2021 EDIT: 'Akata Witch''s flaws haven't gone away on rereading. If anything, they're exasperated in my perception. I was quite bored throughout, and I did not care about any of the characters. I felt disconnected from everyone and everything. The worldbuilding, how it's explained, and how the magic (juju) works - and what "free agents" are - are all flimsily written at best. There wasn't much happening, either, plot wise. I even say so in my old review: the story does meander elsewhere a lot, to the point where the overall world-saving plot seems like an afterthought. The ending is rushed, as a result. A few characters and side plots are not resolved or well-thought out.
'Akata Witch' lacks that energy - that spark - in the narrative that's needed in a YA fantasy novel, though I have no doubt that the author wrote it with full passion and research. It is interesting, in its setting, of a unique magical system primarily taking place in Nigeria.
But does the book switch from a third person perspective to a first person in a tiny paragraph once or twice? How did an editor miss that?
For its feminism, the young protagonist of 'Akata Witch', Sunny, is "not like other girls", and seems to hate all other girls, apart from Chichi. She thinks she is sometimes embarrassed to be female, because they titter, giggle and flirt. Arrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!
I deeply dislike the other characters blatantly keeping secrets from Sunny for no good reason. So that's one other cliché I hate that's added in this book.
While I was indifferent or irritated by the majority of the characters, I absolutely hated Sunny's abusive, misogynistic father.
Also, Sunny's blonde hair is said to be envied by many of her African peers in the first chapter... aside from how problematic that sounds, Sunny is presented as a despised outcast because she is albino in a Nigerian school and society, so why would they envy her anything that has to do with her "whiteness"? Or is it only to do with her hair length? It's very vague and unclear. That contradiction stayed with me throughout reading, with how little sense is makes.
And that white teacher in the same chapter needs to get fired, pronto.
Final Score: 3/5
Original Review:
I should criticize any book. I should talk about its flaws, fairly and with an open mind, of course, and discuss them.
But with 'Akata Witch', I don't want to.
I don't really want to thoroughly explain how, despite having a marvellously original backdrop and magic system, the story does meander elsewhere a lot, to the point where the overall world-saving plot seems like an afterthought. The ending is rushed, as a result. A few characters and side plots are not resolved or well-thought out. And the pacing is so fast! You could read this 350-page tome in one day: It flies like a wasp, stings like a wasp, and still it manages to take some time to show off its colours - the characters and setting - like a butterfly. The world building is quick but solid and hums a consistent rhythm like a dragonfly. That might be a disadvantage, however, since readers do need to take in more of the setting and the story in order to become fully immersed in the novel and believe in its magical world. And for a book with such a fast pace, not much happens story-wise.
'Akata Witch' is absorbing, but perhaps the sponge is too small for its own good.
You know what: I don't care. 'Akata Witch' is a triumph in its own right. I love the characters, the magic and how it works, the cultural teachings, the creativity, the spiritual elements, and that it is set entirely in Africa with an all-African cast (with a few African-Americans, as well). To call it "African 'Harry Potter" or "Nigerian 'Harry Potter'" would be patronizing and insulting, even though there are similarities. 'Akata Witch' is more character-driven than anything else, I find, and that is great, for I want to read about how these players I've come to care about are feeling and how they deal with the heavy, difficult obstacles in their life journeys.
The protagonist, Sunny Nwazue, is a twelve-year-old albino girl who was born in New York, and then her family moved back to Nigeria when she was nine. Her mother tries her best, her father ignores and abuses her for being a girl, and her two older brothers couldn't give less of a damn. She is bullied at school because of her skin colour - she is called "akata witch"; akata means "bush animal" - and she never tries to hide how much this angers her. She cannot stand ignorance. She's called a ghost, too, able to sneak up on people.
When Sunny makes two new friends, Orlu and Chichi, she is introduced to a world beyond her wildest imagination. A magical world inhabited by witches known as Leopard People, where non-magic folk are called Lambs (just one of the 'Harry Potter' connections to make here). Magic is performed using juju knives, plus inner spirit masks revealing a person's true self. Leopard currency is called chittim, appearing whenever a Leopard Person learns something new - an earned reward, kind of like in a video game, the more I think about it. A Hogsmeade parallel is called Leopard Knocks. There are deadly spirits (like the Masquerades), magic insects, football games, and a serial killer of children on the loose. Sunny is considered a "free agent", someone with mystical abilities without a clear Leopard bloodline (yeah, she's like a muggle-born, except she's not).
How powerful can Sunny be? Who is she, really? Will she ever find out for sure as her world and everything she ever knew is turned upside down overnight? What ominous secrets is everyone keeping from her?
Sunny is short-tempered, sarcastic, impatient and surly, and I love that about her. She isn't a pushover, or a passive bystander who reacts to the strange things around her with barely any emotional investment. She demands answers, gets justifiably annoyed at certain people, and calls them out on their deplorable actions. She isn't mean or uncaring, far from it, she just has had enough of putting up with a hard life in the normal world. Being a part of the secret Leopard society doesn't exactly make her dreams come true - there is as much prejudice there as anywhere else - but with a new purpose, she is happier, to a degree, and is surprisingly good at keeping on top of so many studies. A sports-girl with a love of classical music and ballet, curious, brave Sunny - unafraid to say what she thinks - is an admirable heroine.
The other female of Sunny's friendship group, Chichi of Nimm, is fantastic. She's a powerful, cocky, impulsive, book-loving witch who lives with her mother in a mud hut, and whose age is deliberately kept a secret throughout the whole novel. Chichi is always encouraging to Sunny, and they occasionally throw budding insults at each other; still a nice female friendship to read about in YA. The two boys, Orlu Ezulike and Sasha Jackson, are okay. Orlu is the level-headed healer of the team, a subversion of traditional fantasy tropes where the kind healer is usually female.
The teachers in 'Akata Witch' are absolutely horrible, it's almost funny. They are so callous in their priority to keep their child students safe from danger, because the world is much bigger than them, so a few casualties and deaths aren't a big loss, apparently. Sugar Cream, the female head mentor and Dumbledore of the book, is probably a better example, though.
(In the beginning there is a racist white teacher in Sunny's Lamb school, who is implied to favour Sunny not just because of her good grades but because she's albino, so the lack of decent authority figures isn't limited to the Leopard world.)
In 'Akata Witch', gender norms are questioned and challenged - Sunny is excellent at football (sorry, I mean soccer, as Americans call it), and an entire chapter is dedicated to showing her skills in a game full of boys.
Like I said, I love this world and its cultural roots. The story may not be anything special, but the rest of it deserves much more attention. The characters feel like real, breathing people, the world building is top-notch for the narrative's quick pace, themes of racism and classism are highlighted, and the magic system is presented as having clear rules, with age restrictions, advantages, disadvantages, and dangers.
'Akata Witch', and the more mature 'Americanah', are two books so far this year that have taught me more and more about African cultures, with authentic voices rarely heard in the West. Own voices matter. Experience matters.
There is true magic to be discovered in 'Akata Witch', in more ways than one.
Final Score: 4/5
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