Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

It was good to catch up with Adunni and Tia again and this book is a good read. It covers the serious subject of the dreadful lives and discrimination suffered by women, especially, but not exclusively, in rural Nigeria. I have read a few books recently set in Nigeria by Nigerian authors and it seems that the patriarchy is very much alive and often sometimes kicking in that country.

It is back in her own village (no spoilers) that Adunni's louding voice becomes a roar but not after a lot of injustices and some genuinely scary and upsetting incidents. . Adunni is a great character, so real and keen and resilient, a fine young woman, Tia is persistent and resourceful and carries her own secret sadness. We now have other great characters like Kayus and Boma and the sacrifice girls.. Although Adunni and Tia are, almost literally, heroines and agents for change, this is not the sort of book where all women are good and all men bad, there are women who do bad things and men who do good things.

i would say that this book is more of a fairytale/wish fulfilment book than Louding but it is none the worse for that really, we all like it when things change for the better. There are a couple of lectures about climate change but hey ho. I suppose it could be argued that the ending is too pat but again, i can let that go.

I would say it is not as good as Louding - perhaps that is partly because Louding had the shock of the new, but it is still a very good read and it could be read alone. A low 4 stars.

The sequel to The Girl with the Louding Voice, starting immediately after the previous book finishes. The story of Adunni and Tia continues as they confront their past and present lives, and learn to roar to deal with it all.

The book starts slow, only to accelerate midway through, and end on a huge high. The writing eventually becomes electrifying, echoing the previous book. The characters are so alive that they firmly lodge themselves in the reader's heart. Both protagonists are so vibrant and emotionally rich that they almost feel like people one has met by the time the book finishes.

All this being said, the book continues to be about female oppression in modern-day Nigeria (and, unfortunately, many other places). The role of society, including older women, in perpetuating this sense of lack of self-worth, or even nothingness, in your girls is heavily explored via the stories of the protagonists as well as many other girls they meet along the way. The systemic failure is laid bare - especially the role of their mothers in allowing this to continue to happen. In this sense, the book truly brings home, in an accessible way, a topic that is often difficult to dissect and digest.

The one thing I didn't like about the book is the ending. I won't spoil it, but something more realistic would have been more aligned with the broader theme of the story. While I understand why the author did what she did, it felt that this was the point that the story stopped feeling real.

Overall, this was an exceptionally good story. It was also emotive, and, like the previous one, had me crying for the last third of it, at least. Thinking of my own daughter and holding her sleeping in my arms when reading some of the more horrific parts was gutwrenching and humbling. How can the world be so cruel...

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐨 𝐈 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐫 | 𝐀𝐛𝐢 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐞́ | 𝟒*

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭:
⟡ Literary fiction
⟡ Nigerian gender inequality
⟡ Dual POV

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
Although I rated The Girl With The Louding Voice the same four stars, I think I preferred this one. I felt that this was unputdownable whereas TGWTLV I struggled to pick up. I think there was a stronger feeling of hope in And So I Roar, and the accumulation of sadness in TGWTLV has more of an outlet in this following novel.

There was still really tough topics that are addressed in this book such as female genital mutilation, child brides, and slavery (to name a few). It’s hard hitting for any person to read and I genuinely cried my eyes out towards the end. I loved that this had an alternating perspective between Tia and Adunni. In TGWTLV, with Tia helping Adunni, I was so wary of her motives, and I thought it provided the story with so much depth of this alternative perspective, not just to allow readers to trust Tia, but to also highlight abusive cultural practices at the other end of the wealth spectrum

I think this is one of those books where I wonder whether I finished the book, or the book finished me.

𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:
“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘈𝘥𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪. 𝘈 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺.”

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺. 𝘖𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦.”

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘵, 𝘢 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺?”

“𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥.”

“𝘉𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬-𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘕𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘠𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴.”

I have been completely immersed in Adduni’s world again and loving it!! She is such a joyful and charming character, so incredibly positive, regardless of what life has thrown her way! Adduni is such a vibrant, inspirational and wise character.

It’s been a real pleasure learning more about Adduni’s life journey and seeing what happened to her next. Thank you, ‘Abi Dare,’ for writing the next part of Adduni’s journey, I’ve loved every minute of it!

Tia is so kind and I absolutely love how much she cares for and takes responsibility for Adduni. Adduni deserves to have someone to look out for her best interests. My heart really goes out to her.

