Scan barcode
marydith's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It took a while for me to really get into this (likely because I was listening via audiobook and kept getting distracted at the beginning), but I was really hooked for the last 40-ish percent. I loved the interconnected worlds and magic systems- that aspect of it was so imaginative and fun. I could have done without the very thorough description of how fat the main villain is there at the end. It felt like his fatness was supposed to be a metaphor for how evil he was and that doesn't sit well at all. Overall a fun read and I'll probably read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Slavery
emmanovella's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
I've heard nothing but good things about Nnedi Okorafor's books and was so excited for this one. I was struggling to stay engaged with this one - I couldn't find a speed that suited me along with the speed of the narrator, so I had to go slightly too fast and let it get ahead f me as otherwise it was too slow and I'd have completely turned off. This meant I wasn't really keeping up and not fully invested. I had debated just dnf'ing and accepting it wasn't for me, but I was still interested in where it would go.. however I wish I had stopped.
In the last 20% we are introduced to an evil chief who I don't think was referred to without mention of his fatness - going so far as to say his fatness isn't normal but a literal sign of how evil he is. It also got dangerously close to ableism with my liking when we're first introduced to him and Ejii says he's so fat he can't walk.
At one point there is a casual mention of him clenching his fists and it's written as "his fat fist". There is simply no need for it.
It made me, a fat disabled person, feel really uncomfortable and honestly a bit angry.
I can absolutely accept characters having problematic thoughts, but this was purely used to evidence how evil this man was. I saw nothing in Ejii to suggest she would be fatphobic and it wasn't used to better her character.
There was also a comment in regards to creatures knowing if the person riding them is a man or a woman even if they've dressed as the other which I would have worded better as with it being a throwaway comment, it does risk veering close to being transphobic.
I realise this was originally published in 2007, but I'd have thought one of the benefits of reworking and republishing a book so many years later is that you can change theses sorts of things. I guess not - though I'm not sure what the point would be in reworking it otherwise.
It does make me hesitant to pick up the sequel or more of this author's work as if they didn't feel they needed to change this now, I don't really want to risk reading more fatphobic content, which is a shame given how many good things I've heard and how great the plots sound.
In the last 20% we are introduced to an evil chief who I don't think was referred to without mention of his fatness - going so far as to say his fatness isn't normal but a literal sign of how evil he is. It also got dangerously close to ableism with my liking when we're first introduced to him and Ejii says he's so fat he can't walk.
At one point there is a casual mention of him clenching his fists and it's written as "his fat fist". There is simply no need for it.
It made me, a fat disabled person, feel really uncomfortable and honestly a bit angry.
I can absolutely accept characters having problematic thoughts, but this was purely used to evidence how evil this man was. I saw nothing in Ejii to suggest she would be fatphobic and it wasn't used to better her character.
There was also a comment in regards to creatures knowing if the person riding them is a man or a woman even if they've dressed as the other which I would have worded better as with it being a throwaway comment, it does risk veering close to being transphobic.
I realise this was originally published in 2007, but I'd have thought one of the benefits of reworking and republishing a book so many years later is that you can change theses sorts of things. I guess not - though I'm not sure what the point would be in reworking it otherwise.
It does make me hesitant to pick up the sequel or more of this author's work as if they didn't feel they needed to change this now, I don't really want to risk reading more fatphobic content, which is a shame given how many good things I've heard and how great the plots sound.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
calamitydane's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I've rarely read books of this quality. The characters have my heart. The world building is so whole. Like you can really imagine being there. The character development felt so real and hopeful. Ejii is the sort of person I wanna be. I'm buying the sequel tonight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Body shaming, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Religious bigotry, War, Fatphobia, Trafficking, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Child abuse
chanteld's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It was entertaining. I had some issues with the fatphobia near the end though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
adancewithbooks's review
adventurous
medium-paced
3.0
Thank you to DAW and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
Shadow Speaker was originally released in 2007. This year the whole duology is being rereased. It is an interesting novel that is set in a post-apocalyptic world, taking place in Niger.
In the past a nuclear war and peace bombs created a world where magic was released over the world. Doors opened to other worlds and children got gifts. Our main character Ejii can talk to shadows and her friend can control the weather. When the shadows tell Ejii to follow Jaa, the leader of her town and the person that beheaded her father, she goes. Against the wishes of her mother because the shadows told her she'll make a difference in preventing the war.
There are a lot of really interesting things in this world. How this world came to be for instance. But also the opening of doors to the other worlds. A lot of things are seeping through in our own world. From talking cats to the guardians of the doors to the other worlds. The other world we actually visit has a problem with us because of the polution we bring. Their world is complete nature. There are so much great things to be find here.
But I didn't love it. I struggled to connect with the characters. I felt very far removed from them byt he writing, and as such it was hard to care if something happened to them. I missed some depth in places.
Even so, the world building in itself interests me enough to want to try the conclusion to this duology.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Death
Beheadingchippyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
2.0
2 stars.
Whimsical, adventurous and inventive.
Fatphobia, ableism and possibly transphobic.
Ableism: Short person described as a mi*get. Pretty sure this word is a slur. Please correct me if I’m wrong but even google says it is.
Fatphobia: The villain is described as fat SO MANY times. I’ll let the quotes speak for themselves.
-‘He was the kind of fat that only came from eating more than a camel ate in a day. Ejii’s mother would have been disgusted. His body broadcast excess and greed’
-‘The type of man who had top bring others down to lift himself up, and he was a lot to lift’
-“Walking food machine”!
-‘Enormous girth’
-‘his soft exposed belly’
-‘Giant pig’, Bloated with fear’
-‘so… hungry, for power, food’
-‘he wants to consume all things’
-‘he is fat, unnatural’
-“crush you with half my weight”!
This language goes unchallenged. There were other ways to tell us this man was selfish. This book has been rewritten and it’s being published like this.
Transphobia: There is a creature that ‘can tell’ when a man dresses as a woman. Yet there is no care taken to say trans women and women in the text, which leaves the author's intent a mystery.
FInal Thoughts: Without all of this I was leaning towards 3 stars. Magic mixed with science seemed clunky and the pace felt jarring. The start was fantastic but it just kept going downhill from there. The ending was apparently rewritten in order for this to be a duology, which I also have the ARC for because I loved reading Binti. I was looking forward to reading more of Okorafo’s work; we'll see if that's still the case after book 2.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Transphobia
silodear's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Read in May 2013 and then again in March 2024. CW for serious anti fat bias. The story is a great adventure and I’m ready for part 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
More...