Thank you so much, @Netgalley and @William Morrow for my advance copy of Death of an Author!
Sci-fi is not for everyone, and it can be hard to dabble in the genre particularly because so many science fiction books are part of a series. The perfect standalone sci-fi choice for me is also one that feels literary, with richer themes and character development. Turns out I met this perfect fit with Death of the Author. Beautiful inside and out, this novel is written from three perspectives: the novelist's, as she writes her own sci-fi book; her friends and family; and a robot character in the novelist's book. The story is brilliant, a total pageturner, and has thinking about it long after reading. On top of it all, although this is no thriller, there is a twist. Made me gasp out loud! Can't wait to read more of her work.

What can I even say about this book? It’s so difficult to put into words how much I loved and needed this novel.

Death of the Author is the story of Zelu, a disabled Nigerian American woman who uses a new low point in her life as an opportunity to focus on her writing. Her efforts result in a sci-fi book, “Rusted Robots”, based in a future world inhabited by robots. The book is an immediate success. But the overwhelming pressure of her newfound fame soon begins to take a toll on Zelu as she tries to navigate the new possibilities and risks her work attracts.

Alternating between Zelu’s story (literary fiction) and Rusted Robots (sci-fi), Nnedi Okorafor weaves a beautiful tale that touches on the concepts of community and identity. The characters and their relationships were all complex and unique. Zelu most of all was complicated and mesy, horrible, but wonderful. I loved her no matter how frustrated I was with her and the same goes for her family and the robots.

I cannot say enough good things about Death of the Author. I took my time to savor this book and was heartbroken that it had to end. I continue to think about the importance stories play in our community and family structures and the way those communities then shape our sense of self.

This will almost undoubtedly be my favorite book of 2025.

*Thank you Nnedi Okorafor, William Morrow, and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this novel in exchange for honest review.*

This is one I picked up and put down multiple times. You have to be in a mood for this pacing as it really is 2 books in one. When I finally got into it is is really a good story and well thought out. I ended up really enjoying this one.

I absolutely LOVED the story within the story. I think that it added just the right amount of layers to give more understanding to our main character.

I cannot adequately summarize the plot of this one, but you should know it’s a genre-bending novel that contains various themes like AI, family dynamics, storytelling, creativity, ableism, and more. I enjoyed the ride and was impressed by the author’s ability to tell such a far-reaching story and keep it entertaining and propulsive. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital arc!

This book BLEW MY MIND. I actually am having trouble figuring out how to write a review without 1) spoiling and 2) not making sense. Okorafor wrote the heck out of this book. It's confusing and convoluted while being so immersive that you just keep going. It says things about ableism and disability that I think will challenge people's thinking around accessibility and choice. It is a fun ride with a lot of twists and turns and messy family that will make you scream. And the end? I am still speechless. This is a must read.

I tried my best but I DNFed at 22%. Considering how many good reviews I’ve seen from others, I may consider it in the future (possibly in the fall or winter as a cold day might be the right mood for this book) but right now I couldn’t stay interested in the story. The author’s writing was great but the plot wasn’t for me.

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor is one of those books that leaves you feeling super excited even after you’ve finished it. From start to finish, this novel is an absolute thrill ride with a premise so unique that it immediately sets itself apart from anything I’ve read recently.

The concept is pure genius. The way Okorafor plays with the idea of authorship, identity, and storytelling itself is fascinating. The premise explores the power dynamics between creators and the worlds they build, diving deep into the question of who owns a story once it’s written. This isn’t just a narrative about characters and events—it’s a philosophical exploration of the act of creation, and it’s so refreshing. There’s an eerie, almost surreal energy to the way the author twists expectations and keeps you on the edge of your seat as the story unfolds.

The author's writing has this magnetic quality that pulls you in, and you find yourself eager to know what will happen next, even as the boundaries between reality and fiction begin to blur. The pacing is perfect, keeping you hooked without feeling rushed, and the way tension builds throughout the story is great. It’s the kind of book that makes you think.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars! This book BLEW ME AWAY. There's so many layers in this novel; the author did such a good job integrating everything together. This is an amazing book that highlights the pros and cons of AI. The dealing with trauma, the family obligations and dynamics. The sharing and education on Nigerian culture; I truly learned a lot from this novel. The characters are INSANELY complex and well written. Told from the POV of a Nigerian American paraplegic, who is also an author, and how her life is surrounding her disability, how she grows and heals. This was just an all around amazing book. The only reason it's not 5 stars is it did have some dragging moments that probably could've been omitted in my opinion, but that was the only issue I had while reading this. I love love LOVED this and can't wait to read more by this author!

This book is so expertly written. The story within the story paralleled the main character's life and brought important themes into focus. I loved all the talk about food! Will probably reread this one soon. Thank you to William Morrow for the arc. All opinions are my own.

