Reviews tagging 'Racism'

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

23 reviews

emmjay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

I enjoyed the uniqueness of the world and the elements of African folklore woven throughout. Despite the complexity of the world building it was still relatively easy to follow. I enjoyed our hunger games-esque romance and our two main characters. Both are flawed but likeable.
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corriejn's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

4.25

First two thirds or so of this book were great: skilled worldbuilding, introduction of characters and storylines that were destined to clash. However, things fall a part a bit when the author actually gets to resolving how those various storylines interact and resolve. Brown seems to want to be N. K. Jemisin, but falls short. Too many flat, undeveloped characters who pop in to be major parts of the narrative, too many twists and turns that aren't foreshadowed or a logical part of the story, but just tossed in and basically rewrite the worldbuilding and characters that were more skillfully introduced earlier. I don't plan to read the rest of this series. It started off really promising through most of this volume, but ended up a jumbled mess.
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durrareadsstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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

MIND = BLOWN 🤯🤯🤯

I did not expect to love it it this much. The first half was a little hard to get into, truth be told. It was kind of slow and it took some time for me to wrap my head around the world-building, but I stayed for the wonderful and just genius writing. I mean how does she come up with these sentence structures and proses?? The plot was also just amazing. Towards the end, the twists just kept coming and I feel a little mad at myself for not seeing it but WOW all those betrayals and secrets and whatnots were hidden so well. The romance was not a big part of the story, but I actually didn't really mind that. It kind of gave way to discuss a whole other array of more important themes like mental health, grief, and just very well done character development. However I do feel like the side characters weren't given that much spotlight. Although that probably adds to the "alone-ness" of the characters and how they kind of separate themselves from other people as a defense mechanism, only discovering in the end that they do need help and that they're only human. 

Oh man, THE CHARACTERS!! I love Karina and Malik so much! I feel like they're not your average ya protagonists (can't really explain that, it just feels that way) they're both so broken and raw and the way they were written, with Malik having panic attacks and Karina with the constant breakdowns and migraines, was so vulnerable. And yet they found strength within themselves and discovered their true powers. Very relatable which I think is so powerful of a quality to have in characters. 

Besides that, the atmosphere and the world-building was truly magical. I think it's amazing how so many real-life themes were so effortlessly incorporated into a fantasy book. I mean, racism, mental health, oppression, immigration, abandonment, to name a few.

This book absolutely blew my mind. I'm surprised people don't talk about it as much as other books. I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs how fantastic this book was. I'll leave you with my favourite quotes 😌💗

But that was the problem with blades. Once sharpened, they could be used against enemy and wielder alike.

words she could deal with, but silence was a beast she was ill-equipped to handle.

In that moment, she was manic energy and sorrow, a loosed arrow with no target. The wound that Baba and Hanane’s deaths had opened inside her had never healed, and now her mother’s death had joined it, bleeding her heart dry with a grief that refused to be staunched. She bled and she bled, and still it poured from her, more than one person was ever meant to hold.

If Ziran fell, her only regret would be that she could not be the storm that tore it apart.

He had wandered into a web, one Driss and Tunde had been born to navigate despite their differing views, spiders at home among the interlocking threads that made up the court.
And what was Malik compared to them? Just a fly waiting to be swallowed whole.

“Everyone gets scared,” he said gently. “I’m scared of a lot of things. Small spaces. Big dogs. Dying . . . dying alone. I know it doesn’t mean a lot coming from me, but I don’t think you’re weak for being scared. I don’t think you could be as strong as you are if you weren’t.”

“You tear yourself down for things you could not have known or done,” said Nyeni. “Why punish a seed for not yet being a tree?”
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vashtanarada42's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

I loved how the author approached many difficult topics, it was trauma-informed in how it approaches the complexity of situations and mental effects of long-term abuse. I cannot recommend this series more!   
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suprminny's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

This book gave me a lot of hunger ganes vibes and i love the characters so much, since i could related to them especially Malik. Note to the author, please stop killing my faves.
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jackiepreston's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-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

3.0

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a_robin_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Information:

Read a physical copy from the library and Listened to the audiobook from Storytel 

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Review:

AMAZING!!!

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading A song of wraiths and ruin by Roseanne A. Brown. This is the first book in the A song of wraiths and ruin series. I'm reading a physical copy from the library and listening to the audiobook at the same time for my TBR game.

I super enjoying this so far. This is great. I really love this fantasy world and really like the characters. I especially like the writing. It's very good and not overly complicated. Just loving this so far.

I loved this book! It was everything I could have asked for. I loved the characters and there diversity on many fronts. I loved the worldbuilding and the story itself. It was just great. Very excited to read the next book. 5 stars and probably a new favorite. 

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shams96's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-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

4.75

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alizam's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.75

This is the example of what YA fantasy can and should be. A brilliant story that knows when to subvert and when to use standby tropes, wrapped in an immersive setting and beautiful mythology. I appreciated the way mental health was handled as well. The protagonists are flawed, yes, but deeply sympathetic and complex.
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caidyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.25

Yet again, I sat too long on a book that was absolutely amazing. Black girl magic was so strong in this and I'm glad it's out in the world! It was a long book, but it went by fast. When I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down. And the main characters? Beautifully flawed and I can't wait to see what book two brings.
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