Well, this book ages really, really poorly. Some spoilers below. It reads exactly like the time it was written (1989): “progressive” enough to include, at least superficially, a cast of characters including a same-sex couple and people of color in mixed-race relationships, as well as treatment of the AIDS epidemic and drug abuse that leans more sympathetic than condemning. However, it’s not exactly “woke” enough to avoid stumbling into some major Don’t Do That’s. Weetzie, pixie bohemian darling protagonist, is signified as being creative and […]
Better than the Potter comparison
I read this book because I started following Dr. Okorafor on Twitter a few years ago. I don’t remember exactly what made me decide to follow her but I do know that part of it was due to my desire to avoid insularity. That and I’d heard great things about her books. I’ve already read the first two novellas in her Binti series; the third won a Hugo Award this year! Akata Witch, if I were to grossly over simplify, is a different take on […]
Do all monsters need to be killed?
In the sequel to Strange the Dreamer, Sarai and Lazlo are left with little to hold onto but their love for one another. The great citadel in the sky had almost fallen, and with it went a blue skinned girl. Facing off against Minya, the little girl god that holds Sarai’s very being in her hands, Lazlo must make a choice. Save her or the entirety of Weep down below them. But Minya is not their only foe. Entwined with the story of Lazlo and […]
Octothorp and the restoration of memory
Look at em, y’all. They’re fetuses. But then again, so was I the last time I read these books. Hoping to re-read the series before CBR10 closes, book two of the Harry Potter series marking my “throwback” square. Kind of glad I’m re-reading these now, as I intended to read them to the octolet as bedtime stories in a couple years (he’s not quite two right now), as I remembered how the series does such a good job maturing at the same pace as it’s […]