[3.5 stars]
I shared in the Preview that I was hoping this book would break me out of the sameness of my end of 2024 reading and it definitely accomplished that even though I didn’t love it.
Zelu’s life is written in more of a Lit Fic style and then there’s a “book within a book” - which is the blockbuster book that Zelu wrote and this is the highly Sci-Fi section.
I enjoyed parts of it and appreciated its message.
I enjoyed the Literary Fiction part of the book (i.e. the parts that were NOT the book within a book). It’s a bit of a family drama (which Okorafor said is highly autobiographical) - Zelu has a huge Nigerian family who have LOTS of opinions about her life. Some of this was maddening, but it definitely gave me a window into a family structure and dynamics I’m not used to. Also deals with the benefits and pitfalls of fame.
I found the AI elements of the Lit Fic part of the book AND how inhospitable Nigeria is for people with disabilities really interesting. Both of these are things I wasn’t aware of before reading this book.
Zelu is an interesting character - she vacillates between highly dislikable and someone you want to root for. Ultimately, I was rooting for her and was proud of her bravery.
There is a heart-warming message of love and the power of stories that I appreciated.
Finally, I THINK I understood the ending and, if understood correctly, I highly appreciated its creativity.
But, there were also multiple things that didn’t work well for me.
I almost DNF’d within the first 20% (I was bored), but I got more into the story around 30% and decided to keep going.
Hated how the book within a book kept pulling me out of Zelu’s story. And, this is usually a pitfall of this literary device for me.
The book within the book is Rusted Robots, Zelu’s blockbuster novel. There was too much world building for a book within a book…I had no idea what was going on in this world for a bit. Even by the end, I was still unclear on what certain types of characters were and the dynamics of who was fighting who. Too often made for tedious reading.
Also felt much of the book within a book could’ve been edited out.
Saw on GR that some of Okorafor’s Sci-Fi fans liked the book within the book, but not the Lit Fic part. So, I wonder if this book will not fully appeal to Lit Fic lovers OR Sci-Fi lovers.
I’ve seen some 5 star reviews from our Patreon Community and a couple more that are more in line with mine - more hit and miss.

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing, for this advanced reading copy! I loved this book so much that I brought a copy to reread it.

It’s an interesting storyline since it was a book instead of a book! Zelu is something, and that says a lot. When she was twelve, she fell out of a tree on her family’s property and lost her ability to walk. She has been bound to her wheelchair and has grown stagnant in her dreams and life. Her life changes when she gets fired from her teaching job while attending her sister’s wedding and begins writing her sci-fi novel, Rusted Robots. She is an overnight sensation, and her life takes off, but that does not mean obstacles aren’t in her way.

I loved that this book was chaotic but honest and authentic to life, family, traditions, and culture, especially a blended Nigerian American family like Zelu’s. I could not stand Zelu’s family, but I understood them. I understood their protectiveness over Zelu and their judgment of their sister. I understood their frustration in her life and how she made decisions. But I also understood and enjoyed Zelu’s journey. She was so stubborn, but it took time, love, and growth to get to who she was toward the end of the book. I loved the lessons in Rusted Robots. I laughed throughout this book because it reminded me of my visit to Nigeria. The airport scene and the scene in her family’s compound were like my time there visiting my husband’s family for the first time. I loved how she kept the culture true and didn’t hide the unpleasant moments like the kidnapping scene. Overall, I loved this book!

This book is an absolute marvel, and I already know it will be one of my top reads for 2025 even just a quarter of the way through the year. Nnedi Okorafor has the ability to write characters that feel so raw and alive that I wanted to gossip to my real-life friends about the antics of these characters as though they were our own neighbors. Zelu as the main character is a stand-out, and I appreciated so much seeing a disabled main character so lushly put on the page. Is she always likeable? No, but what human is? This is one of the best aspects of Okorafor's character-writing. She does not come across as scared to have her characters make decisions or have emotional reactions that readers can pick apart as unrealistic, or not the "correct" choice, but this is exactly what makes them feel so fascinating to me, because these types of choices are what the most interesting stories are made of!

As someone who doesn't usually connect with contemporary lit, but loves science-fiction, this was a lovely melding of the two genres. The setting brought the near-future scifi cultural evaluations to new heights, and kept the important impact of the themes of race issues, ableism, sexism, fame and social media, immigrant experience, and many more at the forefront. While science-fiction does often have political and social commentary littered throughout, at times the distant settings can also make these topics feel like distant issues, shadowed by the vagueness and unknowns of these created worlds. Instead, the contemporary setting kept these issues rooted into our current world and surroundings, keeping readers from being able to escape current relevancy of these issues. For folks who may feel like scifi is inaccessible to them, I think this could be a strong entry point into the genre to illustrate where this genre can really shine.

And as much as I loved Zelu and the contemporary portion of this book, the book-within-a-book story of the journey of the robots post human-apocalypse also captured my heart. At times feeling almost like a fable, the weaving together of these two stories until the very end was a beautiful journey. I have so many more thoughts on the overall structure based on things revealed in the final chapters, but to avoid spoilers I won't put them here. However, the ending of this story is one of the strongest I have encountered in years, and is what ultimately solidified this book as a 5-star read for me.

