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A review by grimdreadful
In A Dark Mirror by Kat Davis
1.0
I was really looking forward to reading this, the description sounded great. Once I started reading though...
To say that the author took inspiration from the actual crime (the slenderman stabbing) that took place is an understatement. There are so many details that are near identical (I will list below to avoid spoilers for those who want to read this book.) Which ultimately may not have been the biggest issue for me if the author didn't write in sexual content of the 12 year old that was the victim, in the book and in real life. No where in the description nor the beginning of the book is it mentioned this is inspired by this case. in fact it actually states that "this is entirely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental" yea okay.
Now this is just my opinions so take it with a grain of salt but as someone who is partially familiar with the actual crime, I could not separate this "fiction" from the actual attempted murder because the author chose to include so many near identical details. So while reading this "fictional" story my mind was on the real people this happened to and i could not get past the authors written sexual scenes on the victim who was TWELVE masturbating and giving blow jobs. MAJOR ICK.
Am I being too harsh? possibly. BUT I myself tend to avoid fiction based on true crime because often I find it to come across disrespectful. I wish this had a little blurb informing that this was inspired by a true crime and I likely would not have picked it up.
SPOILERS BELOW -book vs real crime similarities (dont read past this point if you dont want spoilers)
Book: Maddie and Lana have a sleepover to carry out their plan to kill Sage. Lana has visions of HIM and they must sacrifice someone to be able to go live happily ever after with HIM. They were going to do it as Sage slept at night but changed their minds. Next morning they all went outside for a walk to the park a game of hide and seek, then told Sage to lie own and proceeded to stab her. Sage remained conscious while Maddie and Lana said they are going to go get help (not actually) Sage crawled to a path where she was eventually found by a dog walker. Police discovered Maddie and Lana walking down the road on their way to live with "HIM."
The REAL LIFE crime: basically all of the above except HIM is SLENDER MAN. the victim was found by a cyclist.
Book: "the knife missed puncturing the wall of her heart by no more than milimeter." Sage said in an interview she would thank Maddie and Lana for giving her direction in life. Surviving the attack makes her want to go into the medical field.
IN REAL LIFE CRIME: "One stab wound missed a major artery by less than a millimeter." Victim said in an interview with 20/20 she would thank her because she wouldn't have the life she has now if things didn't happen how they did and how it's made her want to pursue a career in medicine.
that's quite a lot of coincidences in my opinion.
And lastly, what was up with the sketchy stepfather lol? I'm not really sure what was the point of his character along with his son... whos crimes seemed to be severely downplayed??
Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for sharing a digital copy with me. As always, opinions are my own.
To say that the author took inspiration from the actual crime (the slenderman stabbing) that took place is an understatement. There are so many details that are near identical (I will list below to avoid spoilers for those who want to read this book.) Which ultimately may not have been the biggest issue for me if the author didn't write in sexual content of the 12 year old that was the victim, in the book and in real life. No where in the description nor the beginning of the book is it mentioned this is inspired by this case. in fact it actually states that "this is entirely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental" yea okay.
Now this is just my opinions so take it with a grain of salt but as someone who is partially familiar with the actual crime, I could not separate this "fiction" from the actual attempted murder because the author chose to include so many near identical details. So while reading this "fictional" story my mind was on the real people this happened to and i could not get past the authors written sexual scenes on the victim who was TWELVE masturbating and giving blow jobs. MAJOR ICK.
Am I being too harsh? possibly. BUT I myself tend to avoid fiction based on true crime because often I find it to come across disrespectful. I wish this had a little blurb informing that this was inspired by a true crime and I likely would not have picked it up.
SPOILERS BELOW -book vs real crime similarities (dont read past this point if you dont want spoilers)
Book: Maddie and Lana have a sleepover to carry out their plan to kill Sage. Lana has visions of HIM and they must sacrifice someone to be able to go live happily ever after with HIM. They were going to do it as Sage slept at night but changed their minds. Next morning they all went outside for a walk to the park a game of hide and seek, then told Sage to lie own and proceeded to stab her. Sage remained conscious while Maddie and Lana said they are going to go get help (not actually) Sage crawled to a path where she was eventually found by a dog walker. Police discovered Maddie and Lana walking down the road on their way to live with "HIM."
The REAL LIFE crime: basically all of the above except HIM is SLENDER MAN. the victim was found by a cyclist.
Book: "the knife missed puncturing the wall of her heart by no more than milimeter." Sage said in an interview she would thank Maddie and Lana for giving her direction in life. Surviving the attack makes her want to go into the medical field.
IN REAL LIFE CRIME: "One stab wound missed a major artery by less than a millimeter." Victim said in an interview with 20/20 she would thank her because she wouldn't have the life she has now if things didn't happen how they did and how it's made her want to pursue a career in medicine.
that's quite a lot of coincidences in my opinion.
And lastly, what was up with the sketchy stepfather lol? I'm not really sure what was the point of his character along with his son... whos crimes seemed to be severely downplayed??
Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for sharing a digital copy with me. As always, opinions are my own.