Otokoto’s name is mentioned multiple times in the course of the novel as an extremely powerful leopard person who is kidnapping and performing summoning rituals on children. He’s nothing more than a catalyst for the other main antagonist to be summoned and promptly defeated. Sunny isn’t the only one in this novel to not get any growth or character, one of the main antagonists, Black Hat Otokoto, is barely developed and has little to do with the novel. The progression and character growth in this novel are often put aside to take breaks to look at the world Sunny has found herself in which isn’t too imaginative at best. However, “Akata Witch” fails to deliver on the build up.
Now enters Sunny, who is built up as being a naturally powerful leopard person who’s destined for great things because of her grandmother and status as protagonist. Sunny’s grandmother was a very famous and powerful witch, or “leopard person” as the novel calls them, and is very respected among the community. The lack of spells and effectiveness of these spells are not what’s holding the novel’s protagonist back from being interesting, the problem is how much weight is put behind Sunny’s existence.
She learns how to turn invisible and how to summon her “spirit face” which is a physical embodiment of one’s spirit. In the entire novel, Sunny learns two spells. In the novel, you’re meant to feel as if Sunny, the protagonist, is some sort of ultimate being and panacea to all problems. “Akata Witch,” however, falls flat when tasked with world and character building. “Akata Witch” draws a lot of similarities with the “Harry Potter” series, they both are about witchcraft/wizardry and both revolve around a character who is thrown into a new and magical world that they don’t understand. “Akata Witch” attempts to fit themes of racial tension, witchcraft, and adolescence all into one novel, but how well is it executed? Each of these characters withhold these secrets from Sunny and she is forced to learn mostly by herself. Everyone around Sunny holds secrets her best friends, mother, grandmother, and other characters that Sunny meets in the novel. The novel is more than telling a slice-of-life story about growing up in Nigeria, Sunny has to confront the natural affinity for witchcraft that runs in her family while being thrust into a new and confusing world with little help from those around her. “Akata Witch” is a novel written by Nnedi Okorafor about a young woman named Sunny who lives in Nigeria.
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