271 reviews for:

A Ballad of Phantoms and Hope: A Paranormal Spinoff to The Fabric of our Souls

K.M. Moronova

4.26 AVERAGE

lovelettersandbooks's review against another edition

5.0

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Your Heart Will Break Wide Open With A Love Story That Transcends Time and Space

One of the sweetest, saddest, and most soulful love stories I have ever read.

I cried my heart out reading this book, and I mean that in the best way and for the best reasons possible. I had no idea that a paranormal romance between two tortured souls navigating loneliness and self-doubt in the afterlife would destroy me and put me back together again, but alas, it did.

K.M. Moronova artfully weaves together the stories of our MMC and FMC in a relatable way. We feel what they are feeling, we see the world through their eyes, and we hold our breath as they try to figure out love in the light, and sometimes darkness, of the universe.

The MMC is strong, soft, sweet, determined, earnest, present, and vulnerable. After meeting him as a beautiful and brave friend in the Fabric of Our Souls, I am so grateful that the author invited us deeper into his world. His story is so important. He is the friend we all wish we had, but as an individual, he could very easily fade into the background. This story is a reminder that even though sometimes we may feel like an extra on the set of our own lives, our stories are never over when we think they are.

Our FMC is slow to receive the tenderness and care that she finds in the MMC, and the struggle is relatable because she lived a human life without that tenderness.

There were so many elements of this book that resonated with me, far too many to list here, but the fated encounters, the healing of wounds, the trust, the deep vulnerability, and the growth all created a beautiful and intimate world where two forgotten and fragile souls build a powerful and everlasting connection.

This book is a beautiful and healing love story and a happily ever after in the afterlife.

shirefolk's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

deeleffler's review against another edition

1.0

slow-paced

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

domslibrary's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book healed parts of me left broken from The Fabric of Our Souls, and yet also flayed me open and left me feeling so devastated at the same time. Lanston and Ophelia understand each other in ways imo really think only happens in books like these, written for people who need reminded that you are not alone, and someone in the world sees you and loves you. This author is incredible, everything is written like poetry, and the playlists that go along with the book are always unmatched. I can’t count how many tears I’ve shed while reading this, but it will be one of my top favourites for 2025 no doubt.

bex13jd's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

valkyriel's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was a cathartic ending to the events of the last book. Heartbreakingly beautiful 

elisabethpearson's review against another edition

4.0

emotional lighthearted

iimzryii's review against another edition

5.0

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

nataliew823's review against another edition

5.0

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Some books don’t just tell a story—they live inside you, whispering their truths long after you’ve turned the final page. A Ballad of Phantoms and Hope is one of those rare books. It isn’t just a story—it’s an ache, a breathless moment, a flicker of hope in the darkest of nights.

From the very first page, Moronova’s writing grips you. It doesn’t ask for permission—it pulls you in with hauntingly poetic prose and refuses to let go. The characters feel raw, almost too real, as if their pain, their longing, their fragile hope could shatter at any moment. And yet, even in their brokenness, they shine.

There were moments when my heart physically hurt. Moments when I had to pause, close the book, and just breathe. The grief, the ghosts—both literal and metaphorical—felt suffocating at times. But then, just when the darkness threatened to consume everything, Moronova would slip in a line, a scene, a whisper of hope that felt like the first light after a storm.

This book is a masterpiece of emotions. It will break you. It will mend you. And in the end, it will remind you that even in the presence of ghosts, even when the past clings like a shadow, hope is always there—soft, quiet, but alive.

If you read one book this year, let it be A Ballad of Phantoms and Hope. It will haunt you. It will heal you. And it will stay with you, forever.

nimsj's review against another edition

3.5

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes