February 14, 2020

On Valentine’s Day (U.S.), a love letter of hope and encouragement to girls worldwide who are dreaming and striving to use their own Louding Voices!

 The Girl With the Louding Voice: by Abi Daré

Genre/Categories: Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Nigeria, Oppression, Women’s Rights

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Summary:

“Tomorrow will be better than today. I have value and I’m important.”

Life for a woman is not easy in Nigeria. Adunni’s mom plants the thought of having a “voice” in her spirit. Fourteen-year-old Adunni is determined to fight for her voice to be heard and for her future despite being sold as a third wife. Even when she runs away, she finds herself in another powerless position of servitude. Adunni is introduced to a more modern woman who befriends her and encourages her to keep hope alive and to think of herself as important and having value.

My Thoughts:

Wow!

I could leave my review at this one word! The Girl With the Louding Voice checks all my boxes for a great read:

√ diverse culture
√ likable character
√ unputdownable
√ thought-provoking themes
√ substantial and relevant content
√ powerful, emotional, memorable

I’m intrigued by being transported to a world I know nothing about, experiencing a life foreign to me through a unique point of view, and falling in love with a character. I love cheering for Adunni and hoping for her future because, in my mind, she’s a symbol of oppressed girls around the world who fight every day for education and for their voices to be heard. The Girl With the Louding Voice reminds me of memorable reads with similar themes such as The Pearl That Broke its Shell, I Am Malala, and Amal Unbound.

Although she is trapped in a life of servitude, fourteen-year-old Adunni sets the highest goals for herself (paraphrased):

Mom tells Adunni that education is her voice. Adunni’s goal is to go to primary, secondary, and university and to become a teacher because she doesn’t want any kind of a voice, she wants a Louding Voice.

Thoughtful themes include women’s rights, equal access to education, finding your voice, overcoming oppression, hope for the future, women as mentors/role models, and friendship.

Even though this is a heartbreaking read, I highly recommend The Girl With the Louding Voice and I’ll be promoting it to everyone I know! It’s memorable (gave me a huge book hangover), unputdownable, engaging, poignant, and compelling. Yes, all the words!

On Valentines Day (U.S.), this story is a love letter of hope and encouragement to girls worldwide who are dreaming and striving to use their own Louding Voices!

TW/CW: girls suffer abuse as a result of being forced into marriage and servitude

You might enjoy this Podcast interview with Abi Daré.

***This is my Review of the Month for the review collection on LovelyAudiobooks.info

My Rating:  5+ Stars

The Girl With the Louding Voice Information

Meet the Author, Abi Daré

Abi Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and has lived in the UK for over eighteen years. She studied law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an MSc in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. The Girl with the Louding Voice won the Bath Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts in 2018 and was also selected as a finalist in the 2018 Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. Abi lives in Essex with her husband and two daughters, who inspired her to write her debut novel.

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QOTD:

Will you be adding this to your TBR?

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ICYMI

I have finished my Winter TBR!
(just in time to plan my Spring TBR!)

Valentine/Galentine Gift Ideas Here and Here

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Happy Reading Book Buddies!

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~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

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***Blogs posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.

Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

Book Cover and author photo are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.