Description from Goodreads
In #1 New York Times bestselling author Alex Flinn's modern and mysterious retelling of Snow White, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and true love doesn't necessarily mean Prince Charming.
Celine's life is the stuff fairy tales are made of. She's beautiful, talented, and brave. Unfortunately, her tale comes complete with a wicked stepmother! When Violet steps into Celine's life, everything changes and weird things begin to happen to her—bizarre accidents, strange illnesses, and rabid animal attacks. Celine doesn't feel safe anywhere. It's almost as if some hateful witch is out to get her.
And there is. Violet has been waiting all her life to have Celine's father to herself. Getting rid of his gorgeous daughter is child's play for a witch as powerful as she is. Happy-ever-after isn't enough for Violet. She wants to be the fairest of them all, and Celine is in the way . . . but not for long.
Forced to take refuge with her friend Goose and his family, Celine gives up everything she loves and goes deep undercover. But will it be enough to fool Violet, or will Celine's fate be decided by a reflection in a magic mirror? And where do you find Prince Charming in Miami anyway?
Mirrored is a modern retelling of Snow White—told from the points of view of Violet, Celine, and Goose—with all the magic and mystery readers will love.
Well, well, well. I have to say that this was my very first Snow White retelling and I was really looking forward to it. The author also being a published writer made me even more excited. Yet, I finished reading Mirrored with very mixed feelings. Even though the novel was a light and easy summer read -type of book, there was this certain simpleness to it which made me a bit disappointed. However characters like Goose and multiple point of views definitely were the life savers, making me even smile a bit while reading.
Maybe I should start off with the good things. First of all, I really enjoyed the compartmentalisation of the book - 4 parts, 4 point of views. The novel began in 1984, when Violet, the evil step-mother, was just a child and wasn't aware of her magical powers. She was the teased 'ugly duckling' virtually with no friends, despite of being bright and kind. The first quarter of the novel was dedicated to showing the motivation behind Violet's action later on - which was the best freaking part of the book. I absolutely love it when authors humanise the villains by show their backgrounds, what they have gone through, and what made them eventually the people they are in the present. Even though I ended up hating Violet, I can't help but feeling empathy too for her. She really had it hard.
Another amazing thing about this novel was the fact that Goose was just being Goose all the time - he must have been the only constant thing floating the whole boat called Mirrored. While our Snow White, Celine, was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl in the world (because it was announced pretty much in every paragraph, and it got pretty annoying pretty quickly - we got that the she is beautiful by the time it was told readers 50 times), I didn't really identify with her that well. Yes, she was described as kind and loyal, but at times she just felt too innocent and too good-hearted. I mean, I can't say one fault in her and that just isn't my thing because people aren't perfect, and that's perfectly fine! But on the other hand, I don't want to be too harsh on Celine, because well, there wasn't anything wrong with her (duh). Maybe she just wasn't my type of heroine this time. But yes, going back to the original point: Goose. Goose wasn't perfect with his insecurities, yet he was able to overcome them and that made him so loveable. With his funny, courageous and determined personality, who couldn't like him? Especially when Goose got his own point of view!
Something tells me that if I had been 10 years younger, maybe even 5 years younger, I would have probably loved this novel. I'm 22, so maybe I'm just getting a bit old for Young Adult fantasy? But then again, I've just recently read some amazing YA fantasy books which had the depth of adult fiction, good vocabulary, and general maturity to them. From my point of view, Mirrored was some what lacking in all of these aspects. The novel felt thoroughly superficial and immature (excluding Goose), and I kept wondering to myself "is this really a young adult novel, and not a children's book?", because it most definitely felt like one. Maybe it was the author's aim, to have a light and juvenile retelling of Snow White, but why, why would she do that when the book had so much potential to be so much more? All the ingredients were there: great themes of importance of family and inner beauty, very interesting characters, and original additions to otherwise well-known story.
