The Monday Must

Title: Zahrah the Windseeker
Author: Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Genre: Young adult, fiction, fantasy
Series: Contemporary
Website: www.nnedi.com
Yay or Nay: Yay!
Movie adaptation: No, but someone should start that project, stat. 
​Rating: 4 stars out of 5. It checks almost every box a glorious book needs to.

Synopsis: Zahrah is 'Dada'. She's different. In more ways than one. Zahrah has vines flowing through her hair. And though she'd rather not be at the centre of attention, her hair has a different agenda. In a society where almost everything comes with an attached stigma, especially the Forbidden Greeny Jungle, Zahrah strives to blend in. But when the very thing that sets her apart pushes her on a road she wouldn't have dared travel, she has no option but to keep walking, despite the obstacles. And what she discovers is extra-ordinary...

​Review: I didn't expect to really like this book when I first started it. But, oh, boy, this book had everything a good novel could possibly need. It was STUNNING. It was peppered with surprising moments and Nnedi Okorafor's writing style did wonders. Great plot + great writing style? It's a TREASURE. It was marvellous reading about all the wondrous little creatures of Okorafor's mind and laughing and frowning at their actions. It was even more marvellous to go through the same emotions Zahrah experienced and read about decisions and reactions. And then make decisions myself. One of them being, 'I will forever try to stay far, FAR away from situations like this'. But, oh, there are so many more hidden gems in this book. And I shall proceed to go over each one.
To make things easier, (for you and me. I'm a jumble of words. A mess.) here's every time this book made me gasp, jump or yell, in a summary.

Pros:

• ​The characters were oh-so-unique. They were all different. If there isn't at least one you can relate to, my brain will explode due to surprise.
• The character development was amazing. Zahrah starts off timid and set on blending in but becomes brave and accepting of herself. #SelfDiscovery.
• The world building was out of this world. Heh, geddit? Out of this worl- oh, alright, I'll stop. The world was a marriage of nature and man-made. HOW CLEVER, AM I RIGHT? To take two aspects of the world that are polar opposites and couldn't be more so and fuse them together is genius.
• The writing style was bea-u-ti-ful. Nnedi Okorafor engrosses the reader by taking them on a journey with Zahrah. We discover things as she does and the senses used to describe made the most unusual situations believable.

Cons:

• ​Or just 'con'. I found only one teeny, tiny drawback. And it was the fact that each chapter started abruptly.

​If one ended just before a pivotal event, the next one would pick up after said event was done and dusted. Not only was it 'wait, what' kind of abrupt, but it seemed like such a lost opportunity for extra bits of glorious storytelling. Fantasy books are stressful to read. It's one turning point after another and they seem to grab every possible opportunity for an extra plot twist. So the missing chunks of story between chapters was unprecedented. 

The nail biting factor typical fantasy books usually use was definitely there, but wasn't as strong as it would've been in fantasy novels. However, I admit I found it to be a refreshing change. I stress over books A LOT. So much it's probably not at all healthy. So, the fact that I didn't, yet got enough suspense to satiate my little bookish gremlin was PERFECT.

An adventurous and delightful read.
4/5 stars.

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Happy reading!