Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor - Book Report #249

Right from the start, I was put off by the aliens. I can’t help it; I am instantly bored when I’m confronted with space-jellyfish that breath clouds of gas out their transparent domes.  Then there all the strange words to learn, that take me out of the story, before the plot can move on.

But, since I enjoyed the first book, I forced my way through all that exposition. 

Throughout the book I found myself pushing through it.  I was never taken by the story because, well, there wasn't one.  Binti is lovely and ultimately misunderstood, resented and mistrusted. 

Honestly, I don’t actually know why the author chose SF to tell this story.  It’s a story of a person wanting more from her life than tradition allows. 

Although I prefer stories about people being people, I have no patience for bigotry and unending self-doubt.  I like it when they are trying to accomplish something.  This navel-gazing and emotional hand-wringing that comes from keeping people in their “place” really makes me weary and angry. 

I want to see us overcome but, for 162 pages, nothing actually happened

On and on and on and on, Binti struggled with her self-identity and prejudice, her own and from others.  Obviously, Okorafor has something to say, I just wish she could have said it in the context of a story, with a plot.

I am so disappointed in this book since I was taken by the first one.

Nnedi Okorafor's website - http://nnedi.com/

Nnedi Okorafor