After reading "The Girl With the Louding Voice" I was so excited to read the sequel. Both bo0ks are wonderful. Even if you didn't read the first book the second one stands out equally on its own.

It's the heartbreaking story of Adunni, a teenager who has the guts and will to leave her village in Lagos, determined to find more in life than what she had. She wants an education and pursues that better life until she feels the pull to go back for what becomes an incredible journey.

The writing is amazing as is the character development. I was rooting for all those strong and powerful female characters that deserved a better life outcome. Yet, the author made sure to present all points of view. It was, certainly, easy to identify with the right and against the wrong. Yet, the clarity with which traditions, as horrific as they were, contributed to the well-balanced and fascinating read that it is.

Can't wait to read the author's next book!

This is the sequel to The Girl With the Louding Voice and immediately I can say I liked the first book more!

I expected this book to ~hopefully~ have more joy for Adunni than the first but sadly it was even more traumatic.

Overall it was written well and I loved seeing Tia’s development and backstory more. I do think things went a bit off track by including the stories of so many other girls in Adunnis village, but if there’s a third book I’ll definitely pick it up.

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5*

I absolutely LOVED Girl With the Louding Voice and was SOO excited about this follow up.

Abi Dare writes from such a place of empathy and her characters elicit raw emotional reaction.

And So I Roar rejoins Adunni and Miss Tia as they begin life together just before Adunni is to move to the boarding school in Lagos where she has secured a scholarship. This story gives us a much deeper glimpse into Tia's life-her history, and her pain. Adunni's father comes to Tia's home to take her back to her village for her to face tribal justice for the perceived death of her father's wife.

Tia decides to accompany Adunni and the story is flashbacks of Tia's life as well as the hours spent attempting to free Adunni.

I really enjoyed this book.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Abi Daré’s And So I Roar is a gripping and inspiring tale of courage, identity, and the power of women’s voices. The story follows Tia, who uncovers a long-buried family secret after overhearing a conversation between her terminally ill mother and her aunt. At the same time, Tia shelters Adunni, a determined fourteen-year-old runaway seeking education and a better future.

As their lives intertwine, Tia faces a heart-wrenching decision—protect Adunni or finally reveal her mother’s secret. Meanwhile, Adunni’s journey toward self-empowerment and her mission to fight for the rights of girls in her village is both moving and inspiring.

Daré’s writing is poetic and raw, offering a vivid portrayal of resilience and the importance of solidarity. And So I Roar is a powerful exploration of finding and using your voice to advocate for change, making it a must-read for anyone who enjoys stories of personal strength and social justice.

And So I Roar, the highly anticipated follow-up to The Girl with the Louding Voice, offers another heart-wrenching story full of powerful themes and unforgettable characters. Set in Nigeria, the novel brings us back to Adunni’s journey as she embarks on a new chapter of her life, striving for the education she’s always dreamed of. Meanwhile, Tia, grappling with her mother’s terminal illness and uncovering long-held family secrets, faces a moral dilemma when her and Adunni’s worlds collide once more.

Abi Daré tackles intense topics such as female genital mutilation, child marriage, environmental degradation, and the exploitation of women, while also capturing the strength, resilience, and courage of young girls like Adunni who dare to dream of a better future. The narrative moves between Tia and Adunni’s perspectives, offering emotional depth and providing a strong sense of place and culture in Nigeria.

While the novel takes on many heavy themes, Daré balances the dark moments with humor and hope, making And So I Roar a captivating read. The pacing can be uneven at times, and some readers may find the multiple POVs a bit jarring, but the overall emotional impact of the story is undeniable. For those who loved The Girl with the Louding Voice, this sequel will not disappoint, as Adunni's journey to find her voice and fight for the rights of the women in her village is as inspiring as ever.

4 stars for an emotional, thought-provoking story about the power of education, resilience, and advocacy.

this picks up right where the last book left off, but I didn't remember the last book so it was a bit hard to follow and I am just not sure we needed a sequel at all?

A powerful, moving and at times heartbreaking follow up to the best-selling debut, The girl with the louding voice. In And so I roar, we continue following Adunni, a fourteen year old girl from a small Lagos village who ran away from her life there and is staying with Tia, a kind woman who has vowed to help Adunni enroll in school.

Getting an education and not being forced to marry a man against her will is Adunni's greatest dream but when a knock at the door one night has Adunni being dragged back to her village to face trial for her supposed crimes, her life as well as Tia's get turned upside down and Adunni finds unexpected friends with the other girls who are also awaiting judgement.

