Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Death of the Author

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

18 reviews

erine's review

adventurous reflective tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I blithely tackled this book not knowing much about the premise, just that there was a disabled author at the heart of it. After the first chapter (and taking into account the implications of the title) I quickly assumed that the author dies somewhere along the way. And I wasn't entirely wrong, but I was wrong in a way that surprised me so completely and changed how I looked at the whole story.

To start, Zelu is not quite likeable. She has an independence that means she butts heads with a lot of people around her: family and siblings, her students and administration, the men she hooks up with. Even as she cuts ties and forges new ones, it takes a long time before her prickliness softens even a little. Part of this is how her family (and larger society) treat her disability. After becoming paraplegic at 12 her relationship with the whole world changed, and Zelu grates against the lack of assistance AND against the assumptions made by others.

Early in the story, Zelu loses her job and unsuccessfully tries to sell the novel she has written. This inspires her to write something else, which becomes successful beyond her wildest dreams. The fame brings her face-to-face with questions of celebrity and how much fans should own the work they love, but right alongside the fame are conflicts about the different ways of accommodating disability and what is the "right" way to empower oneself; the whitewashing of her African-centered book as it becomes a popular movie; and what right does a family have to protect one of its own. But above all this, Zelu faces the questions and challenges of creating her own story and deciding what she owes to the people around her who offer her varying levels of support.

Reflecting many elements of Okorafor's own experience, there was just a lot to think about with this one.

The final twist hit me hard. I found myself confused about the inclusion of excerpts of Zelu's novel. Not because they were bad or uninteresting, but they did not seem obviously connected to the reality of Zelu's life in any way. And then to find out that the whole story was the ROBOT's all along. I was stunned. Others may have seen that coming, but I did not. And it changed how I thought of everything. Zelu isn't a real person, she's extinct and existing only in a robot's imagination. Her disability, her adoration of the richest man in the world, the drama of her visit to Nigeria to see her father's resting place, her dreams of being an astronaut, all of this came out of the mind of Ankara the robot. And knowing how humanity tells stories of the world's past, often full of erroneous assumptions, it threw me hard to think of what kind of assumptions might a robot have about how humans used to live; what information filled that intelligence's programming.

Absolutely blew my mind.

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lettuce_read's review

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almostqualified's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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vixusg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Rarely do I find a book that I truly have no criticism for. This is one of them.

I loved this book so much. I loved Zelu, Ankara & Ijele. I loved the parallels and clear passage of time and the development of technology in the background. I loved the transition of characters from human to robots and back. The story and the story within are peak science fiction. This explores all aspects of what it means to exist and live and love. Incredibly meta and extraordinary. And as a bonus, the female voice actor was also fantastic.

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bibliomich's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor is a book that I completed a few hours ago, but I know I will be processing and reflecting on it for a long time to come.

This is a book that unfolds slowly. It’s thematically layered and features an expansive cast of characters. There are also two stories that run parallel to each other: one realistic fiction and the second science fiction. I deeply enjoyed both, but I especially appreciated the way the two stories overlapped and highlighted both the scientific advancements of humans, as well as the humanity of science fiction.

Okorafor also skillfully explores the themes of ownership and bodily autonomy, and does this through the lenses of disability and celebrity. Who tells our stories? Who gets to decide what we do with our bodies? If we share our own stories, does that give others the right to take and transform those worlds and words into their own? Where are the boundaries between caretaking and love and possession? While reading this book, I often thought of Alice Wong’s nonfiction collection of essays, Disability Intimacy, and I highly recommend reading these two in conjunction.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy.

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hallie_hey's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

I enjoyed the setup of this book and so many elements of it. I also felt like the plot was jumping around so quickly I didn't get to fully sink into the story.

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