David Bremner reviewed Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor
The further adventures of Sunny Nwazue
4 stars
The book is an adventure story to be sure, but at some points I was really taken by the calmness / centeredness of the main characters.
I was a bit tripped up by my expectations. From the title I expected a more drastic coming of age aspect (I understand that was a foolish amount to read into one word, but here we are), but it's really more a gradual evolution of the characters. I also thought the blurb about "coming back a changed person" was a bit overstated. Both of those points are more warnings to ignore the blurb (always?) and enjoy the book.
Another aspect that really struck me as unique both in this book and in Akata Warrior, is the physicality of the heroine. It seems like some kind of nerdy double bluff that not only is Sunny smart and talented, she is phsyically strong (and fast) in …
The book is an adventure story to be sure, but at some points I was really taken by the calmness / centeredness of the main characters.
I was a bit tripped up by my expectations. From the title I expected a more drastic coming of age aspect (I understand that was a foolish amount to read into one word, but here we are), but it's really more a gradual evolution of the characters. I also thought the blurb about "coming back a changed person" was a bit overstated. Both of those points are more warnings to ignore the blurb (always?) and enjoy the book.
Another aspect that really struck me as unique both in this book and in Akata Warrior, is the physicality of the heroine. It seems like some kind of nerdy double bluff that not only is Sunny smart and talented, she is phsyically strong (and fast) in a way that I don't usually associate with female characters in YA fantasy.
