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A review by dandelionsteph
Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels by Tọlá Okogwu
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I was unsatisfied with how Hassan's character quirk of using Nigerian Pidgin was used. The way it's used made it difficult to understand his words, and therefore to connect with him. This is an important detail because Hassan is one of the main characters.
While multiple characters speak sentences from non-English languages or dialects at times, for most, foreign language sentences are a tiny fraction of their overall dialogue. Hassan, however, speaks almost entirely in Nigerian Pidgin. Notably, this is never translated, while most foreign-language dialogue from other characters is translated, whether discreetly in narration or by others' dialogue. Some of the words he uses in Nigerian Pidgin are recognizable English words, but most are not. Some words have meanings which are easy to parse (e.g., "vex" to mean "annoy"), while I was able to puzzle out serviceable translations for others from context (guessing "dey" might "do/doing") although they don't always make sense. Because Hassan's untranslated sentences contain bits and pieces of English, I felt I should try to puzzle them out as I read, rather than skip over them entirely. Unfortunately, I still felt I couldn't understand him.
What's worse is that one of the few things I understood about Hassan from this book was his love for chin chin, which is a snack food made from fried dough, which I understand because of sufficient in-narration context and discussion between characters. Overall, for most of the story, I thought of Hassan as "the guy who speaks in Pidgin I don't understand who has energy-field/invisibility powers and likes unhealthy snack food". While it's okay for people to like unhealthy snack food, talk about wanting or liking it fairly often, and eat a lot (particularly as he is a teenage boy, which are known for big appetites), overall, it feels rather crude or stereotype-like for one-third of his character to be liking snack food. (While I did recall he's Muslim, prays often, and is from Kano, for much of the story, this isn't brought up and doesn't matter.)
In comparison, while Onyeka's use of British words or slang ("bare", such as "bare mad", "bum" for "butt", "Mum" for "mother/Mom", and the slightly over-used "proper" as an intensifier) clearly mark her as speaking British English instead of American English, she uses only a few British word choices, fairly infrequently, and in ways that are easy to figure out (I read "bare" as "obviously", as in "unconcealed", as in "barefaced lie") or already familiar to a well-read reader of fantasy, as there are surely plenty of "mums" in works originally set in or written in the United Kingdom.
In sum, the way Hassan's dialect was portrayed greatly interfered with a sense of understanding or connecting to the character, reducing how enjoyable this book could be.
While multiple characters speak sentences from non-English languages or dialects at times, for most, foreign language sentences are a tiny fraction of their overall dialogue. Hassan, however, speaks almost entirely in Nigerian Pidgin. Notably, this is never translated, while most foreign-language dialogue from other characters is translated, whether discreetly in narration or by others' dialogue. Some of the words he uses in Nigerian Pidgin are recognizable English words, but most are not. Some words have meanings which are easy to parse (e.g., "vex" to mean "annoy"), while I was able to puzzle out serviceable translations for others from context (guessing "dey" might "do/doing") although they don't always make sense. Because Hassan's untranslated sentences contain bits and pieces of English, I felt I should try to puzzle them out as I read, rather than skip over them entirely. Unfortunately, I still felt I couldn't understand him.
What's worse is that one of the few things I understood about Hassan from this book was his love for chin chin, which is a snack food made from fried dough, which I understand because of sufficient in-narration context and discussion between characters. Overall, for most of the story, I thought of Hassan as "the guy who speaks in Pidgin I don't understand who has energy-field/invisibility powers and likes unhealthy snack food". While it's okay for people to like unhealthy snack food, talk about wanting or liking it fairly often, and eat a lot (particularly as he is a teenage boy, which are known for big appetites), overall, it feels rather crude or stereotype-like for one-third of his character to be liking snack food. (While I did recall he's Muslim, prays often, and is from Kano, for much of the story, this isn't brought up and doesn't matter.)
In comparison, while Onyeka's use of British words or slang ("bare", such as "bare mad", "bum" for "butt", "Mum" for "mother/Mom", and the slightly over-used "proper" as an intensifier) clearly mark her as speaking British English instead of American English, she uses only a few British word choices, fairly infrequently, and in ways that are easy to figure out (I read "bare" as "obviously", as in "unconcealed", as in "barefaced lie") or already familiar to a well-read reader of fantasy, as there are surely plenty of "mums" in works originally set in or written in the United Kingdom.
In sum, the way Hassan's dialect was portrayed greatly interfered with a sense of understanding or connecting to the character, reducing how enjoyable this book could be.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement and Death
Minor: Terminal illness, Kidnapping, and Death of parent