The wind on her tongue by Anita kopacz was very interesting and emotional I thoroughly enjoyed not only the story that the author presented but also the Deep and rich way in which the story was told.

I didn't read the first installment in the series, but THE WIND ON HER TONGUE by Anita Kopacz quickly brought me up to speed with the mysterious and fascinating life of Oya, a woman who can control the weather. Born in Cuba, Oya's otherworldly abilities prove to be risky for her family and the island, bringing her to 1870s America in all its wild, unformed potential. With many twists and turns, Oya meets prominent leaders and thinkers of the day, making her way from New Orleans to study voodoo with renowned Marie Laveau, facing challenges large and small with courage, wit, and magic. A major issue for me in the relating the tale in an otherwise excellent voice was the frequent insertion of current-day sentiments and expressions such as "I didn't sign up for this." I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

The Wind on Her Tongue by Anita Kopacz is actually a sequel, which I didn’t realize when I picked it up. That definitely made it harder to follow at first, but I got into the rhythm of the story and figured things out as I went.

The book follows Oya, who’s sent from Cuba to New Orleans for her safety. She has powerful magical abilities and must navigate her destiny while dealing with deep loss and grief. It’s set in the 1800s, so there are heavy themes of racism, segregation, and white supremacy woven into the story. The writing is lyrical and beautifully suits the characters and the tone of the book.

While this is described as magical realism, I’m not sure that term fits perfectly here. A lot of the rituals and spiritual practices feel more like cultural traditions than fantasy, which adds a layer of authenticity that I really appreciate.

What stood out to me most was the resilience of the people in this story. Despite everything they faced, they didn’t give up. Their strength, hope, and determination to stay true to their roots left a powerful impression. That said, I do wish Oya’s journey had been fleshed out more. The ending felt a bit rushed, and I didn’t fully connect with her arc by the conclusion.

Overall, this was a beautifully written story with important themes. Thank you to Atria Books and Atria Black Privilege Publishing for the chance to read it.

CW: Slurs, child loss, racism, and gun violence

In this lyrical and stirring companion to the “spellbinding” (Harper’s Bazaar) Shallow Waters, Oya—the Yoruban deity of the weather—is brought to life during 1870s America. Perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Sun.

Born in Cuba after her mother Yemaya’s adventures in the New World, Oya has inherited otherworldly powers from her Yoruba Orisha lineage. While Yemaya is known for her healing abilities, Oya’s influence over the storm proves to be destructive, posing a threat to her mother and the island’s safety.

Sent to New Orleans to study under Marie Laveau, the Queen of Voodoo, Oya begins a journey across the still young America, encountering a myriad of historical figures, including Mary Ellen Pleasant, Jesse James, Lew Hing, and more.

As Oya navigates the landscapes of racism, colorism, and classism, she grapples with her own identity and powers, striving to find her place in a fraught and complex society. A moving, vivid exploration of resilience, heritage, and the enduring spirit of a young woman coming into her own, The Wind on Her Tongue transports you to a world where magic and reality intertwine.

My Take:
I extend my gratitude to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I did not read the first book, so I was not familiar with the story of Yemaya from Kopacz's mythology. Nonetheless, this story of Yemaya's daughter, Oya, provides sufficient detail that I did not feel as though I missed too much. The narrative introduces us to Oya in a strange land under precarious circumstances. We encounter Marie and other vividly described characters, but I felt we left New Orleans before I fully understood whether Oya—and consequently, the reader—achieved our objectives. Later, Oya travels westward by train, encountering historical figures and people of various races, genders, and identities. These journeys include historical references that intrigued me, and I felt a stronger connection during these travels than I did in New Orleans. Overall, I liked this book, but I really wanted to love it. It hinted at magical realism, which I adore, and offered a new mythological perspective on beloved African deities that I wish I understood better, but it was more suggestive than substantive. As it is a companion book, I am uncertain whether I would recommend it for book clubs. Moreover, it does not firmly establish itself in the canon of literature exploring spiritual heritage in a way that I would include it in a syllabus, but it serves as an enjoyable escape. And I believe we could all use a bit of that right now.

This was a DNF for me. The writing was a little choppier in bringing together multiple storyline timelines for my liking.

When I requested this title, I was hoping it might be something like Allende's The Island Beneath the Sea. Not that I wanted it to *be* The Island Beneath the Sea, but I wanted that sense of magic and female power. My experience with The Wind on Her Tongue was that it moved slowly and had the feel of a YA novel about it. It may be that the problem stems in part from the fact that it's a sequel to a book I haven't read, so I didn't come into it with a narrative line in my head that I wanted to pick up on.

If you like YA novels, if you like young, coming-into-their-own novels focusing on young women, if you're patient with reading between the lines for things unsaid, you may truly enjoy this novel. I just didn't.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

I liked this, but ultimately wanted to like it more. It's surprisingly short for how much is packed into it, which I think does a disservice to Oya's story and what Kopacz brings to it - there's enough that happens and enough that Oya has to work through that it could easily be almost three books, one for each part. As it is, the changes between each and from situation to situation often feel choppy, almost as if picked up and put down by Oya's storms, especially comparing the healing slower start in New Orleans to the fast-paced end in San Francisco.

