Read 2: June 18th, 2021
In many ways, I feel the same about Binti as I did the first time I read it. I found Binti to be a strong protagonist, but the story overall was let down by its overly fast plot and impenetrable worldbuilding. I also found Okorafor's writing, and especially her dialogue, to veer into stilted and jarring more often than I would like.

What lets Binti down the most upon reread, and why I dropped my rating, is that my increased exposure to adult science fiction and has given me the ability to compare Binti and, unfortunately, it doesn't sit as high in my regard as other works I've read in the years since my initial read.

Read 1: April 7th, 2018
3.5 stars

Binti was a solid start to what I feel will be a solid trilogy but Nnedi Okorafor still has some kinks to work out for this series to really work for me.

Let’s start with what I liked. I loved our protagonist Binti; she was a fascinating character and seeing her come to terms with the fact that she was defying her entire culture was extremely well written. I especially loved how Binti's love of mathematics was portrayed, seeing her pure unfiltered joy in meeting people who are as in love with math as she was added a lot of depth to her character because it showed us why she was so willing to leave her entire world.

I really loved the setting of this book, I felt the fusion of Himba culture with a sci-fi setting was done very well in my opinion. We explored Binti's relationship with her culture, and Okorafor really emphasized the importance of Binti's culture to her.

I felt Binti’s pain when her otjize ran out.

I loved the emphasis on Binti remaining true to herself and who she was as a Himba.

What I would have liked more of was a clearer explanation of the sci-fi elements mentioned throughout the story—especially the astrolabe, edan, and the Third Fish spaceship. I really don't understand what these items really look like or how they functioned so I spent a significant amount of time confused about the world.

This novella definitely needed to be longer. It felt as if we pressed past a lot of setup and didn’t give the audience enough time to get their bearings and really settle into the world before a fast-paced plot took off.

There is a jump between when Binti arrives on the ship and when everyone dies. It would have been nice to flesh out Binti's newfound friends to get a better understanding of the Khoush and to get more emotionally attached to these people before they die.

The weakest element in this book is the Meduse. I still don't understand their motives or why they hate humans to the extent that they do. Binti's friendship with Okwu is extremely rushed. I don't understand why they're friends or why Binti’s relationship with the Meduse developed the way it did.

They are called people of "Honor" but I don't understand what's honourable about murdering a shipful of innocents.

Binti is a good setup for an expansive and entertaining sci-fi series and I loved a lot of things about this first novella but I feel its fatal flaw is the fact that it is a novella.