WEEK FIVE: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (5)

  I am not sure what to write about this book. The first sentences were promising but it turned out to be another witch story that has nothing new to offer. There is not enough introduction to the characters I think and the book starts with action which seemed confusing to me. Sunny is different from others, she is Nigerian Albino which makes it hard for her to find her place in the community. Orlu and Chichi felt random for me in the beginning as their connection did not seem natural. I wish I could read more about Chichi’s house. As the book itself is written in first person, Sunny’s explorations play a huge role in the story. Before she is told the truth about Orlu and Chichi she notices some weird things but it does not bother her that much. Some of the terms throughout the book feel almost paraphrased from Harry Potter. I think that similarity made me stop reading almost halfway through. I was trying to find a reason to continue reading but was getting more and more convinced that it lacks the originality I was looking for. Maybe I had higher hopes with this work and that was the reason why it disappointed me. I noticed that too many people like Akata Witch more than Harry Potter. I tried to accept this idea but could not. In Harry Potter everything is well developed and nothing raises questions about the believability. On the other hand, in Akata Witch everything happens all of a sudden and it is told directly without making the reader do more thinking. In a story about witches and magic one would expect to see a powerful, weird, unique antagonist. However, the antagonist is a serial killer. What is more important is that the name of the antagonist is “Black Hat”. That seemed too familiar so I did some research and found too many names of serial killers with “black” such as Black Dahlia. What is different about this one? Well he sacrifices the body parts of children to get juju. I love books and movies about magic, that makes me think outside the box and I hate stopping halfway through the books but. Unfortunately, everything in it was lacking the originality I was looking for.


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