The first half was a little challenging for me to get through. I’m not sure if I was distracted or the story itself wasn’t as gripping, but the second half really came through and I couldn’t put it down around the halfway point.

This was a beautiful ending to an amazing duology I’ll never shut up about! A Song of Wraiths and Ruin was one of my favorite books last year and I think anything would have had a hard time living up to the magic of ASOWAR. APOSAS is a lot darker than the first book but I was warm and fuzzy inside in the end.

CW (as listed by the author in the beginning of the book): self-harm, fantasy violence, emotional and physical abuse, anxiety and panic attacks, grooming, suicidal ideation

The book embodied powerful messages reflecting current issues relating to our society as well, which I highly adored as it is so relevant. I truly wish we get more, but I have heard this is the last... I am afraid to type anything else as I don't want to spoil the book for you. It is a worthy sequel - plus the beauty of the cover is JUST *chef's kiss*! It is such a wonderful read that has the potential to lead to additional stories....I just purchased my copy!

Many thanks to the author and to NetGalley for my ARC for an honest review.

I just reviewed A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown. #APsalmofStormsandSilence #NetGalley

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

I was pretty excited to get an advanced copy of this on after really enjoying the first. I enjoyed this one as well and am kind of sad the series is over.

I love love love Malik and Karina!
They are such a breath of fresh air from the samey type couples you have in other YA books and i really appreciate that RAB was able to create two characters that have a different kind of depth to them while still being the heroes of their own making.
APOSAS picks up directly after ASOWAR obviously and is full of action from the start. Karina is on the run and Mailk is caught in Farid's clutches at the Alahari palace. Its all really fast paced which i like and they immediately head on a quest to save Ziran from destruction. Malik and Karina are connected through their powers and there are some intimate moments between them that are so sweet, i had a big grin on my face.
However, the reason i give it such a middle ground rating is that by the end, it felt rushed with two many things thrown in. The Faceless King kind of lost his purpose towards the end and there were too many 'i thought this was the end' moments, before we still had more to go which seemed a little unnecessary.
I also wasnt that satisfied with the ending. While it is a HEA which I knew it would be, i wanted more of a solid answer and turn out for Malik and of course Malik with Karina. Its implied and you can obviously work it out but i like finality in my finales and this still leaves questions which i dont like.
Lastly, RAB touches on a lot of issues that might be triggering for some people including, Self Harm, Physical and Emotional Manipulation, Suicide and general Mental Illness. It is all done exceptionally well both in the way its written and the actions that Malik goes through when dealing with them.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and am sad to leave Malik and Karina behind, i just would have wanted a little bit more confirmation on where their lives end up

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Words can’t describe how much I loved this book! I loved everything about it! The pace, the plot, and most of all the characters! (Not Farid XD)

I loved Karina! When I was reading this book. I saw so much of myself in her! I could relate to her so much! Personality wise and everything.

Though the ending has me feeling empty. XD

Final books are always so hard to review! There are so many things that I want to rave about in this book. So many plotlines that came to fruition that I had hoped that would and so many moments that made me gasp! But this shall remain spoiler free! This was a fantastic conclusion to this duology. A richly imagined, complex story, with a Romeo and Juliette-esque/ forbidden romance subplot. Subplot because the story as a whole was epic in scope, so much was going on. We finally find out what led to the current day political climate/societal make up. How oppressions of people, and even personal feuds all came to be. I loved that we were finally given the answers. And it was nothing I had predicted. There were so many things at play, different story arcs, that seemed to be pulling us in different directions, but its a testament to the authors talent that she brought all the threads together and made it make perfect sense. The world building in this book was exemplary, It was richly populated with people and their history, culture, languages. The very environment was brought to life with such clarity that it was a pleasure to imagine it. Now to Karina and Malik, their character development was brilliant, I loved seeing Karina's more vulnerable side and Malik realising how much strength and courage he really possessed. I really cant find anything to fault in this; storytelling, pacing, writing style, everything came together to make the perfect reading experience. Definitely recommend pre-ordering if you havent already

"The dead are the dead are the dead."


❗❗Spoiler-free ARC Review❗❗


Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (more like 3.5 actually)


❗Trigger Warning: Suicide attempt.❗


Well... this was something. It was not what I expected, a bit underwhelming compared to its hype and the awesomeness that was the first book. Still a great book, but not as good as it could have been.


