Thank you to Net-Galley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will start out by saying that the Nigerian and Nigerian-American setting and culture within this book are seriously relieving to read for all of us who have been so inundated with Western ideas and literature. Okorafor’s works are always excellent in that regard and it’s something I enjoy every time.

We are treated to two stories within this novel, the main book being Zelu’s life and story and the secondary book being the Rusted Robot chapters. I found the ratio and timing of these two stories to be pretty well done, keeping me interested in both of them. I read this book quickly and think it had a lot to do with enjoying the jumps from one story to the other.

The Rusted Robot chapters are interesting but they read like a plot synopsis, not a novel. I felt pretty forgiving about that because I think to accomplish this type of book-within-a-book you either have to leave out huge chunks of plot or you have to leave out character exploration and world-building. I respect the choice to go with the plot and leave the excellence of the book up to the reader’s imagination, but I can also see how this could be an issue for a reader who doesn’t feel up to suspending quite so much disbelief.

A lot happens in Zelu’s portion of the book but I would like to focus on Zelu’s family. I experienced a lot of red herrings with Zelu’s family. I kept thinking their discouragement had to do with some scary information that was about to be revealed to the reader and then each time it turned out that they were just…being discouraging. It felt each time like a strange and unnecessary plot device rather than real character reactions. This was disappointing because at other times Zelu’s family was such a vibrant and complicated character unit! My favorite part of the book, hands down, were the chapters around (Spoiler!). That representation of the complexities of grief, family, and culture was the most beautiful and intuitive writing in the entire book. I love those chapters.

My main critique with Death of the Author is that it tries to do too much, even setting aside the Rusted Robot chapters. This is truest for me with the ending. So much gets thrown into the mix so quickly that I am actually not 100% sure that I understood what happened in the last 5 chapters. I re-read them to write a clearer review and still just feel confused. If anybody who’s finished the book wants to help me out here I would love to talk! I feel this book would have been a lot more solid with fewer twists and reveals because although I was interested in all of them (with perhaps the exception of the final Rusted Robot chapter) there was just no chance to properly explain or explore almost any of them. So many good ideas, just too many to cram into a single novel!

This story was very so interesting. There is two stories : One from the author and one from the robots. And both stories are amazing. The stories are complex and pull you in. Nnedi Okorafor way of writing is incredible.

My one 'bad' point, which is not the book but the marketing : it was recommended to me as science fiction, but I don't think it's the main genre at all. So adjust your expectation before going in. It's more literary fiction I think. But it's definitely worth a read.

Aunque he leído bastantes novelas de Nnedi Okorafor, creo que Death of the Author es la más redonda que me he encontrado hasta ahora entre ella, sobre todo por esos momentos meta en los que la protagonista es la autora de una novela de la que también podemos leer fragmentos en Death of the Author. Y, afortunadamente, la escritora de origen nigeriano consigue que estos saltos no sea nada confusos y aporten más sustancia a una novela ya de por sí inmersiva.


La protagonista de la historia es Zelu, una parapléjica autora de origen nigeriano a la que despiden de su trabajo y publica una novela de ciencia ficción que se convierte en un tremendo éxito de ventas a nivel internacional. Zelu tiene una personalidad poliédrica, con tantas facetas que es difícil llegar a conocerla. Por una parte, el accidente que la privó del uso de sus piernas hizo que su familia la protegiera mucho más, pero también se siente oprimida de vez en cuando por ese mismo amor. Por otra parte, la fama sin precedentes que le llega como una bomba inesperada cambiará su forma de relacionarse con el mundo.

En Death of the Author se pueden ver varias de las obsesiones e inquietudes de las que Nnedi hace gala a lo largo de toda su producción. La importancia de las raíces de una cultura a pesar de pertenecer a otra, cómo la discapacidad influye a todos los niveles en la vida de las personas, la importancia suprema de la familia y las relaciones interpersonales entre sus miembros… Todo esto y más se ve claramente reflejado en la obra, que abraza sin ambages la ciencia ficción tanto de futuro cercano con invenciones como exoesqueletos que permiten la movilidad a personas parapléjicas como la especulación más desaforada con un mundo post-humanidad dominado por los robots, sin dejar de lado la terapia genética. Pero todo esto sin olvidar por ejemplo los secuestros exprés, la importancia absoluta de las redes sociales y la reputación en el mundo actual o incluso las costumbres más ancestrales sobre los ritos funerarios. Una mezcla de tradición y absoluta vanguardia que te obliga a seguir leyendo para ver por dónde avanzará la trama.

