Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC for review. Wow! I loved this book so much!! Definitely might end up being one of my top 5 books of 2025! Science fiction with the tying in of the last human with robots as well as deeper themes of belonging and humanity and ableism vs disabled. I loved the back forth between what is real in the author’s life and what is in her story. I will definitely be reading this book again to capture more insights and intricate details of the storylines. I also need to read more from this author as I have heard wonderful things about their book Binti.

Nnedi Okorafor's Death of the Author is a thought-provoking exploration of connection, autonomy, and the ripple effects of choice. The narrative weaves together two compelling storylines: Zelu, a young woman navigating life as a paraplegic while striving for independence, and the world of her creation, the novel Rusted Robots. Okorafor masterfully uses this parallel structure to examine themes of humanity and its preservation.

Zelu's struggle against her family's well-intentioned but ultimately limiting expectations resonates deeply. Her drive to define her own path, even after a childhood accident, forms the emotional core of the story. The success of Rusted Robots becomes a symbol of her individuality, further highlighting the disconnect between Zelu and those closest to her. This personal narrative is interwoven with chapters dedicated to Rusted Robots itself, a post-human world populated by Ankara, a robot fascinated by human stories, and AI machines advocating for automation above all else. Ankara's own journey mirrors Zelu's, exploring similar themes of self-discovery and the search for meaning in a world devoid of humans.

The brilliance of Death of the Author lies in the way these two narratives converge, revealing the enduring nature of humanity in unexpected places. Okorafor's prose is captivating, drawing the reader into both Zelu's intimate struggles and the complex world of Rusted Robots. While this was my first experience with Okorafor's work, I was completely enthralled. The novel's tagline, "The future of storytelling is here," is a statement that resonates powerfully as the story reaches its poignant conclusion. Highly recommended for readers interested in speculative fiction that grapples with profound questions about what it means to be human.

If you like books that blur the line between reality and fiction and/or just love Octavia Butler, this one is for you!

This was some amazing storytelling that immediately pulls you in and makes you question what it means to be human. The sci fi/technology in this story was rich, and like Miss Butler’s work, when you read this story you’re constantly thinking about how close it is to what we see/experience now. Cars that drive you around with no driver, apps that speak to you and filter your calls/messages?! I mean.. it wasn’t too hard to imagine a future where robots are the norm lol.

I really loved how there were three narratives interwoven into this story; the main narrative with Zelu, a struggling author and outcast in her family, the Rusted Robots story that Zelu writes about robots in a post-human world, and interviews from Zelu’s family about her decisions and upbringing. The writing was so different between Zelu’s story and the Rusted Robots book, making me feel immersed into their worlds in different ways. The world building in both the main narrative and the Rusted Robots story was just really well done (which is what Nnedi is known for). I felt like I was knees deep in Nigeria learning more about different cultures, foods, traditions, etc. when there were humans and when there was not. The only thing I wish was different was the build up via interviews that made me think Zelu was about to meet her maker or something lol.

Seamless blend of multiple stories within stories. Subplots about family dynamics, culture, love, grief, disability, visibility, celebrity culture, etc. At the end, I was wondering which story came first?! It was so good.

4.5 stars

That was a wild ride. This is in a large way two books, as there is a book inside that the character wrote. There are some really compelling things being said about authorship, AI, and the body which kept me wanting to read. The robot novel did take a little bit away from the pace and flow of the story for me. It was hard seeing Zulu take so much of her family’s abuse, and I really just wanted someone to be one hundred percent in her corner. I really enjoyed all the pop culture references from Douglas Adams to Rent. If you are looking for an interesting sci fi that gives you a lot to think about I would give this one a try.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy to form opinions from.

While this wasn't my usual type of book, I loved that the protagonist is a Nigerian American disabled author who writes a best-selling speculative fiction story about robots and AI and the ways her life changes after becoming wildly successful. Moving, thought-provoking and full of drama, action and even some romance. This is a great book about not giving up on your dreams, the challenges of family and the cost of fame/success. Good on audio and perfect for fans of books like Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, as it told its tale in a very unique and accessible way. The novel flips back and forth between two distinct stories. The first deals with Zelu and the struggle of being a writer, and the second are passages from the book she is writing, Rusted Robots, which is a sci-fi epic that deals with androids fighting each other without humanity in the way. I loved going back and forth seeing how some of the characters are reflections of one another. Death of the Author was a pleasure to read and an easy recommendation for literary fiction lovers.

