PositiveLos Angeles Review of BooksIn terms of plotting, Noor provides a fairly standard, serviceable speculative fiction novel ... Okorafor moves the story briskly after the murder and subsequent escape ... Noor excels by incorporating interesting philosophical considerations within a familiar narrative frame. As her story unfolds, Okorafor invites readers to contemplate an array of subjects, including questions of self-definition, societal impact, and constructions of community. Additionally, her expert worldbuilding helps to foreground these concepts, while also sparking a sense of wonder for her audience. Ultimately, Okorafor leans toward an optimistic outlook in the novel’s conclusion. Though Noor begins with misplaced hatred and death, it ends on an upswing, giving our heroes a dramatic victory and the rest that they deserve. Using the journey of AO and DNA, Okorafor paints the desert as a place of \'infinite potential and hope,\' as long as we make the effort to treat both it and each other with care and respect.