In the hours in which they wait, the girls all share their harrowing stories of mistreatment, neglect and abuse finding a sympathetic community to voice their secret dreams and terrible pains. Tia too, is on a quest to discover the secret her mother has been keeping from her and together the women will work to make life just a tiny bit better in their rural village of Ikati.

Great on audio narrated by Adjoa Andoh who has an excellent African accent and voices each of the women's stories beautifully and distinctly. This book is one not to miss and will inspire readers of all ages to stand up for the vulnerable and mistreated women in their own communities as well as those still living in rural areas of Africa.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review! Abi Dare is a powerful new voice and I cannot wait to read anything she writes next. Her characters are bold, strong and prove that dreams are possible if you fight hard enough and roar like a lion for change!

With this second book, Abi Dare has become on of those authors that I will always pick their books up when I see they have something new. Her voice in storytelling is fantastic here, much like in The Girl with the Louding Voice, which I still recommend to students.

An impactful sequel to Girl With the Louding Voice, Adunni’s story continues as she is living with Tia in Lagos and about to start school on scholarship. When two elders knock on Tia’s door, to bring back Adunni to her village to face charges, we are brought back into the world of abuses faced by women in small Nigerian villages. From selling women, to genital cutting, to marrying off young girls as second or third wives, the status of women in the 2015 time period is far removed from Tia’s world in Lagos. Tia’s has her own secrets she has kept from her husband Ken, and those secrets are about to be unveiled. I highly recommend this moving and emotional account of both Adunni and Tia’s lives. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

In the year 2020, when the world was falling down around me, I opened @abidare_author’s book THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE, and I can not possibly overstate the ways in which I was healed by a fourteen-year-old girl in Nigeria named Adunni. 💜 Actual tears remembering. ❤️‍🩹

That book ended up being my Book of the Year for 2020, and I’ve been waiting for her next book ever since. When I found out that Adunni is back in this new book, I was over the moon!

This is a story of a girl who is determined to find her voice despite every obstacle in her way. Deep topics are handled here with much sensitivity, and female relationships and empowerment are the themes of the day.

ASIR isn’t labeled as a sequel, but it very much is – and I highly recommend you start by reading TGWTLV first for the full picture of Adunni and Tia’s lives. However, even if you don’t, you will still be able to follow this one.

Highly recommend!

🌿Read if you like:
✨Stories of female empowerment
✨Nigerian settings
✨Epistolary elements
✨Dual points of view
✨Environmental narratives

4.5

It was so lovely to come back to this world and see Adunni and Tia. The story is simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting.

Though the reasoning is so sad, it was interesting to see Adunni back in her home village. To see how she relates to everyone and still worked to use her voice. I enjoyed the scenes with the “tv” show where we got to learn about all the women who were in the village for the ceremony.

I also enjoyed learning more about Tia. Hearing about her childhood and situations that had an impact on her now.

This book really dives into how women are treated in the small African towns. How they are not given the opportunities to take control of their lives.

Just like the first book, this one is filled with beautiful lines.

I would definitely recommend this one.

Thanks Dutton Books for the copy.

This is a continuation of "The Girl with the Louding Voice" which I did not read. The story was interesting and topical but the characters were a bit confusing to me. It's probably best to read the first book before reading this one.

Thanks to NetGalley, Dutton Books, PenguinBooks, and Penguin Random House for this copy of "And So I Roar."

The duology of "The Girl with the Louding Voice" and "And So I Roar" is an instant classic. I adored both books and they were without a doubt two of the best books I've ever read. I was so glad to read them almost back-to-back so the details were fresh in my mind.

Adunni is a fabulous character. She's courageous, smart, resilient, kind, forgiving.... just a brilliant person. She felt so real as she moved from one "adventure" to the next - some heartbreaking, some triumphant.

I think my favorite part of "And So I Roar" was Adunni's Very Important Small Book of Little Wisdoms. Such beautiful knowledge packed into such few words.

And of course, the "Zee-Zee Show" had me laughing and crying (you'll have to read it to hear the girls' individual stories).

And getting to learn more about Tia was wonderful, too.

Fans of The Girl with the Louding Voice will relish spending time once again with Adunni, the 14 year old who left her village for Lagos only to be forced to work for a horrible woman but don't worry if you did not read Louding because this stands on its own. Adunni and Tia, the woman who rescued her, tell most of the story, propelled by Adunni's sort of voluntary repatriation to her village as a sacrifice because there's been a drought. Tia flings herself into the car and into the depths of so many secrets. It's a complex novel of women, of secrets, of female despair, of abuse, of empowerment. There are 11 others girls at the village, including Zaneb who has no concept really of village life. They each tell their stories. Tia's secret is told in letters with her first love which her husband Ken has just discovered and is emailing to her even as he tries to find her. It's not pretty, it's often distressing, and it's sometimes confusing. It's also about bravery and speaking out. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A great read.

