Reviews tagging 'Racism'

A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown

15 reviews

bloodmaarked's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful medium-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? Yes

4.5

i was surprised to see the direction this took, and even more so that i felt it was better than book 1! roseanne a. brown is one to watch

✧ full review on my tumblr ✧

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content and Vomit

the racism is in a fantasy context i.e. not directed to any real-world racial/cultural group, but very reminiscent of real-world racism

casey_h's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

This duology is one of the best duologies or series that I've read in such a long time. The cities and settings were so tangible and vivid, I could feel the wind whipping sand in my face and the earthquakes shaking the ground beneath my feet (or rather beneath my couch let's be real lol). This world was just so lush, full, and vibrant I'm going to miss it for days to come. This duology was so much more than the love story the description set it out to be, and honestly I'd say the romance is more secondary to everything else happening - the racism and power struggles Malik and his sisters face all the time, the political coup and manipulations a certain someone so expertly weaves throughout the courts, the struggles Malik faces with his anxieties and the manipulation he faces from other people, the desperate quest Karina is on to find an solution to the horrors coming at their world without her literally DYING for it. This was fantastic.

And don't get me started on the characters! Everyone had such an intense and unique personality that they felt like real, tangible people. Every person had their own strengths, weaknesses, and traumas to heal from and they were just so human and relatable. I just want to give Malik a hug :(

The representation as well is fantastic, and gets much more nuanced in this book than the first, especially the LGBTQ+ rep. The mental health rep was a lot deeper and more intense in this one too.

All in all, fantastic, I loved it so much, I'm sad it's over, and I hope that this DOES get made into a tv series at some point still bc it would be AMAZING! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Animal death, Torture, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

cheynwilson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Classism, Racism, Trafficking, and Racial slurs

nettle_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.75

I could not get enough of this forbidden love that was somehow encouraged and hated by the gods. It had so much awareness for so many topics including suicide, grooming, racism, transphobia, trauma, abuse, and I guess I was very seen by having these topics discussed. It has so many layers of magic I will not even try to explain but it was magical hearing about the magic. 
It has a more deep dive into the same topics so many fantasy YA books have so don’t run away because of the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore, Kidnapping, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence, Abandonment, Classism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide attempt, Torture, Transphobia, War, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

jupitersuns's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

This book has me screaming!!!!! It is a must read!  I wish I could rate it 100 stars 🤩 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Murder, Racism, and Grief

lady_valhella's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Picking right up where Hyena left of we continue on the path of Malik and Karina’s story. We learn what happens after Solstasia and where that leads Malik and all the adventures Karina goes on. I also think the Ms. Brown handles the darker themes of grooming and self harm well without delving into triggering topics graphically. I would love to read some stories about the side character also, specifically Afua,  Ife, and Leia and Nadia. Malik has a good heart but alas they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Confinement, Torture, Trafficking, and Physical abuse

notpercyjacksonyet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely gorgeous. I loved the first book and this was better. It feels right, it feels complete, and yet I want so much more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Racism, Violence, Slavery, Self harm, and Racial slurs

Minor: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Grief, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Murder, Pregnancy, Torture, and Miscarriage

other CWs: grooming, fictional racism/racial slurs, fictional police brutality

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was fabulous! An upper YA fantasy book and the second in A Song of Wraiths and Ruin duology. This duology is full of African mythology and a setting similar. The prose is wonderfully written and concludes the story of Karina and Malik in a way that, while somewhat disappointing, makes sense for the way their characters have developed. 

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, untimely ascension, Found Family, assassinations. 

I loved the magic system and how Roseanne A. Brown made it all fit within a set mythology of the world. Nothing about the magic system seemed out of place or like it didn’t make sense.

There is wonderful disability representation with anxiety, depression, and what seems to me to be autism. There is also a lot of LGBTQ+ representation and I think every character is a person of color (don’t quote me on that I don’t see pictures when I read I have no idea what these characters look like). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Racism, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Kidnapping

Grooming

internationalreads's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Blood, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs