Review:: Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor

In Binti: Home, it’s been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University. A year since Binti was declared a hero for uniting two warring planets. A year since she found friendship in the unlikeliest of places.

And now she must return home to her people, with her friend Okwu by her side, to face her family and face her elders.

But Okwu will be the first of his race to set foot on Earth in over a hundred years, and the first ever to come in peace.

After generations of conflict can human and Meduse ever learn to truly live in harmony?

I reviewed the first novella in this series, Binti, earlier. I suggest reading that book first, because I don’t want to spoil you!

It’s the end of the semester, and Binti wants to go home – and take Okwu with her. They get passes and prepare to go home, only to be put on the exact same ship that brought them to Oomza Uni.

If you remember, Binti’s last space journey was way more eventful than it should have been, and that has repercussions. Binti is struggling with PTSD related to the journey – panic attacks and flashbacks are shown most often. She mentions that she’s been participating in therapy, and that it’s been helping, and she works through her PTSD throughout the novel.

I wanted to punch every single person in Binti’s family, even her father, despite the tent he made for Okwu to be comfortable. They had to do a lot of changing to be comfortable with who Binti became after leaving them – herself. It’s the same problem so many of my friends see after leaving our small town and growing into themselves.

“One of you finally somehow grows beyond your cultural cage and you try to chop her stem. Fascinating.”

I loved the new part of Binti’s family though. I won’t tell you anything about that because spoilers, but I think you’ll like them. Home was the perfect successor for Binti, and I think readers will enjoy it just as much as they’ll need the third and final book to come out. I was left needing to know more about what happens near the end of the book, and what Binti will do.

Nnedi Okorafor really knows how to suck us all into a story, no matter how long it is, and Home was exactly what I needed it to be. I can’t wait for book three! This was a five star read for me, no questions asked. You can pick up a copy through Amazon, Indiebound, or your other favorite booksellers!

Nnedi Okorafor’s books include Lagoon (a British Science Fiction Association Award finalist for Best Novel), Who Fears Death (a World Fantasy Award winner for Best Novel), Kabu Kabu (a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book for Fall 2013), Akata Witch (an Amazon.com Best Book of the Year), Zahrah the Windseeker (winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature), and The Shadow Speaker (a CBS Parallax Award winner). Her adult novel The Book of Phoenix (prequel to Who Fears Death) was released in May 2015; the New York Times called it a “triumph”.

Nnedi holds a PhD in literature/creative writing and is an associate professor at the University at Buffalo, New York (SUNY). She splits her time between Buffalo and Chicago with her daughter Anyaugo and family. Learn more about Nnedi at Nnedi.com.

Disclaimer: All links to Indiebound and Amazon are affiliate links, which means that if you buy through those links, I will make a small amount of money off of it.

One thought on “Review:: Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor

  1. Ooh, it’s so good to hear that Home is a worthy successor to Binti. I need to reread Binti and then jump into Home to get a long and seamless reading experience. I’ really interested to see more of her family after her initial adventure!

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