Akata Witch (Nsibidi Scripts #1)[December 1, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor starting on December 1, 2023.


Happy Reading!

[Nirkatze]

Thank you!

Series Schedule:
1. Akata Witch (Dec 1)
2. Akata Warrior (Jan 1) [Link]
Also #2.5 The Scenic Route ($0 on Kindle)
3. Akata Woman (Feb 1) [Link]

[Ann-Marie]

So I have 3 hours left and I am not sure about this one. (view spoiler)[Why do so many YA books have to have traumatic premises like this? I just don't get it. Sunny is basically bullied by her parents, brothers and the kids at school! And when she used her ability to stop from getting beaten up by bullies she got in trouble and was nearly locked in a dark basement as punishment and could have been caned! And the fact that a 12 year old girl lied to her parents to go to another town for an overnight is just crazy for me to wrap my head around! And also the fact that her albinism is just magically cured with no more explanation then it is her leopard blood is total BS. And the casual violence is just like what, oh well so anyway let's go play soccer! Also not for nothing this is a HP rip-off so far. This book is infuriating me lol (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

I might start today or tomorrow. I peeked at your spoiler, just the first sentence because I was curious--and I will say that the other Okorafor books I've read have all had characters who have undergone serious trauma: Binti series, Noor--from the blurbs on her other books it seems that theme holds true in her writing...

[Ann-Marie]

Finished (view spoiler)[So they let four 12-year old children fight the evil monster after others have tried and failed and none of the adults like Sweet Cream and the rest did anything? Make that make sense to me please. I think in my advanced years there were many things in this book that bothered me that maybe would not have years ago but I do not think this series is for me and if this casual violence & excessive trauma is prominent in this author's work then she is not for me either. I think I am tapping out with this one. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

7 hours in, at Chapter 15--I'm finding the world very interesting... (view spoiler)[all of the Nigerian culture mixed up in the magic system, the rawness of the world, and an MC who doesn't quite fit in anywhere for several reasons: born in America, albino, and now magic.

I've remember reading a long time ago about how albinos are treated horribly in African cultures... seeing what the MC has to put up with makes me think about that more... I do agree with Ann-Marie that magic just solving her problems is too simplistic.

I actually liked how Sunny reacted at the finals match... everyone seemed to take the violence and death in stride except for her... sort of brought home how weird their world is, where violence is just accepted and then people move on. She's still an outsider as a free agent. It also made me think about some neighborhoods of African American communities tend to see more violence, and how third world countries also have more violence around them... and people become desensitized. It doesn't make it any less traumatic, but there are people out there who live in a traumatic society and just have to keep going anyway, and it becomes background noise... the contrast of the kids playing soccer afterwards with no more conversation drove that in harder. Also, kids have a lot of potential for resilience and bouncing back. I'd've liked to see a nightmare or two following though.

I was thinking of Harry Potter meets Hunger Games too... story isn't bothering me like it does @Ann-Marie...

Trauma-wise, so far, this is much milder than her other books... probably because it's YA... but Okorafor's other books I read all deal with MCs who are outcasts in society for one reason or another. I find it interesting that Sunny has her own people here--her group of friends. The other books the MCs were all forced into solitude by their ostracism, more or less. (hide spoiler)]

[Ann-Marie]

So her other books had more trauma? I may be okay with that if they are not YA books but when I read YA I like to think that I could recommend a child the same age as the characters read it and I would never recommend this to a 12-year old in a million years.

[Tonari no Emily]

Yeahhhh I can see where youre coming from Ann-Marie. I didn't think about this in the POV of it being YA. I also think though that YA is a sticky genre and I'm not even sure of the age range its targeted towards. Adult implies 18+, y'know? I kind of just dislike the YA tag in general... But the "YA" fantasy series do tend to put kids in charge of saving the world lol
And definitely agree with Nirkatze's comment above... Alot of what Okorafor writes stems from her own experiences...

The first time I read this I didn't even compare it to HP. I can kind of see it on the second time around... I just really liked the world being built.

