Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! Her lips, Her voice was an enjoyable spooky thriller with horror elements.

The mystery is interesting and engaging, with good pacing making it a very enjoyable read. Loved the sapphic elements and relationships explored. If you enjoy creepy tension building horror or thrillers then I’d highly recommend this!

Her lips, Her voice has a captivating spooky tone. The mystery and horror aspects was intriguing and a good read. I usually don't like when books go back in forth between the present and the past but Madrid did it extremely well and there was a reason for the back and forth. I would say this has a more thriller mystery tone and not as much horror. Overall this was a fun spooky read.

What a ride. Creepy, atmospheric, and utterly gripping—this is the kind of horror I live for.

From the first unsettling chapter to the final haunting twist, this book had its claws in me. It’s the perfect blend of ghostly tension and psychological dread, and LL Madrid balances it all with characters you love, hate, and side-eye the entire way through. (Seriously, some of them? Red flag city. )

I didn’t have a clue what was coming next, and I loved that. The last chapters Iwas glued. Cancel-your-plans-and-don’t-blink kind of reading. And the ending? So satisfying it felt like a reward for surviving the emotional damage.

My Lips Her Voice by LL Madrid is an evocative and captivating story that weaves together richly developed characters and a plot that steadily deepens. The narrative moves with a thoughtful pace, allowing emotional stakes to emerge organically while maintaining a sense of intrigue that pulls you deeper into the characters’ journeys.

The heroine’s voice is both compelling and nuanced—she is resilient yet vulnerable, pragmatic yet full of hope. As she navigates complex relationships and evolving circumstances, her growth feels genuine and rooted in authentic emotion. Madrid also introduces supporting characters who leave a strong impression, each bringing their own charm, conflict, and subtle motivations to the mix.

What stands out is the way small moments—quiet conversations, fleeting glances—carry surprising weight, shaping the characters’ arcs and lending the story a palpable resonance. With its blend of emotional depth, character-driven focus, and a plot that builds organically, My Lips Her Voice is a quietly impressive read that rewards close attention and lingers long after the last page.

Copper City seems to have darkness looming over it as the trauma over the years builds. This is a slow burn story that mostly comes to a satisfying end.

I enjoyed the multi-generational aspect of the power of family, the power of women and the environment they are attune with. At times I was hoping for a bit more from the lore of the town itself but that didn’t take away from the story.

The characters were well written and distinct but sometimes they meshed too well and I had to double check the chapter heading for the name.

Overall solid story, well written, and I could say it wasn’t as YA as expected.

The book is listed here as new adult but it felt very YA
I also found it less horror and more of a thriller - there was also a heavy emphasis on the romance which was a bit problematic consent wise for me
The alternating timelines also messed with pacing

This eerie, slow-burning thriller delivers a haunting blend of grief, possession, and the lingering trauma of generational secrets. Set against the grim backdrop of Copper City, a town with more skeletons than residenta. This story pulled me in with its atmospheric dread and morally tangled characters.

Audrey’s struggle to maintain control as her dead sister Mara claws her way back through possession is both terrifying and emotionally rich. Zadie, caught between heartbreak and horror, adds a compelling emotional center. The queer romance is raw, messy, and refreshingly honest, adding complexity without ever overshadowing the central mystery.

What really struck me was how the book plays with identity and bodily autonomy. It reminded me of "Compound Fracture" by Andrew Joseph White in its fearless exploration of fractured selves, trauma, and rage personified. The supernatural elements enhance, rather than distract from, the emotional stakes.

A star off only because the pacing dips in the middle, and the twist, while satisfying, feels a little telegraphed. But overall, this is a gripping, gutsy story that lingers long after the final page. A must-read for fans of psychological horror with heart.

4.25⭐️
Oooh, I should have read this closer to Halloween...

Alternating between multiple perspectives, we learn the deep, dark history of Copper City - one that is steeped in death, heartache, betrayal, and mystery.

This was so different from what I was expecting, in the best way possible! This definitely brought the spooky vibes, but still had a lot of drama and intriguing relationships that I don't think I've ever seen in any other stories. Also, I absolutely love that this story is basically female-dominate and doesn't really focus on any male characters.

I liked some characters more than others and the plot was fantastically intricate. The big seller for me was the inherent mystery at the heart of the book. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to have the big reveal, and it did NOT disappoint!

Overall, it was a great horror/mystery read, and one that I am so glad to have read.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Amanda Manns for this ARC!

Pub Date: October 14, 2025

2.25/5.

Overall, I was not as much of a fan of this book as I would have liked to be. The concepts of ghosts, multigenerational trauma, and haunted copper mines (plus lesbians!) sounded like something right up my alley, and even as I wasn't the largest fan of the book, I did enjoy the environment that Madrid set up and the attention to the very real ways folktales seem to be residents of the small towns they reside in just as much as the people. With Southern Gothic being not as much of a clear-cut genre in the literary sphere, I will always applaud authors for venturing into it and eagerly await more titles to gain their foothold. I do think that Madrid handled the multi-POV trend well for the most part, and I enjoyed piecing together the threads of the town's blood-soaked history to figure out how everything would all tie in at the end.