The writing is wonderful and when I read the first book, I wasn’t sure how I’d get on with the dialect, however, as soon as you get to know Adduni a little more, it’s very easy to follow and it adds real character to her and the story.

This book has so much packed into it and superbly expands on book one. I love Adduni’s ‘life wisdoms,’ watching her grow and hearing more about her mother’s story. Also reading about the difficulties that could be experienced where she lived, it is heart breaking.

I give this book 4.25 stars.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and those involved in allowing me an ARC copy for an honest review.

Unfortunately I will not be finishing this book, I stopped around the 14% mark. This wasn't bad or anything, I just strongly disliked the way the story was going and in my mind The Girl With The Louding Voice remains a standalone with the (largely) happy ending it had.

3.5 stars rounded up. I was so excited for this sequel to The Girl With the Louding Voice and it was nothing like what I expected! I thought we’d be getting perhaps a future Adunni returning to Ikati as a teacher, but it’s a direct continuation from where the first book left off.

The first half was a bit of a struggle, it felt disjointed with so many perspectives, but it was pulled back in the second half thankfully, and the cast of lovable girls and their tragic stories gripped me, leading to an absolutely devastating finale that I won’t forget for a while. These stories about girls and women suffering at the hands of patriarchal societies are such important stories to tell and I am so happy Abi Daré is giving them a voice.

Overall I feel like I got closure and some things from the first book were wrapped up nicely, I just think I would have preferred only Adunni’s voice.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC! Greatly appreciated

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for a review.

I was really excited to read this having loved The Girl with the Louding Voice, and it’s another fantastic book from Abi Daré (although you still can’t beat TGWTLV in my opinion!)

This book picks off where the last left off, with Adunni now living with Tia and eagerly awaiting her first day of school. (I was looking forward to finally reading about Adunni getting to experience some happiness but should’ve known it wouldn’t be that simple!) Before she gets to start school, she is sent back to Ikati to stand trial for the murder of Khadija and take part in a sacrifice ritual.

I enjoyed the narrative swapping between Tia and Adunni’s perspectives and learning more about Tia’s story but I felt there were too many new characters introduced and the book itself felt too long with some subplots/ chapters feeling a bit unnecessary at times.

That said, the exploration of how climate change is affecting women and girls in rural communities was really moving, as well as the plot line around FGM, which was heartbreaking.

Overall another excellent book from Abi Daré that I would highly recommend if you enjoyed her debut.

This is an amazing sequel to ‘Girl with The Louding Voice’ . I didn’t think the author would be able to follow up with anything equally impactful. But I was wrong. These books totally transport you to the culture and land of NIgeria. The way women are treated is truly shocking. Living our Western lives we are blissfully unaware of the struggle for education and rights for these women. I hardly know how to put into words the effect these books have on me and am so grateful to the author for enlightening me about the way of life over there. I always love to feel that I have learned something by the end of a book and this provides this in spades. The pace is astounding right from the start and the tension of that 24 hours palpable. I am extremely grateful to Netgalley, Abi Dare and the publisher for allowing me early access to this incredible book. I look forward to the author’s future works.

Let's just say I was lucky to have read this immediately after I finished reading 'The Girl with the Louding Voice.' I fortunately cannot relate to that long wait. Lol. I fell in love with Adunni's character and it was really beautiful to see her flourish even more in this sequel. I love the exploration of Tia’s character in this sequel. It gives the layers I wanted to see in TGWALV. Well done to the author and everyone involved in bringing this to life. I enjoyed this one.

I eagerly anticipated this second novel from Abi Daré and was thrilled to be granted an ARC to review ahead of publication. The Girl with the Louding Voice was a debut roundly applauded and much loved by everyone in my book club and I couldn’t wait to read its sequel.

It is with some trepidation, then, that I have to confess that I just didn’t enjoy this book half as much. My issues with it began on the first page where the narration begins with Ms Tia rather than Adunni. For me, Adunni is such a beloved character and I wanted to hear her distinctive voice again from the get-go.

In TGWYLV, it is the clever evolution of Adunni’s English in the narrative which really adds to the story. Here though the narrative switches back and forth between Tia and Adunni and I found this made the book feel disjointed.

I also found that I just didn’t care enough about Tia which meant I couldn’t invest fully invest in these parts of the story.

