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A review by dhiyanah
Songs for the Shadows by Cheryl S. Ntumy
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Songs for the Shadows by Cheryl S. Ntumy is a very quick, very deep dive through grief. This novella is part of the Sauútiverse collection, a collaborative worldbuilding and storytelling universe centering African and African diaspora writers. While I hope to check out more Sauútiverse stories, Songs for the Shadows reads as a beautifully confrontational, quietly immersive stand-alone.
This story gathers our attention around Shad-Dari, captain of an excavation ship for a company that greedily collects and archives sounds. Shad-Dari is an anti-hero, reflective of a shadow-self that many would rather cut off than connect with, who submerges herself in work and addictive behavior that seemingly promise her escape from the traumatic memories she cannot face. Like many workers under capitalism, she is emotionally avoidant and manipulative by default. And we see, through the telling of this story, how aware she’s been this entire time of her self-destructive tendencies. As a living ghost, subconsciously proclaimed through the name she chose, she takes it some steps further.
She makes us believe she’s doing all this on purpose. She believes she’s doing all this on purpose, a walking wound that has been eaten alive by tremendous events beyond her control. Just wanting escape, relief in whatever form, needing to run “up, up, up” before her grief - her truth - catches up to her. Eventually, Shad-Dari’s actions compound into another tremendous event that she has no say in, and she finds herself flung towards the very thing she spends her life avoiding.
This is a poetically transformative story with wonderful worldbuilding and a science-magic system that will feel familiar to many Global South cultural and spiritual lineages. This part was my favorite, though I wondered if having a glossary would’ve helped readers connect the main plot line to the settings better. Since it is a quick and intense read, we don’t have the time of a novel or an epic to acclimatize to the diverse and specific ways names and words are used here. Yet, there is enough to get a clear linearity and perhaps the disorientation was on purpose. It’s still a story that will stay with you, especially if it pulls you in.
Highly recommended for those who enjoy anti-hero main characters, immersive worldbuilding, and explorations on grief.
This might not be an easy read for those going through overwhelming pains from grief, loss of family, suicidal ideation, or severe depression. Spoiler:Shad-Dari ends up alone when she faces her grief, and it is a painful, emotionally distressing journey. While she grows from it and even ends up saving a life, she dies isolated. This can be very triggering for those who’ve been forcefully isolated or incarcerated away from culture, community, and society due to trauma, addiction, or mental illnesses. The story does end on a poignant, spiritually hopeful note, and I can see how, when read at the right time (maybe when emotionally prepared for it), it can provide an empowering reflection.
This story gathers our attention around Shad-Dari, captain of an excavation ship for a company that greedily collects and archives sounds. Shad-Dari is an anti-hero, reflective of a shadow-self that many would rather cut off than connect with, who submerges herself in work and addictive behavior that seemingly promise her escape from the traumatic memories she cannot face. Like many workers under capitalism, she is emotionally avoidant and manipulative by default. And we see, through the telling of this story, how aware she’s been this entire time of her self-destructive tendencies. As a living ghost, subconsciously proclaimed through the name she chose, she takes it some steps further.
She makes us believe she’s doing all this on purpose. She believes she’s doing all this on purpose, a walking wound that has been eaten alive by tremendous events beyond her control. Just wanting escape, relief in whatever form, needing to run “up, up, up” before her grief - her truth - catches up to her. Eventually, Shad-Dari’s actions compound into another tremendous event that she has no say in, and she finds herself flung towards the very thing she spends her life avoiding.
This is a poetically transformative story with wonderful worldbuilding and a science-magic system that will feel familiar to many Global South cultural and spiritual lineages. This part was my favorite, though I wondered if having a glossary would’ve helped readers connect the main plot line to the settings better. Since it is a quick and intense read, we don’t have the time of a novel or an epic to acclimatize to the diverse and specific ways names and words are used here. Yet, there is enough to get a clear linearity and perhaps the disorientation was on purpose. It’s still a story that will stay with you, especially if it pulls you in.
Highly recommended for those who enjoy anti-hero main characters, immersive worldbuilding, and explorations on grief.
This might not be an easy read for those going through overwhelming pains from grief, loss of family, suicidal ideation, or severe depression. Spoiler:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Self harm, and Grief
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child abuse and Toxic relationship
Additional CW: Isolation