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popthebutterfly 's review for:

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
5.0

Disclaimer: I bought this book! Support your authors! All opinions are my own.

Book: Akata Witch

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Book Series: Akata Witch Book 1

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Nigerian characters, Black albino main character

Recommended For...: ownvoice, magic, murder mystery, finding your hidden power

Publication Date: April 14, 2011

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 14+ (gore, violence, sexism, slight emotional abuse TW, sexual mentions, teen pregnancy mention)

Publisher: Viking Children’s

Pages: 349

Synopsis: Akata Witch transports the reader to a magical place where nothing is quite as it seems. Born in New York, but living in Aba, Nigeria, twelve-year old Sunny is understandably a little lost. She is albino and thus, incredibly sensitive to the sun. All Sunny wants to do is be able to play football and get through another day of school without being bullied. But once she befriends Orlu and Chichi, Sunny is plunged in to the world of the Leopard People, where your worst defect becomes your greatest asset. Together, Sunny, Orlu, Chichi and Sasha form the youngest ever Oha Coven. Their mission is to track down Black Hat Otokoto, the man responsible for kidnapping and maiming children. Will Sunny be able to overcome the killer with powers stronger than her own, or will the future she saw in the flames become reality?

Review: Oh my goodness I loved this book so much! This book was an amazing ownvoices novel with a very unique magic system. I loved the character development and I loved seeing Chichi and Sunny’s friendship grow, along with Sasha and Orlu as well! I loved the world building and I thought this was the strongest part of the book. The pacing was right on key and the plot kept me intrigued from start to finish.

The only issues I had was the pacing, which was a bit rushed in the middle of the book, and that the fighting scenes were a bit hard to follow along with. The book could have easily slowed down, added 200 pages to explain a bit more about what was going on, and I would have consumed it all the same.

Verdict: A well done book! Highly recommend!