This is a fascinating look at life in a Nigerian town, and the use of the Ikenga, Nnamdi's father's ghost, and other magical elements make for an intriguing fantasy novel. I enjoyed that Chioma, Nnamdi's best friend, has some small connection to the magic because she touched the statue at some point. In the US, the police are considered to be above reproach in most instances, so it will be lightening to young readers to see a police force that is open to so much corruption, and a society where there are criminals on the loose. It was also good to see Nnamdi's grief over his father's death leading him to try to take his father's place in keeping his community and his mother safe.

Nnamdi is a 12 year old boy who is granted power, not unlike those of the superheros he reads about in comics, by an Ikenga. Nnamdi knows that this power will allow him to avenge his father's murder and save his beloved town from corruption. He must learn that rage and strength aren't enough to fix the injustice in the world.

It's a wonderful middle grade novel that I enjoyed listening to. The narrator does a wonderful job giving each character their own voice.

Ikenga is a great take on Marvel's The Hulk (even down to the soothing presences that make sure Hulk doesn't go too nuts) set in small-town Nigeria. I don't see it as a rip-off, though. I loved the interpretation of an established superhero character - which the book's main character, Nnamdi, idolises and wished he could be - within the context of Nigerian mythology and lore. Here, the hero isn't irrevocably altered and turned into a superhero, but he's rather given a sacred artifact that allows him to become "The Man" and kick bad guys' butts. What kid wouldn't love that?

While it was clear in many ways that this was a debut novel, Nnamdi and his friends provide the reader with enough depth and escapades to be entertained throughout, and I'm firmly convinced of author Okorafor's writing ability.

The only real let-down for me was the narration. I was so excited when I first heard Ben Onwukwe's Nigerian accent, as I'm a strong proponent of books being narrated in the way the characters were meant to speak. However, it soon began to grate more than entertain, for the mere fact that it sounded as if Onwukwe was concentrating so damn hard on nailing the accent that some of the necessary inflection (like to portray tension, a character's playfulness, sarcasm, etc.) just went straight out the door. In certain instances in the audiobook, he switches to a British accent, which actually sounds like the accent he's more comfortable with, and having that to compare it to just made the rest of the narration that much harder to get through. Basically, what I'm saying is keep the accent, but don't forgot to make sure the words come alive in their intended way too.

(3.5)
Nigerian Hulk!
Nnamdi's father was murdered.
Nnamdi has been given a magical Ikenga that grants him super powers. Can a 12 year old boy control these new found powers or will grief over take him causing him to avenge his father's death?
Thank you to #netgalley and #tantoraudio for the audiobook sent for review!

I really enjoyed reading this tale about Nnamdi. He has to deal with grief and rage, but also the superpower given to him by the ghost of his father. He makes some missteps but grows and learns to control himself better.

The narrator did a very good job; it was pleasant to listen to the audiobook.

I'm gonna come right out and say it: I wanted to like this story more than I did. At the start, it seemed very similar to other middle grade books like Pet and A Monster Calls, but the big difference was that, instead of an outside influence or monster, it is Nnamdi himself who changes.

Although, I suppose Nnamdi's father is an outside spirit. He's the one who gets the Ikenga to Nnamdi after all.

The thing is, Nnamdi's dad dies very early on in this book, and the whole book after that becomes the child trying to come to some kind of resolution about his feelings to do with that and also the corruption in general in the society he is in.

The Ikenga ends up turning him into some sort of superhero called The Man but it's really blurry as to whether this figure is a hero or a villain. Nnamdi definitely wants to be the hero, but the magic that changes him is shown to be unpredictable at times.

I felt as though the story was longer than it needed to be, and became more repetitive. This could be simply because there was just so much corruption that Nnamdi needed to work through before he could find a resolution, but the author didn't find ways to really separate the incidences in a way that worked for me. As a result, the second half of the book was a bit of a slog.

Thank you to @netgalley and @tantoraudio for a free copy of the audiobook of Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor in exchange for an honest review.

