Section 1: Urban Fantasy Books Similar to Akata Witch
Section 2: Most Powerful Themes Represented in Akata Witch
Section 3: What I Did Not Like about Akata Witch
First, several scenes mirrored the Harry Potter universe. It makes sense that young magic users would go through similar steps — getting their magic tools, learning, etc. — but for me, it diminished some of those scenes in Okorafor's book.
I also felt that the book streamlined the magical progression of some of these young characters. The story mentions them learning from books, but in the story, their use of magic is mostly survival-based or to show off to others. In the end, these characters can somehow conquer the big bad, and it seems more out of luck than using learned and honed skills. For a book that promotes the pursuit of knowledge, it felt like a disconnect. You can argue that their power was given to them by other means, but it just felt like a big jump in what you saw them capable of doing versus how things ended.