This book tells the story of teenager, Amerley, the eldest of 4 siblings living in Ghana and trying to provide for her family. Her father has abandoned them and her mother is battling depression, causing Amerley to need to drop out of school, take in community alterations by hand, and constantly try to make ends meet for her family. When a distant relative makes an arrangement with her mother to help pay for school fees and living expenses for her sisters and pay for fashion school for Amerley, it is a hard deal to pass up. Amerley will have to move away for two years and work as a servant, after the two years is complete her tuition for fashion school will be paid in full and she will have the opportunity to make a living and provide for her family in the future. Amerley doesn't want to leave home and worries about both her family and leaving her boyfriend behind, but eventually agrees that it is what is best for everyone. Life isn't easy at the house she now lives and works at, but it isn't horrible either, at least at first. She and another servant begin altering clothes and Amerley is asked to help babysit another woman's baby part time so she is able to save up a bit of pocket change and buy her own sewing machine. The lady of the house, Rosina, and her children also give all of their unwanted clothes and other personal items to the servants, so Amerley is able to give her siblings and mom new clothes and other gifts. When she goes back to visit home her friends and family think she has changed, but Amerley feels the same as before she left, until a terrible incident occurs one evening that changes Amerley's life forever.

I enjoyed this book, it was well written and a fairly quick read. It reads like a memoir, which is a genre I love, but it is actually a fiction story. I really liked that the author was a young woman from Ghana. Accord books apparently works with authors across Africa to help them write, publish and distribute their works, that was a really great thing to hear. I would definitely recommend this book to YA fans looking for a diverse story to read by an OwnVoices author. I definitely want to see what the author and other Accord book authors publish in the future! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Norton Young Readers for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

CW: There are some difficult parts, especially later in the book surrounding rape and societies views of victims of rape. The main character, Amerley, explains the views from her village around rape, which include victim blaming.

With three younger sisters and a single mother struggling with depression and poverty, Amerley has grown up learning to take care of her entire family herself. She has a supportive best friend, Sheba, and a boyfriend, Nikoi, but they have struggles of their own, most of which could be solved by money. So when she's offered a job as a live-in maid for Rosina, her mother's wealthy old friend in the city, she jumps at the chance to start earning enough to support her family and herself, even though she misses everyone from home.
The work, which includes cleaning as well as babysitting for her employer's friend, is difficult, but Amerley knows it's worth it if she can provide for her mother and sisters. She also gets to know Rosina's spoiled daughter, book-obsessed son, and mysterious, unpredictable stepson. She gets along well with the son, Zaed, until the night she is raped by the stepson while Zaed does nothing.
At first, Amerley refuses to tell anyone. Her rapist told her she'd never be believed, and she knows that will likely be the case. And she can't afford to lose her job. But when he continues to put her in increasing physical and emotional danger, she comes to the conclusion that she must speak up, "even when your voice shakes."

I really liked this book, but I wish the assault had happened earlier on, because a lot of the earlier scenes aren't very necessary to the plot and everything after the assault seemed rushed. I did like that there was an epilogue, with two different points in the future, which revealed a happy ending for Amerley after everything.

I spotlighted Even When Your Voice Shakes as book of the day and included it in my weekly and monthly roundups of new releases on my Black Fiction Addiction platforms.

When Amerley is offered a job working for one of her mother’s old school friends, she knows she has to accept. Her wages will feed her family, help her sisters stay in school, and ensure that her mother won’t have to worry about them. Amerley’s move to Accra isn’t easy, but she soon settles into her new life away from her small village—until she is raped by the son of her employer. Torn between keeping quiet to keep her job and speaking up for herself and for justice, Amerley must decide how to live her truth, and the impact of her choice will be felt through her entire community. Through the life of an ordinary girl from a small country village, Even When Your Voice Shakes exposes the damage wrought by institutionalized misogyny and poverty and reveals how even those who are most disadvantaged are never without their own power.

Although I like the premise of the story, I believe the set up could’ve been different. Most of the book focuses on universal themes such as poverty, siblings supporting siblings at a young age, children who have to grow up quickly, etc. Yes, those are themes that are important. However, when there’s a violet rape and assault in the very last part of the book, you wonder if that’s a situation where it’s suppose to be an afterthought or glossed over by readers because where it appears in the book. If a violent rape and assault was going to occur, and even though I don’t necessarily don’t like to read about one, I think it would’ve done justice in the beginning or middle of the story. From there, we would not only be able to see how Amerley copes with that emotional and mental scar over a longer period of time, but how she copes while working to provide for her family. I think we would have saw more growth and development in her character going in that direction.

