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rwxtd's review against another edition
3.75
"Hey Rebecca, you haven't read or reviewed anything in like two months, what's going on" listen. I cannot explain it to you. I spent four years studying neuroscience and I still know next to nothing about how brains work, especially my own, so we're just all gonna have to be ok with the fact that this is just how things go.
Anyway, shoutout to this book for uh being required reading and forcing me out of my reading slump against my will, I guess. I liked it well enough. There's enough going on that it kept me decently invested, I wasn't ever really bored and I never had a bad time at any point during the reading process. The beginning was a little harder to get through, but that was probably more a fault of the reading slump than the book itself, because it starts off pretty fast and action packed basically immediately. It definitely got easier and faster in the second half, at least for me- again, whether this was a result of the reading slump or my actual investment in the story is hard to say, but I think probably it was a mix of both. I did care more about what was happening in the second half. I will also say, if loose ends bother you in stories, this is probably not the book for you. There were quite a few unanswered questions. I thought it did a good enough job of justifying why it didn't need to explain things or why it left them a mystery that it didn't bother me- but there were also points where it was definitely obvious that the author was basically saying "this thing doesn't need an answer, don't worry about it". So if that's irritating to you, you probably won't like this book.
One thing I didn't love: I felt the writing style was a little clunky at times. It was pretty obvious about the points it was making, and not necessarily in a way that felt intentional. It was very tell-not-show, I think, or at the very least it was both show AND tell, and I don't think both were required.
That being said, I did find Phoenix to be a really interesting character. Even if I don't necessarily agree with her, everything she says and does makes sense- all her actions are justified based on how she and the people around her are treated. I also liked the framing device the story used- sort of a story within a story, and the way it ended I thought was also really interesting. I'm not going to spoil it, but I did think it brought up some really interesting ideas about translation, time, truth, and all that.
All in all- pretty good, didn't love the writing style but I did find it interesting and I liked it well enough. Might recommend it in certain circumstances, but not to everyone. I feel like this probably won't end up being particularly memorable for me.
Also- and I wouldn't count this as a criticism of the book, it's mostly just personal preference and something I wanted to comment on because I find it interesting- there were a weird number of romantic/sexual relationships for a book that is super not about either of those things? Like some of it makes sense to a certain extent- Phoenix is frequently reacting to the fact that Big Eye is taking away people she loves, so giving her love interests makes sense. There are other relationships she has that elicit similar reactions, and the romance aspect isn't strictly *necessary*, but it does make sense. That being said- the romance stuff definitely falls in the "tell not show" category. Both relationships develop off screen, and we only see the characters interacting after we have already been informed that they are in love. Additionally, two of the characters besides Phoenix are mentioned or implied to have had sex off screen at various points, and I'm not entirely sure what the purpose is in either case. Why did you mention this to me? Why does it matter? What does it add to the plot or characters? I genuinely can't think of a reason why. And none of these relationships are the point of the book- they provide motivation for Phoenix, but the actual romance element of things is so minimal and so not the point. Literally the only reason I mention this is because it happens all. the. time. It's such a bizarre blind spot for most people- romantic and sexual relationships always get put in the weirdest places, for no reason, and no one bats an eye because everyone's so used to it. Again, not even really a criticism, I just think it's strange.
Anyway, shoutout to this book for uh being required reading and forcing me out of my reading slump against my will, I guess. I liked it well enough. There's enough going on that it kept me decently invested, I wasn't ever really bored and I never had a bad time at any point during the reading process. The beginning was a little harder to get through, but that was probably more a fault of the reading slump than the book itself, because it starts off pretty fast and action packed basically immediately. It definitely got easier and faster in the second half, at least for me- again, whether this was a result of the reading slump or my actual investment in the story is hard to say, but I think probably it was a mix of both. I did care more about what was happening in the second half. I will also say, if loose ends bother you in stories, this is probably not the book for you. There were quite a few unanswered questions. I thought it did a good enough job of justifying why it didn't need to explain things or why it left them a mystery that it didn't bother me- but there were also points where it was definitely obvious that the author was basically saying "this thing doesn't need an answer, don't worry about it". So if that's irritating to you, you probably won't like this book.
