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bloodmaarked's review against another edition
- 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
read this in anticipation of And So I Roar which i just got the ARC for, and it's very easy to bump this up on reread to 5*. i love this, i love adunni, i love how it made me feel. i think being prepared for the broken english made this easier to enjoy, as i know it was a bit of a stumbling block for me the first time around.
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
original review 17/06/20:
This book is a real gem of a story, and is an absolutely amazing debut from Abi Daré. Since reading the final page, my heart has felt so many different things!
The positives:
✧ The Girl with the Louding Voice is such a touching story. There are a lot of difficult themes tackled here: forced child marriage, rape, human trafficking, domestic servitude. It's not necessarily easy to read, and it pulls at the heartstrings. Several scenes throughout left me feeling awful. But at the same time, there are a lot of heartwarming scenes as well. Once I got invested, it was hard not to care. It's a story that really makes you think (something which I'll come back to at the end).
✧ Adunni, the main character, is just a star. My heart felt for her and her story the whole way through. You can't help but root for her and just hope that things get better. Other characters who look out for Adunni or act as parental figures, like Khadija, Tia, and Kofi, are also very compelling characters. The stories of Adunni and her supporting characters are sometimes heartbreaking, but also very uplifting.
✧ The Rebecca plot line is introduced pretty late, around 50% through the book. It wasn't a necessary plot, but I liked how it was handled. It added another element to the story without taking away from Adunni's story.
The negatives slightly less positives:
✦ This book is written using the voice of Adunni, a young girl from rural Nigeria with very little formal education. As such, the book is written entirely in broken English. This, for me, made it a little tough to get into the book at first, but after a while I got used to it and it ultimately didn't stop me from enjoying the book. It does lead me onto my next point though...
✦ It was a little slow-going at first. By this, I don't mean that things weren't happening or that the pace was too slow. Just for me, it was somewhere between 25-40% through the book before I found myself itching to pick the book back up again. I read this book for 11 days in total, but it was in the last two days that I read about 50% of the story, so you can see how it took some time for me to find my stride. This was probably partly down to the broken English used throughout, but I can't say for sure.
I really recommend this book and I look forward to reading it again. As I mentioned earlier in my review, The Girl with the Louding Voice makes you think, a lot. What really made this book so emotional is understanding that Adunni's story is unfortunately the story of so many young girls around the world. What happens to her is happening right now. So, I was moved to do a little research on the topic, and below I want to list a few charities that are working to help people like Adunni, and I hope that you can take a moment to look at what they're doing and even support if you are able.
Girls Not Brides
Plan International
End Slavery Now
Devatop Centre for Africa Development
ACE Charity Africa
Books For Africa
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Abortion, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Death
Minor: Infertility, Chronic illness, Excrement, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
queenofthenorth's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Misogyny, Child abuse, Rape, and Sexism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence
helhas3letters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Rape
Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, and Abortion
Minor: Chronic illness, Vomit, Blood, Terminal illness, and Animal death
davidbythebay's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Reading (or listening) in a dialect can be a struggle for me. I found listening to this book was best for me. Once I got into the rhythm of it, I found it immersive. Paired with the slow start, which provides a lot of great material to expand the story, I struggled a bit to get into the story. I also struggled because I was trying to figure out what kind of story this was. Part coming of age novel, part mystery, part literary dive into another culture very different from my own. I was best served with just enjoying the ride and not worrying about the genre. It successfully was all of those and more.
Trigger warnings are a must! Child marriage, child rape, marital rape, physical and emotional abuse, assault and violence. There are a TON of heavy topics handled delicately and beautifully throughout. It was hard to read those scenes, yet it made it all the more real and powerful.
The ending is open enough to be satisfying yet wanting that taste more. And the final action did feel a little rushed with elements and events you really want to see come to pass not happening. I could easily see this being the start of a duology or series of books following Adunni from her youth throughout her life and experiences. I would like that, but am happy enough with where this book has settled me.
A wonderful book to bridge February and March, brining together Black and Women into one focus and frame that highlights the intersectional struggles of a young poor girl in Nigeria. A story of heart and fight, one where you feel like you are reading a thriller because it is exciting, this should be a must read for anyone. That is why,despite my few peeves, I'm still giving this a5 star rating.
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Death, Emotional abuse, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Grief, Abortion, Blood, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol, Infertility, Chronic illness, and Confinement
secretsoup's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Excrement, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Torture