Akata Witch Response

Before I begin with the questions, I want to note that this is the first story we've read so far that I really, REALLY enjoyed! It was simple to understand and the characters and plot were so interesting and fun! It reminds me of the superhero movies of today as well as their inspiration: epic tales of old. And bare in mind, I'm a terrible reader (ironic because I want to be a writer). I read really slow, I lose attention because of all the texts, etc. But like I said, this story was crystal clear and very interesting. Fantasy is DEFINITELY the genre for me.

Now onto the questions. When I think "witches" I think of exactly what's on the page: the Wicked Witch of the West. I understand basic witches having a common appearance like her and having some basic magical abilities. But the witches in this story are completely different. They have magical powers but the ways they use them are vastly different than just potions and wands. And the kinds of "spells" they have at their disposal is seemingly endless. The finest example I can think of is Orlu's ability to undo any juju. That's such an interesting and unique ability and not many worlds have that kind of spell.

So now let's talk about Sunny and Chichi. I can sense some kinds of MCU Captain Marvel-esque "feminist" traits in Sunny, but overall my impression of her was that she was a normal human being. In other words her feminism wasn't very in-your-face. Chichi on the other hand, her feminist traits were VERY upfront. Not in a bad way though! I found Chichi to be hilarious. But her constant "I'm better than you" attitude is one of her defining features. That's the thing I hate about feminist personality traits in characters. Why does it have to be shoved in our faces all the time? If more characters were like Sunny, I think we could have really compelling female leads.

The only thing I would change about the story though is the villain, or more specifically how often he shows up in the story. We hear all of these bad things that Black Hat is doing to these kids and we never actually witness it firsthand. He sounds like a really compelling villain, so why save him for just the end of the story? It makes the payoff seem a little weak because of how little the conflict actually impacts Sunny in particular. It was really badass how she just fearlessly struts up to Ekwensu and stops her, somehow, but to me it felt a little underwhelming. I just wished that the kids would've had at least one encounter with Black Hat before the final battle is all.