Admittedly, I hadn't done a re-read of the first book, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, beforehand and it took a little while to become re-acquanted with the plot and characters. However, it started off very, very well. Intriguing and to the point, with a storytelling style to it. As if the readers are listening to a storyteller encountered in Zirani listening entranced to Malik and Karina's story. This was a very nice touch which I really, really like in spite of my usual dislike of the narrator referring to the reader. This time it fit well with the tone of the story.


However, the good stuff just about ends here (plot-wise). The plot was rather mediocre. Dull and kind of depressing. For one thing, it'd drag on, with nothing of much interest happening at all, nothing mind-blowing or plot-twisty, except maybe on one or two parts. It could definitely be a lot better...a bit disappointing really. Also, one misfortune came after the other, for both Malik and Karina. Literally the entirety of the book is those two trying to do something and failing colossaly, whether it was their fault or just plain old bad luck. Hardly anything went their way. I found it a bit too bleak, and I like Edgar Allan Poe 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️. The ending wasn't much better, either. Not to say I didn't like it at all. It was pretty cute, but again, it could have been a lot better (I would elaborate more but I don't want to spoil anything.)


I've had the exact opposite reaction to the characters, though. I honestly forgot just how much I loved all of them...except Farid. Farid can go to hell and stay there, the little shit!! Karina was an absolute masterpiece, so well-written I felt her hope, her anger, her despair, EVERYTHING with her. Same goes for Malik, who's had one of the BEST character developments in the entire book/series. AMAZING WRITING. He dropped straight to the rocky bottom and climbed right back up again. Gloriously so. Even though, he became really, really unlikeable for a minute there. There were a lot of new and incredible characters in there too. Fantasically well written, with remarkable backstories and forming some of the most amazing friendships with the MCs.


My absolute favourite character, however, has to be Idir and his strange, sweet, and hilarious relationship with Malik. They had a very Sam Winchester x Lucifer kind of relationship but with feelings (if you understand SPN references) that I just loved unconditionally, and it all took me completely by surprise. I did not expect the hilarious bickering between them. Theirs were the most amazing moments of the book (aside from the Karina x Malik stuff of course). He was the comedic relief the book needed. The other relationship I can talk about without spoiling was Karina and Malik's. Their scenes were a treasure from beginning to end. Beautiful, sweet, and filled with a lot of sexual tension (which I will never get sick of) even when they were supposed to hate each other. Actually, especially then.


One thing that definitely deserves to be noted, is how well mental illness was written into the story, once again. Respectful, accurate just like in the first book. Except this time, there was a more serious, darker side to mental illness that cut my breathing short. There were some moments that were so well-detailed and raw, theybheld my complete attention in frozen terror. I could feel the despair, the emptiness, the darkness inside the characters. The details of what goes on inside an ill person's mind during their darkest and lowest moments gave a whole new meaning to the book. Anyone who's ever said that fantasy/sci-fi books cannot include important, serious themes is a complete idiot and needs to shut up!! That's all I have to say about that.


In spite of its dull moments I would still recommend this book/series. It is definitely worth readng.

Thank you Roseanne for sending me this book though NetGalley! This was a great conclusion to an epic story and I’m so excited to see what the author will write next

