Cover Image: A Chorus Rises

A Chorus Rises

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Member Reviews

The first book was fantasy and fun with exploration of identity and race, the climax an impactful moment where the community came together to celebrate safe return of the stoned children. We have purchased many to add to our libraries. I enjoyed it overall, and was hopeful that the second book would continue the explore the fantasy elements and how the girls stayed connected after their struggle.

The second book was focused solely on the rest of the world, racial identity, media perception of race, media response to the incident, social platforms that will soon be outdated, and the fun and fantasy just disappeared. In some cases, the fantasy felt mentioned as an afterthought.

I was disappointed and decided to stop reading once I hit 35%. Leaving five stars, clearly I'm just not the target audience.

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This is the sequel to A Song Below Water and my feelings for both are pretty much the same!I loved how well these characters are written: there is growth and change, because I definitely remembered why Naema was the villain in the first book. But then hearing all her thoughts and ideas and wishes, you're able to resonate on some level with her.
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This one just wasn't as good aas it's predecessor. I really liked a song below water. I don't feel like we really got a good understanding of why Naema was the way she was in book one. I think this has some good conversations about internet culture but ultimately not a book I would recommend. Book one did it better.

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A really enjoyable sequel from the first book. I really enjoyed the premise and would highly recommend, especially to a young audience.

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Thank you NetGalley and Tor Teen for sending me the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Naema is a morally grey character in this book and this was a fast paced followup to the first book

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This is the sequel to A Song Below Water, which I absolutely loved. I was really intrigued by the idea that A Chorus Rises follows Naema since her role in ASBW was antagonistic and ultimately resulted in betrayal of the main character. Her redemption arc in Chorus captures the complexities of humanity and gives us much more understanding into her actions and the pressures and oppression she was also facing.

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A favorite among my students that is a great mix of folklore, modern issue and black girl magic. The novel a sequel to "Song Below Water" offers the perspective of Naema and a deeper look into her motives that led to conclusion of the previous novel. A great read.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

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I had enjoyed A Song Below Water and was intrigued by the idea of a sequel from the viewpoint of ASBW's very antagonistic "mean girl". She's a very UNlikable character (and the family dynamics at the start which in part prompt her move seemed like an easy way to earn her some sympathy). Ultimately, though, her her redemption arc was that much more satisfying.

In A Chorus Rises, Morrow takes another look at the powers (and dangers) of social media, racism, and how one small decision can get out of control and take on a life of its own in an instant.

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This sequel to A Song Below Water had an interesting tactic in choosing Naema as its protagonist, who was the antagonistic mean girl in the previous story. I enjoyed unpeeling those character layers as this was a very introspective book. Morrow interweaves these snippets of newspaper articles and online chatforums, slowly building a terrifying picture of radicalisation, racism and hatred. Naema ultimately redeems herself in a climactic showdown.

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I really enjoyed A Song Below Water and enjoyed a further exploration of the black sirens. It started a little slow for my taste but I really enjoyed the POV from the "mean girl" and the way one simple action has consequences that become out of control. Just like with ASBW, I find the portrayal of social media and its uses and abuses within A Chorus Rises, mainly because you don't typically see that.

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I could not get into the A Song Below Water universe. Sorry this sequel/companion novel was not for me.

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This is a sequel to A Song Below Water, which focuses on Naema, the popular Eloko who was a sort of antagonist to Tavia the siren in the first book. Unlike the first book, this one took a little more to get into - Naema is not a likeable character, making the story harder to read. Overall the narrative felt stiff, and often the characters' choices made little to no sense. The narrative would have benefitted from circling back to some of the moments that needed clarity and expanding on them rather than moving on. Overall the story was just a little plain for me. More character exploration and explanation would have made this a much more enjoyable read.

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Absolutely loved the first book in this series. This one did not entrance me like the first unfortunately. I could not connect with Naema and found her to be a bit whiny and annoying.

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This was a fascinating and high-interest sequel to the first book. I enjoyed getting to see them have continued adventures! I hope that there are more books in the series.

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This was an excellent follow-up to the first book in the duology that zooms in on Naema and how she deals with the consequences of her actions.

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What a fun sequel! It picks up right where the first book ends. I adored this sequel. It is a perfect mix of modern and fantasy!

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I didn't realize when I picked up the book that this was the second book in the series. If I had known that, I probably would have read the first book and then read this one. That probably doesn't make me the best person to review this book because I was a bit lost. I obviously missed out on much of the lore and back story that would have gone with the first book. I will say this, I felt like much of this book was a recap of what happened in the past. It seemed like the action didn't pick up until about the last half.

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Such a great book! I enjoyed reading this one so much! I highly recommend this book. Side note: the cover!!!!

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4/5⭐ to A Chorus Rises by Bethany C. Morrow. Thank you very much to Tor Teen for an egalley to review! I listened to an audiobook copy of this sequel to [book:A Song Below Water|39085465] and it was delightful! Since this is a sequel, I'm going to keep this short & sweet. This story continues to follow shortly after the events of the first book, focusing now on Naema in this amazing magical-realism world this author has built with sirens, elokos, gargoyles, and other magical beings. I really liked having a new MC to experience this story through, and the world continues to be enchanting while seriously echoing and addressing vital issues in our society, particularly racism and the Black Lives Matter movement with the call for police reformation. It also tackles relevant topics for teen readers such as friendship drama and difficult family situations. Full of Black Girl Magic, I would definitely like to see more people include this duology on their YA summer TBRs!

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