By Abi Dare
⭐⭐⭐⭐ ¼ (Goodreads: 4.14)
GENRE: Contemporary African Fiction
PART OF A SERIES? Yes (sequel to The Girl with the Louding Voice)
WORTH READING? Yes
SUMMARY:
Tia’s mother is dying and Tia overhears a conversation between her mother and aunt that makes her question all that she believes about her life.
Adunni, the gorgeous teenager from Ikati, is lying awake in Tia’s guest room, excited for her school life to begin the next morning.
Suddenly, men come and force Adunni to return to the country. Adunni is accused of murdering a pregnant woman but feels that she must participate in the ‘sacrifice’ in order to get out from under this cloud of suspicion and clear her name.
This journey through a harrowing ordeal will see Adunni use her ‘louding voice’ to help not only herself but all the young women of Ikati.
Opening line: 'I used to tell people my mother gave birth to a thousand books and one girl.'
It was so special to dive back into a story with Adunni and Tia as the central characters. Abi Dare writes beautiful, deep characters. Adunni, in particular, is such a loveable character – naïve, funny and caring. Tia is a kind soul, who has had much heartbreak in her life (as has Adunni). And So I Roar oscillates between chapters from both Adunni’s and Tia’s point of view. The resilience and strength these two characters display is so admirable. Gaining a look into African women’s lives was fascinating, disturbing and heart-wrenching.
This book, like The Girl with the Louding Voice, is full of brilliant quotes! Abi Dare is honestly such a clever writer. For example:
“Tomorrow is a big fat liar. Did it not tell me it will be better than today?”
I love the sentiment behind this quote, where Adunni is thinking about her deceased mother: “My mama…living in my mind-parlor and mind-kitchen and mind-bedroom.”
And So I Roar is filled with all the humour we came to love in The Girl with the Louding Voice. Books don’t generally make me laugh out loud, but these two Abi Dare books did. Here’s an example or two for you:
“…looking like a frog that didn’t able to poo-poo for one year.”
And when she finds out she can’t marry anyone from her home-town, Adunni says: “…which is very okay with me because plenty of the men in Ikati are having ice-block for a brain.”
And So I Roar is much more political than The Girl with the Louding Voice. In this second book in her series, Abi Dare addresses issues such as climate change and female circumcision. Subsequently, I think if looked at as a whole, this sequel would probably have a little less humour overall than The Girl with the Louding Voice.
I wholeheartedly endorse this book!
Click here if you’d like to purchase The Girl with the Louding Voice
Click here to purchase And So I Roar
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