[Nirkatze]

Finished! I definitely enjoyed (or was able to ignore things) more than you, Ann-Marie... (view spoiler)[I got the sense the kids were sent after Black Hat due to Sunny's grandmother's connection... and also that children are not pampered or even necessarily treasured in this world... but it was a little sparse on the why there. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Ann-Marie wrote: "So her other books had more trauma? I may be okay with that if they are not YA books but when I read YA I like to think that I could recommend a child the same age as the characters read it and I w..."

As for her other books--(view spoiler)[In Binti, in like the first chapter the MC is on her way to a university off-world when everyone on her ship is slaughtered by an alien species who is protesting against colonialist expansion by other species--similar to what Binti's country has been facing at home... and then she spends the next few novellas dealing with the aftermath and trauma. In Noor the MC survived a car wreck (before the book started) which left her with a largely cybernetic body in a society that fears machines. Both MCs (and Sunny too) have to deal with being labeled "other" by circumstances outside of their control, and have to learn to keep moving despite their history of trauma. So those are definitely themes she deals with, and I think she does a good job of making readers think about them, and think about different cultures and societies... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Yeahhhh I can see where youre coming from Ann-Marie. I didn't think about this in the POV of it being YA. I also think though that YA is a sticky genre and I'm not even sure of the age range its ta..."

I watched Daniel Greene's video on the creation of the YA genre... it's a fairly new creation... the stereotype I have of YA is "fast-paced and emo" but that doesn't apply to everything. What does make something "YA"? Is it enough to just have teenage or younger MCs?

I was thinking Hunger Games for some aspects too, this book... but one difference--(view spoiler)[it seems like Sunny is the only one to really react to the more horrific things happening in the book--yelling at the Anton (or forest guy?) for sending them on an assignment where they could have been killed, reacting to the death at the tournament... the other kids seem to just take it in stride. In Hunger Games, everyone reacts to the trauma. Everyone acknowledges that there is something seriously wrong with the word. Here, it's like Sunny is the only one who sees... Is she actually shrugging everything off so quickly, or is she trying to fit in and not making a fuss? Perhaps because she is a Free Agent, and hasn't grown up in this world? What does that say about the Leopard society? What does it say about Sunny? I feel like there's some sort of metaphor for something, but I'm not reaching it quite. (hide spoiler)]

[Ann-Marie]

Nirkatze wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "Yeahhhh I can see where youre coming from Ann-Marie. I didn't think about this in the POV of it being YA. I also think though that YA is a sticky genre and I'm not even sure..."

To me YA is a book that can be read by young readers and also enjoyed by adults. Granted some of the super emo books may not appeal to adults (Third Wing) but are still appropriate to a young reader. When Sunny (view spoiler)[lied to her parents to go overnight to another town without adult supervision (I know her teacher was there but he wasn't with them all of the time) made me want to scream. Don't get me wrong, kids do dumb shit and sneak to places they aren't allowed to go or hang with kids they maybe shouldn't but to go to another town overnight to what seemed to be a large festival? Nope, just nope. (hide spoiler)]

I can see how this book may appeal to people but there were too many issues for me.

[Tonari no Emily]

Ann-Marie, is it the fact that Sunny did that or was it just too unrealistic, or neither? just want to understand your noping here lol

[Ann-Marie]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Ann-Marie, is it the fact that Sunny did that or was it just too unrealistic, or neither? just want to understand your noping here lol"

I think it is because she is so young, (view spoiler)[to do that just horrified me. I know kids do dumb shit all the time, but to go unsupervised as a 12 year old to another town? Sneaking out to meet up with her friends was fine but the overnight thing made my brain hurt. And add to that the fact the panther people adults were fine sending 4 kids to defeat the bad guy after many others tried and failed (likely died, or at least that is how I took it), what was that? The whole time I had in the back of my brain that Sunny needed a responsible grown-up in her life because other than the brief conversation she had with her Aunt at the end I don't recall any. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Kids definitely do dumb stuff along these lines in most books I've read with protagonists this age or younger...