Mirrored by Alex Flinn

Buy here*

Publication date: 2015
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 374
My rating: 3.5 stars
Ages: 13+

After her mother is tragically killed, Celine's father marries Violet--a beautiful, attentive, and loving stepmother. Until Celine gets older and then it seems that Violet becomes jealous of her. Celine tries to stay away from home when she can, but when she is home, the cats and even the appliances seem to attack her. All Celine wants is to make friends and get away from her stepmother. Neither is as easy as it seems.

It's a story we have all heard before. Beautiful queen threatened by a younger, more beautiful girl. The queen tries to kill her, but the girl escapes to live with little people. But Flinn turns the story of Snow White on its head in this modern retelling, introducing new twists and interesting characters.

I have long since liked Flinn, since I read Beastly. She has the unique capability of placing fairytales in a contemporary setting, put magic in them, and yet still have the characters believable and empathetic. However, I did feel that there were a few inconsistencies in the character of Kendra, who has appeared in most--if not all--of Flinn's retold fairytales, including the mention of turning a boy into a beast (from Beastly), but saying that in the 1980s. I haven't double checked, but since part of Beastly is told in a chatroom, I'm pretty sure that it happened after the events at the beginning of the novel.

Despite that, the novel is fun with interesting twists and turns. It isn't necessary to read Flinn's books in the order they were written, though I think Beastly should be read first.

No language and no sex.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon