I was both excited and nervous to read this - I had really enjoyed The Girl with the Louding Voice and was looking forward to more by the author, but was worried about having yet more trauma dumped on Adunni before she got the chance to pursue her education. This was heartbreaking, eye opening, and touched on so many intersecting issues in Nigeria today. I do still wish that we could have let Adunni have her well deserved happy ending at the end of the last book, while maybe focusing more heavily on Tia’s story, but at the same time I liked getting to be back in Adunni’s world and to see her strength in facing her past. Based on the ending I’m guessing there will be at least one more book in this world, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy listening to that as well. 

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 far). 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.
massive thanks to Hodder & Stoughton, Sceptre and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

✧ full review on my tumblr ✧