After an attack on earth, all reflective surfaces become weapons to release monsters, causing a planet-wide ban on mirrors. Despite the danger, the demand rises, and 17-year-old Marty Callahan becomes a distributor in an illegal mirror trade―until he’s caught by the mayor’s son, whose slate is far from clean. Both of them are exiled for their crimes to one of the many abandoned cities overrun by fog. But they soon realize their thoughts influence their surroundings and their deepest fears begin to manifest.

With fast pacing and riveting characters, this is a book that you’ll finish in one sitting.

Out November 5, 2019

320 Pages Approx.

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

A science fiction… nice!

The premise caught my attention and I had to read this book.

First, why must every book be broken down into this grouping or that grouping, this category or that category; showing this trigger or that trigger, has this mental health issue or that mental health issue. Can we just love the damned book for being a great freakin science fiction? I mean come on… I have anxiety and depression, I’m medicated, my daughter has OCD… BIG WHOOP! More importantly–this is a GREAT SCIENCE FICTION!!!!

Seriously, we get it, we get it. Our young people have mental health issues that we are now openly acknowledging and categorizing. Frankly, that’s great… but why must we now be expected to label everything and everyone in our books too? Why can’t we sit down and just… enjoy it?

It’s so that we can relate to the characters, it’s about marketing, it’s because in the young adult genre, it’s what youth want to see as a mechanism of support… sure, great. They need to relate in order to buy the book. So if there’s a diverse character with acne all over his/her face, all the acne-laden youth out there will buy the book because they can relate to the acne infested MC? Seriously?

Ten years ago if a person had measles all over their ass, you didn’t see all the measles-laden youth rushing to the stores to buy a book so they can relate. They bought the damned book because it was good!

This science fiction book is good.  Did the conditions of the MC make the story any better? Not really. If we took his conditions away and just had the story stand on its own, would it survive the test of time?  Maybe… Maybe not.  Did having this MC with these conditions push the story along and make it crucial to its success. NO. So why have it? I don’t know, you tell me. All I know is that reading about every OCD action by the MC grew tiresome and was distracting.

Fortunately for me, I love science fiction. I also love supernatural elements in a story. Put them together and you have me after the title and blurb. To keep me interested, there had better be superb writing to hold my attention or I DNF faster than a speeding bullet.

As I weeded my way through this garden of science wonder and alien invasion, a destroyed ship and funky mirror monsters, annoying fog and suspenseful writing, I found that I actually did like this story. It moved fast and was an excellent page turner. I just wish… Can we not just write and let the chips fall where they may? You want diverse characters, then put them in. Do so in a way that we don’t trip over them or their conditions, but rather have them and/or their conditions useful to the story moving forward. Otherwise, lose them. You want diverse characters, then make THEM important to the story, not the color of their skin or their medical/mental health issues. Triggers… UGH. Why prepare the reader? If it’s done right, there’ll be no need. Listening to a list of triggers in reviews prior to reading a book is like listening to directions to a castle filled with treasure: at the corner turn right, then left, then go twice around the court, then back counter-clockwise, then straight ahead up the hill, turn right, left, straight, left and right, around the block, up the one way street, etc., … AND get no written instructions to get there. It’s a waste of time!

Let the reader imagine and experience, read and be surprise! Give the reader some credit–they’ll figure it out!

I gave this book: