A review by monicalaurette
A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

There’s not much that I can say about this book without spoiling it since it’s a sequel (so if you haven’t read the first one WHAT are you doing here?)

“It’s not every day you get to embark on a new character arc.”

I thought one thing would happen to a character, and something else entirely different would occur which just goes to show how wonderful the writing is to have you also not notice what is happening along with the POVs. And I loved the new characters that we were introduced to in this book, mainly Ife. I wanted to travel the world with them because they kept me laughing even in the saddest parts.

Seeing how this was a sequel, certain relationships developed and others deteriorated during the course of the book. I was happy for some, and others hurt me to my core. Part of that is because I thought of my own similar relationships (sibling/child/friend) and thought about how emotional it would be for me. But thankfully (I guess) I am not from a line of royalty with a magic secret nor am I destined to fight someone like that.

"Every time she’d look for a savior and hadn’t found one, she’d become her own.”

I’m glad that we were able to explore more of the Sonande world in this book though. I've always loved it in books where they explore their world, even if it’s not the point of the particular book and the world building is mentioned in passing. It helps keep me connected while reading. Now I just need Rosanne to write a book of a traveler just going through all of Sonande, maybe Ife, and talking about all the beauty & magic of the world around them.

I gave this book 4.5 stars because it twas a wonderful story and a great way to end a curse. I just dislike open endings which this book sort of had, I want to have more of a solid ending, but that’s a personal thing and nothing against the book or author. If you’ve gone this far in my review and haven’t read either both books or just this one in the series please do now. You’re missing out on a wonderfully crafted & enrapturing story.

“This was still his mind. He was still the strongest person here.”

I honestly thought Nadia was going to get sacrificed for a minute there because of her like….stoic-ness
so like….would Malik have a right to the through with Khenu
I knew Farid’s lust for love (and power) would kill him in the end, and kill him his love did
that long run-on sentence/paragraph on pg 401-402 literally had my heart racing I love the way Malik’s anxiety is portrayed it’s just like
when Afua took over Maame’s role I wanted to cry because she deserved to see the end of it all and live life how she always wanted to :(
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