I absolutely adored Dare’s The Girl with the Louding Voice, and was beyond excited when I received the sequel, And So I Roar! (Thank you, @duttonbooks!!)

Now that I am done reading it, and have had time to reflect, I believe it was much more impactful than I originally felt. Adunni’s story starts out very strong, along with Tia, her savior; however, all of the events that then happen felt a bit jumbled and overwhelming. There were a lot of characters to keep track of.

When I got through the bulk of that, I did start to see how everything and everyone fit together. Loose strings started to get tied up, and I saw the story create its complete picture. As I reflect, I see that the loose ends being tied up were what make the story so impactful. I loved the significance of the title and the strength of Adunni and Tia is astounding. This is probably one of the most powerful books I will read this year.

If you choose to read this one, know that there will be moments that you will stumble, but that it will be completely worth it in the end.

I was so excited to see that The Girl With The Louding Voice had a sequel! If you haven't read the first book, you really need to start with that one. This second book continues where that one left off and assumes you have read it.

I really enjoyed going back into Adunni and Tia's world. I liked that this book had chapters from the perspective of both women. It was interesting to see Tia's backstory and get to know her more. There are a lot of issues brought up in the book- climate change, treatment of girls and women in Nigeria, motherhood, family secrets- but I felt they were mostly dealt with well. The new characters were fun and tragic and each brought a little something new to the story.

My main complaint with the book is the pacing. The first half felt so slow. It was taking forever just to get things moving along. Then the second half moved so fast I felt like I didn't have time to think and savor what was going on. I would still definitely recommend this book and enjoyed reading it!

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for the ARC!

And So I Roar by Abi Dare is a sequel to The Girl With The Louding Voice, expanding from only Adunni's voice to showcase other female voices including Tia's (Adunni's "saviour"). This is quite an ambitious literary work as it strives to highlight a lot of issues girls and women face as a result of being female, and still spotlights the effects of climate change. The writing is quite beautiful, poetic and stirring. On the flip side, there were inconsistencies in Adunni's voice - not knowing the word "literally" yet waxing poetic about the environment. Also, it was touching to read various girl-child stories, however, several girls from several geo-political zones in Nigeria converging at a backwater Western-Nigeria town for a fantastical ritual seems a little reaching. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A heartbreaking and hopeful follow-up to The Girl with the Louding Voice alternating between the continuance of Adunni's story and her forced return to her village and that of her guardian Tia who is wrestling with her relationship to her terminally ill mother and her flailing marriage.

I am thrilled to have had the oppportunityto read "And so I roar" before publication.
Adunni is one of my favorite characters so the ability to read her ongoing saga was a must read for me.
"And so I roar" picks up right were "The girl with the louding voice" left it's readers. Adunni is with her friend and mother figure,Ms.Tia. They are both preparing for her first day of school: a dream that Adunni looks like she will soon be living. Unfortunately, Adunni is forced to return to her childhood village,Ikati, before she can attain her desires for education.
Adunni is the same big hearted, wise yet naive young girl. Throught the book Adunni sprinkles "Life lessons", which became my favorite parts of the book.
Ms. Tia remains Adunni's biggest defender and insists on joining her when the chiefs from Ikati visit Lagos and force Adunni to return to Ikati. Adunni is to participate in a village ritual in hopes of pleasing the gods so that they will bless Ikati with rain.
This storyline includes some back story on Ms. Tia and her family dynamics, which sheds a bit of light on why she so adimantly wants to make sure Adunni is protected.
The reader also gets to know other young ladies from Ikati that are being forced to participate in this ritual as well. The girls become fast friends and help one another stay safe through this inhumane experience.. I believe the crowd favorite will be Zenab, she is fierce. outspoken, highly ceative and an up and coming advocate for women.
It was a joy to follow Adunni, Ms. Tia and the entire cast of charactersto get a glimspe into some real-world attrocities that still take place in parts of Nigeria. These strong willed women struggle but never give up!
Beautiful. Solid 4 1/2 stars

This. Is . What. I'm Talking. About. When. I. Say. We. Need. More. Black. stories. I ate this up. Give me more more more more more more more.