May’s Book Pick: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin
[ID: A book with a Black girl with white hair in a flowing green dress and jewelry on the cover. The book sits on a white shelf with a pile of fake purple and white flowers to the left and a silver lantern with a candle to the right. A small prop sword leans against the lantern. A lily shaped bookmark emerges from the top of the book.]
I’m happy to announce that the #ChronicallyIconicBookClub has selected A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN by Roseanne A. Brown for its May read for the theme of Mental Health Awareness Month.
This book is a YA fantasy, the first in a finished duology, with anxiety and migraine representation. (From the author’s note the anxiety rep is ownvoices but I’m unsure about the migraine rep which has some magical elements.)
I’m so excited to read this one as it’s a personal favorite that I still can’t stop thinking about. (See my original review here.) The portrayal of anxiety was simply amazing and I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I did! Check out the following buy links to support the book club.
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
Representation: main characters with anxiety (definitely ownvoices) and chronic migraine (unsure if ownvoices)
Synopsis: For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.
But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.
When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?
Content warnings: self-harm ideation, fantasy violence, emotional abuse, physical abuse.