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mine_gerber's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Racism, and Rape
leonormsousa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Child abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Abortion, Blood, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
absolute_bookery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
ekmook's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Trafficking, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Sexual violence, and Slavery
liesbethvv'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? No
4.0
The Girl with the Louding Voice is the story of Adunni, a teenage girl being married off to an old man as a third wife who endures many hardships (do check the trigger warnings) but keeps insisting on trying to make life beter for herself and fighting for her education. She talks us through her experiences in her broken English, that gets better as she learns towards the end of the book. This is a gimmick that takes some getting used too, but certainly helped to transport me to Nigeria and Adunni's reality.
Sometimes Adunni broaches societal issues in a way that I feel is too unrealistic for a 14yo girl with a basic education and that made it feel a little forced sometimes, with social criticism being mentioned too literal to my taste. On the other hand, some of her returns are quite insightful or just plain funny.
Adunni's story captivated me, moved me and made me hope for better for her and many others in her life.
One thing to note is that this book was written for a western audience, published in the UK and might not be very representative of Nigerian literature.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Abortion, Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Grief, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Trafficking
Minor: Religious bigotry, Racism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Murder
linesiunderline's review
- 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
For me, the most impressive achievement of this book is how Adunni feels entirely real. You can’t help but imagine her in the world, and wish good things for her. The rhythm of the language came to life in the audiobook, which was brilliantly narrated.
Some of the secondary characters didn’t feel as well realized as I like, but with Adunni at the heart of the story, I didn’t really mind.
As much as the novel is full of trauma and suffering, this is also story of resilience and longing and the fight to reach for your future.
I’ll be watching out for what this author creates next.
Graphic: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, and Violence
maryjames'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Sexual content, and Death of parent
feifeii's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Through the lens of an innocent, naive black girl growing up in the rural village of Nigeria, with her constant struggle and maltreatment in the village and Lago, this offers readers to challenge racial, gender and class inequality and discrimination we may get used to through socialisation and therefore becoming unaware of even when they are actually problematic.
It’s refreshing to read a story set in Nigeria where Daré offers to portray the book with lots of local cultural features
The characterisation of our heroine Adunni is strong with the author’s deliberate choice of dictions and syntax to first portray Adunni as an naive village teenage who knows nothing about the outside world and thus create conflict and raise questions as she gets to meet the more sophisticated characters in the book. As the story goes, Adunni is gaining more insight about the real world to be more sophisticated, where we noticed the narrative gets smoother and formulated with more standard English words and syntax. It’s also the achievement of Bette use of English as language which allows her to have her own voice as the ending tries to conclude.
Overall the plot is simple and straightforward. What I appreciate about this book is the characterisation and the touch of Nigerian and related facts portrayed for some cultural understanding.
Another interesting point on the naming of the previous housemaid , Rebecca. This is probably an unusual name for a girl from Agan. With the mystery around her and what’s happened to her in story, this reminds me of “Rebecca” from the novel by Daphne du Maurier.
Minor: Rape, Physical abuse, Violence, Slavery, Racism, and Sexism
rosebud_reading's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
readwithsuzanna's review
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Trafficking, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Infertility, Racism, and Sexism