I was let down a bit by this book. I didn’t really feel like there was much plot, especially with the end being what it was. It felt like all the growth that Nigeria was making just went out the window.

I just felt confused and bored through most of this book. Before I read it, I saw this book compared to The Hate you Give and Monday’s Not Coming. After reading it, it just didn’t compare in my opinion which added to my letdown.

Nigeria Jones is a thought-provoking and complex read that explores the journey of Nigeria, a teen caught between her father's beliefs and her own desires for independence. The story is filled with history, highlighting Nigeria's deep connection to her heritage and the challenges she faces in navigating her identity.

Nigeria is raised by her father in a Black separatist group called the Movement. When her mother disappears, Nigeria's world is turned upside down and she is left adrift. She takes on more responsibilities as she attends the private Quaker school her mother wanted her to attend against her father's wishes, and she starts to question her upbringing. As she searches for her mother, Nigeria uncovers truths that challenge her understanding of her father's ideals, her family, and her identity.

What stood out to me was the lack of a clear-cut villain or "bad guy" in this story. The characters exhibit human flaws, some acting out of ignorance while others remain silent when they should speak up. I think it's worth noting that her father is not the villain, nor should he be viewed as one. He is radical, outspoken, and does what he believes is best for The Movement and his family (though sometimes is not the most beneficial) Nigeria's internal conflict and her growth throughout the story were particularly very moving. I loved witnessing her navigate her aspirations, despite the uncertainty of reaching them.

The writing is thought-provoking, filled with layers of depth and nuance, which I really love. The exploration of Nigeria's identity as a Black woman in a society that seeks to separate the two identities is masterfully executed, and I can tell from the way each page is infused with emotion, passion, resilience, and strength,that they were written with great care.

The book tackles a multitude of important topics, including race, discrimination, brutality, white supremacy, the patriarchy, while never losing sight of its core message. The story had a lot to do with the choices that people make. Nigeria wanted to break free of her father's reign over her life; she knew the risks, but she did it anyway. I love how beautifully written it is, with the way it deals with love, grief, healing, family and reconciliation.

The twist at the end, I sorta saw coming, but when it was revealed my heart broke for Nigeria. At the same time though, I realized that at its core, it's what made Nigeria break away from The Movement to find her own path in order to grow stronger. (I realize this doesn't make much sense, but you'll have to read the book to find out)

This was a great read that made me challenge my own thoughts and beliefs. I learned so much. I'm glad I got to read this as it's my first book from Ibi Zoboi and I can't wait to check out their other books! :)

I'm a longtime fan of Ibi Zoboi, so I was excited to get to this new one. It's a bit high on the angsty teenager-ness for me, but of course YA sometimes treads that line. I got totally wrapped up in Nigeria's story and loved her evolution through the book.

This was a new voice for me and I enjoyed reading about Nigeria and her childhood. I liked that Zoboi didn't vilify Jones' father or the Black love interest. I enjoyed hearing the advantages and the disadvantages of growing up in her home-new perspective.

My only issue was that it was a bit too long.

#Netgalleyarc This book was a good read, it just took me a little while to get into it. Once I did get hooked, I was hooked. A great parallel to things happening in our real world, the characters were well written and developed and easy to relate to. A definite must read.

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi is an enlightening and inspiring coming of age YA novel. Focuses on the deep issues of what's it means to be Black and American and related to identity. Nigeria Jones is the daughter of a noted Black revolutionary separatist leader discovering who she is in the world. Her father is against institutions run by society such as all schools and hospitals.

I knew that this would be a hard review to write. This book is beautifully written, but trying to make sure I have accurately described or talked about all the layers in this book is going to be so hard. I don’t want to leave anything out because doing so I feel like would be a disservice.

Ok so first off, let’s talk about the characters. I LOVED Nigeria. This story is a coming of age novel for her, but also a coming to terms novel for her. She has been raised by her father who is lives life by the Black Panther Movement. She’s been taught by him the way of life, but as she gets older she begins to see things differently. She wants to go to school, she sees that there are people out there that don’t like her for whatever reason, but there are also some out there that want to help in some ways. What I found frustrating was the fact that she didn’t give anyone a chance to mess up and then fix it. Which of course I get because as a Black person, it could mean your life. But I did feel like she was given grace, from everyone because of her grief. Why couldn’t she afford that same thing to everyone else? But I did feel like her journey was an interesting one and I really enjoyed reading it and seeing how she lived.

