Akata Witch--Finished Reading *Spoilers Ahead*

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

If you've finished reading Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, this is the place to share your thoughts with the group.

Caution: There will likely be **SPOILERS** in this thread.

[Chris, Moderator]

I enjoyed this book. Okorafor is adept at introducing us to Nigerian culture with her cast of local and American characters. With Sunny we learn about leopard people, both their advanced skills but also advanced dangers. Watching Sunny grow in her self knowledge, confidence and responsibility was delightful, in everything from finally playing a game of soccer to more dangerous tests of skill and teamwork. The worldbuilding here is top notch, blending elements of the real Nigeria with a layer of magical realism. A unique voice.

[Kerry]

I really enjoyed this, but I'm finding it very difficult to put into words just why.

It felt so colourful and rich and like a world just around the corner.

I'm totally cheating, but here's what I put in my review:

This is a lovely book, mixing two different but unrelated coming of age/fish out of water stories, as Sunny has to find her place both in the Lamb (mundane) world as an albino born in America and now home in Nigeria, and as a newly initiated free agent in the Leopard (magical) world. Oh, and there's the disturbing and nasty problem of the serial killer targeting children.

Okorofor beautifully describes the rich strangeness of the Leopard world, introducing it to the reader as she introduces it to Sunny. It is an African style of juju that Sunny is learning. It might be more specifically a Nigerian style, but since the various characters at the festival seem to be working the same kind of magics and they come from different countries and tribes, I'm using African as a description. Please, correct me if I have misunderstood.

I understood that there are Leopard people all around the world, that use their own traditional methods for magic. But this is not their stories. This is Sunny's story and it belongs in African and among those traditions.

I loved the voice and the magic - bits of copper falling from the sky as you learn something new, spirit faces and the way Sunny sneezes when there's lots of juju around. But it's not easy and it's not safe. Sunny and her friends have to go alone, both on learning visits and later, to face down the killer before he can put the entire world at risk.

None of the four children are perfect and all have major faults, but they also have great gifts and growing loyalty to each other. It's a small chance, but they might succeed and they might even make it out alive.

[David]

Finished this a few days ago. I liked it. I found the characters complex and intriguing, which isn't always the case when I read YA fiction. I also liked the fact that Okorafor left room for them to grow in sequels.

When I read YA novels, I sometimes have a hard time not judging them the way I would judge a book for adults. For example, I loved the setting in the Golden Compass, but found myself annoyed with the way that Lyra explained to the reader at every step what was a revelation to her but obvious to me.

With Akata Witch, I found both the climax and denouement a bit too quick to be fully satisfying. However, I liked the way
Okorafor created a world which felt dangerous and unpredictable, and made me feel as off kilter and bewildered as Sunny must feel being suddenly thrust into the Leopard world.

So I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

David

[Shel, Moderator]

I just inhaled this book in one sitting, and emerging from it feels like Sunny must have felt upon returning to the Lamb world - only on a much smaller scale, of course :) . The worldbuilding was fantastic, especially the concept of the chittim - currency that you can only gain by learning? That's my kind of world!

Looking forward to the sequel, when David finishes it and I can poach it before we return it to the library.

[Mary]

There's something a little unnerving about calling the magical people Leopards and the unmagical ones Lambs. Especially since no one notices it enough to bring it up.