With that said, I considered this book to fall short of my expectation in multiple ways. Though Mara was distinctly different from her cousin Aubrey, which I appreciated, the Aubrey and Zadie points of view didn't seem separate enough to make me incredibly attached to them as characters. Where Zadie was painted as spunky and rebellious and Aubrey as tentative and quiet, there was not much to differentiate between their thoughts/actions beyond a singular hobby (music for Zadie and baking for Aubrey) despite the implications that suggested there should be far more of a contrast. Furthermore, some of the use of language and colloquialisms were far too casual at points to where it disrupted the flow of the literature—I think of the use of "alphabet mafia" from Zadie as an especially egregious example—and the final confrontation and conclusion veered so far into the "solving things with the power of friendship" YA pitfall that it made me feel as if I were entranced by one of Zadie's tourist-trap ghost stories. I believe that the topics explored (and the gore and death present) were what made the choice for this book to be marketed as new adult, but the ending of the story and the framing of the conflicts left a poor taste in my mouth, as it feels like this book attempted to straddle multiple levels of maturity and, as such, left me as a reader feeling unfulfilled in both. However, I do consider this struggle to be expected for a debut novel, and I think Madrid's work will easily shine in the future once she finds a more consistent literary voice. I absolutely believe that this book can be enjoyed by a certain audience, but it may struggle in its current state to find an appropriate niche.

Thank you to Creature Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC.

What an enjoyable book. It was delightfully creepy and left me on edge, it had all the elements of horror and ghost stories that I crave, and it had characters that were such a wide range of likability that it truly kept me engaged. I didn't quite know what was going to happen next right to the very end but that's all for the best. I was locked in for the last 45% of the book; unable to put it down and found the wrap up of the story incredibly satisfying. LL Madrid is truly a gift to the horror community..

my lips, her voice was an unexpected find of a book for me, but a great read.

the complexities of the characters and the character relationships really pushed the plot along - and the plot, in itself, was very gripping.

the premise of shy audrey housing her headstrong cousin's ghost, her cousin who had been missing and brutally murdered, was such a complicated and emotional one.

many of the characters had strong growth arcs, in their own ways, some more fickle than others but all still intrinsic to the plot.

absolutely loved the supernatural elements to the story.

I really enjoyed this book until the very end, with a - what I thought was unnecessary - supernatural twist that didn’t add much value to the story. Without the twist, it would have easily been a 4.5 rating…

If you like the paranormal, this is the book for you!

L.L. Madrid's story follows three girls – one alive, who feels lost, one alive, who looks for a way to escape her town, and one dead, on her way to get revenge. Set in a small town full of still not uncovered secrets from the past, it serves a really nice time. The ideas are there, the execution works, but in my opinion could have been better. I like the message of "even mean girls deserve justice", but it bothered me a bit how much Mara abused (maybe it's a too strong of a word) Audrey during her ghostly afterlife, and how it never got resolved anyhow.
The mystery starts great, narrator plays with the reader with what's real, what's not. It became weaker with the last supernatural twist, that for me felt unnecessary, but overall didn't influence the rating.

Overall, this book is a very interesting piece of YA literature, certainly female-oriented, that could've used a bit more polishing, yet still remains enjoyable.

Where do I even start with this? The plot isn't just good, it's GREAT. If you think you know where this is going, you don't. The number of twists and turns in this book will leave you breathless. A truly great story for any fan of the horror genre, especially those who love to watch those murder documentaries on Netflix (you know who you are, and there is no judgement here). You will not regret picking this one up!

A haunted town, mutilated miners and missing girls. Of course I was intrigued.

Three POV’s and multiple generations that are interconnected. Audrey who has inherited visions from her grandmother. Mara, Audrey’s cousin who was murdered and has come back wanting revenge. Zadie who was Maras girlfriend and is now Audrey’s friend. We have generational supernatural abilities and traumas with a murder to solve. It gives gothic haunting vibes with the excitement of a mystery. The set up is fast and we are almost immediately immersed in the story.

Possession and Vengeance are kind of the main themes taken place giving a supernatural thriller feel. Its the love story between Zadie and Mara that continues after Mara’s death that makes this story take such a dark atmospheric turn and I appreciated that. Another theme is finding ones voice and speaking up. Audrey has to learn that the hard way once Mara begins to possess her. Overall this was a fun read that kept me interested throughout and will have you questioning if you really want to get those ghostly visits form your loved ones after they have passed. I do wish it leaned a bit more into the horror aspects but still a good read.

