May’s Book Pick: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

book with a Black girl with white hair in a flowing green dress and jewelry on the cover.

[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 book with a Black girl with white hair in a flowing green dress and jewelry on the cover.

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.⁣

Discussion date: sometime end of May

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Book Review: Breathe and Count Back from Ten (releasing May 10th, 2022)