Reviews

Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield

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tariana's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What an intense book! I had no idea about the history of Jamaica, now I’m about to deep dive on it. The only reason for giving it 4 stars is that I though the end confusing: how did Gillian knew where to find Irie when it says that Irie itself didn’t know where the club was? Also it doesn’t explain how Kojo died, how Gillian’s family heard about her death, how they reacted, if they retaliated somehow, and why the radio station was called Irie?

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soleade's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

peax33's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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deereadingwallflower's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

kaylajcj's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was a beautifully written, heart wrenching story about the political unrest in Jamaica during the 1970s, the impact of music on the climate, and two girls from different social classes trying to explore their feelings for each other despite everything. I loved the story and highly recommend listening to the audiobook narrated by the author to hear the songs in the book.

ello_emme's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

jess_always_reading's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This is an incredible story of love, family, and freedom. Definitely a must-read/listen. The love between Irie and Jilly is somehow both wonderfully innocent and complex, shaped by the forces around the two of them. The setting in Songs of Irie is itself a character, and we are hooked by it just as much as the characters.

10/10 would recommend.

"history is the great leveller of artists and activists alike"

Content Warnings

umibozus's review against another edition

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I enjoyed the first half of the book, by the second half I wasn't rooting for their relationship at all - especially Jilly. I originally read because it was marketed as a lesbian story, but

both Irie & jilly had men they had crushes on as well - or at least that how it was alluded throughout? Jilly's character was awful to her supposed best friend. Her dying made no sense, it was if she had a revelation about her parents being evil just because she found out her father hired bad men, but they were evil before that....she didn't care how they treated irie. Her complacency was double sided. The end got very dramatic on election night. Suddenly Jilly is looking for Irie, Irie's father was killed, her sister got trafficked, she "rescued" her then boom 15 years later....the POV throughout also switched from Irie to Jilly, but then her sister for like 2 chapters, it was unnecessary and took away from the little interest I had left for this book at the end.

I did listen to the audiobook, I skipped the singing sections, but it was cool to hear and I liked that concept (I just personally get a cringe feeling so I couldn't).

I really wish I liked this book more, but it fell short and missed several marks for me. I will definitely try to read Asha's other work(s)

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noreimerreason's review against another edition

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Not feeling the audio book right now

tonyab22's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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