When Adunni is forced to return to her village, a whole host of other characters are introduced - all with their own unique back stories. The novel attempts to incorporate so much and to me the plot felt melodramatic and all over the place at times.

I think telling one girl’s story well is more than enough and Daré accomplished this so brilliantly in her debut. Perhaps she should have let Adunni have her happy ending and instead passed the megaphone to another new character from the start of this book. There are certainly plenty of interesting candidates in the Circle of Forest.

With thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for kindly granting me the ARC for this review.

Adunni is an amazing girl who goes through so much to access her freedom, her education, her wisdom, and her louding voice

A follow up to The Girl with the Louding Voice. Heartbreaking yet full of hope and joy. A rollercoaster of emotions!

And So I Roar by Abi Daré is a sequel to The Girl with the Louding Voice. I would highly recommend reading the novels in order otherwise you will miss so much. I absolutely loved Daré’s first novel so was very excited to get a copy of her second and it didn’t disappoint!
And So I Roar starts at a very fast pace leaving me quite breathless with expectations of what is to come. From the very first page we are back with Tia visiting her dying mother in hospital, an overheard snippet of conversation hints at family secrets that need to be told but not just yet. Adunni now fourteen, with Tia’s help, has won a scholarship and is due to start school the following day, Adunni’s excitement at finally getting an education is palpable. That night there is a loud banging at the gate with two angry men demanding the return of Adunni, she must return to her village to be tried alongside some other girls. A sacrifice must be made in order for the rains to return.
The story unfolds through the eyes and voices of Tia and Adunni, we learn of the cruelty that women endure at the hands of those in power, mostly men but not always. Secrets unfold that have serious consequences and voices are developed.
Abi Daré is a phenomenal writer who has developed strong, well developed characters and a novel with several themes and messages. I loved this book, many thanks to the author, Hodder and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is the follow-up, the long awaited follow-up of her previous novel ‘the girl with the louding voice’. Which I feel you should read before reading this book that way, a lot of it will make more sense. Her previous book was about Adunni a 14-year-old Nigerian girl, sold into marriage because her mother died and the father needed money no surprise there. But all she wanted was an education so she could look after her little brother and provide a better life for them both.

Anyway, following on with this new book, it’s been a year now since Adunni was on the run and she’s now 15 about to start school when the worst happens. She’s been found! Her old aged husband with the tribal Chief have found her and want her back to their village, to be sacrificed because it hasn’t rained in months and they also think she killed the old mans second wife Khadeja.

Tia tries to make her escape her house but she refuses so Tia goes with her back to Ikati, her village which has changed. Her once best friend Kike, is married to the medicine man and is pregnant and her brother, Kayus, is now eight years old, taller and so thin and sad because of the life he has had to lead. But because Tia decided to follow Adunni to her village, she is now getting a sharp lesson in how life is that these girls have to lead growing up in a village and not in a big city, whilst trying to save these girls from their sacrifices and possible death sentences.

During this period Ikati, we realise that Adunni's mother had her for someone else and her father isn’t actually the father she thought he was. We also find out that love letters Tia had written aren’t actually love letters to a lover per se. Her husband suspects that she was having an affair, but I’ll make you read it to find out more about that later as it’s not what you think.

Anyway, during the sacrifices, one of Adunni’s friend dies, and she gives a rousing and heartrending speech about what goes on in the village and which Tia records and sends to her husband.

The speech then goes viral, the army is called and it all ends well. as the girls are rescued and the chiefs, who conducted and enforced the sacrifices, are arrested along with their wives for being accessories to the crimes. Adunni’s husband (read the first book) releases her from the marriage by paying her off, because he doesn’t want to be arrested, coward!

Tia takes Adunni and Kayus with her to live happily ever after and she also finds out that her daughter is actually alive, but her own mother dies so she’ll never know the persons name who her mother gave the baby to. Anyway, they all live happily ever after.

This book ties up the loose ends from the first book however, I thought this book was way too long, I actually skipped certain pages and pages chapters because it was just too long. It could’ve been at least 100 pages shorter and it still would’ve conveyed the message of hope given African village future. But it is beautifully written apart from being too long so it spoilt story flow for me anyway, you may enjoy it but I didn’t because of that.

It makes me sad to give such a low rating to this book. Having loved The Girl With The Louding Voice a couple of years ago (I bing read it on a trip!) I thought this was a brand-new story. To my surprise, it is a sequel to that book so I was excited when I realised!

For those who haven't read the first book, I would suggest reading it to have the background, even though this one can be read as a standalone but then you will feel you are missing out on something.

Unfortunately, for me, it doesn't feel the same as the first one. Everything happens in 1 day and Tia's story in between didn't work out for me. When I finished the first book, I felt that was it. I don't think her story needed to be continued.

I tried hard not to DNF but I gave up at 52%.

This is another powerful novel from Abi Dare. A tense story of strong women facing persecution from traditional Nigerian culture. A contemporary fight for justice.

from looking at the early reviews, i’m clearly the outlier in opinion when it comes to and so i roar, and i hate to give it a negative review. i reread the girl with the louding voice last month, having first read it in 2020, and i loved it even more the second time around (it’s my top book of this year). so to have to give the follow-up a 2* review is upsetting. but it feels like in the four years between books one and two, abi daré forgot how to write her characters well.

first of all, i didn’t realise that this was basically a direct sequel to TGWTLV (i don’t know why it’s not being marketed as such, but picks up pretty much exactly where TGWTLV ends). so that’s worth bearing in mind if you go into this thinking it’s a standalone book because it isn’t. it gives (very) brief context around characters and events that already happened, so you won’t be entirely lost, but you’ll miss out on a lot of important background. maybe the reason why it’s not being promoted as a sequel is because it’s written as a dual perspective novel from adunni’s and tia’s POVs, where the first book focused solely on adunni. for the most part, i don’t think it was a good idea to write this as a direct continuation of adunni’s story, and that’s both in the sense that i don’t think adunni’s story needed continuing and also that i don’t think this book in its final form was the right direction to take.

i don’t think this should have been written from tia’s perspective. her voice, her POV, was very difficult for me to connect with, and i realised i liked her as a character when viewed through the lens of Adunni and not so much on her own merit. her voice was distant, highbrow, and frankly annoying at times. i don’t know why her dialogue (spoken and internal) was so convoluted; she didn’t think or speak like a normal person. she overused metaphors and used extravagant words where they really did not make sense. she also came off as out-of-touch and a little bit dense when she kept speaking to non-English speakers with complex language. for example, she asks someone a question like “why would she continue to procreate with him?” and it’s just so bizarre? like, in what context would any regular person ever use the verb procreate in standard conversation, let alone with someone who you know does not understand English to a high level? she was so offputting. i found it hard to care about her storyline outside of adunni, and i had very little emotional attachment to her.

adunni… where to begin? her character felt so botched and like a caricature of who she was in TGWTLV. she was so lovable because she was an insightful, funny, quick-witted 14-year-old who was spirited despite her circumstances. it felt like abi daré dialled her character up to 11, to the point where suspension of belief was required. she’s not had a day of formal education since the previous book, but suddenly she’s a master of metaphor and can spout wise proverbs like the greats. a lot of what i loved about her the first time around was lost due to the pure unrealism of her character, and it’s such a shame. again, i lost a lot of emotional attachment to her where the first book literally had me tearing up at the thought of what she went through.

the pacing of ASIR is really bizarre. a whole lot happens and it’s over the course of about 24 hours? i found it hard to come to terms with the fact that everything had happened within just one day, again it felt a bit nonsensical. the middle section is incredibly bogged down when we switch between iya’s storytelling and the girls in the forest. i’m not gonna lie, i did not care about what happened with adunni’s mother and it all took entirely too long to relay. i actually loved the “talk show” hosted by the girls in the forest, but with it being interspersed with iya’s story it felt like it took up way too much time. i found myself getting bored desperately waiting for something to happen.

my other problem is there was just wayyyy too much melodrama. i can’t get into too much of it without spoiling the plot but again, it required some suspension of disbelief and it felt goofy so i lacked any emotional attachment to what was going on. adunni going viral was the cherry on the cake.

also, a less important but equally irksome point - i hate the cover? the cover for this edition and the alternative one i’ve seen are both horrid, truly bad.

so to return to the fact that i don’t think and so i roar should have been the continuation (conclusion?) to adunni’s story, i think there were better ways that we could’ve closed the book on her journey. to be honest, i think TGWTLV should have been left as was and really didn’t need further exploration, but alternatively, i think this book should have focused on one of the other girls (efe, zenab, hauwa etc.) and had adunni cameo. i really don’t think adunni needed to go through additional trauma and i’m not sure what the purpose of that was. there were a lot of incredibly compelling stories to explore that the new cast of girls brought to the table, and i think a new narrative should have been the way to go.

