Mirror Girls, Kelly McWilliams
Mirror Girls, Kelly McWilliams
List: $24.98 | Sale: $17.49
Club: $12.49

Mirror Girls

Author: Kelly McWilliams

Narrator: Deanna Anthony, Carmen Jewel Jones, Robin Eller

Unabridged: 7 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/08/2022


Synopsis

A thrilling gothic horror novel about biracial twin sisters separated at birth, perfect for fans of Lovecraft Country and The Vanishing Half As infants, twin sisters Charlie Yates and Magnolia Heathwood were secretly separated after the brutal lynching of their parents, who died for loving across the color line. Now, at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, Charlie is a young Black organizer in Harlem, while white-passing Magnolia is the heiress to a cotton plantation in rural Georgia. Magnolia knows nothing of her racial heritage, but secrets are hard to keep in a town haunted by the ghosts of its slave-holding past. When Magnolia finally learns the truth, her reflection mysteriously disappears from mirrors—the sign of a terrible curse. Meanwhile, in Harlem, Charlie's beloved grandmother falls ill. Her final wish is to be buried back home in Georgia—and, unbeknownst to Charlie, to see her long-lost granddaughter, Magnolia Heathwood, one last time. So Charlie travels into the Deep South, confronting the land of her worst nightmares—and Jim Crow segregation.The sisters reunite as teenagers in the deeply haunted town of Eureka, Georgia, where ghosts linger centuries after their time and dangers lurk behind every mirror. They couldn’t be more different, but they will need each other to put the hauntings of the past to rest, to break the mirrors’ deadly curse—and to discover the meaning of sisterhood in a racially divided land. 

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jor'danan on January 07, 2022

I'm a YA Librarian, and I received an ARC from Little, Brown Faculty Lounge for their Galley Review Program for young adult patrons. At first, I wasn't sure how I would enjoy reading the book because it is set mostly in the 1950s during Jim Crow. As a person of mostly African American heritage, it i......more

Goodreads review by harvey on February 13, 2022

so hear me out: i liked this but didn't love it because personally, i feel more could've been done with this premise if (a) it were a longer book, and (b) it were NA or plain good adult literature, and not YA.......more

Goodreads review by Kandi on February 18, 2022

Overall, I struggled to enjoy this book. I gave 2 stars because I like the premise of it, but I felt like the pacing was overly rushed. The story also lacked any real details and while the characters do develop, their arc just feels incomplete. I really wanted to enjoy it.......more

Goodreads review by Jenny on December 24, 2022

I chose this book for my Children’s Lit course I’m teaching in the fall because it’s new, YA, and a blend of historical fiction and magical realism (I already have a PowerPoint for that genre from Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All). It’s timely as well as it’s about Jim Crow, and we can talk......more

Goodreads review by Anni (annithebookaholic) on August 31, 2024

Wow! This was so beautiful and tragic and important all at the same time. Set in the 1950's USA, the novel tackles important topics involving race, segregation, passing, Jim Crow, slavery and so much more. It was really interesting and beneficial to see these topics from two sides from the twins, one......more


Quotes

"a moving story about sisterhood and perseverance in the face of a society that tells Black girls they are worthless."Booklist

"Steeped in atmosphere, equal parts ghost and sororal love story, McWilliams has written a pitch-perfect southern gothic thriller about race, family, and what it means to call a place home."—Christina Hammonds Reed, award-winning author of The Black Kids

"[A] spooky Southern gothic ghost story. "—BCCB