fungivibes's reviews
1644 reviews

Beautifully atmospheric and dream-like. The plot is quite thin and the ending isn't really earned or foreshadowed. The character work on the other hand is amazing, very real and flawed. Very much a character study of three sisters                                         

Listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator Andi Arndt was great, she really nailed the tone and sounded exactly how I imagined Anna to. 
The descriptions of the Italian landscape was lush and immersive. The characters all felt well rounded and fleshed out. The first half of the novel is a tense Gothic story filled with mysteries and family drama. However once everything moves back to America the plot loses all steam and direction. The plot is really muddy and indistinct and things seem to happen just to happen.

Like what was the point in the family killing Chase and then just forgetting about it or Anna sleeping with and killing her ex.

There is no real cohesion of thought and I really have no idea what the author was trying to say. 

A great horror story about the dangers of postpartum depression and lack of support for new mothers.  Fast-paced action which manages to keep the tense atmosphere through out. This definitely reads more like a screen play than a novel and would probably work much better as a movie. I don't think the hippo tusk subplot was needed nor was it particularly well executed. I just don't understand the point of it and it seem to have no relevance or impact on the plot or themes of the story.  

As always Okorafor's writing is superb, fleshed out and real characters with fantastic world building in the Rusted Robots sections. I feel like it was marketed a bit wrong because I was definitely expecting a sci-fi novel but this reads more like a contemporary novel with a few technological advancements. I find that I'm usually disappointed when it comes to stories within stories so, was very pleasantly surprised to really enjoy the Rusted Robots story line.

I did really enjoy the ending where it is left ambiguous whether its actually just the plotline of Rusted Robots and that Zelu inserted herself in the story or that its actually the future first story written but a robot who loves humanity. Though the idea that Zelu's story would be enough to convince the Ghost to start loving humans is a big stretch.

I didn't really engage with Zelu's storyline, I found it really slow with nothing going on besides melodrama. None of the characters were particularly likeable which is fine but they were also very boring and the same basic plot point was repeated through just shifted to the left each time. 

Personally the best part of the novel was Okorafor's very obvious passion for storytelling, autonomy, Nigeria culture, and all types of relationships. This really shows through her dedication to display these topics through out and gives them the nuances they deserve.