On the other side of that, I liked experiencing the way she saw things differently for the first time. It was really interesting to see how things that she thought she knew started crumbling. I loved being able to watch her coming into her own. It’s just something powerful about watching as people grow up and learn.

The grief in this book was palpable tho. I remember at first getting so mad that her father did this to her and then put her in this situation with her mom. I remember thinking she was dead wrong. But as the book goes on I knew where it was going. But I didn’t know the depth behind it. Just because you know, you don’t really know. I felt so sad for her. I wanted nothing more than to hug her once I figured it out. But being there and watching her uncover all the things and then realizing what actually happened? That was torture. That poor girl! I hate that she had to relive that all over again. And with those new details that no one should have to hear. Especially since she couldn’t help at all.

This book is so layered. There’s devastation and heart ache and loss and love and learning and Blackness. So many things that a Black woman needs to learn and grow. Some of them I hated that she had to learn, especially so young, but I was thankful that after a while her community gave her the space to do so. I thought it was important that she learned to be her own person and I was glad to see that she never completely lost who she was or what her father taught her. She just used it in a different way and gave some people grace. And while I understand that’s not a thing she HAD to do, she figured that out on her own terms, and that’s all that I would ask. Let her grow and become her own person, not some robot that someone has made her.

I hope I did this book justice. This review is long af, but I had to make sure I included everything in there. I’m still almost positive I forgot something. This book is like an onion, but it is completely worth it to peel back layer after layer. I understand this novel might not be for everyone (the dad and his brainwashing behavior and the info about her mother) but if that’s something you’re ok with, I say give this a shot!

It took me a while to get into Nigeria Jones and even then I feel like not much happened. I figured out the ending regarding her mom pretty early on. This one I really needed to push myself to finish cause I just wasn't invested,

Once again, Ibi Zoboi gives readers exactly what we did not know we needed. Readers meet Nigeria Sankofa (nee Jones) and her life in the Movement, a Black nationalist organization and plan structured similarly to the Black Panther Party. (This movement is more modern, obviously.) As the story unfolds, Nigeria begins to question everything she's learned from her father, the leader of the Movement. However, she also struggles with her mom leaving her to care for her baby brother (in addition to her own responsibilities).

When Nigeria finds out about her mother's wishes for her to attend a Quaker school, all hell breaks loose in Nigeria's life. She's forced to make a decision of whether she is ready to find her own "freedom" or remain under the thumb and scrutiny of her father. (Let me say... Zoboi did her thing with this character development! I'm not a fan of Keith/Kofi... and my brother's name is Keith.) The ending left me slightly confused, but I highly recommend this book to others, especially those familiar with revolutionaries. I will definitely have a copy for my classroom library!

What a powerful story about a girl dealing with finding herself outside of familial expectations as well as confront patriarchy, racism, and extremism.

Nigeria Jones is a beautiful introspective character focused novel, Ibi Zoboi’s stunning writing style means I have no problem just falling into story and then need to keep reading just one more chapter before I put it down. I loved the portrayal of self discovery , questioning beliefs and starting your journey, creating your own family/tribe. The grief covered in the story was handled so sensitively, this is a beautiful coming of age story and that ending, well it’s something special

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I like Ibi Zoboi's writing. This one is definitely a lot heavier than previous texts. It's an interesting book but due to the nature of it I didn't personally find it as enjoyable. The way it's structured it pretty fascinating though so I was impressed with that.

This book was definitely different from what I was expecting. Yes there are parts about the Movement, white supremacy, racism, etc., but really this book is about Nigeria finding herself amongst all of that.

Nigeria's dad sees everything in such black and white, Nigeria even is schooled at home since he really limits what she can do. She eventually really spreads her wings by going to school, making new friends, and dealing with her mom being gone. She finds her roots so much more once she isn't kept so much in a box. This book highlights struggles and triumphs in one package.

Thank you to Harper Collins Children's and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

Nigeria Jones has been raised to be her father's Warrior Princess in his fight against racism. Nigeria's father is the head of a black separatist movement, and Nigeria has been raised to support his cause and his beliefs without question. However, in the last year, Nigeria's mom has left and she has started to wonder if she knows all there is to know about life outside her father's circle of influence.
While Nigeria tries learn more about her mother's disappearance and when she might be returning, she also learns that her mother's plans for Nigeria's future might go against all that her father stands for.

