A Frightening and Cool Magical World

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

This is an enjoyable YA fantasy novel that's a pretty breezy read, but it also engages directly with a lot of timely themes--prejudice of many kinds, domestic violence, crime, feminism, personal responsibility, etc.--giving it deeper significance and more emotional heft. I thought it was a satisfying and fun read, and though it was disappointing in some bits, the novel and the magical world created there both work well overall.

Sunny is a US-raised Nigerian girl who is learning how to get along in a new place after her family moves back to Nigeria. What makes the change even harder is discovering that she belongs to a group of people--Leopard people--who are magic-wielders and live a secret double life. In some ways, Sunny's introduction and training in this world resembles Harry Potter and other magic school stories, and that's cool; it's a fun trope. They travel in strange ways to a hidden place that normal people can't reach, where they can buy books and knives and things they need for their magic, and they meet magic adepts who teach them how to use their abilities. (One of my pet peeves for all books of this sort is how they are given tasks that they aren't prepared for, as if the best way to learn is by muddling through without guidance. Everybody's glad they don't die. Wouldn't it be better to teach them a little more first?) As in HP, the magic is inherently dangerous, almost brutally so, and they must learn to respect the risk, though in the concluding scenes, we see that the worst danger is a criminal who is trained like them in magic.

The most fun parts are when Sunny is experiencing the wonder of the hidden world, meeting strange people, attending secret events, finding success and acceptance, all while balancing her normal life with her family and regular school. That balancing is the main conflict for most of the novel, and it's appropriate and satisfying, but there is a confrontation with a serial killer at the end that seems kinda tacked on. Up to that point, Sunny and her friends seem like real young people learning how to deal with the strange hand life dealt them, and their conflicts make sense within the context of that story. The last part, though--without revealing spoilers--was disappointing. (The logic behind the final confrontation is unconvincing, and the resolution if offers feels unearned and rushed. IMO.)

Still, it was fun to read, and it's especially refreshing the way the folkloric and fantastic elements emerge in modern, middle class Nigeria, among cosmopolitan characters with an educated background. I found that contrast really worked, and I'm looking forward to grabbing the sequel.

Recommended.

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