Review of Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, Mirror By Chloe Michelle
Review by Kevin Ferrall

After reading Mirror, Mirror by Chloe Michelle, my overall opinion: very nice. It was a well thought out, researched, and engaging novel.

I'll admit I was a tad doubtful as an American, which sounds horrible I know, having an American author write about a Japanese time period. Sorry, but from past experiences, Americans mess up horribly at depicting Japanese history, and I have more Asian pride than I should. I was fond of this novel and found it to be very adult, but tasteful. Luckily, it isn't adult in the usual manner of hack and slash, but in a romantic way which is refreshing.

There are many things complementing this piece of work. What did catch my attention, that seems unmanly of me, is the thought of a love attraction. That's what kept my tuned in on the piece because I am a sucker for love. In saying this, it may rule out the book appealing to men, but I also love a good horror story There's a girl in a mirror crying, talk of Oni, and a girl seeing a figure resembling her. Without revealing the most captivating stuff, I'm surprised at how well Mirror, Mirror was done and especially by someone who hasn't grown, as far as I know, around the Japanese culture.

Although, I did find the beginning troubling, I don't know how to describe it, but the opener didn't catch my attention. What did and kept me reading was the opening picture, very nice! The title will not catch a reader's attention, but the picture in the beginning really had me caught, it is on par with Manga artists. Being picky, I did notice some spelling errors, English words, not Japanese, and I don't know if the editor missed them or not, still it is a minor point.

Mirror, Mirror by Michelle Chloe is a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to read an interesting story about love, Japan, Japanese culture, and fictional historical. I don’t feel this book would appeal to schools, but it is worth a try. From my experience, books like this aren’t typically seen in a high school and with the adult content it’s too taboo to appear in middle schools. Many American schools aren’t big on the whole Japanese thing, textbooks teach kids that Japan is bad in WW2 and Pearl Harbor and the students at the schools make fun of those who are into Japanese stuff. Although, there will be a fan base in the Manga and Anime readers or just lovers of books. Mirror, Mirror would be ideal for reading groups and a great book to have for open discussion in reading circles or book clubs. I strongly do recommend the book.