Death of the Author (Standard Edition)

The intricate weaving of the stories create such a perfectly imperfect imbalance that they send the reader's mind spinning in new yet familiar directions. There were some familial plot points that didn't jive for me, but I assume it's an aspect of the immigrant experience and their children's that I simply have not experienced, which allows me to explore even more perspectives. Above all the grace granted the protagonist WITH her flaws was truly cleansing.

Beautiful book to match the beautifully written story. Love Nnedi's story writing, loved reading a longer novel by her. Loved both sides of the story - Zelu's story as well as the robots story. And the ending was perfection.

I've been a fan of Nnedi Okafor but she outdid herself with this one. So many layers that can be learned and discussed in this book. I believe the audience may have intended to be young adults, but this old guy (54 years old) learned a lot and loved the book! Nnedi, Nnedi, Nnedi! This Author is So Wonderful! Please Keep Writing! Like the character in the book, producing back to back best sellers may not always be easy or possible, but this one was another hit!

This is a very clever story, beautifully written with powerful themes on what it means to be human and the future of humanity. I wanted to give it 5 stars because I really loved Zelu's story, but not so much the story of the robots. I get what the author was trying to say, but the robot story was just not as compelling as the human story.Overall, I loved the book. Zelu is such a complex character, and the author's portrayal of her story, the family dynamics and how she comes to fully embrace herself is incredible and a joy to read. I found the chapters on the Rusted Robots storyline interesting but they really slowed down the pace of the book for me. I found myself breezing through them to get back to Zelu's story.

This novel is really clever and thoughtful. The ending is a jarring but it was earned. This also being two novels in one is also really interesting but they are both equally important and they have a symbiotic purpose. Zelu as a character is really interesting and unconventional and I appreciated. I am left with some questions now that I’ve read the ending, but I’ll definitely reread this someday to get clarity on what I missed the first time.