Este es un libro que versa también sobre la creación literaria. Se puede escribir sin pensar en el público objetivo, pero una vez que un libro cae en otras manos ajenas a las que lo escribieron, entra en juego la interpretación de cada lector, que necesariamente no podrá ser la misma que la del autor. ¿Cómo influye esto en la vida de la novela? ¿Y en la del escritor? Son cuestiones muy profundas que Okorafor plantea, pero no necesariamente resuelve, dejando a la interpretación del lector el juicio final.

Una muestra extraordinaria del Africanfuturism definido por la propia autora.

After losing her job and facing rejection, Zelu wirtes a bold science fiction novel about androids and AI. As her life and story interwine, reality and fiction begin to blur, leading to unexpected changes and a journey of love, loss and fame.


I was really excited to get the arc for this novel but unfortunately I didnt enjoy it as much as I wanted.

Let me start with the good parts. Zelu is a Black, disabled protagonist, and I really valued the representation. It was insightful to explore her struggles and how she adapts to the world around her, while also celebrating Nigerian food and culture.

My main problem was that I didn't connect witht the main character and the pacing of the book was too slow. I also wish we got more of the "rusted robots" chapters, I really enjoy those parts.

Overall, there were some standout moments and I'm sure it would work for other people, but this wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one is less a scifi but a book that has a lot to say about what makes a scifi, both from readership and authorship perspective, but above all - this is a book inna book kind of a book. I somehow missed that from the blurbs, can you believe it? If I had seem this coming I would have been more prepared to spend so much time hopping between Zelu's life and Zelu's book. As it happens, I am not a fan of this trope, like, at all... In theory it's all fine and well, but I haven't read a novel that executes this to my liking in anything I read in the last ten years or so.

Having said that, it was an interesting read culturally and on a meta-level. I wasn't a fan of reading along for all the horrible things happening to the in-universe author, but enjoyed insights into her life that were underpinned by her background and life situation. For that alone, I am upping the score and rounding up 3.5 to a 4.

Interesting concept with the dual narratives and the potential near future sci-fi themes and social commentary are timely. Zelu and her family were compelling characters and I did enjoy the plot overall, just need to sit a bit on it, as weirdly not sure I liked the ending of either plotline. 3-4 stars

⭐⭐⭐ 3.5 / 5
This was a good book but if I'm being honest I was left feeling a little unsatisfied.

📖 Zelu life is upended when she is fired from her university job and her latest novel is rejected. Disabled, unemployed and from a nosy, high-achieving, judgmental family, she’s not sure what comes next.

She decides to write a book unlike her others; a sci fi about androids and AI after the extinction of humanity. And everything changes.

✨ Review ✨
This is a science fiction drama that arguably sits strongly in the literacy fiction genre. The science mainly sits in the book she has written which we get passages from throughout. Having said that the sci-fi elements do become more prominent as the book goes on.

There is so much the love about this and it has the makings to be something I should love but overall it just didn't hit for me. Starting with what I did love though and that's the concept, I think it's really interesting and it has something to say.

I also really enjoyed Zelu as a character and the disability representation was fantastic. Learning about her challenges and how she navigates the world and to see her be such a strong willed and unapologetically herself was the best thing about this book.

This is also a beautiful celebration of Nigerian culture and again I loved it for that.

The thing that didn't work for me is I think this book was doing to much. It goes into ableism, racism, cancel culture, patriarchy, dysfunctional family dynamics, death, grief, the use of AI, the publishing industry, motherhood, love and relationships, nationalism, social media culture, feminism, transphoba etc...

This book tries to tackle so many important issues that I found a lot of it lacking depth and in turn it didn't have the emotional impact a book like this should have. Everything it was saying was interesting but I kept wanting more from all these different threads and I was left feeling unsatisfied.

I still think this is a great book and I would highly recommend it, it was just missing something for me.

