Review: Akata Witch

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First things first: A lot has been written (including some misguided marketing blurbs) comparing Akata Witch to Harry Potter books and frankly, I'm not buying it. While there are some vague similarities, the closest statement about Akata Witch would be: "It's like Harry Potter, if Harry was an albino girl, but also if he stayed at home, went to regular school during the day, wizarding school late at night, plus had to trick his family into believing he wasn't in wizarding school at all, all while gaining minimal training before being thrown into very dangerous situations by adult wizards who think there is nothing wrong with sacrificing a few kids to end a problem they don't really exactly know how to fix themselves. Oh, and watch out for the masquerade wasps but you'll love the wasp artist." In sum, no, it's not like Harry Potter unless Harry Potter was like the Earthsea series or Od Magic (which I have to put up a review for one of these days) is like Harry Potter. We don't have to have "an African version of Harry Potter," since to me that diminishes what Nnedi Okorafor has done here and neglects the fact that many West Africans and West African Americans have their own fabulous stories to tell. So let's stick with the idea that wizarding school stories have been around for a while and this is a really awesome one, so read this!

With Nnedi Okorafor you come for the refreshing stories steeped in the West African mythos and stay for her simply stunning imagination. I can think of only a handful of writers that I'm currently reading that can possibly match Nnedi for truly novel worldbuilding. I cannot review in meaningful detail all the rich cultural subtleties of Akata Witch. Nnedi herself recently steered an American reader to what she feels is the most culturally detailed review of her book and I'll steer you there, following her advice: Igbo Cybershrine

Akata Witch, which was published in 2011, is so obviously the first in a series. It is one of the most successful "book within a book" stories I've read and like the reviewer above, I was left coming back to Fast Facts for Free Agents again and again to get better understanding of what I was reading about (and sometimes what brand of foolishness Chichi and Sasha were up to). We are left holding our breath (absolutely not in a cliffhangerish sort of way) to see what our refreshing heroine Sunny Nwazue, albino and recently discovered Akata Witch, will get up to next with her pals Orlu, Chichi and the rambunctious Sasha, what Sugar Cream, her rather terrifying mentor, has in store for her, and what Della, her blue wasp artist, will build for her next. In re-reviewing this book, it's with the happy news that we won't have to wait any longer! Akata Warrior releases October 3rd, 2017! I should have that review of that ARC by publication date.

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