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Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'
Saison d'orages et de silence by Roseanne A. Brown
46 reviews
mimccub's review against another edition
I'm still disliking Karina. Malik's anxiety and cutting are disconcerting to read and I am uncomfortable with him cutting himself as a coping mechanism. I feel like there should have been a conversation between them by now about why he tried to kill her and the author is dragging this out. I feel like Malik should have realized how Tunde died by now and that Karina didn't kill him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
monicalaurette's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.5
There’s not much that I can say about this book without spoiling it since it’s a sequel (so if you haven’t read the first one WHAT are you doing here?)
“It’s not every day you get to embark on a new character arc.”
I thought one thing would happen to a character, and something else entirely different would occur which just goes to show how wonderful the writing is to have you also not notice what is happening along with the POVs. And I loved the new characters that we were introduced to in this book, mainly Ife. I wanted to travel the world with them because they kept me laughing even in the saddest parts.
Seeing how this was a sequel, certain relationships developed and others deteriorated during the course of the book. I was happy for some, and others hurt me to my core. Part of that is because I thought of my own similar relationships (sibling/child/friend) and thought about how emotional it would be for me. But thankfully (I guess) I am not from a line of royalty with a magic secret nor am I destined to fight someone like that.
"Every time she’d look for a savior and hadn’t found one, she’d become her own.”
I’m glad that we were able to explore more of the Sonande world in this book though. I've always loved it in books where they explore their world, even if it’s not the point of the particular book and the world building is mentioned in passing. It helps keep me connected while reading. Now I just need Rosanne to write a book of a traveler just going through all of Sonande, maybe Ife, and talking about all the beauty & magic of the world around them.
I gave this book 4.5 stars because it twas a wonderful story and a great way to end a curse. I just dislike open endings which this book sort of had, I want to have more of a solid ending, but that’s a personal thing and nothing against the book or author. If you’ve gone this far in my review and haven’t read either both books or just this one in the series please do now. You’re missing out on a wonderfully crafted & enrapturing story.
“This was still his mind. He was still the strongest person here.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Murder, and Slavery
Minor: Gaslighting
isleoflinds's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
caidyn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
A great conclusion to this duology. I loved all the confrontation of trauma. I just wish that the series had the narrator in both books. The tone it set was great, but was different than book one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
How is this book going to be this good, then go and have that ending. <Not even ending up together?! Hypothetically ending up together, over a decade later, in the epilogue, is not what we (me or Malik/Karina) deserve after EVERYTHING.> But yeah the rest was amazing and I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Minor: Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Kidnapping, Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence
Personally just hated thr ending. Left feeling unfulfilled. After two whole books and all this built up soul-mates and destiny, they only end up together *hypothetically* in the monologue. Why. WHY?! That is some bullshit. And fade to black... AFTER ALL OF THIS. no. Everything else was amazing. Malik and Karina are amazing.jessica_is_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Torture, Racism, Murder, and Grief
heli1403's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
5.0
Is there a way to give this 100 stars? Lol
I read a song of wraith and ruins back in June after hearing it's a good book and that I'll love it if I loved children of blood and bone. I finished in a week (during my exam period lol) and counted the days until this book. And it was worth it!
I barely read fantasy books that goes into the depth of the characters emotions and mental health, and I needed it SO MUCH. The writing of Malik anxiety, both Karina and Malik lowest moments... I actually had to stop doing my crocheting or whatever I was doing and just focus in listening because it felt so real, I could feel the pain, it was written so, so well.
Being very anxious girl myself (lol) I found myself trying to look for spoilers just to make sure my favorite characters are ok. Good thing I didn't find much lol. The end is bittersweet, like a lot of people said, and I can't decide if I like it or refuse to admit I like it bc it made me sad. How much do I need to pay to get more Malik and Karina stories in my life? I'LL PAY.
Anyway, even if you didn't like a song of wraith and ruins let this one a chance. I think I even liked that one better. Wish it was a trilogy or something just so I can have more of it.
