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ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Medical content, Violence, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Genocide, Slavery, Abortion, Murder, Trafficking, and Grief
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, and Child abuse
additional content warnings: extreme climate phenomena, intergenerational trauma, mentions of human experimentationdani_reis's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Self harm, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, and Torture
utopiastateofmind's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Battle Drum is a sequel that never lets up. Not only does El-Arifi separate our faves Anoor and Sylah, but they really go through the wringer here. Beginning with an amazing book one recap - please do this more in book series - The Battle Drum picks up the steam from The Final Strife and keeps running. Anoor is faced with politics and diplomacy, but also not knowing who she can trust. Betrayal, retribution, and secrets plague Anoor. It forces her to figure out who she really can trust, but also what kind of person, and friend, she is.
For Sylah, The Battle Drum begins with her haunted by Jond's betrayal and she has to discover what that means for who she is. We never want to assume we have been lied to, that we would fall for manipulation, but when we find out sometimes it can destabilize us entirely. But in The Battle Drum all of our characters, including one of my favorite Hassa, will be tested in ways they might not survive.
The Battle Drum is a sequel that never lets up. Not only does El-Arifi separate our faves Anoor and Sylah, but they really go through the wringer here. Beginning with an amazing book one recap - please do this more in book series - The Battle Drum picks up the steam from The Final Strife and keeps running. Anoor is faced with politics and diplomacy, but also not knowing who she can trust. Betrayal, retribution, and secrets plague Anoor. It forces her to figure out who she really can trust, but also what kind of person, and friend, she is.
For Sylah, The Battle Drum begins with her haunted by Jond's betrayal and she has to discover what that means for who she is. We never want to assume we have been lied to, that we would fall for manipulation, but when we find out sometimes it can destabilize us entirely. But in The Battle Drum all of our characters, including one of my favorite Hassa, will be tested in ways they might not survive.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Self harm, Addiction, and Domestic abuse
booksalacarte's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
The Battle Drum- 2.75⭐️ 1🌶️
Anoor is the first blue-blooded ruler of the Wardens' Empire. But when she is accused of a murder she didn't commit, her reign is thrown into turmoil. She must solve the mystery and clear her name without the support of her beloved, Sylah.
Hassa's web of secrets grows ever thicker as she finds herself on a trail of crimes in the city. Her searching uncovers the extent of the atrocities of the empire's past and present. Now, she must guard both her heart and her land.
Sylah braves new lands to find a solution for the hurricane that threatens to destroy her home. But in finding answers, she must make a decision, does she sacrifice her old life in order to raise up her sword once more?
The three women find their answers, but they're not the answers they wanted. The drumbeat of change thrums throughout the world.
Ready we will be, when the Ending Fire comes,
Ready we will be, for war will come.
And it sings a song of war.
✨My Opinion✨
The story being retold at the beginning was very helpful for diving back into the story. I wish that more authors did this!
This book was not for me. I felt like it suffered from the second book issue and I didn’t love the first enough. I will not be continuing the series.
Finishing this book was like pulling teeth. I just lost interest in how unfocused it was. It took forever to get to the underlying connections of the plot. One minute they are solving a murder mystery, the next we are on the ocean or in an earthquake/acid rain/monsoon rain situation. It seemed like pointless wandering in the plot. The mini cliffhangers at the end of POV’s didn’t drive the story forward for me, but annoyed me because I couldn’t really tell the difference between plot cliffhangers and POV cliffhangers. So when big plot reveals happened, they felt insignificant.
I was reminded time and time again why I didn’t like the MC’s in the first book. They didn’t improve in a tangible enough way for me to start liking them.
Sapphic
Traveling
Revolution
War
TW
Colonization
Miscarriage
Murder
Domestic abuse
Religious bigotry
Gore
Thank you Random House Publishing and Del Ray for an advanced reader copy of The Battle Drum in exchange for an honest review.
Available May 23, 2023
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Domestic abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Slavery, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse
jashanac's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc for review!
WHAT A SEQUEL!
I cannot express how much I love the world-building here. I am ENTHRALLED with the history and lore that the author has created and am having so much fun trying to put all of the puzzle pieces together.
The religious zealotry and cult explored here is fascinating and terrifying. There were SEVERAL moments that made me shout out loud and get shivers all over, from the absolutely horrifying gory scene on the page.
Anoor was fairly frustrating throughout, due to her naivety and being SO gullible, my god. She hasn't seemed to learn from her lessons and it was really irritating a couple of times. Where her storyline leaves off at the end makes me nervous for how frustrated I'm going to be in the final book... but we'll see!
I love that Hassa is so no-nonsense with Anoor, though. She is an understanding, emotionally intelligent person, but she's not afraid to knock some sense into Anoor and doesn't coddle her. I love that, because good god Anoor needs it. I'm SO curious to see what happens with Hassa in the next book.
WHAT A SEQUEL!
I cannot express how much I love the world-building here. I am ENTHRALLED with the history and lore that the author has created and am having so much fun trying to put all of the puzzle pieces together.
The religious zealotry and cult explored here is fascinating and terrifying. There were SEVERAL moments that made me shout out loud and get shivers all over, from the absolutely horrifying gory scene on the page.
Anoor was fairly frustrating throughout, due to her naivety and being SO gullible, my god. She hasn't seemed to learn from her lessons and it was really irritating a couple of times. Where her storyline leaves off at the end makes me nervous for how frustrated I'm going to be in the final book... but we'll see!
I love that Hassa is so no-nonsense with Anoor, though. She is an understanding, emotionally intelligent person, but she's not afraid to knock some sense into Anoor and doesn't coddle her. I love that, because good god Anoor needs it. I'm SO curious to see what happens with Hassa in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Body horror, Gore, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Colonisation and Slavery
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