again, i’m so sad to have to rate and so i roar so low given how much i adored adunni and TGWTLV. but all in all, i just didn’t feel the heart that i felt from the other book, and i really had to keep pushing myself to read it as i didn’t want to DNF. i think i would still keep an eye out for other releases from abi daré as i do think she’s a talented writer, but i do hope that there’s no further exploration of adunni’s or tia’s stories. i’ll probably just consider TGWTLV to be a standalone and not give much thought to ASIR again. massive thanks to Hodder & Stoughton, Sceptre and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ And So I Roar by Abi Daré

This is the follow-up novel to The Girl with the Louding Voice and we catch up with Adunni as she gets ready to start school. She is so excited the night before she wears her uniform to bed. Unfortunately, things don’t go to plan and she is whipped out of her bed in the middle of the night and taken back to her village, Ikati, Nigeria, to face an accusation of murder.

Ms Tia who has been helping Adunni escape her past and acquire an education just returned from her mother’s sick bed. Whilst there she overhears a conversation between her mother and her aunt that proves her mother lied to her throughout her childhood. Now she must seek the truth whilst also helping to free Adunni and save her from the punishment of death.

But as her mother becomes sicker and there are less than twelve hours to help her dear friend Tia must act fast and pray for a miracle.

I loved Daré’s first novel and is one of my favourite books of the year so far. So I was thrilled when I was approved for this one on NetGalley.

We hear more of Ms Tia’s story this time which I loved and also other girls who were being sacrificed told their stories of cruelty and heartbreak which I found so intriguing. I enjoyed learning about the cultures and traditions of Nigeria even if some of them were so bizarre and extreme.

There were some very heavy topics in this book including rape, violence, torture, mutilation of the female genitalia and a lot of grief and sadness felt by many people. There was an undertone of climate change which is such a current and important issue of the moment and had a real feeling of hope and progression.

The time between Adunni being captured and her condemnation does drag on quite a while and there are some parts where I felt Daré was just trying to fill pages. However, I still enjoyed catching up with these wonderful characters again and laughing at some of the girl's English pronunciation. The lives they all led were so tough and shockingly painful that you want them to succeed in every way possible. The way women are treated in these poor countries is awful while men are seen as kings and can behave in any manner they choose.

Daré’s books are always a real eye-opener for me and she writes so beautifully that she will always be one of my go-to authors.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a virtual copy of this book. And So I Roar will be published on 8th August 2024

I LOVED, LOVED Abi Dare's debut book, The Girl With The Louding voice. I picked this up and didn't realise it was a sequel. The plot really didn't have enough meat to it for me. I really couldn't finish it and had to move on.

How can we not fall in love with the charismatic teen, Adunni, all over again - ‘The girl with the louding voice’ from the Nigerian village Ikati, whom gets her chance ‘to roar’ and teach us the reader, oh so much.

To receive a formal education is Adunni’s ultimate dream, and the book opens with the imminent promise of her starting a new school in Lagos, under the new care of Tia. Everything is prepared for her attendance the next day and Adunni’s excitement is palpable, until the fated knock on the door throws everything and everyone into jeopardy. Lives are literally at stake.

The story is largely told from the perspectives of Adunni and Tia, but we also hear from a number of smaller, but very important female voices with their own stories to tell (via the ‘Zee Zee’ show) relaying the often traumatic and brutal treatment they have received from the hands of men in control / power.

There are some hefty subjects dealt with here - rape, female genital mutilation, grief, tribal tradition and superstition, climate change, violence, childhood marriage, motherhood and identity. There are also numerous lighter moments of heartfelt humour, when I literally laughed out loud; Adunni’s broken English and misinterpretation of English, often adds to this.

It’s through the course of the novel that we truly come to further appreciate how crucial education is; in preventing catastrophes and cruelties toward women and girls, particularly in third world countries where misogyny and ignorance is rife.

As Adunni declares - ‘Our land is bleeding, the world is bleeding, and it is the girls that are suffering the most’.

With Adunni’s roar, will she attain the freedom and justice she deserves, along with her fellow female companions? You must read it to find out.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Hodder for providing an ARC. I absolutely loved it!