city_girl_writer's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.5
This was a really fast and short book. This was my first adult Dr. Okorafor book and gotta read more of her sci-fi novels. The concept of this futuristic Nigeria was creative and unique to me, and the story was interesting. The characters...were good but not the strong aspect for me. A.O. and D.N.A. develop romantic feelings for each other and I couldn't quite believe their attraction. Nonetheless, I enjoyed listening to this via audio.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Sexual content
arkyver's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
lizshayne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I appreciate Okorafor so much when she's furious in her fiction and this book, in particular, contains so much rage and frustration and also, the end was stunning in how everything drew together.
This book's relationship to disability fascinates me in its focus on prejudice and augmentation of power and the trap of it. There's a lot to unpack here and this book is another one of those "I wish I could read this in a class".
This book's relationship to disability fascinates me in its focus on prejudice and augmentation of power and the trap of it. There's a lot to unpack here and this book is another one of those "I wish I could read this in a class".
authorjbr's review against another edition
4.0
The more I read Okorafor’s books the more I think that her plot structure is not following a traditional western plot style. I need to reset my expectations; but I’m not sure what they should be set to.
That said, I really enjoyed the ideas in this, more than the Akata books I previously read. I think at the end of the day I’m just more into sci-fi than I am fantasy
That said, I really enjoyed the ideas in this, more than the Akata books I previously read. I think at the end of the day I’m just more into sci-fi than I am fantasy
dllh's review against another edition
3.0
I like a nice short book, but I really wanted more here. It felt like Okorafor glossed over too many things, and the result felt to me like a series of small gods out of the machine. A more well-developed (or fleshed out) plot would have made this a stronger book. The idea is neat and the world compelling. I'll keep watching Okorafor but would really like to read something longer by her that feels more complete.
ladysun_bun's review against another edition
I usually love any books by this author. I started this on the audiobook and understood it was about a FMC with robotic enhancements, but beyond that it didn’t keep my attention.
that_gai's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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
mybooktasticlife's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
elagarto's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Grating narrative style with some promising ideas, though none of them fleshed out enough to be truly compelling
scholastic_squid's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this as an audiobook so there was an audio processing issue for me with one of the words. It sounded like anti-aging? Lol but that’s my own problem.
The concept was pretty neat, it is the overarching fear that a single AI system / corporation will control all and seek to destroy the “simple” way of life. Not long into the book, we meet cattle herders that are massacred and it doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident. While the main character, a cybernetic girl, due to a birth defect and later car accident, is assaulted in her local market. Her and one of the herds men meet up running after their separate incidents in which one or more people die by their hands in self defense.
Then we follow their path to avoid the inevitable consequences of their government and the corporation that operates (nearly) all technologies hunting them down for unjust sentencing.
The writing seemed juvenile at times - there was a sentence that went something like “and there were people standing around and I could see the important ones wearing important clothing because they were important” … it happened a few times during the book. I also found it weird that this girl just does not really have any limits at all to what she can do? Like yes she keeps bleeding and nears heart failure several times but she just keeps on kicking, and anything she thinks of welp, she can do it because she thinks she can.
I do like the uniqueness of the characters and the landscape and in how Africa would handle the high tech life mixed with the tribal culture but I think that could have been fleshed out a little more.
Also, there was a character at the end name (what sounded like to me) Lou Bega and I couldn’t stop thinking about Mambo Number 5.
The concept was pretty neat, it is the overarching fear that a single AI system / corporation will control all and seek to destroy the “simple” way of life. Not long into the book, we meet cattle herders that are massacred and it doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident. While the main character, a cybernetic girl, due to a birth defect and later car accident, is assaulted in her local market. Her and one of the herds men meet up running after their separate incidents in which one or more people die by their hands in self defense.
Then we follow their path to avoid the inevitable consequences of their government and the corporation that operates (nearly) all technologies hunting them down for unjust sentencing.
The writing seemed juvenile at times - there was a sentence that went something like “and there were people standing around and I could see the important ones wearing important clothing because they were important” … it happened a few times during the book. I also found it weird that this girl just does not really have any limits at all to what she can do? Like yes she keeps bleeding and nears heart failure several times but she just keeps on kicking, and anything she thinks of welp, she can do it because she thinks she can.
I do like the uniqueness of the characters and the landscape and in how Africa would handle the high tech life mixed with the tribal culture but I think that could have been fleshed out a little more.
Also, there was a character at the end name (what sounded like to me) Lou Bega and I couldn’t stop thinking about Mambo Number 5.