Binti

"Listened to the audiobook. The narrator —Robin Miles— does such a good voice. This was a nice, quick listen for doing chores/stuff around the house or a commute.<br/><br/>Can’t say I was impressed much by the story though, it seemed very basic and formulaic, and not much actually happened with the character aside her leaving home which was a sacrifice because her people on her planet don’t ever leave.<br/>The author doesn’t describe how Binti can “harmonize people with numbers and equations” and didn’t show with the problem she faced of what that looks like. Because numbers didn’t help her, it was a tool that helped her instead…<br/>Just things like that didn’t make sense to me, didn’t feel like a strong, captivating plot.<br/><br/>"

"My first short story! Are they supposed to leave you wanting more? I liked it a lot. A lot of afrofuturism, culture, history, conflict, and hope for 90 pages. "

"Fantastic quick read"

"The world building is wonderfully written, not too overwhelming but learning something’s along the way. Binti is such a strong, inspiring, intelligent MC and cannot wait to learn more. Wish we had more time to see the relationship between the characters more, but excited to see her grow."

"A quick and wonderful #scifi #novella about a young girl on her way to a new planet, a new university, and a new life when the spaceship she's on is attacked by aliens."

"So surprising and unexpected! READ IT!!!!!!!"

"The novella is a quick, rewarding read. Like audio? Robin Miles does a fantastic job narrating this story."

"If I were a young adult, I’d probably have rated it higher. Reading it as a more seasoned person, however, some of the message was a bit too obvious for my taste. That being said, I enjoyed the character and the premise. I listened to an audiobook version of it and really liked the reader. I may do another in the series to see if character development makes it more compelling for me."

"I received this in a Tor giveaway. Thank you!<br/><br/>I wish I was smarter so I could write a better review of this book. Okorafor always makes me particularly aware that I lack of the vocabulary to discuss the themes relating to colonialism and race, and so I tend to sit back in wonder.<br/><br/>As it was, I saw some interesting implications in themes of colonialism, cultural theft, and the grace involved in intercultural communication and conflict resolution. As always, it's very different from what we're accustomed to reading. And as always, I'm so glad to get something so very different.<br/><br/>Binti, our protagonist, is a Himba, a people of Africa who are insular but revered for their ability to work with mathematics and harmonics. They wear a layer of oily mud instead of bathing with water, given the lack of fresh water in their community, and its orangey hue smells of flowers. She leaves her community and ventures to an off-world university, knowing that she will never be accepted home again once she has left. Her journey is full of adversity and wonder and the fear you encounter when you journey far away from home. And the story is also full of the wonder and talent she holds for mathematics, which are both an integral part of the story and a part of technology that one would never have conceptualized.<br/><br/>Either way, very cool, and I'm glad I got a chance to read something else from Okorafor's talent. :)"

"I’m reading the Daevabad trilogy and it’s great! "