Reviews

Mourning Glory by L.L. McKinney, Bethany C. Morrow

pinaepple's review

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emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

_lc_'s review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

There was a great look at race and class that was an undercurrent of this story. It commented on some of the added struggles when just trying to live your life as a black person in America, while framing it around magic and how people are viewed. 

I liked, and related with, the family dynamics and arguing with your cousins or siblings. Always trying to compare or compete for things within your family groups. The love that underpins it all and what we would do or sacrifice for those we love. 

The part that had me rating this as less was the actual audio. The narrator was excellent, so it wasn’t that. There was this weird music happening in the background that actually just distracted from the voices, rather than create any sort of mood. The volume of the different voices varied so much that you had to have it quite loud to hear the quiet voices and then it was like the main voice was yelling at you. It also scared the shit out of me when a ghost or ghoul did this blood curdling scream out of nowhere and it was so loud 😂

Genre: Paranormal YA
Format: Audio
POV: Multiple
Tropes: magic, witches, three sisters - like Charmed but less annoying, using magic to be racist, family curses. 
Spice: NA
Age suggestion: 15+

dreamgirlhunt's review

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4.0

This listening experience was so good!! Bahni Turpin is one of the greatest audiobook narrators of all time in my opinion. In this production especially, she was so amazing!!!! She brought the voices of a whole family, and even an evil entity or two, to life incredibly. There was really thoughtful directing and production of the entire audiobook, even down to basically a whole musical score, atmospheric/background sounds that really captured my attention. From the opening phone call scene with Nic and her Mema, I was immediately hooked. I’m just really excited to share this book with others as I haven’t seen it passed around online yet much, and I hope that changes. I don’t think it’s absolutely perfect (I wish some conflicts and the overall resolution were more drawn out and explained… I also just wanted more time with these characters that I came to love) but I would absolutely recommend this audiobook to fans of paranormal thrillers, magical family dramas, and horror movies. I’ve previously read a graphic novel, Nubia: A Real One by L.L. McKinney and loved it but I can’t wait to read more of her and Bethany C Morrow’s work!

turtle1914's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

sabs_16's review

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4.0

This story was SO GOOD in the audiobook version. There were sound effects, music, and different voices for all of the characters by one narrator! I highly recommend listening to this book. There were some slow pieces where I felt like if this wasn't being read out to me I wouldn't have enjoyed getting through but because it was a narration it flowed nicely.

utopiastateofmind's review

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  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.) 

Mourning Glory makes an impact. This book flew by and understandably so. It combines the amazing writer forces of McKinney and Morrow - two of my favorite YA authors - and creates a story about generational trauma, family, and magic. The Spotify audiobook production with the music and sound effects makes this feel like you're listening to a movie. It feels cinematic and means that when this ends, you'll want to listen all over again.

readingthroughinfinity's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Packs a good punch for such a short story. I really enjoyed the growing closeness between the sisters and their cousin and the way they gradually acknowledged their strengths and flaws, and learned how to work together. The fact that this book was specifically created for audio meant that there were some really cool additional effects that you don't often get to enjoy in a standard audiobook. The only issue was the constant background music. It was almost always present while characters were speaking and it detracted from what was being said as well as distracting me from the overall story. 

bekahoneal002's review

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5.0

The audiobook was a 10/10. It was like listening to a movie. I loved the story and am so happy I found this randomly on Spotify when I was looking for something short to use up the rest of my listening hours this month!

readybee's review

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medium-paced

3.0

booksandthemes's review

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dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5