Thank you NetGalley and Norton Young Readers for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*Trigger warnings* for Rape Violence and Abuse
Excellent writing with a powerful story about struggles for young women in the world today.

**** TRIGGER WARNING—Rape, Violence, and Abuse****
Amerly is the oldest girl in her family and has been struggling to take care of her sisters, while her mother battles depression. The bills are piling up, the rent is months late, and school fees are due for her sisters, and Amerly is running out of options. Amerly is an amazing seamsrtress and all she wants is to train with a local seamstress and work in an actual dressmaking shop. Auntie Rosina is a long time school friend of Amerly’s mother, who is very wealthy. When Auntie Rosina pays them a visit, suddenly momma is up and out of bed to Amerly’s surprise. When her mother tells her she will be going to work for Auntie Rosina, Amerly is shocked, but when her mother tells her she will make enough money to pay all their bills and enroll in her apprenticeship Amerly decided it cant be that bad. Auntie Rosina’s home is beautiful, and Amerly is determined to do her time and get back home to her family and her boyfriend. Auntie’s daughter is rude, her son is really kind, but her step-son is scary. Amerly does all she can to stay away from him, but she is ultimately raped by him. Emotionally and physically scarred Amerly is trying to continue her work or stand up for herself and tell what happened,

Thank you NetGalley and Norton Young Readers for this ARC

firstly, i must say the cover is absolutely gorgeous. this novel is definitely heavy hitting but an important read. the main character is well developed and her journey keeps you wanting to read on. enjoyed this novel

This is a story about Ghanian teenager, Amerley who is left to take care of herself, her mother and 3 sisters after her mother has a miscarriage with another daughter. Their father, upset about not having a son, leaves them to fend for themselves despite him being only breadwinner. Goka writes a captivating character with Amerley; who does everything in her power to keep her family fed and housed and her sisters in school. A rich distant relative pays their growing debt in exchange for Amerely working as a house help for 2 years. Even though it's a lot of strenuous cleaning work and everyone isn't the nicest, she has a successful side business fixing clothes and ends up enjoying living adjacent to wealth; where she had her own comfy bed, hand me downs of fancy clothes & left over food from meals. Things were going relatively well until Amerley is raped by one of the boys living with the family. The scene is not graphic or detailed at all which I did appreciate. She wrestles with whether she should tell anyone until he beats her up so brutally she has no choice. The rich family tries to keep her quiet and avoid going to the hospital but she learns her rights from a neighbor lawyer. After Amerely spoke her truth as a survivor other girls all over Ghana began to do the same. This story ends shortly after with an epilogue 8 years into the future with Amerely applying to law school to help other survivors like she was helped. I wish the emotional turmoil and aftermath of the rape was dealt with more as the story ends very shortly after. However I loved reading this book and watching Amerley grow into herself.

This is a book can be used as an introduction the #MeToo movement
And how difficult it can be for survivors to come forward
As well pointing out the damaging stereotypes people all over the world have with rape (i.e blaming the victim)

TW: rape
This story is obviously needed to bring light to situations like it that happen everyday all over the world, but I really wish it would’ve delved a little deeper. It felt like a very surface-level discussion on the topic of rape, which may actually be better for the intended audience, but I found just a little lacking.
Overall, it opened my eyes and allowed me to imagine a life that I’m thankful I’ve never had to live.

When Your Voice Shakes follows Amerley, a teenager working to support her family in Ghana. When her story starts out, the family is facing not only significant financial issues, but emotional/mental health issues that mean Amerley is the primary caregiver for herself and her three younger sisters. A solution to their very precarious situation arrives at their doorstep in the form of an old friend of Amerley’s mother, Auntie Rosina, who is offering financial support in exchange for Amerley working as a maid.

Amerley reluctantly accepts the position knowing how it will benefit her family. While living and working at Auntie Rosina’s, Amerley is raped. Now she has to weigh coming out against her rapist, when she may not even be believed due to pervasive misogyny and victim blaming, or staying quiet to maintain the income that is keeping her whole family afloat.

The subject matter of this novel is heavy and difficult, but Ruby Yayra Goka approached it eloquently through creating characters that the reader emotionally connects to and not shying away from sharing Amerley’s internal dialogue. In addition to the core story, I felt that Ruby Yayra Goka did a wonderful job seamlessly including background and insight into Ghanian culture and day-to-day life. The ending felt empowering and as a reader I finished feeling glad that I read it, even with the tough subject matter.

I wanted to reach out and hug Amerley – the main character of this novel.
Insert a down and out situation for the eldest of four girls in a home in Ghana. Amerley is fiercely loyal, she’s a maternal figurehead to her younger sisters, even though her mother is “present”. She has a moral compass that I love, but her situation goes from bad to worse. Amerley doesn’t just want to change her situation for herself, she wants an opportunity to live an honest life as a seamstress, to marry her sweetheart and is saving sex for her marriage bed.


