Mirror, Mirror Book Review

 Mirror, Mirror: A Twisted Tale Review

Book Name: Mirror, Mirror

Book Number: 6 of 16

Author Name: Jen Calonita

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: April 2, 2019

Number of Pages: 334 pages

Review:

            Almost everyone knows how the 1937 animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs goes. A princess named Snow White is labeled the fairest in the land, which drives the land’s Evil Queen to try to kill her in jealousy. Snow White was able to escape and hides out with Seven dwarfs until she’s tricked into eating a poison apple putting her in a death like sleep. The Evil Queen is stop, a kiss from her true love wakes Snow White up, and everyone lives Happily ever after. But What if…

            What if Snow White decided to fight to get her kingdom back instead of just hiding? What if The Queen had given the poison apple to Snow White’s true love? What if the Evil Queen was not just Snow White’s stepmother, but also her aunt? These scenarios are explored in Mirror, Mirror: A Twisted Tale. In this book we follow Snow White as she teams up with the dwarfs and Prince Henrich to save her kingdom from Queen Ingrid.

Though the main twist promoted in Mirror, Mirror (What if the Evil Queen poisoned the prince?) is not what majorly changed the plot of the original Snow-White movie, this book is still a great change to the original 1937 film. I feel this is what could be a version of the Disney movie if it was created in modern day.

Snow White does not feel out of character in the slightest. She was a strong character in the original as well, which I feel due to the limitations of animation technics and the time the movie released has hindered modern audiences from seeing this. For example, in the original movie she realizes her fear of the dark forest getting the better of her, then overcomes it to find a way to survive. This leads her to the seven dwarfs’ cottage where she becomes their leader when they are at home. She’s kind and sees the best in everyone, which sadly leads to her to being tricked by the Evil Queen.

            The author was able to keep this intact while bringing Snow White up to a more modern character. Snow White is not an annoying girl boss as so many of these types of characters seem to fall into now a days. She works and listens to others, thinks things through, and looks for the most peaceful way to resolve things. She also has a sweet relationship Henrich, who was the nameless prince in the original with only two scenes due to limited knowledge in animating human males at the time. In the book he is very supportive of Snow White and always ready to help her at a moment’s notice.

             The dwarfs have very little page time in this book but do contribute by helping Snow White recruit villagers for their cause. The Evil Queen, known as Queen Ingrid in this tale, has her whole back story explored. It’s shown her and sister, Snow White’s mother, came from nothing. As she grows up Ingrid lets her want for power and beauty consume her, no thanks to the Magic Mirror: this book’s true villain.

            Mirror, Mirror is one of the better Disney Twisted Tales books with a great premise and good execution. The characters feel true to themselves and have great additions added to them. With an interesting take on the story’s true villain, this book is a good read. I give Mirror, Mirror a four out of five.

Song Like this Book: Strong by Sonna

 Singer Book Review

Book Name: Singer

Book Number: Standalone

Author Name: Jean Thesman

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: April 7, 2005

Number of Pages: 280 pages

Review:

            Gwenore has been abused by her mother, Rhiamon, her whole life. She tried to escape once. But it led to the death of a man and her friend Tom being gravely injured. Her mother trapped her in a dark room with no food or water for weeks. Then Gwenore is given another chance. Her nursemaid, Brennan, and a mysterious priest named Father Caddaric sneak Gwenore out in the middle of the night. She is whisked away to an abbey, then a community run by healing women called Blessingwood.

            Gwenore has lived at Blessingwood for almost 3 years, where she learned the arts of singing and healing. While there she goes by the name of Mary Singer. But she must always stay hidden unless she wants her mother to find her. The Fair Folk helps conceal her and send messages through one of their own, a cat named King Harry. But her life cannot last forever in Blessingwood. After an incident with a patient, Gwenore’s location is revealed to her mother, and she must go on the run again. This leads her to the Land of Lir. There Gwenore becomes the nursemaid to four royal children and must protect them from her own mother.

            This book is a retelling of the Irish folktale “The Children of Lir” where a group of royal children are turned into swans by their evil stepmother. They were left this way for eight hundred years until freed. But this book is supposed to tell the real story of what happened. Though this premise is interesting, the author was unable to execute the idea well at all.

            The majority of this 280-page book is used to establish Gwenore in learning her skills and growing into her powers but sadly leaves only 102 pages to retell the whole story of “The Children of Lir” tale. The story is heavily rushed from there. It feels as though someone continues to hit the fast-forward button with each new chapter. This concludes with a Disney-style climax as the villain, Gwenore’s mother, falls from the top of a tower to her death.

            The rushed story also hinders almost all the characters besides Gwenore. Characters like the women of Blessingwood are introduced as Gwenore’s teachers but never expand from healer, herbalist, and blacksmith. The book never goes into real detail about them along with the fact that Blessingwood seems to be a place to protect special children for some amount of time. Only one child is given any real page time, leading the child into giving a moving tapestry to Gwenore which only foreshadows events her magic pocket mirror already did in a better fashion.

            These problems come from the fact this book feels more like one and a half stories than just one. Gwenore’s life storyline then the rushed “The Children of Lir” story. The beginning also is written as though it’s a sequel to another book where Gwenore’s early life was given, but this book is a standalone. This book would have greatly benefited from more time centered on “The Children of Lir” retelling part and trimming Gwenore’s back story. I give this book two out of five stars.

Rating:

⭐⭐✰✰✰

Song Like This Book: The Voice by Celtic Woman