A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne Brown
“Why do you pretend to care about me only to take it away?”
~~~~
This book took me out of this world and I was blown away at every single chapter! Brown really did it with this second book; the storyline, the descriptions, the characters. This is the ultimate enemy to lovers in my book and Brown really knows how to stir the emotions. This will be added to the list of books that put me in such a book hangover that I will not know how to recover from it. I do not know what will get me out of the reading slump, maybe nothing will.
I do have one thing to say; Roseanne Brown, the ending stole my soul and now I don’t know what to do. Absolutely brilliant writing and can’t wait for the next book and/or whatever this author creates next.
Huge thank you Roseanne Brown and Harper Collins Publishing for sending me an
eARC of A Psalm of Storms and Silence!

Thank you so much to Roseanne E. Brown and Epic Reads for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I feel like the world has been waiting for A Psalm of Storms and Silence since A Song of Wraiths and Ruin came out in June 2020 and the original release date of APOSAS was pushed back. While I did have some issues with the pacing of ASOWAR, I was immediately drawn to Karina and Malik in Book 1, and I can definitively say that I enjoyed APOSAS much more than I did ASOWAR.

It was super interesting to see how Karina and Malik’s dynamics had changed after the explosive ending of ASOWAR. You can really tell that this duology is both Malik and Karina’s story through the way that we follow each individual character much more than we follow both these characters together. This sequel contains the “seeing/communicating with each other in our dreams” trope, which is such an underrated trope in fantasy, imo. Both Karina and Malik are such great characters individually. Of course, Karina is so incredibly strong and unapologetically herself--she’s truly such an amazing role model for young female readers. And Malik’s character arc from making some horrible decisions to working his way to earn the respect of others around him was really great to see. I also think that in general, the enemies-to-lovers trope is also really well done in this duology. The “do I kiss them or kill them” theme was very prevalent.

There were also so many other aspects of this novel that I loved, like Idir’s relationship with Malik; the disability and mental health representation, and the harrowing action sequences. I also loved the “storytelling” aspect of the story in which the chapters were interrupted by a narrator speaking as if they were retelling Malik and Karina’s story for a play or book. The epilogue was also so bittersweet :( No spoilers about what happened, but I think I’m just gonna go ahead and reinvent a new epilogue for my own well-being :)

Be sure to pick up A Psalm of Storms and Silence on November 2! If you were a fan of ASOWAR, you’ll definitely love this one.

While I really enjoyed the first book in the series, this one did not provide a spark for my thrill and enjoyment. Thank you for HarperCollins and Netgalley for sending me an early advanced copy of this book!

Firstly, I didn’t particularly like the writing style. Even though this is only the ARC version of the book, I noticed a lot of spelling and grammatical errors here and there that I know will be fixed in the final version. But the writing was very simplistic and didn’t provide a fantastical element to it, considering the world was very lush and original. Some words were very repetitive; I didn’t need to know that a character was a former Sentinel or a former servant throughout the entirety of the book; I understood it perfectly the first and second time, there was no point of overly repeating it. This book could also do a bit more of editing to fix all the run-on sentences, and I wished the author provided better word choices and explained the scenarios with a bit more depth and character.

The climax was very rushed and lacked originality. It just happened. The magic system was not very explained properly throughout the series, and I felt like all sources of magic and fantasy was just sprinkled around to the story here and there to add the fantastical element to it. This later caused the climax to be a bit bland, and I stopped caring about it in the end as I found the action scenes very ridiculous. I felt like Malik and Karina’s growth with their magic were all forgotten at that point.

The book also did not provide a perfect conclusion to the story. Yes, it was a bold move on the author’s part when she wrote the final chapter, but there were so many loose ends and unanswered questions. This book was not the perfect conclusion to a duology we’ve been waiting for. I also felt like some of the characters were just “fillers” created only to move the story forward. When I thought Leila and Nadia would play a bit more role to the storyline and for Malik’s character development, nothing significant really happened.

I still liked the series and enjoyed some parts of the story. The culture that Ms. Brown created was very original, something I highly admired. It has some potential on the world-building and the magic system, but it just fell short in my opinion. I just think it could have been crafted a bit more.

Oof this was a dnf , I guess I have to buy an physical copy to read it nicely and understand it ,
(Rating is added as netgalley won't let me allow to submit a review then)

Final reaction: LOVED 4.5 (rounded up to 5 on NetGalley)

When I saw I was approved for the ARC of this novel, I squealed with delight. I absolutely loved A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (the first in this duology), and already preordered this one. It took me all of one chapter to be sucked right back into Karina and Maliks’s world. Was I often infuriated with Malik’s decision? Yes. Did I love him anyway? Yes. Did I always enjoy Karina? No. Did I love her anyway? Yes.
Don’t even get me started about Farid 😤

I am still processing how I feel about the ending. I’m not sure if it’s because I wanted it to continue or I wasn’t satisfied with the closure. Regardless, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the novel.

Overall, I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of this to review! A Song of Wraiths and Ruin was one of my favorite fantasy reads of 2020, and I was excited to see where the story went. I am happy to say that the book definitely didn’t disappoint!