I've read many of Nnedi Okorafor books and have really enjoyed them all. This book was also very entertaining and engrossing even though it was different than what I'm used to for her works.
Death of the Author started off really strong for me. There was a story in a story and they were both interesting. The main character, Zelu had experienced a life altering trauma as a 12 year old and it really changed her whole life plan. It also caused the people in her family to shelter her too much and bring bitterness up for her. It was really hard to read how unsupportive and negative they were toward her despite all her achievements. In Zelu's novel "Rusted Robots" that was woven throughout the story about Ankara and Ijeli I actually preferred a bit more. I think getting those brain breaks to process all the bad things that were happening to Zelu or the questionable choices that Zelu was making was helpful.
In the end it was nic to see her family finally start to be supportive, but the ending with the spaceship got really confusing and then it was abruptly over. Overall the book was really good at being descriptive, so it was jarring when I got to the last 30 pages with so many questions unanswered at the end.
Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5
I liked Zelu and her arc throughout the book. I really liked following the book that she was writing. And I specially liked the ending of the book. Spoilers ahead. <spoiler>I really liked how in the end Ankara was writing the book that we're reading, Death of the Author, while Zelu is writing Rusted Robots - it makes for a nice never ending loop.</spoiler>

However I really hated following her interactions with everyone else; her family was just so awful to her. And they come with the excuse that they are protecting her - they are not, they are trying to contain her in a box that they feel comfortable. They don't want her growth, her success. They want her to keep being what they perceive as a "failure" that they can talk down to. Msizi is the only that saw this and, even if she listens to him, it doesn't change anything.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to William Morrow for the e-ARC!

This book is hard to review because there are things I loved and things I loathed. Nnedi Okorafor is a really skilled author and writes complex characters and narratives well, which shows in this book. It’s a really ambitious undertaking and I think a lesser author would have done much worse. With that being said, I also think there were many places where I feel like the wrong choices were made, which made the experience of reading this book feel like emotional whiplash. I was intrigued the whole time reading this, but I wouldn’t say I necessarily enjoyed it.

In my opinion, the biggest miss was alternating between the main narrative and our main character’s story. If the two stories were more of a thematic and mood match, or if the narratives matched up in a pleasing way with parallels that enhanced the story narrative, that would be one thing. There were some vague parallels, but when the second narrative is created solely for this story, I’m not sure why there couldn’t be more. These constant switches undermined the emotional investment I had in each story, even though I individually enjoyed them.

The other major complaint I had is a similar one that I had to yellowface, which is that it really felt that the author had a handful of real-life axes to grind that showed up as out of place plot points and details in the book. Either that or there are weird story details that break you out of the narrative for no reason.

For example, the “cancellation” plotline that I think is just not believable. I agree that netizens can be vicious, and people aren’t great at understanding what ableism actually is, but like… I also don’t think the public is overwhelmingly mean-spirited and stupid. If it actually went as Zelu believed, it’s an eyeroll. If this is meant to show that Zelu is an unreliable narrator, the story can be doing work to convey that. This part isn’t huge but it annoyed me.

In response to the afterword- I don’t think Zelu is a self-insert, but I do think this story served to communicate some complaints the author had, in a way that did a disservice to the story as a whole. If you follow this author, you’ll probably catch them too.

Alllll that being said, the two narratives of this story BOTH have good emotional payoff. Zelu’s story is hard to read because her life is honestly so unpleasant, and divorced from any healthy relationships. She’s never in a good place, and everyone around her is so critical, so she is never in a safe state to reflect on her own flaws. Like I wanted her to get a culturally competent therapist and interact with no one else for a few weeks. So I needed to know what happened, but I was sad for her the whole time.

The robot story was really beautiful, just underdeveloped because we got to see half of a book’s worth.

As a whole, I think either of these stories could have been better alone. In consideration of all of the strong points, it gets 4. But it’s more a 5 and a 3 in a trench coat

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor is a book that I completed a few hours ago, but I know I will be processing and reflecting on it for a long time to come.

This is a book that unfolds slowly. It’s thematically layered and features an expansive cast of characters. There are also two stories that run parallel to each other: one realistic fiction and the second science fiction. I deeply enjoyed both, but I especially appreciated the way the two stories overlapped and highlighted both the scientific advancements of humans, as well as the humanity of science fiction.