I have to add though that there was some pretty serious raving about Game of Thrones and its brilliancy, so that alone made me to give this novel one extra star. I mean, if someone has so much good to say about Game of Thrones and its actors, there is always hope for the thing/person (surprisingly, it was Goose who was praising the show..). I think this novel will be right up someone's alley, but Mirrored wasn't just my thing. I did enjoy the novel but I think I started feeling that way after I'd read 70%. I suppose I could think Mirrored as a fun, light summer read, but for me, it was just a bit too childish. But I don't regret reading it either, it had its fun and deep moments, and that's why it's so difficult to give a rating to this book.
❄❄❄
Well, well, well. I have to say that this was my very first Snow White retelling and I was really looking forward to it. The author also being a published writer made me even more excited. Yet, I finished reading Mirrored with very mixed feelings. Even though the novel was a light and easy summer read -type of book, there was this certain simpleness to it which made me a bit disappointed. However characters like Goose and multiple point of views definitely were the life savers, making me even smile a bit while reading.
Maybe I should start off with the good things. First of all, I really enjoyed the compartmentalisation of the book - 4 parts, 4 point of views. The novel began in 1984, when Violet, the evil step-mother, was just a child and wasn't aware of her magical powers. She was the teased 'ugly duckling' virtually with no friends, despite of being bright and kind. The first quarter of the novel was dedicated to showing the motivation behind Violet's action later on - which was the best freaking part of the book. I absolutely love it when authors humanise the villains by show their backgrounds, what they have gone through, and what made them eventually the people they are in the present. Even though I ended up hating Violet, I can't help but feeling empathy too for her. She really had it hard.
Another amazing thing about this novel was the fact that Goose was just being Goose all the time - he must have been the only constant thing floating the whole boat called Mirrored. While our Snow White, Celine, was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl in the world (because it was announced pretty much in every paragraph, and it got pretty annoying pretty quickly - we got that the she is beautiful by the time it was told readers 50 times), I didn't really identify with her that well. Yes, she was described as kind and loyal, but at times she just felt too innocent and too good-hearted. I mean, I can't say one fault in her and that just isn't my thing because people aren't perfect, and that's perfectly fine! But on the other hand, I don't want to be too harsh on Celine, because well, there wasn't anything wrong with her (duh). Maybe she just wasn't my type of heroine this time. But yes, going back to the original point: Goose. Goose wasn't perfect with his insecurities, yet he was able to overcome them and that made him so loveable. With his funny, courageous and determined personality, who couldn't like him? Especially when Goose got his own point of view!
Something tells me that if I had been 10 years younger, maybe even 5 years younger, I would have probably loved this novel. I'm 22, so maybe I'm just getting a bit old for Young Adult fantasy? But then again, I've just recently read some amazing YA fantasy books which had the depth of adult fiction, good vocabulary, and general maturity to them. From my point of view, Mirrored was some what lacking in all of these aspects. The novel felt thoroughly superficial and immature (excluding Goose), and I kept wondering to myself "is this really a young adult novel, and not a children's book?", because it most definitely felt like one. Maybe it was the author's aim, to have a light and juvenile retelling of Snow White, but why, why would she do that when the book had so much potential to be so much more? All the ingredients were there: great themes of importance of family and inner beauty, very interesting characters, and original additions to otherwise well-known story.
I have to add though that there was some pretty serious raving about Game of Thrones and its brilliancy, so that alone made me to give this novel one extra star. I mean, if someone has so much good to say about Game of Thrones and its actors, there is always hope for the thing/person (surprisingly, it was Goose who was praising the show..). I think this novel will be right up someone's alley, but Mirrored wasn't just my thing. I did enjoy the novel but I think I started feeling that way after I'd read 70%. I suppose I could think Mirrored as a fun, light summer read, but for me, it was just a bit too childish. But I don't regret reading it either, it had its fun and deep moments, and that's why it's so difficult to give a rating to this book.
☆☆
+ ☆(For the Game of Thrones referencing)