For the most part, I usually have difficulty picking up fantasy sequels when it’s been awhile since I read the first book. However, that wasn’t the case with this book. Sure, there were small things that I forgot, but overall, most of the first book came back pretty quickly. For the amount of books I’d read, I’d say that’s a mark of a pretty good book! Usually, I can boil that down to the characters. Karina and Malik were really memorable, and that helped me jump right back into their story.

Brown also expanded this world in a lot of interesting ways. All of which worked well with the plot and the characters she already created. Each element blended seamlessly together, creating a story that’s easy to get into, and makes you not want to put it down.

I’m also glad this is a duology because I feel like I’m trying to keep up with too many series. I will say, I’m excited to see what else Brown creates next because you know it will automatically be on my TBR!

4.5/5 stars

This book put me through the wringer. I'm gonna keep it buck with you guys, it is not the strongest sequel.

The first thirty percent or so was dragging, mostly because it felt too 'quippy'. It gave me the same energy as a Marvel movie, but it had an unearned rapport with the new side characters who were all VERY interesting. Caracal, Ife, and Hanane were all wonderful and intriguing, and I would have loved a third book to get to know them more. Instead, it felt rough and slightly shoehorned in.

After we get over that, the middle begins to accelerate and never stops. Brown keeps a breakneck pace that I adore, and we really get to know the depth of Malik's despair and Karina's desperation. They went from feeling surface level at the beginning of the book to fully fleshed out. Brown does a particularly good job depicting Malik, his spiral, and the combination of his mental illness with the pressure of keeping himself -- and Idir -- contained. Brown handles his pain honestly and with raw emotion in a way that actually made me cry.

Brown also does callbacks and references well. Between Karina and Malik, although they are separated for most of the book on their journey, the parallels between them are quite beautiful at times.

Ultimately though, Brown has too little book with too much plot. Although I'm typically a huge fan of duologies, I think she would have really benefited from expanding into a Trilogy. The motivations behind the actions of characters, including Hanane and Idir, didn't feel completely believable. The readers would have benefited from more time to flesh them out.

The ending is definitely controversial. Once again I was thrown back to that "Marvel movie" type ending that left me feeling unfulfilled and rolling my eyes. But other people may feel different, which is something I recognize. And there's always fan fiction to turn to. Brown ended it how she felt most appropriate, I just happen to disagree. I hope other people get what they want, or what they need from it.

The book was 'good' so I give it three stars. The Karina and Malik story, especially their inner lives, are beautiful. That is where Brown excels and flourishes. She just happened to be held back a bit by the pacing. The world she created was lush and beautiful, and could have benefited from another full book for the readers to lose themselves in. But for now, like Idir in the lemon grove, I will simply wait to see what happens next.

It's very refreshing to me to see more fantasy books coming up that are not set in a Euro-centric world. I loved the world-building, the riddles, and the suspense. In the first book, I wasn’t that convinced of the romance but I will admit, I loved the intimate scenes between Karina and Malik. What brought the rating down for me was the inner monologues I felt like they were very drawn out. I also think that the pacing of the book wasn’t my favourite. Some parts were just a little slow and It had a lot to do with the inner monologues. Overall a great story and I’m looking forward to seeing what the author writes next.

I'm in love with this book. Karina's a strong protagonist and I loved reading about Farid and Malik!

A Psalm of Storms and Silence is the second book in a duology by Roseanne A Brown, and it was my most anticipated release of 2021. And you will be happy to hear that it was worth the wait! If you have not read A Song of Wraiths and Ruin and think you would like to, keep scrolling to avoid any spoilers.

APOSAS picks up right after ASOWAR, with Karina on the run and Malik under Farid's thumb at the palace. As with many duologies, this book was extremely fast paced and relied on the foundation set by the first book. I wondered how the romance hinted at in book one would continue given the physical distance between the MCs, but Brown handled this in a fun and effective way. I was very impressed by the pacing of the story, and I devoured the book.

I was a bit surprised that the Faceless King ended up being my favorite character of the duology. The moments between Malik and the Faceless King were often humorous and moved the story forward.

I highly highly highly recommend this duology to fans of intricate and inventive fantasy stories. I know I will return to this duology many more times to relive the excitement and romance. This book and the duology overall are exceptional and I will be recommending this series to all my fantasy loving friends.

Thank you to HarprerCollins, Roseanne A. Brown, and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Incrível! Sem palavras para descrever o quão incrível esse livro é. A Rosie sabe desenvolver bem seus personagens, ainda que vc precise ficar com raiva deles por um tempo até que eles cheguem onde precisam. O livro é tão bom que eu devorei em cerca de dois dias! A história te envolve e faz vc sentir várias coisas diferentes, e um medo danado de se decepcionar no final depois de dois livros tão bons. Vemos novos lados dos personagens que já conhecemos, somos apresentados a novos personagens e novos lugares. A história não é só linda, mas é uma oportunidade de reflexão sobre como você trata a si mesmo e como lida com as crises que surgem no caminho.

Passei o livro inteiro nervosa, com medo do final porque a Rosie disse que poderia não agradar a todo mundo, mas eu achei muito legal como ela escolheu terminar. Se eu já estava apaixonada pela sua escrita, agora fiquei com um quentinho no coração e saudades do Malik e da Karina. Mas tudo bem, porque eu devo voltar em breve a Sonande.

This series is wonderful. I am such trash for Malik. He’s such a unique love interest! The characters are amazing and the world is phenomenal. This series deserves all the hype