Kaaro plays a more insignificant role, so if you are hoping for more of his specific character arc, prepare to let go of expectations, although I did appreciate the appearance of Yaro, his dog. Aminat begins the tale, followed by Jack Jacques, the ethically complicated mayor of Rosewater Alyssa, white Rosewater woman who has lost her memory and Anthony, the avatar/amalgam of Wormwood and humanity. Narrative is centered around a group of four… people, with varying degrees of each viewpoint, so it can be a bit of a challenge figuring out as a reader who is central. You think I can remember a story about aliens in Nigeria? Actually, to be honest, there’s a possibility I will it's that unique).

(Remember: I can only remember complicated chemo regimens because I’ve worked with them for almost two decades. Yes, I get that you may not want to keep reading. While Rosewater is mostly about the sensitive Kaaro, Insurrection is about… subsequent events surrounding the reveal, so everything that follows will have indirect spoilers for the first book. Thompson has a lot going on and needs to get to business.

On the other side, that means if you read Rosewater and jumped right into this, the way Nataliya and I did, you will appreciate the lack of explanobabble that some series fall prey to. That said, should you happen upon this review in the far future, you could allow for a time gap between the books because you just need a general framework of the world. The second book in the Rosewater series, and really, you can’t read and understand this without reading the first, so I really wouldn’t try.

Rosewater insurrection