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A review by bluejayreads
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
5.0
Trigger Warnings: Blood, death, stingers, being stung, mild body horror
This book (the entire Binti trilogy, actually) is April's book club pick, so I checked this out from the library without really looking at it too closely. It surprised and delighted me with how great it is.
For as short as this book is, the worldbuilding is fantastic, but it's integrated so seamlessly into the story that I can't even discuss it as a separate thing. Himba culture is essential to who Binti is, and it's also essential to the plot, so you learn about it as it makes sense.
As someone who is largely disconnected from their family and doesn't have any cultural practices that aren't the dominant cultural practices of my area, I loved seeing how important Binti's cultural practices were to her. (And I'll admit, they were also unique and seemed exotic to me, and therefore interesting.) Despite going against Himba tradition and her family's wishes to go to Oomza Uni, Binti's cultural practices made her feel comfortable and safe and connected. She also has strong mathematical talents, which is what got her accepted to Oomza in the first place. Even though she's so different from me, though, her emotions came off the page realistically and she was great.
The story in this book takes place on the ship transporting Binti from Earth to Oomza Uni. The ship is attacked by Meduse, and she has to figure out how to survive the alien attacks. Obviously she does, since there's two more books in the series, but it's how she survives that makes it great. You will not guess how she does it, and it's not because she has any special heroicness or fighting skills - she has very real emotions and limitations and is just making the best choices she can in a very bad situation. I adored the uniqueness of it and I adored how real it felt, despite being a book about aliens.
The only bit that didn't really make sense was the math. Binti is a "harmonizer," which I think is some sort of math genius with a side of math meditation that's a little magic? I don't understand it very well, but I'm hoping it will be explained more in the next book.
I am definitely planning on reading the rest of the series. This book was great and if the next two are anything like this one, I'll enjoy them immensely.
This book (the entire Binti trilogy, actually) is April's book club pick, so I checked this out from the library without really looking at it too closely. It surprised and delighted me with how great it is.
For as short as this book is, the worldbuilding is fantastic, but it's integrated so seamlessly into the story that I can't even discuss it as a separate thing. Himba culture is essential to who Binti is, and it's also essential to the plot, so you learn about it as it makes sense.
As someone who is largely disconnected from their family and doesn't have any cultural practices that aren't the dominant cultural practices of my area, I loved seeing how important Binti's cultural practices were to her. (And I'll admit, they were also unique and seemed exotic to me, and therefore interesting.) Despite going against Himba tradition and her family's wishes to go to Oomza Uni, Binti's cultural practices made her feel comfortable and safe and connected. She also has strong mathematical talents, which is what got her accepted to Oomza in the first place. Even though she's so different from me, though, her emotions came off the page realistically and she was great.
The story in this book takes place on the ship transporting Binti from Earth to Oomza Uni. The ship is attacked by Meduse, and she has to figure out how to survive the alien attacks. Obviously she does, since there's two more books in the series, but it's how she survives that makes it great. You will not guess how she does it, and it's not because she has any special heroicness or fighting skills - she has very real emotions and limitations and is just making the best choices she can in a very bad situation. I adored the uniqueness of it and I adored how real it felt, despite being a book about aliens.
The only bit that didn't really make sense was the math. Binti is a "harmonizer," which I think is some sort of math genius with a side of math meditation that's a little magic? I don't understand it very well, but I'm hoping it will be explained more in the next book.
I am definitely planning on reading the rest of the series. This book was great and if the next two are anything like this one, I'll enjoy them immensely.