Mirror Mirror: A Twisted Tale
Jen Calonita
Amazon Summary:
Following her beloved mother's death, the kingdom falls into the hands of Snow White's stepmother, commonly referred to as "the Evil Queen" by those she rules. Snow keeps her head down at the castle, hoping to make the best of her situation.
But when new information about her parents resurfaces and a plot to kill her goes haywire, everything changes for Snow. With the help of a group of wary dwarfs, a kind prince she thought she'd never see again, and a mysterious stranger from her past, Snow embarks on a quest to stop the Evil Queen and take back her kingdom. But can she stop an enemy who knows her every move and will stop at nothing to retain her power... including going after the ones Snow loves?
My Review:
9.5 / 10
This can't be new news, but if you didn't know, I LOVE Jen Calonita's writing! Probably my favorite writer of our generation, and she is a phenomenal storyteller and I hope to one day meet her. Mirror Mirror was Jen Calonita's first book in the Twisted Tales series, and I love that she was asked to write for them.
Anyways, onto the review:
The twist on the cover seemed kind of dull at first, I mean "What if the Queen poisoned the Prince?" seemed boring, and I thought it was just going to be a gender swap of the movie but man was I wrong. There is so much more to the story and the hook line on the cover, and I think that it needs to be discussed.
Jen Calonita's writing I think is underrated in the Twisted Tales series. I like her writing because, the author picks up right where the story would be boring and changes the perspective completely, which is a wonderful thing. The storyline is written in a way that sets up the twist. There isn't just one twist in this book though, and it was a roller coaster ride of excitement, anticipation, and shocking reveals. After the first 45 pages, there wasn't a chapter where something crazy was not going on.
The reason I didn't give this book a 10/10 was for one reason that I was a little disappointed in. The ending: I felt it to be a little uncinematic, and not as intense as the other endings in the Twisted Tales series. The author makes up for it in many ways but there were two that stood out to me. Firstly the whole book was action-packed, with rarely a dull moment. Secondly, the author's use of imagery fully immerses the reader into the story. I could paint a picture of what was going on, and that's coming from the guy who has never seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but understood exactly what was going on.
OVERALL:
There wasn't that much intro into the story and it got right into the action, whereas Liz Braswell's books usually take 125 pages to get into explaining what is going on and some serious action. and there isn't much filler, which is important I think to keep readers engaged in a story. Jen Calonita deserves the highest of praise in this series, for bringing justice to each character
So For any Snow White or any Disney fan should pick up this book and read it. In my opinion, I would say this book is for ages 11 years and older because the author doesn't use such complex words to confuse the reader.