Tiny Navajo Listens: War Girls

War Girls (War Girls #1) by Tochi Onyebuchi, narrated by Adepero Odyue

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I meant to start listening to this a few months back during summer, but then I realized that I needed to listen to The Starless Sea for a book talk, so War Girls got pushed back, but here it is finally. And I will say, interesting tidbits of actual history are stuck inside of this and I am here for it!

The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky.

In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life.

Two sisters, Onyii and Ify, dream of more. Their lives have been marked by violence and political unrest. Still, they dream of peace, of hope, of a future together.

And they’re willing to fight an entire war to get there.

I was not expecting this book to go where it did. I probably should have, seeing as it has the word “war” in it, but I was naive. I also didn’t expect this book to have its roots in history. That one is one me as well as one Western education. We are taught so very little of the rest of the world, that when I hear that War Girls pulls from the actual Nigerian Civil War where the eastern part of Nigeria pulls away from Nigeria and declares themselves Biafra, that I thought “why didn’t I know this before?” and I did some researching. It was a Civil War that went from 1967 to 1970, and it apparently did hit parts of Western media during that time, but for actual history, I didn’t know. Granted, there is a lot that I don’t know about the rest of the world and it’s definitely something that I need to work on and improve my own knowledge of.

Anyway, this book doesn’t take place in the past, though it does pull inspiration from the past, but it takes place in the future. The year is 2172 and the Biafran War has been going on for a some time. Onyii and Ify are two sisters who the war has done great damage too, from losing limbs to losing families. But these two still have each other. But one day, their camp is attacked by the Nigerians, and Ify is taken. From then on, we have two separate narratives, one of Onyii doing all that she can to not remember that (in her mind) Ify is dead and the Nigerians killed her. this includes joining the war again as a pilot. Ify, safe in Nigeria on the other hand, realizes that her potential has been unleashed a hundred fold with access to resources she never would have had in the camp with Onyii.

As these two girls live their lives, we see that war impacts everyone, not just those who are in the war. We see what different versions each side has about the war and what the war means to them. We also see how very warped each side will become if there is no other information given about what is going on in the world. War is a virus, and it infects those who weren’t even a part of the initial conflict.

I would say that listening to War Girls has opened my eyes just a tiny bit more to what the world has to offer. There are many things going on out there in the world and we as citizens should have an idea of what is going, and thanks to the wonders of the Internet, we do. What we do with this information is what to you. But you best be educating yourself on what is going on in the world, lest you become part of the problems of the world. What do you think about the adage “History repeats itself?” Do you think there is credence to this saying? Comment below and let me know!