Nigerian speculative fiction author Nnedi Okorafor goes for something a little meta in her latest novel Death of the Author. On the outside the novel follows a woman who finds the double edged sword of fame through the publication of her first novel. But inside the book are excerpts from that novel and hints at the life experiences of the author that informed its plot and characters.
Zelu is at a low ebb when Death of the Author opens. A teacher of creative writing but with no publication to her name, Zelu finds herself losing her job and on the outer. But this setback (and some very powerful marijuana) puts her on course to write her magnum opus – a science fiction novel called Rusted Robots. Once published the book absolutely blows up and Zelu finds herself in the media spotlight. None of this impresses her Nigerian family who are never afraid to bring her down a peg.
Death of the Author is a brave mix of family drama, thinly veiled science fiction and the sort of skewering of the publishing industry that we have seen recently in books like RF Kuang’s Yellowface and Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot. Not all of these elements work as well as the others. In particular, the novel within a novel is fairly hackneyed and, other than its Nigerian setting, does nothing more than many other robopocalypse novels. It is hard to understand how this novel (which to be fair readers only get sections of) could ever spur the kind of global and cross-cultural adoration that Okorafor imagines. And in many ways this book as a whole would have been better if readers were just asked to imagine the novel within a novel.
There is plenty of thematic interest in Death of the Author. From an exploration of Zelu’s relationship with her family, to the broader cultural issues that sit behind that. But also an exploration of Zelu’s disability – Zelu has been in a wheelkchair since she was 12 - which due to her fame she gets to do something about. That something is a pair of robotic legs (even the framing story is a little sci-fi) which deepens Zelu’s connection with her fictional world.
I really wanted to like Death of the Author more but I found the whole to be less than the sum of its parts. While this may be a unique way of bringing those parts together, many of them have been done better elsewhere.

A fresh blend of sci-fi and litfic that majorly explores the theme of how writing is coloring by author experiences and how their books change them as well. I enjoyed the quick commentary on reading/publishing discourse and the unusual structure with intermittent interviews of the authors family made for an engaging read. A great ending but the middle lagged. An interesting book whose bulk will put some readers off.

After Zelu gets fired from her job and spending years trying to publish a novel, she gets struck by inspiration and writes a sci-fi novel, Rusted Robots, that launches her into stardom, with all its ups and downs.

Death of the Author is a wonderful genre-blending novel weaving three narratives : one following Zelu, another telling the story of Ankara (the robot protagonist of Rusted Robots) and finally interviews from Zelu’s close ones. If I had to think of one flaw in this book, it’s that the transitions between narratives isn’t always the smoothest, especially when spending a while with Zelu and then switching to her novel. But everything else was just incredible.

I loved Zelu as our protagonist, she was so fleshed out and complex, she felt like she could actually exist. I loved seeing her navigate her disability, her culture as a Nigerian American, her sudden rise to fame and her complicated relationship with her family. That last one was especially, I felt exasperated by them alongside her, but also sometimes comforted by their presence.

The worldbuilding was also great, whether the near-future technologies of Zelu’s narrative, or the post-apocalyptic Nigeria inhabited only by robots. Seeing the different tribes of robots and the conflicts brewing and exploding between them, but all the while seeing a developing friendship between opposing sides through Ankara and Ijele. And all that had to be said about storytelling !
Let’s not forget that ending ! I haven’t really parsed out my feelings about it, but it certainly changed my perspective around the entire novel and makes me really want to reread this book in the future taking that into account.

Now I just need to get to Okorafor’s other books, because I’ve definitely been missing out !

Thank you to NetGalley and Gollancz for the ARC copy.

The blurb made this sound an unusual and exciting story. The endorsement from George R R Martin, sold it to me. I was really hoping to find something new with this book, but, unfortunately it never grabbed me. The Sci-fi story-within-a-story wasn't particularly interesting. I liked Zelu, the main character, but couldn't relate to the rest of the family who were just a jumble of names.
The story of Zelu showed promise but the writing was clunky and seemed to be all over the place. I lost interest part way through.
This writer seems to have a lot of admirers for her work but this just wasn't for me.

Death of the Author is a novel in two parts. For the majority of the book, we follow Zelu, a Nigerian-American paraplegic author navigating her way through a series of chaotic life events. Interspersed throughout Zelu’s story are chapters from Ankara’s perspective in Rusted Robot, a post-human extinction novel where androids and AI have full autonomy.

This was my first Nnedi Okorafor novel, and I’m so excited to read more of her work. I often struggle with books that switch between two different stories, but my goodness, Okorafor truly pulled it off here. The back-and-forth structure of the novel perfectly enhanced the suspense, creating a sense of building toward an unknown but significant culmination.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Zelu, Ankara, and the rest of the cast of characters, both human and robot. Whilst the overarching story arc and the unique path to the ending were engaging, I found the pacing in the final quarter of the book slightly uneven, leaving me with a hint of dissatisfaction. However, I really appreciated having a fellow reader to discuss the events leading up to the conclusion. This book makes for a perfect buddy read or book club pick!

