X is for Song

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

I chose the books this year quite randomly from my Goodreads Want to Read page. Some are quite creatively added to letters.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

Yeah, I got creative with the letter…

You can read reviews for from previous years for this letter here, here and here, and my year-end reviews here, here, here, here and, most recently, here and here.

My TBR

Books that start with numbers.

About the Book I’ve Read

This book came highly recommended on everyone’s Instagram feeds, Goodreads reviews and by the book bloggers I follow. But 2020 was just too hyped for me to read it then. I got around to it now…

A Song Below Water (A Song Below Water Duology #1) by Bethany C Morrow

Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Never mind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation; the girls’ favorite Internet fashion icon reveals she’s also a siren, and the news rips through their community. Tensions escalate when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. No secret seems safe anymore—soon Portland won’t be either.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

The girls – and most of their community – live in a state of constant fear. Though it is Portland (portrayed as forward-thinking and mostly safe), the girls know that they aren’t ever truly safe. Micro-aggressions from others abound – the way the mothers of the non-Black girls treated them on the day of the protest might seem like they were concerned, though it is something that stood out. And our siren heroine being pulled down by the cops – not for anything she did, but for driving while Black. Cringe. Then there’s the true violence, not even just aggression, at the prom when that twit out to destroy other girls wears a siren collar (she’s not a siren, but one of the revered elokos, and the collar won’t do anything to her, but it would silence a siren).

Effie doesn’t know what she is, but the blackouts and peeling skin puts even more fear into her life. And her sister (Tavia) fears anyone finding out that she’s a siren in a world where sirens (only Black girls and women can be a siren) are feared and hated.

But beyond all this fear is an excellent story of love, sisterhood and standing up for what’s right, even when the consequences can be severe. The mythology, all the awesome magical creatures, and the mystery surrounding Effie makes it a magical tale.

I love the gargoyle (no spoilers) and his involvement with the girls. And once Effie’s magical side is revealed… Wow. No spoilers, but it’s a great twist.

The main theme – people fearing Black women with a voice – is handled well and woven through the story without punching you in the face.

A highly enjoyable, thought-provoking book about two young women finding their place in the world – and choosing who they are, instead of accepting how others have chosen for them.

About the Book

A Chorus Rises (A Song Below Water Duology #2) by Bethany C Morrow

The Hate U Give meets Shadowshaper in Bethany C. Morrow’s A Chorus Rises, a brilliant contemporary fantasy set in the world of A Song Below Water.

Teen influencer Naema Bradshaw has it all: she’s famous, privileged, has “the good hair”— and she’s an Eloko, a person who’s gifted with a song that woos anyone who hears it. Everyone loves her — well, until she’s cast as the awful person who exposed Tavia’s secret siren powers.

Now, she’s being dragged by the media. No one understands her side: not her boyfriend, not her friends, nor her Eloko community. But Naema knows the truth and is determined to build herself back up — no matter what.

When a new, flourishing segment of Naema’s online supporters start targeting black girls, however, Naema must discover the true purpose of her magical voice.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

So, the story of the twit who tried to destroy Tavia and Effie in the previous book… There’s probably supposed to be a redemption arc, but the fact that she can’t see what she did wrong, feels victimised because people no longer fear sirens, and try to control everyone around her, just works on my nerves. Not even the mystery of eloko magic can keep me reading. A let-down after the amazing (can totally stand-alone) “A Song Below Water”.

DNF 19%

My Book

Special Edition of Irascible Immortals: Smoke on the Water

Remember that you can request all of my books from your local library!

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

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*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*