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3.2 AVERAGE
3.2 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
For a debut novel, Keshe Chow absolutely blew me away with this book. The asian mythology, the royal court setting, the concept of the reflection counterparts, every part of it was beautiful. What drew me into this book was the cover, and then when I read that there was a whole other world revolving around the characters' reflections I was wondering in my head how this could play out and this book blew every expectation for what I thought. Our character Ying is betrothed to the Crown Prince but what she thought would be an absolute fairytale but the prince is cold, and indifferent towards her and her happiness falls apart. She is locked in her room and she ends up seeing things in mirrors / reflections of water and that's when she meets her mirror counterpart and they swap places and she meets the mirror prince and he's everything she ever wanted.
The setting of this book, in both the mirror and real world, was absolutely amazing. I love asian dramas revolving around the royal court so this was perfect for me. The politics that revolve around the royal court are always intriguing and can get a bit messy so watching it unfold was great and I couldn’t put the book down. And everything that happens revolves around the mirror world? The twists and turns oh my god, A M A Z I NG ! Parts I was able to predict only because I had bad feelings about certain things but even with the predictability I was pleased. I was worried that this book wouldn't leave me satisfied since its a stand alone, but it didn’t the ending was perfect for this story and left me satisfied enough.
Overall I’m super excited to read more books by Keshe Chow and I can’t wait to see what she does next. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Childrens/Delacorte Press for the e-arc exchange for an honest review.
The setting of this book, in both the mirror and real world, was absolutely amazing. I love asian dramas revolving around the royal court so this was perfect for me. The politics that revolve around the royal court are always intriguing and can get a bit messy so watching it unfold was great and I couldn’t put the book down. And everything that happens revolves around the mirror world? The twists and turns oh my god, A M A Z I NG ! Parts I was able to predict only because I had bad feelings about certain things but even with the predictability I was pleased. I was worried that this book wouldn't leave me satisfied since its a stand alone, but it didn’t the ending was perfect for this story and left me satisfied enough.
Overall I’m super excited to read more books by Keshe Chow and I can’t wait to see what she does next. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Childrens/Delacorte Press for the e-arc exchange for an honest review.
Strong character development:
No
A cool idea, poorly executed
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
No, this reads so flat and I don't like the prince at all he's so slimy
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. This is a 100% honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I wish I loved this book, and the premise of a mirror world where the mirror people are actually monsters trying to replace their real counterparts is a great one. However, Ying’s naivety and ability to fall instantly in love with either version of the Prince she is arranged to marry is frustrating. Ying being some kind of prophesied hero is not fleshed out enough. There is also a moment where two of her brothers die, we do not know their names or anything about them, and after their death there are a few moments she talks about it but her focus too quickly moves to wanting to marry the Prince properly and the physical side of their relationship. This leads to you as the reader having no emotional reaction to what should have been a poignant moment.
adventurous
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:
No