Throughout the novel, Malik uses a mantra to force his anxiety down: Breathe. In the beginning, he tries to ask if anyone saw the boy who stole his satchel, but “as always happens when he tries to talk to strangers, the words get stuck in his throat.” But when their younger sister is robbed and he is separated from Leila, Malik has to step up and muscle through his anxiety. Malik also has extreme social anxiety, and usually let’s his older sister, Leila, take over conversations for him. Later on, once the satchel is stolen and he no longer has it, Malik “…instinctively reached for the strap of his missing satchel, then clutched his shirt instead,” which heightens his anxiety instead of calming it like it used to. “He twisted the worn leather of his satchel strap until it bit into the flesh of his palm.” When he and his sisters arrive at the gates of Ziran, we see a physical manifestation of his anxiety when

It was very clear from the beginning that Malik had severe anxiety. It can lead to anxiety attacks and panic attacks that cause hyperventilation, increased heart rate, nausea, insomnia, and even the inability to breathe at all. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a mental disorder that causes people to be in a constant state of worry over any number of things. Malik is a successful representation of mental illness in a genre that, in the majority, fails to do so. Despite his obvious anxiety, Malik still manages to be the protagonist of the story, wading through magic, ancient beings, and necromancy like any other fantasy protagonist along with the added hardship of fighting his own mind. Malik often uses humor as a coping mechanism without acknowledging that’s what it is. Brown was able to portray an anxious character in a setting that lacked modern-day psychology. From needing the strap of his satchel to clutch when he’s nervous about having a complete panic attack in the middle of a crowd, Malik has most of the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.Ĭontemporary young adult novels often have main characters with mental health issues, but fantasy novels rarely do. Her male narrator, Malik, has extreme anxiety. However, Brown has also surpassed many other authors in her representation of mental illness. Brown’s A Song of Wraiths and Ruin has gained a lot of traction for the author’s brilliant writing, her use of African folk tales as inspiration, and an entire cast of African characters.

A song of wraiths and ruin