Don't get me wrong, the concept that Akata Witch introduced was a very intriguing one. The story's fantasies along with the mysteries of the lurking serial killer amongst the town creates an interesting story that you want to know more about. Who is the killer? Why are they killing innocent children? How will Sunny put an end to this monstrosity? Wow, this book is just so hard to put down! But, in reality, the only thing I wanted to do was put it down. The way Nnedi Okorafor uses Sunny as a character that people can resonate with while introducing the story's fantasy is a fabulous concept. Or, at least, it could've been a fabulous concept. Sometimes I while reading that Akata Witch created a world that was too ambitious for its own good, which eventually ended up with a story that was more than it needed to be. But, with that, I decided to take Akata Witch's sequel, Akata Warrior, off of the shelves to give the series another chance.
It was only a few chapters in, and I noticed the book's lack of a hook. Chapter after chapter, I begun getting more and more bored as the book dragged on without any sort of point of interest. No murder? No mystery? At least not yet. I decided not to jump to any conclusions before I got deeper into the story. Upon flipping through the book some more, I made my way to page 34. This is when I saw the monstrosity that is older people trying to understand the texting trends of younger generations:
"U kno u interested, cuz u kno I show you a gud time" was, word for word, the text message that Sunny's brother sent to his girlfriend on page 34. (Okorafor 34). In what world would anyone text like that? Apparently this one. Not only does Akata Warrior's fantasy land have juju magic, spirit faces, and books that grow legs and walk around like spiders, but it also has the absolute corniest text messages of all time. I'll admit, us "young-ins" tend not to text like journalists. We usually skip letters, simplify words, or use abbreviations to save time. But, in no universe would I ever use the term 'gud' or 'kno' and I think most people my age would agree with me. Not that Akata Warrior's poor understanding of texting ruins the book, but it was still a strange encounter.
I won't label Akata Warrior as bad or good just yet because I'm far from deep into the story. It would be unfair to characterize it simply because of a corny text message. However, through the pages that I've flipped through so far, I'm beginning to think it's not much better than Akata Witch. As I said before, Akata Witch attempted to be more than it needed to be. By the end of the book, I felt that there were so many loose ends and unanswered questions that even the book's underwhelming finale was worse than it had to be. After I closed Akata Witch, I questioned the relevance of a lot of the things that the book told me, because it seemed that only a select few plot points were actually necessary to understanding the story. I don't plan to continue reading Akata Warrior, at least for now. But, if I ever do, I hope that it fixes the issues that I had with the first installment, and I also hope Sunny's brother sticks to phone calls for the sake of my sanity.
Nnedi Okorafor, "Akata Warrior", published 10/3/2017.
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BAHAHAHA. That's so funny. I agree that nobody texts like that, and it fascinates me that a book could be so outrageously empty that the only intriguing thing to write about is the failure to capture the reality of modern youth. Do you think there's any way to salvage the book? When you say there's a lack of hook, is the only thing that kept you reading the hope it would get better? If not, what kept you reading this book? Also, out of curiosity, what is the plot for this book?
ReplyDeleteYikes, that is indeed some atrocious texting. I'm sure that would have annoyed me as well if I were reading the book. Good analysis, though! I understand why you thought the ending of Akata Witch was disappointing, but what do you mean by the book being "more than it should be?" In what ways?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really funny. I'm sorry to see that the series didn't get better from it's original book. I completely agree with all of your points about Akata Witch and how Akata Warrior wouldn't be relatable to us "young-ins."
ReplyDeleteThis is so funny and very true. No one talks like that, it is so Cringe when Older people try to use Generation Z language. This blog post was really great and I laughed the whole time I was reading.
ReplyDeleteReally though, no one texts like that! usually I'll just shorten "though" to "tho" or something like that, but no shortens their words THAT MUCH. I find it really amusing how Gen Z is often portrayed in books and TV shows like in Akata Warrior, but at that point, just let us represent ourselves. Speaking of your writing itself, I love how lifelike you sound, since as great as it is to read stuff that has words that no one really uses, I like how it sounds so real, like I'm actually talking to you
ReplyDeleteThe book slander is absolute gold. I agree with Akata Witch having a lot of potential as a story, like you said, it could've been a fabulous concept. However, the way the story is told just really makes you want to chuck the book at the nearest wall.
ReplyDeleteThis post is SO FUNNY!! Your way of writing casually and a bit dramatically (but in the best way possible) intrigued me from the beginning and didn't let me go. I found your last two sentences of paragraph 2 and very last sentence particularly hilarious. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is hilarious! I remember back in ELA last year when we used to tease Always Witch for it's faults, but this is on another scale! Great work!
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