The novel’s greatest strength lies in the range and depth of the themes it explores. Through following Zelu and Ankara, we are invited to reflect on identity and ‘humanity’, particularly through the lens of Zelu’s disability and her newfound public recognition. The chapters from Rusted Robot and Zelu’s commentary on her writing process prompt thinking about the power and risks of AI in a rapidly evolving world. Additionally, the portrayal of Zelu’s family relationships encourages us as readers to consider family dynamics and individual identity within those connections.

Death of the Author offers a beautiful illustration of, and commentary on, the power of art, technology, and the human condition in an increasingly scary and uncertain world. I’m excited for more people to read it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Gollancz for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

TWs/CWs:
Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Blood

This was an interesting one, and in the best possible way. It's more about science fiction than it is science fiction in its own right, though it does contain substantial 'extracts' from Zelu's novel, which it switches to throughout. The book switches between interviews with Zelu's family, narration of her life and chapters of her book, Rusting Robots. They all give the sense of leading up to something, especially the interviews, leaving the reader to try to speculate what. I guessed entirely wrongly, and was pleasantly surprised to see what actually happened instead.

I loved Zelu as a character. She was stubborn to a fault, and I found it particularly interesting how the book explored how she responded to her status as a best-selling writer enabling her to open doors that she had previously believed closed for good. It was also fascinating to see how she handled the possibility and reality that some things would seemingly never be available to her, no matter how much technology advanced. A lot of the book was about Zelu and her autonomy - how she accessed it, how she lost it, and how she fought for it - which was so well laid out in the story that decisions I would never make myself made perfect sense within the story. Altogether, the way her character developed and changed, and how others changed around her, cemented this book as one with perhaps some of the best-written characters I've read in a while.

The science fiction aspect that did exist in the 'real world' part felt very grounded, as if it could very well be the reality of next year, or perhaps ten years down the line. It profoundly shaped the narrative, but also fit so well into it that it just made sense, with hardly the need to suspend one's disbelief. The book imagined the best of technology and, where modern innovation couldn't quite make the leap, it only seemed natural to imagine that technology had advanced a little further than previously thought. I really liked how technology was treated in the book, I think a lot of science fiction in modern-ish settings focus on the consequences of making sci-fi concepts a reality - this book explored the potential.

Overall, I am lacking the words to express anything much more profound than that I really, really liked this book. I don't have any good points of comparison for it, I can't tell you that if you liked a particular book or a particular subgenre then this will be your thing: Death of the Author is, I think, an entirely unique novel for which no comparison can do justice. If it sounds interesting to you, though, do check it out, it is well worth the read.

3.75 ⭐️

This book definitely felt like a mixture of literary fiction and sci-fi and I must admit I had a good time with this book. I managed to finish it very quickly (couldn’t sleep so read instead).
I enjoyed the writing in this. It was very well written.

That was a ride! All up and downs and turns made this book a great experience. this book really has it all and I am still thinking about it. It was such a great language experience to read it and I really liked the story within the story, the mix of the genres and the ending! It was such a great book giving many possibilities to learn, to think about and surprise oneself. I really liked the main characters, even though they are not always loveable and I sometimes couldn’t understand their behaviour. This book will certainly be one of the books of the year for me and I will recommend it everywhere.

Nnedi Okorafor’s latest release ‘Death of The Author’ is a deeply introspective novel that interrogates the complexities of professional authorship at the highest level in America, juxtaposed against an African-futurist and speculative novel set a post-apocalyptic Nigeria.

Initially, readers are introduced to Zelunjo Onyedele-, a Nigerian-American adjunct university professor and her large family of 5 siblings who come from a mixed Yoruba-Igbo background. Zelu is a layered character; disabled, abrasive, sensitive, difficult, detached, yet deeply curious and loving. Okorafor quickly sets out Zelunjo’s family dynamic - which was forever altered by an accident she had as a child that left her paralysed and a wheelchair user. Readers get a look into a westernised Nigerian family that despite its relative progressivist positioning, mimics the paternalistic and often abusive treatment of persons with disabilities.

It is Zelu’s physical and psychological isolation that enhances her unique point of view. Okorafor wonderfully explores how storytellers with disabilities ie the “othered”, can dare to fashion magical worlds beyond the limitations of society. ‘Rusted Robots’ features Ngozi The Last Human, a futuristic android Hume called Ankara, and a NoBody digital Ghost called Ijele. These characters navigate a world where each species is at war with another. Yet the three main characters create harmony and fine refuge amongst each other. These avatars embody Zelu’s wildest dream - a world without limit:

"Zelu opened her eyes and smiled. Fifteen minutes had flown by while she reread parts of her novel in her mind. The rusted robots in the story were a metaphor for wisdom, patina, acceptance, embracing that which was you, scars, pain, malfunctions, needed replacements, mistakes. What you were given. The finite. Rusted robots did not die in the way that humans did, but they celebrated mortality. Oh, she loved this story and how true it felt."

