Summary: 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.
~Thank you NetGalley and Tor Teen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!~
*This is a spoiler-free review, so you can read it even if you haven’t read the book yet!*
"I'm never gonna be okay with people trying to erase the rest of who I am. Never again."
My Rating: 4 stars
【Note: The first thing I feel like I should mention is that somehow I didn’t realize this was a sequel when I requested the ARC and I thought it was a standalone. And then I checked Goodreads, and I rushed the finish the first book, so I could read and review this one. I think it was partly because even though this cover is gorgeous it has really different vibes than the second one. It says this could be read as a standalone but I highly recommend reading the first book before reading this one because otherwise, this book would be really confusing and hard to understand.】
Characters: I really and thoroughly despised Naema for the way she wrecked Tavia’s and Effie’s lives in the previous book so I was skeptical about whether or not I would be able to connect to her character, but I was pleasantly surprised. At first, it was really annoying since she didn’t seem to regret what she did even one bit, and she thought she was doing everyone a favor, but her character change by the end of the book made it worth it.
Plot and Message: This book was mostly about Naema’s journey and the aftermath of what happened at the end of A Song Below Water. Throughout the book, her struggle with understanding who she is and telling her story was portrayed well. I did feel like this book wasn’t as exciting external plot-wise since there wasn’t as much danger or action, but it still had a very powerful meaning.
Though this wasn’t as fun of a read as the first book, I’d recommend it to anyone who read and enjoyed A Song Below Water.
You can see this review on Goodreads here! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3903220166
Comments