Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi
Publication date: February 7, 2023

Date read: July 30, 2023



Eat. Dance. Fight. This is the life of the girls who compete in the Isle’s elite, all-female fighting sport of Bowing. But it isn’t really Dirt’s life anymore. At sixteen, she is old and has retired from competition. Instead, she spends her days coaching the younger sisters of the Mud Fam and dreading her fast-approaching birthday, when she’ll have to leave her sisters to fulfill whatever destiny the Gods choose for her. Dirt’s young sisters are coming along nicely, and the Mud Fam is sure to win the upcoming South God Bow tournament, which is the tiny Fam needs the new recruits that come with victory. Then an attack from a powerful rival leaves the Mud without their top Bower, and Dirt is the only one who can compete in the tournament. But Dirt is old, out of shape, and afraid. She has never wanted to be a leader. Victory seems impossible—yet defeat would mean the end of her beloved Fam. And no way is Dirt going to let that happen.

I found this book difficult to get into at first. It throws the reader into a world with no context as to why it is the way it is, and the language - while English - is inflected in a way that does not flow very well at first when reading it on the page. (I think that this book would actually work really well as an audiobook, and I'm kind of sad that I didn't read it in that format).

The setting is also very different from our world, but not in an apocalyptic way - just in an almost ancient tribal fashion. The Fams - Mud, Vine, Creek, Sand, and Rock - as well as those who don't fight in the tournaments, like the Butterfly girls and Flagga boys, all seem a normal way of life for them even though they don't resemble anything about our own. Because we were just thrown in to this world, it did feel a little odd for me at first, but it eventually begins to seem normal within the context of the story.

I really loved that this society revolved around fighting in a way almost similar to Japanese Sumo - fights are performed for pride, honor, and ritual, and the most respect in each Fam is given to the best and oldest fighter. Also, only females can be fighters, and the word "fat" is used as a complement - almost an honorific - and only the fattest fighters were capable of being the best. It's a very unique way of looking at things and I think a really interesting world for teen girls to read about.

This is not a book that I would recommend to everyone, simply because the world-building and unique speech patterns make for a difficult book to get into, but I think it's a really good story that teen girls especially would like. Plus, there is enough violence and fighting to interest some teen boys as well.

Rating: 4 stars

Content warning: graphic injury/spinal injury

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Daughters of Oduma is a great coming-of-age book with well-written characters and found family that many readers will relate to and find comfort in.

Daughters of Oduma is a new coming of age young adult story. It is filled with well depicted characters and unique world building that kept me turning pages. The premise involves a found family of girls known as the Mud Family as they prepare for the South God Bow tournament. When their top girl gets hurt during the preliminary rounds of the competition, it is up to one of the older girls to win it all.

This oldest girl is Dirt, and she is almost seventeen years old. This means she is nearly too old to be competition in the first place. When her birthday arrives, it will be her responsibility to leave her sisters, and find her destiny from the Gods. Until then, it becomes her responsibility to defend her family unit, and train as hard as she can to become the winner of the South God Bow tournament.

Dirt was never meant to be the leader but now she has no choice. I enjoyed watching her figure out her new role within the community. Each of her sisters have their own personalities and desires and she tries to be supportive of all of them. She is a little judgmental though as she is used to things being a certain way in her community. The bonds that the sisters have play an important role in the foundation of the community and where things will go moving forward.

The world building in this story is just so good. I loved how the cultures were introduced and mixed together. It was such an interesting world with strong Black women being at the forefront. The idea of being "fat" means to be strong within the community and is a valued trait within the society. I enjoyed seeing the various points of view of each of the sisters, not just Dirt. Each of them were on their own journey which would ultimately make the community stronger.

Daughters of Oduma really felt like an introduction to the world of the South God Bow tournament and the communities who compete within it. There is a continuous thread of individuality and believing in yourself regardless of what you come up against. This is such a good theme especially in present day society where there is still a need for such a representation. I feel like there is so much potential for more stories where the sisters of Mud are able to grow and find their own pathways in society. Hopefully, this becomes a reality!

Daughters of Oduma appealed to me immediately for two reasons: I love the concept of found families and girls working together, and I love me a good competition story! And I absolutely enjoyed those aspects of the book. I'll tell you that my only real qualm with the story as a whole was that it took me a bit to get into it, and I also had a hard time picturing what was actually going on during the Bowing.

That said, it absolutely delivered, especially on the found family concept, and the girls coming together for the greater good! Dirt will do basically anything to help her sisters, and that is one of the things that makes her such a likable and admirable character. There were times that she seemed a bit judgmental of other girls' choices, but there is certainly character growth that happens during the course of the book.

Anyway, there is no way you cannot cheer for Dirt, full stop. I wanted so badly for her, and her sisters, to have all the very best of life, however they ended up choosing it to look. And one of the best parts about this story for me is that the author really gives Dirt the chance to look inside herself, to find her own power, no matter what the world around her says.

A few more things I loved: the incredible cultures and world that the author built, the use of "fat" as a compliment/strength, and just women being multifaceted in general. Also, there will be more, as the author just announced!

Bottom Line: Loved Dirt and her sisters' journeys, as they showed that women can be warriors... or also not, because women should have choices. The whole narrative was fabulous.

Started off strong. The ending just fell flat for me. I believe the book could’ve been a bit shorter. It seems like it dragged. However very solid writing. Details were vivid.

I really loved this book! I was sucked in as soon as I started reading it and finished in one day! The author did an amazing job to keep the plot exciting and interesting. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends and family.