‘Death of The Author’ deftly switches between the two narratives, usually at points where the protagonist faces a particularly difficult emotional moment - of which there are many! ‘Rusted Robots’ quickly becomes an international best-seller. In a relatively short period of time the “runt of the litter”, is catapulted into global fame (infamy?) and immense wealth. While this is the realisation of Zelu’s wildest dreams, her life begins to unravel.

The immediate success of ‘Rusted Robots’ happens fairly early on in the narrative, the impact on the author’s life takes up the bulk of the story. This is where I felt in two minds about ‘The Death of The Author’. While the premise is intriguing the story feels over-crowded with events. It is in significant part a story about family - Zelu’s contentious relationship with her parents Secret and Omoshalewa, siblings and extended family. I found this repetitive after the fourth or fifth iteration of the same confrontation between characters. Whilst I appreciate this reflects tangible family dynamics, the cruelty and verbal abuse reigned on Zelu became boring. Yet, I must note that Okorafor’s focus on these relationship always had a pay-off.

There is a lot of high concept sci-fi allegory in ‘Death of The Author’! This at times felt jarring - the transition between real world vs book world did not always go smoothly for me. I do feel this was an intentional choice by Okorafor, which has an interesting pay off at the end. In my opinion, the main character simply had too much happening to them/going on. This set against the slow burn pay-off in ‘Rusted Robots’ left me alienated as I struggled to fully grasp the fictional storyline. It took me about 1/4 of the book to “get” what Okorafor was angling for. She does manage to deftly stick the landing with a beautiful tie-in between the two worlds. I was left wanting more of Rusted Robots, and less of Zelunjo’s reality.

‘Death of The Author’ has enough real-world grounding to entice readers outside of science-fiction and speculative fiction corners. Okorafor presents quite a stinging critique of the book industry, cultural erasure through commercialisation, distasteful American capitalism, and the prejudicial Nigerian mindset. Indeed, Okorafor takes a big swing with this one. Overall, an intriguing conceptual novel, I am sure it will incite deep and thoughtful conversations around the vast thematic scope Okorafor takes on.

This book is an absolute whirlwind, and I mean that in the best way. Okorafor doesn’t shy away from the big stuff: life, disability, culture, immigration, AI, and even the space race—all packed into a deeply personal story about what it means to create. Zelu’s struggles with her identity and her art feel so raw and real, and the snippets of Rusted Robots are like a story within a story that mirrors her journey. It’s ambitious without ever feeling overwhelming, full of sharp insights, quiet moments, and a few laugh-out-loud surprises. Now that I’m done with the ARC, I cannot wait for my stunning Goldsboro GSFF special edition to arrive!

Super interesting! I really enjoyed the interviews we got with Zelu's family, though like other readers I did expect this to be leading up to something major happening to Zelu. Loved Zelu so much even when she was doing insane things like calling people NPCs I was fascinated by her. I do think every book I've written that flashes between a main narrative and an acclaimed book never delivers on the acclaimed book part, which also happens here - I enjoyed it, but there was nothing about Rusted Robots that particularly stood out (though that does get a bit subverted towards the end). Also wasn't crazy about the twist ending but that was just the last few pages. I think where this book really shines is its portrayal of Zelu and her relationships with her own disability and with her family and how she has to navigate it all, as these were the bits that had me
the most hooked. A good time!

Thank you to Nnedi Okorafor, Gollancz, and NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley & Gollancz for the ARC. This novels feels to me like a marriage of literary fiction with (soft) science fiction. I was really impressed by the execution.

DotA was a thought-provoking and enraging experience, by which I mean that I was enraged on the protagonist Zelu's behalf. The ableism she has to navigate as a paraplegic woman—from the overt comments of being called 'crippled' to the infantilizing microaggressions from her own family—had me seething. When her debut sci-fi novel Rusted Robots propels her to intense overnight fame, every action Zel undertakes next is placed under scrutiny. She is no longer a PERSON with valid emotions and hopes & dreams, but a SYMBOL now representing the disabled community. Everything she does is being judged, and she's not even trusted by her loved ones to make sound decisions despite being a grown ass adult. DotA challenges the idea of a ~perfect~ representative of a marginalized group. Is it any wonder that Zelu bites back, that she might come across as "difficult"? This is HER life, and she's wrestling control of it. She might not necessarily be the most likeable protagonist, but she is interesting to me. The more I read of Zelu, the more empathy I have for her.

