A Chorus Rises by Bethany C. Morrow (review)

When what feels like all of Portland turns on Naema Bradshaw, a magical Eloko, for her role in outing Tavia as a siren in A Song Below Water (BCCB 6/20), Naema heads south to a family reunion. Away from the hubbub of Eloko-happy Portland, Naema hears clearly for the first time the voices of the Ancestors speaking to her and begins to better understand what it means to be Eloko beyond effortless charm and popularity. Temporarily banned from her channel on an exclusive Eloko social media app, Naema is initially comforted by a new online forum, the Knights of Naema, but to her horror, their supposed devotion to defending their fallen idol quickly evolves into a hub of white supremacy and anti-siren radicalization. Naema realizes that she and Tavia might have more in common than she thought—just enough in common, in fact, to counter the increased threat to Black girls and women and make Portland better for all magical people. Naema's breathtaking selfabsorption and defense of her Eloko privilege can make it difficult to sympathize with her, but it's equally hard to watch her ignorance shattered and replaced with stomach-churning awareness of institutional racism and anti-siren prejudice. There are plenty of analogues for real life here, and Morrow trusts her readers to connect the rhetorical dots. Knowledge of the previous book is a must; self-centered, magnetic Naema is the best kind of unreliable narrator, and familiarity with her prior antagonist role brings the nuances of her perspective into sharp relief.