I read a song of wraith and ruins back in June after hearing it's a good book and that I'll love it if I loved children of blood and bone. I finished in a week (during my exam period lol) and counted the days until this book. And it was worth it!
I barely read fantasy books that goes into the depth of the characters emotions and mental health, and I needed it SO MUCH. The writing of Malik anxiety, both Karina and Malik lowest moments... I actually had to stop doing my crocheting or whatever I was doing and just focus in listening because it felt so real, I could feel the pain, it was written so, so well.
Being very anxious girl myself (lol) I found myself trying to look for spoilers just to make sure my favorite characters are ok. Good thing I didn't find much lol. The end is bittersweet, like a lot of people said, and I can't decide if I like it or refuse to admit I like it bc it made me sad. How much do I need to pay to get more Malik and Karina stories in my life? I'LL PAY.
Anyway, even if you didn't like a song of wraith and ruins let this one a chance. I think I even liked that one better. Wish it was a trilogy or something just so I can have more of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
claragweny's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, War, Violence, Trafficking, Transphobia, Terminal illness, and Stalking
porshea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content warning: physical and emotional abuse, mass violence, suicidal ideation
World building takes vision, strong world building is apparent when the next book in a series reveals fresh nuance to the world’s lore. In A Psalm of Storms and Silence, Roseanne A. Brown has carefully crafted Sonande, a land full of historical injustice whose weight challenges the budding love between her spiritually-crossed protagonists.
As the second and final installment of the A Song of Wraiths and Ruin series, readers should be well acquainted with anxious griot illusionist Malik and curious wind witch Princess Karina—especially because we pick up with each character not long after we left them in ASOWAR. Princess Karina has found herself in one of the most unlikely of alliances with a former suitor in the competition to win her hand in the Solstasia (the focal point of book one). They are joined by the young magic—or nkra—sensitive mage that befriended Karina when she most questioned her abilities and how they had bearing in the loss of her family. In a case of the lost leading the lost, they navigate their way to finding Karina an armed force that will help Karina retake the kingdom she lost through betrayal in A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. But as Karina runs toward a hopeful shelter, we also find that she is running away from two people whose very existence leaves her with more questions than she has the courage to bear. Unfortunately for her, one of those people, Malik, appears to her in her dreams regardless of how far she ventures. With her former guards searching for her posted throughout the country and Sonande citizens in states of unrest everywhere she travels, Karina is forced to brave her emotional consternation surrounding her family, magical abilities, royal responsibility, and love life sooner rather than later.
Malik, on the other hand, has gained everything he was ever supposed to want in the wake of Karina’s departure from the seat of the kingdom, Ziran. Read more here: https://blackgirlscreate.org/2021/11/the-plot-thickens-a-psalm-of-storms-and-silence/
World building takes vision, strong world building is apparent when the next book in a series reveals fresh nuance to the world’s lore. In A Psalm of Storms and Silence, Roseanne A. Brown has carefully crafted Sonande, a land full of historical injustice whose weight challenges the budding love between her spiritually-crossed protagonists.
As the second and final installment of the A Song of Wraiths and Ruin series, readers should be well acquainted with anxious griot illusionist Malik and curious wind witch Princess Karina—especially because we pick up with each character not long after we left them in ASOWAR. Princess Karina has found herself in one of the most unlikely of alliances with a former suitor in the competition to win her hand in the Solstasia (the focal point of book one). They are joined by the young magic—or nkra—sensitive mage that befriended Karina when she most questioned her abilities and how they had bearing in the loss of her family. In a case of the lost leading the lost, they navigate their way to finding Karina an armed force that will help Karina retake the kingdom she lost through betrayal in A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. But as Karina runs toward a hopeful shelter, we also find that she is running away from two people whose very existence leaves her with more questions than she has the courage to bear. Unfortunately for her, one of those people, Malik, appears to her in her dreams regardless of how far she ventures. With her former guards searching for her posted throughout the country and Sonande citizens in states of unrest everywhere she travels, Karina is forced to brave her emotional consternation surrounding her family, magical abilities, royal responsibility, and love life sooner rather than later.