Okorafor also skillfully explores the themes of ownership and bodily autonomy, and does this through the lenses of disability and celebrity. Who tells our stories? Who gets to decide what we do with our bodies? If we share our own stories, does that give others the right to take and transform those worlds and words into their own? Where are the boundaries between caretaking and love and possession? While reading this book, I often thought of Alice Wong’s nonfiction collection of essays, Disability Intimacy, and I highly recommend reading these two in conjunction.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy.

I truly enjoyed this book, particularly the primary story — Zelu is truly a force to be reckoned with. I was extremely impressed with the breadth of her story; a LOT happens in the years this novel takes place. In addition, the novel within the novel was very impressive, as well. Although it did not hook me as much as the primary story did, it’s an amazing addition to the story. It didn’t read to me as popular of a book as it was in the story, but it was interesting to get that perspective.

Overall, I do not think you need to be super interested in sci-fi novels to be interested in this book. The primary story, while having sci-fi elements, was rooted in real emotion, familial relationships, and the incredible force of the main character. I would definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Reading this book gave me so much pleasure that I was sad to finish it. I loved the way different types of genres were blended, and I found it to be refreshingly unique. I appreciated the strong woman who made her own decisions and lived her life by her rules yet still had close ties with her family, friends, and partner. A great adventurous read!

I love a book within a book, and this one was so interesting. There are sci-fi elements which is not really my thing, but I still really enjoyed the narrative. Excellent character building and plotting. An entertaining read for sure.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

So i will start off by saying this was a well written book. The way Okafur shows the personality of Zelu and then flips back to the story of rusted robots was very smooth.

Although that’s true, the science fiction part just didn’t do it for me like i expected. I enjoyed the literary fiction part of the story more. I loved Zelu’s dgaf attitude up into the end. Because girl, what was that?

I liked maybe about half of this story.

I know this is a definite case of it's me and not you and I'm so sorry, story. But I struggled with this one.

I did this as an audio book and I don't think it helped me. I initially found Zelu interesting. I felt bad for how her family treated her and loved her fire and fight about her story and opinions. I found the pieces about the robots the most confusing. I struggled to piece together the world, their intentions and why it was included in the story. Finally, the interviews felt disjointed and I kept trying to figure out why we were hearing everyone's stories when they didn't always focus on the main character, the story, the movie, or anything they were currently talking about.

I would have loved to feel all the pieces of the story all meld together, which I think is my fault and not the fault of the story. I wanted to love it but I found the story disjointed and it never pulled me in and made me interested.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

More more more please!!! Love the representation of my culture (Naija for the win!). I honestly was wary of starting this book because I’ve never read an Afro-futuristic book. This being my intro to the genre was well worth it. Nnedi has a blessed pen and I’m excited to read more from her.

Omg I don't even know what to say with this book. It really is inventive and unique in the best way. First, I am not the biggest sci-fi reader, but I have been interested in this author for awhile so I was stoked to see she wrote a literary/sci-fi blend surrounding an author. Honestly, I am not super interested in robots--so those chapters didn't hold my attention as much. However, Zulu's chapters were compelling from the jump. I always enjoy a narrative structure where we learn about a character by hearing about several other character perspectives. So the way we heard from siblings, journalists, and other people she crossed paths with was interesting and really added to the story. So many moments in this story made my jaw drop, and I also really felt for Zelu during several climactic or confrontational scenes. This book is going to stick with me for awhile and I encourage people to go into it without knowing too much!

Death of the Author has all the elements I love. There's a book within a book which lends it not only a meta feel, but feels absolutely necessary. We witness the rise and the life of Zelu from the bottom to the top. Death of the Author immediately asks us what people will say about us when we're famous. It's a book that examines how much of a role we have in our own life. How much can we control what people, our family, our loved ones, say about us? When we become famous, an author, how much of us dies?

I generally will read anything Nnedi Okorafor writes. I was instantly taken in by the characters, setting, and culture of the Zelu and her family. When the book began to delve into her novel's story, I got lost and the book had a hard time holding my interest. I will, of course, continue to read anything Okorafor writes, but I think I like when she explores more futurism, and this felt like it was lacking that. (for me!)