Songs of Irie

This has much a meatier plot and is quite ambitious compared to Bromfield's first novel so I was excited to read it. The first half was so boring I started skim-reading, trying hard not to abandon the book completely. The “romance” between Irie and Jilly felt laboured and unconvincing. In the last third of the book, events picked up and the writing got quite engaging before ending abruptly in an unexpected way. I liked how the last handful of chapters were written; it was like the author suddenly decided to be creative while the earlier part was an exercise in deliberate formulaic plotting. Overall, I appreciated the historical fiction aspect but as a YA coming-of-age/romance, it was weak.

Thank you to Wednesday Books who kindly sent me an ARC for review.

I just finished Songs of Irie by Asha Bromfield and here are my musings.

Irie has one talent... She sings and the whole world stops. It's what she has that gets her through the day in 1976 Jamaica. The whole country is in a state of unrest and the streets are not safe. Irie lives in the heart of Kingston and her best friend, in the hills where the mansions are. Their joint love of reggae music created an unbreakable bond.

The tension in the streets makes life harder for both girls but as their love for each other blooms from friendship to something much deeper, the girls must try and navigate their lives in a world that is exploding around them.

This was an interesting read. It started out a little hard to wrap my head around with how the language was laid out but I got used to it fast and I really got into the groove with it. The slow start was worth it though because once it hit its stride it didn't stop bringing the magic. You could really feel the horrors of what it must have felt like in Jamaica during the upheaval of the election during that time. People were taking to the streets and when Irie lost someone she cared about, it was tangible. I liked Irie right from the get go. I found her relationship with Jilly to be so beautiful and sweet, it really was a tragedy that they couldn't be together in the way they wanted to.

The book built a really powerful atmosphere, you could almost smell the pot and feel the reggae reverbing through your soul. The book was really well researched and as far as historical fictions go, it really hit the mark for me. If you are looking for a YA set in the past, this has to be your next read. It's powerful and uplifting with some of the best writing I have seen this year.

4.5 stars.

Thank you @wednesdaybooks for my gifted copy

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What an intense book! I had no idea about the history of Jamaica, now I'm about to deep dive on it. The only reason for giving it 4 stars is that I though the end confusing: how did Gillian knew where to find Irie when it says that Irie itself didn't know where the club was? Also it doesn't explain how Kojo died, how Gillian's family heard about her death, how they reacted, if they retaliated somehow, and why the radio station was called Irie?