Lately I've been tending toward atmospheric, immersive books, layered with places that later haunt my memory, characters who show up in my dreams...and My Lips, Her Voice did not disappoint. To be clear, this is NOT a horror thriller. It's not a slasher nail-biter or a book that goes bump in the night. It's a bit hard to categorize, kind of quiet but screaming inside if you listen hard enough. I've been telling friends it's "cozy horror."

In the textured Sonoran desert, rife with sagebrush that gives way to pinon, juniper and mountain oak, three young women are at the vortex-center of an ancient evil. This evil is hungry for the best kind of souls—the ones who live with open sweetness, in touch with their child selves, a bit too trusting, a blush psychic or a touch mad or maybe they're just the creative ones, souls still connected to nature's magic, no matter how hard they fight it. But it's not just women and their fear and rage; it's men, too, and their worldly ambitions, their one-track-mindedness. More than that, it's folks who get lost. Lost in their heads. Lost in the woods.

But as the old saying goes, sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself. And these three women are on a quest to do just that. In the face of missing girls, of a bloody legacy, of a town that's given up hope, Audrey, Zadie, and Mara won't stop. They can't stop. Because if they do, they're dead.

Yes, if you like fluffy, light books, or books where you start skimming because the words don't matter and the "who-dun-it" is the only thing keeping you turning pages, then maybe pass on this one. But if you're like me and you love settling into a story that will grip you in ways you can't quite define, if "cozy horror" sounds like a midnight skinny dip in a desert hot spring with only the stars and owls to keep you company, and the occasional crack of a twig, then give this one a go.

I came to My Lips, Her Voice expecting a slow-burning, atmospheric story, and for the most part, it delivered. The writing is quietly evocative, capturing Copper City’s unsettling ambiance in a way that lingered with me well after I finished. There’s a palpable sense of loss threaded through the narrative — Audrey’s grief over her sister Mara feels raw and unvarnished, which helped anchor the supernatural elements in something genuinely human.

The story’s strength lies in its character dynamics. Audrey, Mara, and Zadie aren’t just vessels for plot; they are flawed, complex people grappling with trauma, guilt, and unresolved tensions. Their interactions felt lived-in and fraught, though occasionally the narrative drifted into moments of slow introspection that tested my patience.

I appreciated how the mystery unfolded without resorting to cheap thrills. Instead, the book cultivates a steady unease, a quiet suspense that feels more psychological than overtly frightening. The conclusion didn’t tie up every thread neatly, but it felt honest and true to the emotional journey.

My Lips, Her Voice offers a thoughtful exploration of grief and identity within a dark, supernatural frame. It’s a worthwhile read for anyone who enjoys character-driven, atmospheric stories that ask more questions than they answer.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

3.25⭐️ My Lips, Her Voice takes place in Copper City. A place known for its haunted atmosphere.
One day, Mara disappears and is later found dead. Soon after, another girl goes missing. Audrey, Zadie, and Mara’s spirit are determined to find her before it’s too late.

Right from the start, Copper City feels eerie. There are supernatural tours that take place and spirits that appear out of nowhere. I love a haunted story, so this instantly drew me in.

The book is told through multiple pov's. Some in the present, some in the past. Audrey’s chapters were the most compelling to me, but the others definitely didn’t disappoint. Especially the past chapters grew more and more interesting as the story progressed.

Even though it’s marketed as a horror novel, it didn’t really scare me. At its core, to me, it felt more like a mystery with horror elements. Just enough to create a haunted, eerie feeling without being truly frightening. Which somewhat makes sense, considering it’s a young adult book.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. I personally prefer books that lean more into the horror aspect, but this was a fun change of pace. Definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for something atmospheric and haunting, but not too scary.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley, Creature Publishing, and the author L.L. Madrid for the opportunity to review the ARC of My Lips, Her Voice.
This book was a fascinating mix of paranormal elements, crime, and mystery. Set in a spooky old town, the story offers a glimpse into the lives of long-time residents, weaving together the town’s eerie past with its present-day secrets. The story takes place in an old-school cowboy mining town complete with settings like a brothel and a mysterious mine that add depth and intrigue to the narrative.
I especially enjoyed how some characters possessed unique gifts passed down through generations. These supernatural abilities played a crucial role in the unfolding of the plot, which includes a series of chilling events like murders and strange accidents.
The writing was strong overall, though I found that some character dialogue felt overly long, and at times I lost track of which point of view I was reading. Still,, this was a fun and original read, perfect for fans of genre-blending stories with a haunting twist.

My lips, her voice is a story that paints a beautiful picture of a small mining town that has always ignored the decay and darkness at its heart. The girls at the center of the story are trying to find the secret of it’s tragic past and how it is tied to there present nightmare. They are a beautiful example of the bravery and the ignorance of youth, and how that duality can fix what adults have given up on.