One Way Witch

While I read the first novella She Who Knows last year, I made the mistake of not reading the companion story Who Fears Death in anticipation of this one. One Way Witch follows the protagonist from She Who Knows but occurs after the events of Who Fears Death and there is a fair bit lost in translation if you skip that one.

There is a massive time jump between the first novella and this one, and Najeeba and the world we discovered in the previous novella have both changed drastically. Najeeba has lost the optimism of youth, and in her middle-age she deals a lot with trauma and survivor's guilt, grief over a life once lived and people once loved. In this way, it can be a hard book to read but I could actively feel Najeeba's determination to direct her grief and her anger, her desire to change the world is palpable.

This isn't my favourite in the series but I still enjoyed it. The world-building and social commentary that Okorafor manages to cram into these novellas is incredible as always.