Cue the trauma: Her father is no good (read as greedy, chauvinistic). After the fourth child is declared a girl… he leaves home and denies the baby of her naming ceremony.Can you even imagine this? In a culture where names were tied to birth order and gender, you leave the newest baby girl nameless for TWO MONTHS? Wicked. To make matters worse, he is rumored to have another family in another city. Her mother seems to be suffering a horrible case of postpartum depression – which leaves Amerley to literally pick up the Mommy role concerning all things family/rent/provision. In her community, many are poor, which doesn’t leave her many choices. One day, all of that changes when a wealthy relative shows up. Miraculously, Amerley’s mother climbed out of bed and makes herself somewhat presentable. This woman who has come has known her from better days. Insert the “savior” trope. Amerley is asked, read told, to serve as a domestic in this relative’s home with the promise of a secure future for her family and fashion school for her. None of that goes as planned.

Trigger Warning: Rape, Domestic Violence, Physical Violence
To be honest, I wasn’t ready for this young girl to be assaulted… more than once. I almost quit at that point.

Picture this, a reader who is known to predict the plot’s flow met with context she can’d decipher.


I was frustrated because there were many words and phrases I wasn’t clear on because of the cultural/language barrier (the Ga culture is dominant in the story). Somethings were explained and some were not. It was almost the end of the book before I understood that “charleywotes” were shoes. Google didn’t even help me with that. Frustrated or not, I pressed on. Most of the book is the set up. You get to see the world from Amerley’s eyes. It’s not pretty. Her teen bff is pregnant. Her mother is desolate, her boyfriend is in his own situation but trying to do the right thing, and she is having to figure out adult life as a teen. She didn’t get a teenage life – she got an adult life in her teenage years. Insert frustration, prayers, and tears. Yes, in real life for me and in the story for the main character. Why did I keep reading you ask? I kept reading because I know this is life for many. When the rapes did surface in the text, I was infuriated. Literally, I wanted to throw my phone. I was reading the e-ARC on my kindle app, and I kind-of-need my phone, so I had to rethink that. The rapes weren’t super graphic, but for someone with a vivid imagination like me, it was still painful to read. What was worse: THE REACTION afterward. How people treated her after she was raped and physically assaulted was incomprehensible. She clearly displayed signs of trauma, but it was ignored by most. The aggressor threatened her into silence.

The book cut to an end rather quickly. I wasn’t a fan of that. With all of the build up, I would have liked to see more of her recovery before the book ended. You do get some resolve in the Epilogue -so make sure you read the Epilogue. However, it jumps eight years down the line. I was happy to see that justice was served. The trauma completely changes her life. As in real life, trauma leaves NO ONE the same. This seems like it’s for a more mature audience than YA to me. I don’t know many children who will get curious enough to look up what they don’t understand. It was difficult to read because of the truth that in many places, where rape isn’t uncommon, the cultural fabric of the society normalizes blaming the girl/female/woman. America is included in the count of places with the stain of rape culture too. In the end there is resolve for this main character. For all of those out there who never got real justice, my heart goes out to you.

An inspiring tale about a young girl who is raped by her employer's son where she must choose to stay silent or make her voice - and story - heard. I adored the writing style of this novel, not only because of its beautiful prose, but also its seamless incorporation of Ghanaian slang. I especially loved Amerley's characterization as a hardworking, loyal sister and daughter. I do wish more time was spent exploring the aftermath of Amerley's rape (instead of Amerley's silence and eventual justice being brought about in the last 20% of the novel) but, overall, I thought this was a solid young-adult debut that deals with these timely, oh-so-important themes with the utmost care.

<i>Even When Your Voice Shakes</i> by Ruby Goka was great. Already decorated author, this was my first experience reading Goka and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book picks up a lot in the second half when the setting and tension comes to a boiling point of class and gender. Amerley is a working class girl who is forced to navigate an elite household as a housekeeper/domestic worker. There are a lot of nasty comments and inappropriate requests that she has to field and still maintain her job. A bit predictable in where the plot was going, perhaps just a fault of the blurb writing which gave away an event that takes place three-quarters of the way through the book. Perhaps go into this book without having read that if you're able to do so.

At the three-quarters point, there is a traumatic event that happens to our dear protagonist. I wish we had a chance to see the "after" for longer. There isn't a lot of space given to her recovery from the trauma and how she decides what to do for her future. It's obvious that the story of the event makes headlines in the country and I'd have liked to see that developed more and see more in-depth how Amerley feels about that. I also would have loved the emphasis to be more on recovery and healing than the before and then the trauma of the action.

