities usually correlate to the person's physical appearance, often a disability or deformity, and is seen as a good thing. I loved the concept of spirit faces and I hope we learn more about them throughout the series. I want Della the Art Wasp! So tiny and desperate for praise.
It was interesting reading about the way Native Nigerians view African-Americans. The word Akata in the title refers to Black Americans or foreign-born blacks as bush animals, and is very rude. Since Sunny is also albina she gets called a witch a lot, and she has taken these names back. I want more African fantasy!
Definitely looking forward to Akata Warrior and to Okorafor's other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Violence and Physical abuse
Minor: Child death and Kidnapping
kirchnerkd's review against another edition
adventurous
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
lanid's review
adventurous
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Body horror, Bullying, Body shaming, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Violence