Akata Warrior + Hugo YA ballot

Akata Warrior, Nnedi Okorafor. Unfortunately I think I liked this less well than the first one. There were some really vivid images and gripping moments but the whole thing didn't quite hang together for me as a story. It just felt random what Okorafor was going to throw in there next, which isn't my favorite kind of narrative structure. And I don't really like any of the cast besides the protag, and there's nominally a romance but I didn't feel the chemistry. I don't know, the Nigerian culture angle continues to be sort of interesting, but right now I'm thinking I won't read the next one unless it ends up on a ballot. (It also continues to *totally* be Nigerian Harry Potter and there are *so many comparisons* you could make, although knowing Okorafor is grumpy about that comparison sucks some of the fun out of it. But it's not like that makes me stop seeing it.)

I have now read all six novels, so I'll leave a little space, and then make some predictions and talk about my ballot ranking behind a cut.

Space!

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