Loved the descriptions of all the delicious foods. It's sprinkled throughout the novel as scenes often take place at mealtimes (when they're all together) and I was often envious of their yummy-sounding dinners. I already checked and there are no Ghanaian restaurants in my area much to my disappointment.

A strong story with an even stronger moral compass. I hope this gives readers the courage to speak up when injustice strikes close to home (even if their voice shakes).

**Thank-you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc for review purposes. All my thoughts are my own!​​**

<b>content warnings</b> for: resource (housing, food) insecurity, mental illness, parental abandonment, sex work stigma, sexual violence, alcohol, rape (on page), victim blaming, physical violence.

A powerful read of a young girl, Amberley, striving to take care of family due to an absent father and a mother who has emotionally checked out on her family. What seemed like a wonderful opportunity to move to the city and work for the wealthy friend of her mother's friend puts Amerley in harm's way, leaving her with the difficult choice to speak out against the one who harmed her, jeopardizing her job, or remain silent and risk continued abuse.

"Even When Your Voice Shakes" grips the reader's heart and takes them on a journey of the reality of many. This story follows Amerley who shoulders the weight of responsibility to take care of her sisters (and herself). Her strength and determination to provide stability for her family is admirable. She tries to fill the gaps that her parents create for her. As a result, she finds herself having to become a domestic worker and is sexually assaulted. Fortunately, this is not long and drawn out, but there's definitely missed opportunity for outlining the struggles of rebuilding oneself after such a traumatic experience. Overall, I enjoyed the book. This is a quick read and highlights very important struggles that many face.

Even When Your Voice Shakes had me in tears, both because some of the experiences our protagonist endures are heartbreaking and painful AND because the writing, Amerley, and the ending are so poignant and powerful. Goka creates an immersive and captivating narrative in which Amerley experiences some horrific things and must choose her course of action - she must decide how to best care for herself, for her family, for her future, her safety, and her community. Set in Ghana, Even When Your Voices Shakes was a quick read for me and I was immediately ensconced in Amerley's world. It's a relatively concise book, and Goka is a very skilled writer. The prose is beautiful and effective, and all of those things made it thoroughly un-put-down-able!

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy. I will definitely be recommending this to the educators and library specialists I work with, and can't wait to read more from Ruby Yayra Goka!

From the Amazon description (which sums it up well!):
"Through the life of an ordinary girl from a small country village, Even When Your Voice Shakes exposes the damage wrought by institutionalized misogyny and poverty and reveals how even those who are most disadvantaged are never without their own power."

What I loved most about Even When Your Voice Shakes, was the glimpse into what life is like for women and girls in a country so different from mine. We learn what life is like for Amerley, her mother, her sisters, and her friends and the choices she makes to care for her family and to stand for what is right. She understands the importance of an education for her sisters, through her friend she sees what can happen when having a child so early in life, and through her "employment" she witnesses both evil and good. Even When Your Voice Shakes is an eye opening read that makes you want to fight for Amerley and those she loves.

What I had a hard time with was it was a very slow start and built. I felt as if too little time was spent with the after effects of the assault both, painful and inspiring. Seeing Amerley receive the support she so very much needed from her family as well as a couple she had just met, and how she stood up for injustice, not just for herself, but for other girls that have gone before her and those who will follow. More time talking through her life after would have helped to lean this book more on the side of inspiring.

I do recommend this book, as difficult as a read as it may be, it is an important one. Thank you to NetGalley, W.W. Norton & Company and the author Ruby Yayra Goka for an advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be shared on my Instagram page, B&N and Amazon at time of publication. Review being posted to Goodreads at this time.

Powerful read. I was not prepared for some of the triggering content so I would caution others before they read this one.

Thank you NetGalley for this book! As well, W. W. Norton & Company and Ruby Yayra Goka. I really do not know what to say about this book. I never cried out loud or even dropped a tear but I cried in my heart after reading this book. It hurts to know these things are still struggles for young women in the world today. We have to fight but the fight I will fight is with the Lord. I pray for change. He never fails. I do not know if this is young adult it is more adult to me as I was shaken to the core with this. I feel like my review is a review of ramble but this book was deep.

Thanks for the read.

This is an extremely powerful story and one that I think a lot of people will need to read. Definitely a content warning is needed for this novel as it does deal with rape.

Amerley is a fantastic character that I felt for quite often. I think most women and girls have gone through some sort of similar experience so I think a lot of readers will relate. The worst part is that Amerley probably thought things were going to get better when she got a position working with the rich relative and that's when things took a turn.

I don't want to give away any spoilers so I feel like this is a very vague review but I recommend this book!