The novel alternates between three types of chapters: 1) Zelu's tumultuous life with her Nigerian-American family and the expectations forced on her, 2) interviews given by Zelu's family about her as the subject, and 3) excerpts of Rusted Robots, wherein we are introduced to that novel's plot and its main characters Ankara & Ijele. At first, I wasn't necessarily interested in the RR chapters, because I wanted to read about Zelu. But as the story unfolds, the plot of robots vs AIs grew on me and the resolution is nothing short of brilliant in my eyes. I grew to be invested in Ankara & Ijele as much as I am in Zelu. We're pretty much getting two compelling stories concurrently running in one book. And when you reach the finale, you GET it. You get why it is structured the way it is.

Two days later as I'm writing this review, I'm still thinking about that ending and what it means. It rewired me into seeing the entire novel in a new light.

Edit: Actually, now that it's been a few days that I've finished the book and talked about it with some people, I changed my mind - I'm upping my rating to full 5 stars. It took me some time and conversations for it to finally click, and that has given me a whole new appreciation for the genius of the book, and a whole new interpretation of the ending.

I also finally understand where the whole "blurring line between fiction and reality" comes from, and, yeah, I totally see that now!! And it's done masterfully.

I also found a new appreciation for the writing style - it changes completely between Zelu's chapters, the Rusted Robot chapters, and the interviews, and all of them are extremly skillfully written and engaging in their own right.

What a stunning book!

Original review: 4 stars.
I greatly enjoyed this, and I'm really glad I went into this knowing a lot of people consider it more lit fic than SciFi.
While it has some SciFi elements, I too do not really consider this a SciFi novel - but I generally really don't enjoy lit fic, so I hesitate to call it that. Contemporary fiction, then, I guess?

The book followed Zelu, a Nigerian-American aspiring writer who, one day down on her luck, starts writing a SciFi novel about robots on an earth past humanity. A SciFi book that, then, takes off and brings her fame and virality.

At the center of the plot is Zelu's rise to fame and how she deals with it, as well as her relationship with her big family. Zelu is a complicated character, who has complicated relationships, and a not straightforward history. And her story utterly captivated me!

The other part of the book is chapters of the book Zelu writes, Rusted Robots. I expected to like these parts, because hell yes, robots! But I just found them fine. I certainly didn't think they lived up to the hype they were getting Zelu in the book - I have to say, that almost broke my suspension of disbelief. Still, it was a lovely story.

The marketing of the book makes a big deal about the line between reality and fiction blurring... to be honest, I got none of that. I guess there were some vague similarities between the robot main character and Zelu? And at one point Zelu gets some cool tech to help her walk again (she's paraplegic), leading to people calling her "robot".

Mentioning the cool tech, the SciFi elements of the book (aside from Rusted Robots) were some cool tech things in the background, though they never get much of a focus. Even Rusted Robots, while about robots, was very grounded in humanity and ultimately about human problems and feelings, in my opinion.

A subplot I enjoyed was the one about Zelu as an author. It was not in detail, and almost certainly not a real depiction of how publishing works. In a way, it reminded me a bit of Yellowface, though it was way less focussed on the publishing and social media drama and #cancelling aspect of it all. That said, after hearing that there are some interesting parallel's between the author's life and Zelu's, it made me think of Yellowface even more.

I also enjoyed the glimpses into Nigerian culture, though I have no concept to compare it to or really judge its authenticty, and I hear there is some criticism for it out there.
The family drama was sometimes frustrating to read, but also felt very real, and I still enjoyed Zelu's big family greatly.

My biggest complaint was the ending - not because I hated it, but because there were plenty of retrospective interviews interspered in the book, where Zelu's family and friends talk about her life and fame from the future. In these interviews there are constant hints to a big event that I felt like the book was leading up to, hints to what happenes to Zelu... all of which lead nowhere. When I finished the book I thought I had somehow got a faulty copy that was missing a chapter. That left me feeling robbed and dissatisfied at the end, which is never a feeling I want to end a book on. It also left me very confused. What did it all mean??? I also felt like some of the events towards the end were directly contradictory to the hints given in the interview. So I am unsure what to think.

Overall I had a great time with the book, somewhat unexpectedly due to it not being nearly as SciF as advertized.