I actually had previously bought a physical copy of Ikenga to read for a middle grade book club I'm in. However, I've been so bad at reading physical books lately I decided to request an advanced copy of the audiobook. Ikenga originally came out August 18, 2020 but the audiobook didn't come out until February 2, 2021 (this month).

This probably isn't my favorite of Nnedi Okorafor's works but I definitely enjoyed it.

I felt like this book was more surface level than the author's other novels, both in character development and plot. However, it was still a fun ride and I would recommend it to middle grade readers, especially those that like superhero stories. As far as the narration does, the pace was very slow but was good if I turned the speed way up.

What I liked:
- I really enjoyed the superhero elements and can imagine middle-grade audiences connecting with that part of the story 
- I liked the relationship between Nnamdi and Chioma and thought they did a good job at showing a healthy friendship and how to say sorry/ understanding that it may take time for someone to accept an apology and that's ok
- I enjoyed the audiobook narrator/ performer a lot, his different voices and emotions brought the story to life

What didn't work for me:
- This is the second middle grade I pick up and have a hard time following as an audiobook. I think from now on, I won't read middle grade via audiobook (even though I don't think middle-grade audiobooks are for me, I stand by my comment that I really liked the narrator/ performer) 
- Not sure if this is due to the fact that I had a somewhat hard time following the story because it was audiobook format, but the pace of the book confused me because so much happened in the second half of the book/ the second half moved so quickly

Nnedi Okorafor is a master at creating characters and fascinating storylines.  This is her first middle grade book, and I thought it was an amazing addition to the superhero genre.  Nnamdi is a 12 year old boy dealing with the death of his father, who was the chief of police.  He is full of anger at the group of criminals that he feels is responsible for the murder, but feels helpless as a young boy.  One night Nnamdi is given a magical object that gives him a power that could help him avenge his father's death.  

I loved the themes that play out in this book.  It involves grief and dealing with the urge to seek justice or revenge for the death of a loved one.  Another main theme revolves around the powers that Nnamdi acquires and how when you have great strength it can easily be misused without clear thinking.  I also liked that this book took place in Nigeria and showed the culture of the area.  It is so important for books written for kids to revolve around cultures outside of the United States.

This middle-grade novel set in Nigeria covers some pretty heavy topics. Twelve-year-old Nnamdi is dealing with the murder of his father, who was the chief of police. Nnamdi is sad and misses his father, but he also wants justice. After a run-in with a mysterious man who presents a powerful gift, Nnamdi finds himself in a position to finally make a difference. But just because Nnamdi has power, it doesn’t mean he knows what to do with it. 

I’ve read both Akata Witch and Binti and enjoyed them both, so I was excited to dive into this new story. One thing I enjoy about Nnedi Okorafor’s books is that they expose me to cultures and worldviews that I am not familiar with, but they do so within a fantasy or sci-fi framework. Many of the characters say, do, think, or react in ways that are markedly different from my own experiences as a white middle-class American. I believe it’s important to see these differences on the page because they serve as a reminder that “different” doesn’t mean “wrong” or bad”.

I listened to this novel as an audiobook, which was narrated by Ben Onwukwe. He has a very rich, deep voice. Typically, I avoid narrator with deep voices because they are so soothing that I usually either zone out or fall asleep. However, for whatever reason, this particular narrator was able to keep me engaged in the story, for which I am grateful. The narration also fit the story well, since The Man is supposed to have a deep, powerful voice.

After reading Remote Control, I immediately fell in love with Okorafor's writing, so I was super excited to dive into Ikenga. That being said, I feel that this story was a miss for me,. I appreciated Nnamdi's story and his love for superheroes. I just wanted a bit more from this story in terms of both depth and world building. The audiobook narrator was really fantastic.