Layers on layers on layers DEEP!

I was intrigued about Ibi Zoboi's, Nigeria, when the cover art was revealed. Not to mention that it hit on so many parameters for me: young adult novel, coming of age story, an exploration of race and feminism, and all in the same space of a complicated family structure.

Nigeria is not your typical teenager from Philly. She is a warrior princess, at least according to her father, who is the leader of a Black separatist group called the Movement. Since birth, she has been raised to cultivate a true understanding of cultural and race relations. She is vegan and homeschooled and never questions much until her mother leaves the Movement and a footprint of freedom pursued behind.

When Nigeria's mother disappears, we see Nigeria begin to call to question EVERYTHING. From her father's choices and declarations within the Movement to her mother's desire to send her to a private Quaker school away from him, Nigeria is thrown into a spin of a rollercoaster ride when she decides to pursue her mother's goal of freedom and expansion beyond the Movement. It's really wonderful to witness her on a journey to self-discovery and also in doing so, creating her own spaces and lanes to navigate from.

This is a beautifully written story and it's nice to imagine what is ahead for Nigeria Jones. Without revealing too much, one issue with the novel's plot point that I have is that it took nearly the entire book to reveal the largest secret of them all and as a result the tone of the book was affected towards the end.

Ibi Zoboi shared the thought provoking story of Nigeria Jones. Nigeria is a teenager who is on a quest of gaining understanding of how to navigate in this society as Black female, in a racist and sexist world. The novel is striking and keeps the reader engaged throughout.

"School was not just about learning new things and being told how smart I already am. It was about these friends and their ideas and questions that force me to unshackle my mind, one chain link at a time.”

Sankofa: (pronounced SAHN-koh-fah) is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve” (literally “go back and get”; san – to return; ko – to go; fa – to fetch, to seek and take).

Nigeria Sankofa Jones is the daughter of King Kofi Sankofa, a black nationalist, revolutionary freedom fighter, and founder of the Movement, whose mission is to divest from oppressive systems. Nigeria’s father being a separatist meant that all of her formative education was facilitated in their home called the Village House and she was never exposed to other races/ethnicities. While this is a coming of age story, this story is so much more than just a black girl’s coming of age.

This story is very thought-provoking as we watch Nigeria navigate the world she knows only in black and white, and eventually learn to navigate the world she has been sheltered from. Her Mother has disappeared and Nigeria is doing her best to find out why her Mother left the Movement, and piece together the things her Mother was working on before her abrupt departure. One of those things is ensuring that Nigeria attends the private Quaker school that she was accepted into due to her scholastic achievements. Her Father was vehemently opposed to her going to this institution, and Nigeria has to make a decision about the future she sees for herself outside of her Father’s movement. She has to decide between fighting for the movement that she learns has marginalized her, her Mother, and other women and fighting to be truly liberated and free from the burden of carrying the torch for her father and the entire race. The time spent in this school founded by white men who she was raised to view as the enemy will be the catalyst for Nigeria’s liberation and healing. Oftentimes, the questions we pose in life are more important than the answers. On her liberation journey, Nigeria learned to be more inquisitive and ask the questions that alluded her when she lived in the Village House.

This book lets us witness the beauty of a young woman learning how to accept her intersectionality, to own her selfhood, speak truth to power, and learn to take up space while demanding the things she wants for herself and her livelihood. This book is also sprinkled with so many historical facts about the city it’s set in (Philadelphia), important black historical events like the Haitian revolution, and pays homage to our ancestors who paved the way for us. It also illustrates the dangers of extremism even while highlighting the benefits of separatist movements.

I loved loved loved this book and I highly recommend it. This was my first read by this author but not the last for sure!

Nigeria Jones story covers grief, raw emotions and self-discovery. At times the content upset me but it still a good book to read. I appreciate being approved to read this arc.

Another beautifully written book by Ibi Zoboi! NIGERIA JONES is so textured and layered, especially as Nigeria begins to question her world and what she has been taught. It's a great example of perspective: how parents can create it for kids (especially if they are homeschooled) and how challenging--and fulfilling--it can be when teens begin to explore beyond that. What a great experience to experience the world through Nigeria's eyes.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book I’ve read by the author and it was a powerful and moving coming-of-age story of teenager, Nigeria Jones. It was beautifully written, layered with grief, angst, confusion and so much more.

Highly recommended.