Title: Mirrored
Author: Alex Flinn
Published: 15th September 2015
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Harper Teen via Edelweiss in echange for an honest review
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: ** 1/2
My Review:
I will start by saying I really, really wanted to like this
I am sorry to say though, I struggled with virtually everything about this book. I struggled with the writing, with the characters, with the setting. Normally I like my fairy tale retellings however I think that may have been part of the problem - there was more retelling than re-showing.
The first thing I struggled with was the modern setting. The idea itself was quite good but I felt like the setting itself didn't quite work and story lost some of its authenticity as a result.
The story itself didn't grab me. I know (obviously) the story of Snow White and that wasn't the problem. It just seemed that other than the modern setting, there was nothing all that new or fresh in the tale nor did I feel that the author really made it her own. Even with the one twist the author threw in, I still didn't feel it. I had to make myself move through it rather than being pulled through by the story itself and at times I had to stop myself from putting it down altogether
I also found a lack of sincerity behind the words which made it hard to connect with the story and the characters, and at times it felt a little trite and kind of preachy. The characters themselves seemed quite one dimensional which made it hard to feel any genuine emotion for them and at times some of their actions and they things they said did not really ring true for me.
Some books are so good that you just don't want them to end but when I finished this one, sadly all I felt was relief that I could finally move on to something else.
I haven't read anything else by Alex Flinn. It might be that if I had, I might have felt some more connection to Kendra and to the tale itself. It might also be that the target audience was for someone younger than me. At any rate, in the end I found the story a little disappointing.
About The Book:
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Harper Teen via Edelweiss in echange for an honest review
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: ** 1/2
My Review:
I will start by saying I really, really wanted to like this
I am sorry to say though, I struggled with virtually everything about this book. I struggled with the writing, with the characters, with the setting. Normally I like my fairy tale retellings however I think that may have been part of the problem - there was more retelling than re-showing.
The first thing I struggled with was the modern setting. The idea itself was quite good but I felt like the setting itself didn't quite work and story lost some of its authenticity as a result.
The story itself didn't grab me. I know (obviously) the story of Snow White and that wasn't the problem. It just seemed that other than the modern setting, there was nothing all that new or fresh in the tale nor did I feel that the author really made it her own. Even with the one twist the author threw in, I still didn't feel it. I had to make myself move through it rather than being pulled through by the story itself and at times I had to stop myself from putting it down altogether
I also found a lack of sincerity behind the words which made it hard to connect with the story and the characters, and at times it felt a little trite and kind of preachy. The characters themselves seemed quite one dimensional which made it hard to feel any genuine emotion for them and at times some of their actions and they things they said did not really ring true for me.
Some books are so good that you just don't want them to end but when I finished this one, sadly all I felt was relief that I could finally move on to something else.
I haven't read anything else by Alex Flinn. It might be that if I had, I might have felt some more connection to Kendra and to the tale itself. It might also be that the target audience was for someone younger than me. At any rate, in the end I found the story a little disappointing.
For that reason I feel I am unable to give it more than 2 1/2 stars :-(
Sapphired Dragon xx
About The Book:
Mirrored by Alex Flinn
A modern, multi-generational tale of Kendra, the witch from "Snow White," who trains Violet, an ugly, lonely, and heartbroken girl in the 1980s who transforms herself into "the fairest one of all" but still cannot win Greg's heart, and Celine, Greg's daughter with Violet's high school rival, Jennifer.
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