A review by waite
The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi

adventurous dark 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

An amazing book 2 that doesn’t fall too hard into middle book syndrome of being boring. The new concepts teased in book 1 were payed off well here and only escalated. It DOES fall into the trap of, this book is definitely building to an action-oriented final installment, but to me this is a feature rather than an issue. 

My first .25 deduction purely comes from a place of “my favorite characters got dog piled with some of the most traumatic shit” and it made me sad.
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