One thing I didn't love: I felt the writing style was a little clunky at times. It was pretty obvious about the points it was making, and not necessarily in a way that felt intentional. It was very tell-not-show, I think, or at the very least it was both show AND tell, and I don't think both were required.
That being said, I did find Phoenix to be a really interesting character. Even if I don't necessarily agree with her, everything she says and does makes sense- all her actions are justified based on how she and the people around her are treated. I also liked the framing device the story used- sort of a story within a story, and the way it ended I thought was also really interesting. I'm not going to spoil it, but I did think it brought up some really interesting ideas about translation, time, truth, and all that.
All in all- pretty good, didn't love the writing style but I did find it interesting and I liked it well enough. Might recommend it in certain circumstances, but not to everyone. I feel like this probably won't end up being particularly memorable for me.
Also- and I wouldn't count this as a criticism of the book, it's mostly just personal preference and something I wanted to comment on because I find it interesting- there were a weird number of romantic/sexual relationships for a book that is super not about either of those things? Like some of it makes sense to a certain extent- Phoenix is frequently reacting to the fact that Big Eye is taking away people she loves, so giving her love interests makes sense. There are other relationships she has that elicit similar reactions, and the romance aspect isn't strictly *necessary*, but it does make sense. That being said- the romance stuff definitely falls in the "tell not show" category. Both relationships develop off screen, and we only see the characters interacting after we have already been informed that they are in love. Additionally, two of the characters besides Phoenix are mentioned or implied to have had sex off screen at various points, and I'm not entirely sure what the purpose is in either case. Why did you mention this to me? Why does it matter? What does it add to the plot or characters? I genuinely can't think of a reason why. And none of these relationships are the point of the book- they provide motivation for Phoenix, but the actual romance element of things is so minimal and so not the point. Literally the only reason I mention this is because it happens all. the. time. It's such a bizarre blind spot for most people- romantic and sexual relationships always get put in the weirdest places, for no reason, and no one bats an eye because everyone's so used to it. Again, not even really a criticism, I just think it's strange.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, and Death
Moderate: Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Body horror
Minor: Death of parent, Genocide, and Cancer
It's not particularly graphic-it doesn't go into much detail- but it does mention/briefly describe a lot of really awful things happening to people so lots of content warnings herequarkie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
When I picked it up, I didn't realize this book was a prequel. I think I probably would have liked it better if I had read the main novel first.
What I liked: I really liked the characters. I think they were all interesting, with unique points of view, backstories, and motivations. They were all multi-dimensional, and their actions matched with their characterizations. They all had their strengths as well as their flaws, and they kept the story interesting while being believable. The world itself is fascinating - it's (what I earnestly hope is) a pretty pessimistic view of the (again, hopefully) far future, when global warming has drastically changed the world order. I would have liked to be able to learn more, but maybe this is something that is more of a focus of the main novel.
What was good but could have been better: I really liked the author's writing style. For me, it was very rhythmic, and matched the tone of the story well. Unfortunately the rhythm didn't quite match up with the rhythm that I read with, and I found myself having to go back and reread large passages, which disrupted the flow a bit.
What I didn't like: I think there were a number of plot holes. They were extremely minor, meaning that they had no actual impact on the plot, but they were distracting, causing me to go back and re-read sections. For example, a character would be handling a closed box, and then the author would go on the describe the sound the box made as it closed, leaving me confused on the state of the box. So nothing major, but enough to be annoying. Everything was also pretty fast-paced, meaning that there were also a number of plot points that I thought could have been explored further, but maybe that is something that is left for the main novel.
My take-aways: Overall, this book was an interesting examination of a way that modern-day slavery could occur. There were many allusions to dangerous trips across the Atlantic, well-meaning bystanders doing nothing to stop the atrocities that occur around them, and the role that corporations and governments have in upholding unjust systems that benefit them.
Overall, I thought it was a good book and I enjoyed it, but there was nothing that made it particularly stand-out for me.
What I liked: I really liked the characters. I think they were all interesting, with unique points of view, backstories, and motivations. They were all multi-dimensional, and their actions matched with their characterizations. They all had their strengths as well as their flaws, and they kept the story interesting while being believable. The world itself is fascinating - it's (what I earnestly hope is) a pretty pessimistic view of the (again, hopefully) far future, when global warming has drastically changed the world order. I would have liked to be able to learn more, but maybe this is something that is more of a focus of the main novel.