Malik, on the other hand, has gained everything he was ever supposed to want in the wake of Karina’s departure from the seat of the kingdom, Ziran. Read more here: https://blackgirlscreate.org/2021/11/the-plot-thickens-a-psalm-of-storms-and-silence/
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
5.0
A PSALM OF STORMS AND SILENCE is the fantastic conclusion to an excellent duology. One of many places where this shines is in its portrayal of trauma and aftermath, but especially in its portrayal of a kind of lingering pain from ongoing emotional abuse. The characters have room to make bad decisions in ways that are completely understandable. I was never frustrated by the choices they make in a narrative sense because the narrative itself made sure I knew whose manipulations, lies, and control of information were driving those bad decisions. It deftly uses a thousand years of self-interest and old grief, showing how they shape the characters' present, even if ways they hadn't realized were connected. It's about how accepting present power with a legacy of past power means both acting responsibly with the power in the present and accepting responsibility for the legacy of harm caused by that power in the past. How a chain of people accepting enormous power but eschewing responsibility for the harm caused by the power lead to even more harm. These layers of trauma, aftermath, resolution, acceptance, and restitution play out within their own lifetimes and on the scale of kingdoms as they try to stop the world from breaking with the grief of a goddess and the fruitless scheming of a dead king.
Karina and Malik's relationship is complicated, with lies and misunderstandings from A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN meddling in what ought to be a simple case of one hunting the other to try and stop the fall of the kingdom. Farid is a well-written manipulator, wrapped up in his own plans and unable to see the difference between someone agreeing with him and one who's just placating him to avert his anger and disappointment from falling on them. His frustrations make sense with his character and circumstances, his increasingly complicated plans hum along in the background of everything Malik and Karina try to accomplish.
This wraps up more than one major thing left hanging from the first book. The main storyline starts here and was only lightly present previously. There are several major things that are both introduced and resolved, and as part two of a duology it’s an immensely satisfying ending. The main characters are the same and they’re consistent with their portrayals in the first book. This might make sense if someone tried to start here and hadn’t read the previous book, it does a good job of referencing prior events without devolving into a full recap. It was definitely enough to pull me fully into the story even though it’s been a while since I read A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN and my recall was initially fuzzy. I'd basically forgotten what happened before and it gently reminded me at gradual intervals as various previous events became relevant. The current stakes and past drama are clearly communicated, and the emotional context is vibrant.
The ending is excellent. There's still a lot of work to do and a lot of life for the survivors to live, and it's okay that this story stops here since it had to stop somewhere. I love the framing device, it satisfied my need to know what happens next.
Karina and Malik's relationship is complicated, with lies and misunderstandings from A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN meddling in what ought to be a simple case of one hunting the other to try and stop the fall of the kingdom. Farid is a well-written manipulator, wrapped up in his own plans and unable to see the difference between someone agreeing with him and one who's just placating him to avert his anger and disappointment from falling on them. His frustrations make sense with his character and circumstances, his increasingly complicated plans hum along in the background of everything Malik and Karina try to accomplish.
This wraps up more than one major thing left hanging from the first book. The main storyline starts here and was only lightly present previously. There are several major things that are both introduced and resolved, and as part two of a duology it’s an immensely satisfying ending. The main characters are the same and they’re consistent with their portrayals in the first book. This might make sense if someone tried to start here and hadn’t read the previous book, it does a good job of referencing prior events without devolving into a full recap. It was definitely enough to pull me fully into the story even though it’s been a while since I read A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN and my recall was initially fuzzy. I'd basically forgotten what happened before and it gently reminded me at gradual intervals as various previous events became relevant. The current stakes and past drama are clearly communicated, and the emotional context is vibrant.
The ending is excellent. There's still a lot of work to do and a lot of life for the survivors to live, and it's okay that this story stops here since it had to stop somewhere. I love the framing device, it satisfied my need to know what happens next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gore, Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Slavery, and Child death
Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, and Vomit
CW for grooming.