The inclusion of so many historical figures as characters is interesting, especially against the magical realism of the setting and the almost immediacy with which so many people recognize Oya for who she is. I love the sense of reincarnation and souls belonging to the land and each other.

Aside from the choppiness, a lot of where it faltered for me is when the story left new Orleans - it was so well-rooted there in community and in the city itself that you could smell the gumbo and hear the city around you as you read. Moving west, it starts to lose that, but especially in San Francisco, where I kept getting thrown out by details instead of drawn in by them (eucalyptus didn't make it out of Australia until the 1850s, and the big colonial push for it in CA to replace native trees was in the 1880s, so Oya knowing how to use it for healing and it being everywhere felt really jarring, especially compared to how much the spirit of the land is valued everywhere else in the book; the Chinese population would have been speaking Cantonese, not Mandarin; some of the geography felt really off, etc). The ending was also so abrupt that the last chapter I was almost entirely just shaking my head going "wait what's going on". I think a lot would have been helped if there had been more books or more time to explore all the topics Kopacz has Oya encounter.

An intriguing tale of Oya, who can control the weather. It's the 1870s when she is sent by her mother to Marie Laveau in New Orleans but that's only the start of her journey. This melds magical realism and history and has, for want of a better word, cameos by famous people (you might find yourself looking them up for more info) who Oya encounters on her way to San Francisco. It's a slim volume to take on all the issues Kopacz raises but it's also a quick read. I missed the first book and this was fine as a standalone. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read.

Finished Reading

Pre-Read Notes:

I've read quite a bit about this author and I'm excited to be introduced to her work. The writing is lovely, sensory. I haven't read her prior, related book, called Shallow Water, but I'm not having any trouble with that so far.

Final Review:

"Collette tosses the rattle to another handmaiden and grabs my waist with one arm and my hand in the other. She leads me in a dance the way a gentleman might. I have never danced that way." p46

Review summary and recommendations:

This book left very little impression on me. I even thought about reading it again, but I did not like it enough to do that. I took very few notes, so my review will be patchy.

Honestly, things are kind of difficult for me right now, so it may be that I simply didn't concentrate well when I read this. I wouldn't hang my hat on any of these three stars, seriously.

Reading Notes:

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. The writing is pleasing enough. Nice pace and rhythm to the prose. It's a bit simplistic and feels like YA to me, which then clashes with some of the more serious content.

2. Experimental timeline makes things interesting.

3. Wonderful character description, like the taxi driver smoking a pipe. He comes to life in only a few sentences!

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. The plot gets convoluted a third of the way through.

Rating: 🌬🌬🌬 /5 Winds on her tongue
Recommend? maybe
Finished: Jan 11 '25
Format: digital, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🪄 fantasy
🧜‍♂️ mythology
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 family stories
📚 in-series stand-alones
🟰 social justice stories

Thank you to the author Anita Kopacz, publishers Atria, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE WIND ON HER TONGUE. All views are mine.
---------------

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Wind on Her Tongue by Anita Kopacz is a first person-POV historical fantasy imagining the Yoruban weather deity, Oya, in America in the 1870s. When Oya miscarries her first child, she is sent from Cuba to New Orleans to study under Marie, a Queen of Voodoo, to learn more about her power over storms. Oya will be confronted with a world of racism, colonization, and classism on a whole new scale.

One of the things I really appreciated was the focus on Black and Indigenous beauty. Oya has her hair styled by two different women and admires their skills and she notices the way Ozata, an Indigenous woman, does her own hair. Attention is drawn to rich, deep skin tones, full lips, and celebrating the physical diversity of the cast. There is such a strong love for Black and brown bodies in Oya’s POV and that love is present from page one all the way to the end.

Being set in the 1870s, the story is around the time the Civil War has ended, slavery has been deemed illegal (though anti-Black racism is far from over), the Chinese Exclusion Act is just around the corner, and Indigenous people are still fighting for their rights. Through Oya’s eyes, we see a snapshot of a time when America was being built off the backs of people of color and yet they were dehumanized at every turn. There are multiple uses of racial slurs and the racism feels fairly period accurate, including Oya being forced to the back of the train because she’s a Black woman. While some things have changed for the better, in the year 2025, we can still see some of these attitudes today, but it’s important to see where we were so we can try to do better in the future.

Content warning for depictions of miscarriage, giving birth, pregnancy, and period accurate racism

I would recommend this to readers looking for a historical fantasy with rich prose and fans of historical fantasy that don’t shy away from the reality of the time period

3 star and my thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

I really wanted to like this one, but I just wasn't the intended audience. The story was so interesting and I felt like I could get to know them, but now knowing it's, in a sense, a sequel, I felt lost.

