anneb42's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars, I think. A little bit Nigerian civil war, a little bit Transformers, and a little post apocalyptic radiation hellscape. I enjoyed the writing style and really liked some parts, but I don’t think I’ll pick up the rest of the series.
valesea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
reindeerbandit's review against another edition
5.0
a devastating history lesson, beautifully written. i have to recommend you do not read it before bed though because i had some horrifying dreams.
okinmybook's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
susanatherly's review against another edition
3.0
If I break this down by parts:
Part 1 - *****
Part 2 - ****
Part 3 - **
Author's Notes - *****
This novel has important things to say. About child soldiers. About civil war's devastating impact on ordinary people. About the choices governments make after civil wars. About colonialism. About the Biafra/Nigerian Civil War. I consider it important enough that I think it should be read in high schools.
So why 3 stars? I have personal experience living through civil unrest. I have personal experience of not having a childhood and of being a child forced into an adult role too young. I am happy the author never went through that.
Most readers won't feel what is missing because he did his homework and knows people who experienced this first hand. It was probably the right choice to write a softer take on reality. Maybe knowing what is missing just made me sad.
That said, the story has lots of action and great characters, and while I won't be reading the sequel, you probably should.
Part 1 - *****
Part 2 - ****
Part 3 - **
Author's Notes - *****
This novel has important things to say. About child soldiers. About civil war's devastating impact on ordinary people. About the choices governments make after civil wars. About colonialism. About the Biafra/Nigerian Civil War. I consider it important enough that I think it should be read in high schools.
So why 3 stars? I have personal experience living through civil unrest. I have personal experience of not having a childhood and of being a child forced into an adult role too young. I am happy the author never went through that.
Most readers won't feel what is missing because he did his homework and knows people who experienced this first hand. It was probably the right choice to write a softer take on reality. Maybe knowing what is missing just made me sad.
That said, the story has lots of action and great characters, and while I won't be reading the sequel, you probably should.
obstinateheadstrongcurl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
oddity123's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I wanted to like this more than I did. It has all the ingredients I should like, but I found the pacing and character development very inconsistent, and the plot not entirely clear or believable, especially the antagonist’s actions at the end and the ending was unsatisfying
dlberglund's review against another edition
4.0
“Action packed” is not too strong of a descriptor for this book, set in the 22nd century in the disputed land of Biafra and Nigeria. Much of the book involves the fighting involved in a guerrilla war, plus a war for survival, plus the kind of fighting that happens when the fighting is over, plus there's....war. It was too much violence for me for a lot of it, but I really wanted to see what Onyii and Ify, two sisters separated by kidnapping, would do next. The perspective shifts between them, but I still never felt completely connected to Ify and what she was going through. i could never predict her actions, and she felt distant to me. But Onyii, who becomes more and more Augmented by embedded tech, felt more alive to me.
There's a lot to dig into in this book- the ethics of different sides of a war that goes on for generations, the stripping of resources, nuclear fallout, independent young women creating a home that is actually a battle station, chosen family, coloirsm and tribalism, limits/boundaries of technology and humanity, AI......there's so much in this book! It's definitely a fresh take on Afrofuturism and speculative future-history blend. I enjoyed Onyebuchi's other books better, however, because the action movies sequences in War Girls overwhelmed the characters for me.
There's a lot to dig into in this book- the ethics of different sides of a war that goes on for generations, the stripping of resources, nuclear fallout, independent young women creating a home that is actually a battle station, chosen family, coloirsm and tribalism, limits/boundaries of technology and humanity, AI......there's so much in this book! It's definitely a fresh take on Afrofuturism and speculative future-history blend. I enjoyed Onyebuchi's other books better, however, because the action movies sequences in War Girls overwhelmed the characters for me.