Akata Witch

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

(Format used for this read: Audiobook)

I am so glad another friend of mine from Be The Bridge recommended this book to me….she told me MULTIPLE times actually!

She shares my enthusiasm of YA fantasy fiction….and also loves to read books from diverse authors.

She KNEW I would totally love it….and she was 100 percent CORRECT in that assumption! (thanks Kristy…you ROCK)

I have seen this book called “the Nigerian Harry Potter”.

But I do not think that is a fair or accurate statement…PLUS it is a great disservice to the creative artistry this author possesses.

This book does not need some kind of white person version comparison to validate it’s amazingness.

This book creates it’s OWN special kind of magic with it’s OWN unique set of fascinating characters and it’s OWN awesome settings and adventures.

Yall know I *do* love me some Harry Potter (even if I’m NOT so much of a JK fan AT ALL these days 😑) but this book is FAR better written and developed in my opinion.

And like I just said…this book is IT’S OWN THING, yall.

They are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BOOKS.

We don’t have to think up some white similarity to make a book written by a person of color a valid piece of artistic work…

Like…. DO NOT DO THAT.

That is white supremacy operating at for real levels.

This book is a fantastic piece of fiction, yall.

Do not strip away the author’s originality and uniqueness.

Ok….now that THAT is said….

Here is the official summary:

“Twelve year old Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born American. Her features are African, but she has albinism. She’s a terrific athlete, but can’t go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in.

And then she discovers something amazing–she is a ‘free agent’ with latent mystical power.

Soon she’s part of a quartet of students, studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But will it be enough to help them when they are asked to catch a career criminal well-versed in powerful juju? “

I loved every little thing about this book and could sing it’s praises all over the place….but I’ll go ahead and narrow it down for yall….

Here are the top 5 things I loved:

1. I really enjoyed learning a little bit about various aspects of African cultures….the setting of the book is in Nigeria, near the capitol city of Abuja. The author weaves into the story the region’s language, history, music, traditions, folklore, and FOOD. (her description of cooking plantains, pepper soup, joloff rice, and various stews had my mouth LEGIT WATERING and my tummy rumbling in hunger!)

2. In this book, magical people are called “Leopards” and non-magical people are called “Lambs.” Those who have more pronounced “flaws” in the Lamb world–physically and intellectually–are more powerful in the Leopard world. The more severe an “imperfection” the bigger indicator it is of a tremendous skill/ability. What makes a person different is what makes them special.

Here are some examples: Sunny has albinism in the Lamb world, which in the Leopard world makes her able to disappear at will AND go back and forth between the physical world and the spirit world. Orlu has dyslexia in the Lamb world, which in the Leopard world makes him able to undo magical spells. Sugar Cream–one of the highly regarded elders–has severe scoliosis in the Lamb world, which makes her able to shape shift in the Leopard world. I freakin LOVE how the author did this… She has taken labels and perceptions that in our world we view as something that could hold a person back….. and COMPLETELY FLIPPED it and turned those very same things into something that gives a person an advantage in the magical world. ❤

3. Currency in the Leopard world is known as chittim. It is not earned by doing a job…it is only earned by LEARNING. When a lesson is learned, a book is read, an experience transpires and knowledge is gained, chittim falls from the sky at the feet of the learner. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!? Wouldn’t our world be SO DIFFERENT if that happened to us?!?

4. The friendship bond that forms between Sunny, Orlu, Chichi and Sasha I just loved. Because close friends who grow and learn and come of age together is ALWAYS a storyline that goes straight to my heart! (Probably because my tight circle of friends in every area of my journey thus far has been my lifeline, my survival, and such a source of joy. ) They each bring something different to their little group….and you know they are going to not only get into some rebellious fun AND trouble together, they are also going to gain wisdom together and do some serious good things along the way.

5. The narrator of the audiobook, Yetide Badaki, is SPELL BINDING. She flawlessly jumps between all the specific accents of the characters and has GREAT inflection and tone….she is a WONDERFUL storyteller and her voice added so much intensity to each moment.

This is the first book in a series….I listened on Scribd and WOOHOO the second book was available immediately too! (I’m telling yall…GIVE UP THE AUDIBLE AND GET YOU THE SCRIBED! So much cheaper and soooo much better!)

As soon as I finished this one, I pressed play on the next…I literally had no chill and HAD TO GET STARTED ASAP!

This book gets a bright and sparkling ginormous magical 5 star review from me.

Totes loved it and am SO GLAD the story ain’t over yet… can’t wait to see what happens next…