This is the upcoming sequel to Shallow Waters, but instead focuses on Yemaya’s eldest daughter, Oya. While there were elements that I liked, there others that either didn’t work for me or just felt rushed in their description and depiction. 😕

Oya is a young woman in grief. Her lover has gone off to war (and for some reason isn’t mentioned for the rest of the book except in the past tense and flashbacks) and her daughter was stillborn. She’s then sent off by her mother to the voodoo queen of New Orleans, Marie, to heal and learn to control her powers. While she’s mature for her age, she makes rash decisions and is quick to judge. Compared to her mother, I just wasn’t wowed by her like I wanted to be and almost bored with her. 😬

I did like the explanation of what her, her siblings, and mother were in this book, but I feel like it would’ve made a bit more sense in the first book where I was more confused by it there than here. I also thought the events of the first half of the book were drawn out compared to the speeding train that was the last half. My honest reaction when I finished the last page was muttering “what the hell?” under my breath for a good minute because I couldn’t believe it just ended like that. 🤨

The last thing that felt really out of place to me was that of the inclusion of Jesse James to the plot. Why use him for the story and then just suddenly stop? What was the whole point of using him as if he was a big key figure when he literally disappears from the plot within 30-something pages of the story after he was first introduced? ☹️

I’m just a bit confused with this plot and can’t really understand why it felt both incredibly slow and far at the same time. I have a feeling I know who the following book will be about, so here’s to hoping my prediction is right! A big thank you goes to Atria Books for reaching out with this chance to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to like this second installment of Orishas in the US, but hope it picks back up again for the next book! ❤️

Publication date: January 21!

Overall: 3/5 ⭐️

I like that this story shines a light on Oya and the Orisha. It’s empowering to breathe new life into traditions and beliefs that have been suppressed. I found the plot to be bland. Overall, the book is ok.

This was a really great short novel. This isn't the normal type of book I would read but something about it intrigued me so I decided to give it a shot and I am glad I did.

Oya is a young woman who has just lost a baby and has been sent to New Orleans to live with Marie Laveau, the famed voodoo queen.

This was an interesting premise for a story, with a lot of the historical magical realism that normally draws me in. Oya's character felt very juvenile, with her merely accepting things happening around her. The other characters felt very one-dimensional, as though they didn't exist outside of Oya's observations of them.

I enjoyed the mythology interspersed within the story and the vivid descriptions that the author gave. The story felt very magical.

This is the companion novel to Shallow Waters. In this book we follow Yemaya’s daughter Oya. Oya is sent to live with a Voodoo woman to learn how to cultivate and control her powers. Oya is also grieving the child she has lost from miscarriage.

This book was pretty good. I did not know it was actually a sequel, and I read it as a standalone book. Honestly, it was still very readable without having read book 1, I may have missed a bit of context, but overall it was still easy to follow. I think the synopsis with the mythological/ magical realism was what hooked me, but I do not think it was executed that greatly in the book unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

*Arc provided for my honest review*

I was very excited to read this, I love stories that incorporate mythologies into daily lives, unfortunately this did not scratch that itch.

We follow a young adult 18-21/ish y.o. as she works to control her storm power and deal with the loss of her child, and navigate colorism in post slavery Louisiana. I loved the history of the book and there were some interesting pieces about voodoo and what the world was like then. For me I struggled with the characters complexity, and the tone. This book felt very YA even though she was pregnant before the start of the book. Also many things that could be some internal conflict or just have more thought behind them would just be resolved with a that's the way it is or she supposed it made sense.

I'm giving this a 3 stars because I did really like the history and some of the side characters, and I would pick up the first book in the series about the FMC's mother, but ultimately the younger way this was written and the flatness of the characters make it a lower rating.

full disclosure: i was approached by the publisher to read this book; this is the second of a series but i believe it can be read as a standalone as it follows the daughter of the first book’s protagonist.

this book was a beautiful mashup of genres. i absolutely adore historical fantasy, and i especially love historical fantasy set in the americas— the discussions on colorism, racism, voodoo, and more were captivating. and i really liked oya, our protagonist. as well, the new orleans setting just pops. new orleans & lousiana is one of my favorite settings for novels bc it always feels like a character on its own, and this book is no exception.

the ending felt a little sudden, but i had such a good time with the rest of the book that i can’t find it in me to fault it too badly. beautiful novel.

This is such a great smash up of different genres!
Mythology, magical realism and Historical Fiction.

I am a huge mythology fan and one of my top favorites is the Orisha. This is book 2 to Shallow Waters following the daughter of Yemaya; Oya, which Oya had powers almost opposite of her mother’s healing powers-powers of destruction. Oya leaves Cuba for New Orleans because she fears she is a danger to the island and wants to learn how to manage her powers under the tutelage of Marie Laveau, The Queen of Voodoo.

This series is super powerful and wonderful. Huge fan of the writing and the subject.

Thanks to netgalley and atria for an eARC