I really enjoyed this! Nnedi Okorafor has crafted a wonderfully vivid and poignant exploration of one young boy's desperation for justice over the murder of his father. Nnamdi has grown up with a love of comic book superheroes, his favourite being the Hulk, so it stands to reason that when his father, the police chief, is shot and killed, he will stop at nothing to find his killer. The mystery aspect of the narrative works really well, with plenty of red herrings and false steps that I found very enjoyable. For me, the best aspects of this story were the characters, all of whom were richly drawn and had great depth. I loved Nnamdi, with all of his flaws and I thought his growth through the story was wonderful. I also really loved the setting and thought that Okorafor captured the sights, sounds and smells of Kalaria beautifully. Overall, I found this to be a really beautiful and compelling story, wonderfully narrated and I would definitely recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

<i>arc provided to me by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

The audiobook narrator for this book did an absolutely incredible job! They really got me hooked into the story right away and made these characters and the settings come alive so wonderfully in my mind. I highly recommend checking out the audiobook version of this if you’re able to!

The actual story was great, I really enjoyed the main character and all of the struggles that he had to go through. I do wish this one had been a bit longer though. I felt like we didn’t get to see the full potential of Nnamdi and what he was capable of.

I still very much recommend this one though! Especially if you enjoy middle grade novels👀

3/5 ⭐️

TW: death of a parent, assault, blood, violence, kidnapping, gun violence.

Even though, I’m not the target audience, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator was excellent.. This book begins with a mystery a boy must solve using the supernatural. I thought this book tackled appropriate emotional expression for the age group as well as the complexities of people’s motives and intentions. It also explored people’s influence as well as the responsibilities of that influence. There are some mature themes in this book so I would stick to purchasing this book for children in middle grade. The themes may be too heavy for advanced readers of a younger age.

This was good fun, a nice story well told.

I found it a little frustrating that the heroes essentially used only superhuman brute force and guess work to solve the case - no deduction, critical thinking, accumulation of evidence. And the slow, deep-voiced narrator was an odd choice for a story told from the point of view of a 12 year old. 

But I was happy to look past these relatively minor issues, as the characters Nnamdi and (especially) Chuma were compelling, and the setting and plot were intriguing.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy for Ikenga's audiobook.

Ikenga is a fairly standard 'child discovers powers' story and it's narrator does an incredible job of delivering it. I felt like I was transported back to elementary school circle time. Some middle grade books have a pretty wide audience appeal, but this one just didn't have that impact on me which has nothing to do with the content or writing and everything to do with me being outside of the target demographic. This is still a wonderful read if you're looking for middle grade superheroes.

I enjoyed this middle grade book set in Nigeria.
I liked that Nnamdi is questioning if his new found abilities are good or not, but sometimes things came to him very easy while other times it took him very long to realize something.
I think the target audience of this book will enjoy it a lot.

I was unable to listen to the audiobook before it was archived unfortunately. I was so excited to it but I was only approved a day beforehand.

I don’t usually read middle grade fantasy novels but this one sounded so good .

I actually listened to the audiobook and I very much enjoyed it.

THIS IS A MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL SET IN NIGERIA, WITH GRIEF AS ONE OF THE MAIN THEMES. NNAMDI'S FATHER WAS MURDERD AND NNAMDI IS DETERMEND TO AVENGE HIS FATHER. AND AFTER A MYSTERIOUS MIDNIGHT MEETING HE FINDS HIMSELF WITH SOME SUPERPOWERS THAT WILL HELP HIM. OKORAFOR DOES NOT SHY AWAY FROM THE ANGER NNAMDI FEELS AFTER HIS FATHER'S DEATH, WHICH MAKES THIS AN ORIGINAL SUPERHERO MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL IN MY OPINION. I'M NOT THE TARGET AUDIENCE, AND IT DID'T TOTALLY GRIP ME, BUT I WOULD DEFINITLY RECCOMEND THIS. I LISTENED TO THE AUDIOBOOK THROUGH NETGALLEY, AND IT WAS REALLY WELL NARRATED. 3.5/5