The main character here is Zelu. Her parents were born in Nigeria, but she and her siblings were born in America. This whole branch of the family now lives in Chicago. (I should say, also, that the “now” of this book has to be a few years in our own future, by my math.) Many of her siblings are successful in their careers, but we first meet Zelu as she gets fired from an adjunct professor job. But what she really wants to do is write!

Feeling like she’s hit rock bottom, she moves back in with her parents and starts writing something different from her other works, just for fun. The book within the book, “Rusted Robots,” takes place on Earth after humanity has died out. There are different kinds of robots and AI still roaming the planet, and they also have their own differences and feuds.

The book sells, and sells big. A major studio buys the movie rights. Suddenly, Zelu has money and fame. She’s finally able to take care of herself. Or so she insists… but her family still treats her like she needs their help and supervision.

One major theme in here is that Zelu has lost the use of her legs. This happened when she was 12, so it’s not new to her or her family. But of course, their insistence that she is helpless – because of her physical abilities, and her lack of a “real” job, and so on – persists. Old roles can be hard to break out of.

Zelu starts this story in a wheelchair, but her fame nets her an opportunity to get some “robot” legs. She wants the autonomy, but her family is focused on “what if it fails?” This is only one of many battles she faces with them.

Ideas of bodily autonomy are present in her work, as well. There are “Rusted Robot” chapters scattered within the book, so we see the parallels along the way.

This is a long, juicy journey, which spans about ten years of Zelu’s life… with her family, her fame, her learning a new way to walk, and so many other opportunities for both growth and making mistakes. The science fiction elements are present in the book within the book, but we spend more time in the nearer future of Chicago, with our human characters.

This book was such a unique, captivating read - it integrates literary fiction and science fiction so completely, mirroring Zelu's narrative with the excerpts that we get to see of <i>Rusted Robots</i>. While parts occasionally dragged a little bit, overall the whole story arc was extremely compelling, which is why I rated this four stars.

For me, it was also fascinating to get a glimpse into what clearly was a narrative near and dear to the author's experience. I really loved being able to watch Zelu explore and define what it means to be a disabled Nigerian-American woman and all of the joys and pains that go along with that identity. And the writing was superb; the author paints such a rich picture that it was easy to imagine being there in the scenes as they unfolded.

Lastly, I have to give a huge shoutout to the narrators of the audiobook. Narrators really make or break an audiobook for me, and the cast that performed Death of the Author was absolutely phenomenal.

I loved this book! I was not prepared for the ending! In true fashion, it was brilliantly written. I appreciated the light and respect shown to the main character, her different ability, and her courage. I was upset with her family for MOST of the book! We have to be careful that our care for our loved ones don’t turn into prisons!

I absolutely love Nnedi Okorafor, but this book transcends any of the previous books I have read by this author. Death of the Author is a game changer, not only for Okorafor, but for literature. The way the story weaves between the author and the story, addressing themes and ideas that are complex and deep, will have readers desperately wishing this book would never end.

I do not want to give away anything about this novel because reading it will change you.

One of my favorite reads this year, and it will stay in my favorite books for life.

Everyone should read this book!

Zelu is a complicated character dealing with professional rejection and a family that doesn't understand her. Paralyzed from the waist down since a childhood accident, she struggles to prove her worth in a world that condescends to her existence. At a very low point, she writes a novel that will completely change her life's trajectory, for good and bad.

Told through multiple viewpoints, we read Zelu's story, interspersed with selections from her philosophical science fiction novel about a post-human world populated by robots and AI. There are also interviews with those in Zelu's orbit. She's not the easiest character to love, but as the novel progresses, so does our understanding of her. The novel takes lots of zany turns, and as a reader, I was never sure what might happen next, but at its heart, I think the novel is an examination of what makes us human, what motivates and connects us to the world, and what role technology can play in that. Highly recommend!

I wanted to love this book. I've loved every single other book written by this author. I loved the premise and parts of the story. But I think I lost the point of it somewhere. At some point it felt like Zelu became less a person in her story and more an avatar. And maybe that was the point. But I got lost in there. She also felt whiny at times rather than fully empowered. And I realize that a whole person is supposed to be whiny, but it just added to the feeling of slight disconnect.

Again, the story and the premise were super interesting. I enjoyed the sci-fi aspects to what would be a family drama (African) story. But maybe this one wasn't my favorite of hers. But I would recommend every other one, so I will continue to keep reading Nnedi's books.

I’ve never read a Nnedi Okorafor book and didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into but I was so glad that I did. It starts off with Zelu spinning out of control. But I loved seeing Zulu’s rollercoaster journey after writing “Rusted Robots.” Having the snippets of that book throughout was giving the best of both worlds. Plus, I loved seeing the parallels between Zelu and Ankara. Zelu’s family got on my nerves so much! I’ just wanted them to be supportive of Zelu in every way. But the action at the end and then the twist… yeah I loved every minute of this and I have to check out Okorafor’s backlist as well!

Rounded up from 4.5 ⭐️