Akata Woman

Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor is the stunning finale to the mystical Nsibidi Scripts trilogy that blends African folklore, and Nigerian culture/ traditions with contemporary life.

Themes of friendship, identity, and personal growth take center stage, as Sunny and her Leopard Knocks friends navigate complicated magical politics and face immense battles. The world-building resonates with vibrant life, creating a captivating backdrop for the complex challenges and growth Sunny faces.

Through her vivid writing style, Okorafor shines a light on gender and cultural complexities, and exploration of the diaspora experience and cultural struggle add substance to the narrative. A finale well worth the wait, Akata Woman is a story you're not gonna show more want to miss.

***Purchased and read for my own enjoyment. show less

Sunny and her friends continue in their training as Leopard People and have a new challenge: the spider, Udide, reappears and demands that Sunny and Chichi return an item that their relatives stole some time ago. They knew this was coming, but now they have a deadline and a threat that Udide will destroy an entire village if they don't comply.

This is a solid installment in the series, whose world-building is inventive and grounded in traditional Nigerian beliefs. I enjoy following Sunny, Chichi, Orlu and Sasha as they discover more about their abilities, and as Sunny deals with her family not being able to know about this part of her life. The ending left on a little bit of a cliffhanger, so I hope there are more to come soon.

Okorafor's talents for world-building, character creation, and writing in general are undeniable. Her worlds virtually sing with life, and her characters are so real that a reader can't help but feel connected to them. This book is no exception to that rule. I do have to admit that I didn't enjoy it *quite* as much as I did the first two books in the series--partly, I think, because so much was packed into the book and the journey covered so much ground that there weren't as many scenes a reader really got to sink into, suspense and description at all--but the first books in the series set such a high bar, this was still well into 4-star read territory for me, and I'm so glad I finally got around to it.

I absolutely recommend the whole show more trilogy. show less

Sunny is now 15, and she and her friends continue to progress in their juju studies. But the threat of Udide, the giant spider creature, still hangs over them -- Udide has demanded that Sunny and Chichi restore her missing item to her, and now, she's given them a deadline. Sasha and Orlu aren't about to let the girls have an adventure alone, so the four set out together on a journey that will take them first to Nimm Village, home of the female warriors whose blood runs through Sunny and Chichi's veins, and then to an entirely different world.

It took me a bit to get back into this since it's been a while since I read the first two books in the series, but once I settled back into the world, I was hooked. A solid entry in the series and show more I look forward to the next one. Okorafor's writing is always so inventive and fresh-feeling. No wonder the blurbs on this book's dust jacket are so insane -- she has endorsements from Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Rick Riordan. 4 stars. show less

I'm so grateful to be able to walk through a door and back into Sunny Anyanwu Nwazue's world -- and it feels like that -- the story flows around the reader and explains just enough to keep you going without slowing down to reveal the mysteries. I loved the previous books in the series and was not at all disappointed in this one. Just glad to see Sunny's journey continue in all its vivid, unpredictable, surprising glory.

Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss.

This installment of the Akata series was lackluster in comparison to the others. While there was growth in the main character, the supporting characters were incredibly weak and one-dimensional. It was incredibly plot-focused without development of theme, except for the strong and frequent reminders that "sucking teeth" is evidence of disapproval.

Great installment in a great series. Honestly, I know so many adults who still love a certain magical-child-school series as a fun comfort, and I don't understand why they don't take my recommendation to read this one.