What was good but could have been better: I really liked the author's writing style. For me, it was very rhythmic, and matched the tone of the story well. Unfortunately the rhythm didn't quite match up with the rhythm that I read with, and I found myself having to go back and reread large passages, which disrupted the flow a bit.
What I didn't like: I think there were a number of plot holes. They were extremely minor, meaning that they had no actual impact on the plot, but they were distracting, causing me to go back and re-read sections. For example, a character would be handling a closed box, and then the author would go on the describe the sound the box made as it closed, leaving me confused on the state of the box. So nothing major, but enough to be annoying. Everything was also pretty fast-paced, meaning that there were also a number of plot points that I thought could have been explored further, but maybe that is something that is left for the main novel.
My take-aways: Overall, this book was an interesting examination of a way that modern-day slavery could occur. There were many allusions to dangerous trips across the Atlantic, well-meaning bystanders doing nothing to stop the atrocities that occur around them, and the role that corporations and governments have in upholding unjust systems that benefit them.
Overall, I thought it was a good book and I enjoyed it, but there was nothing that made it particularly stand-out for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Police brutality, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Torture, Body horror, Slavery, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping, Racism, Abandonment, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexism, Xenophobia, Excrement, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Trafficking
macknificent's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexual content
beeskneesreads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I really like the Afro-Futurism genre. I did find this particular book to be a bit rushed, especially at the end, but it wasn’t bad. I think it was an interesting idea, but as something that was meant to explain how *The Great Book* was written, it sort of failed. Felt like a completely different story…which I understand was part of the point, but still. Basically things still weren’t explained, with the frame story character already believing the Okeke were cursed before hearing the story, and then just…confirming it?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Racism, Death, and Child death
aconfundityofcrows's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Racism, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Body shaming, Body horror, Blood, and Misogyny
Moderate: Excrement, Child death, Child abuse, Slavery, Torture, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Infertility, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Kidnapping
ejb44's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.0
The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor is a Afrofuturist short novel following SpeciMEN creations in Tower 7, set (we can assume) a couple hundreds of years into the future. Sunuteel, the character who brings this story to us, is transmitted a file called The Book of Phoenix upon stumbling across a cave with computers, and we hear the story of Phoenix, a creation, and her life.
As someone who doesn’t particularly like sci-fi or fantasy, I was worried about disliking the book, particularly because I find tropes are repeated in this genre – good guys vs bad guys; intense love story; a “be all and end all” atmosphere. However, luckily for me, the author added amazing complexities to her novel, exploring themes of post-colonialism (despite independence in Africa being years ago), bodily autonomy and what it means to grow up and develop as an individual.
The best part of the book was the structure and the way the author chose to explore the story of Phoenix through this audio file. This was a really unique way to explore a story, and brings in the conversations of narration, storytelling and what counts as narration. In the world we live in, with new technologies constantly replacing the last, and the on-going (pointless) debate about whether listening to audiobooks is the same as reading books (fun fact, they are), I thought it was quite telling that Okorafor uses an audio file to explore both Phoenix’s story and allow for conversations about how media can be conveyed.
Despite this brilliance in artistry, I still found it quite difficult to connect with the characters and the overall setting because, again, I don’t like sci-fi and think the genre overall just doesn’t sit quite right with me. Even though themes and conversations woven into the novel were poignant and brilliant, it just didn’t hit me as hard as I had hoped.
To add to this, there is one part of the book where the protagonist, Phoenix, “realises” something about one of her doctors, however, she then also discovered it about 30 pages later, as if for the first time. This slight mishap in the writing did make it a little difficult to remain immersed in this post-apocalyptic fictional world, sadly.
Overall, if you’re looking for a fantasy sci-fi novel that deals with real issues, talks about the effects of colonialism and engages in meaningful dialogue about technology and the treatment of black people as objects to be tested on, then this book is brilliant. If you love Star Trek, any Lovecraft book or narratives like Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee, then this book is probably right up your street.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
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