Akata Witch

Really enjoyed this book. Got about halfway through before I realized this was by the author of the Binti books, which I also enjoyed. Much fun drawing on a Nigerian cultural perspective, gives a rich backstory and details which seem both well worn and familiar and yet entirely new to me, someone ignorant of Nigerian culture.

I was less enamored with yet-another-Harry-Potter story, it's like every young adult book has to be "teenagers learn they have special powers, band together to fight evil". To be fair, that's a trope much older than Rowling. What I liked was the spin on this one, though, where the stakes are high and serious from the very beginning. Students die in the Leopard culture and that's just a reality. Punishments for mistakes are severe. There's no coddling. It's a little creepy but it's also kind of refreshing. Again, I appreciate the novelty if nothing else.