Reviews

The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi

triplebriiii's review against another edition

4.5

I liked this much better than the first book. I really enjoyed the expanded world building, with us learning about the other lands, I thought that was well done and incredibly interesting. The world building is just excellent in this one. 

I loved that Hassa played a larger role in this one, I really enjoy her character. Likewise, I liked that I had to deal less with Sylah. I'm not giving up hope on her, it took me until book 3 to fall in love with Rin, there is a chance. But goodness do I not like her

and was so thankful that she has a more limited number of POV chapters.

I am enjoying the new characters, I found Nayeli fascinating. Kwame wasn't new, but the expansion into his character was nice. 

I felt like parts of the plot were still a bit weak. There were some pacing issues about 2/3 of the way in. I felt like the plot line to deal with the sea monster was kinda useless, in the end.

and then Leo dying so soon after being reunited with her daughter. It just felt kind of pointless.

Loved that this whole plot is like an allegory to climate change and evangelical extremists. Fascinating. 

swansandroses's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

bezarue's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

Loved it, yet again El-Arifi wows with an incredible middle book. I spent most of it incredibly stressed, the only part calming me down being Jond with the kitten.

Not loving Anoor going dark side but I'm hopeful Sylah might be able to persuade her out of it. The tannin is absolutely terrifying.

She kept the stakes up in a way that's really impressive, and even though

I knew someone was gonna die I'm still sad it was Kwame, mostly because Hassa deserves to be happy. I want Hassa to make it more than anyone else

scifiandgaultier's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

knlevengood's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

wheel_of_mushroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring tense medium-paced

4.0

sunshine_oracle's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

bbonaguro's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0

rarely do i enjoy the second book in a series more than the first and wow this was somehow better than the final strife. the last few chapters of this book blew my mind  it was so good and the character arc that happened with anoor is insane. nayeli’s story also had me shook. the way these stories are interconnected

and the timeline of nayeli’s story takes place over decades had me going back and forth between the chapters. i love the multiple povs of this book and almost want to read it all over again just to pick up on all of the subtle pieces i missed throughout

britbooks's review against another edition

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? No

4.0

thesinginglights's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

A major step up from the first book, adding layers and scope to this world with a delicious mystery. A couple of let-downs: the unusual way some scenes were edited made for lack of clarity (early on, Sylah moves locations without a clear signal and was suddenly inside when she was outside) and my least favourite tropes of a character not revealing important information until it's plot relevant. But! Loved the new perspectives, the tighter focus, and awesome world. Stoked for the final book!