Julie C. Dao sets the bar high with Broken Wish, a stunning and skillful introduction to the world of The Mirror, Disney's new fractured fairy-tale series written by four different authors that follows a family curse through the ages.

In the mid 19th century, a young couple move to the small village of Hanau, Germany looking for a fresh start. When local gossip indicates that their newly-befriended reclusive neighbor Mathilda is the fearsome witch of the North Woods, in order to preserve their social standing they decide to break their promise and end the friendship -- but only after getting her help to have children after a long struggle with infertility.

Years later, 16 year old Elva has a terrifying vision and decides to seek out Mathilda, hoping for help in controlling her ability as well as a way to prevent her vision from coming true. Along the way, in the witch's old cottage, she finds an enchanted mirror that was left behind when Mathilda moved.

Over time, Elva learns more about magic and forms a strong bond with Mathilda, coming to see her as a sort of aunt. When Elva's concern for her family leads to another broken promise, she inadvertently sets a catastrophic chain of events in motion.

~“There’s power in a promise, no matter who you make it to. The most powerful are made when magic is involved. If you break one of those promises, you release its energy into the world.”~

As with Dao's previous books, this story is beautifully written. However, it was a little slow in the beginning so it took a bit longer for me to get into it than I expected, but the backstory was integral to the plot so I'm not complaining.

Social interactions and the relationships between characters feature prominently throughout the book; it's through these that the author tackles themes such as bullying, prejudicial behavior, and emotional manipulation. I'll refrain from going into detail in the interest of avoiding spoilers, but there's plenty here for the reader to unpack and think about.

It was refreshing to see that the somewhat unorthodox friendship between Elva and Mathilda was the primary focus, as opposed to the more common romantic entanglements typically seen in fairytales.

Overall, Broken Wish is an incredibly solid start to what is sure to be an exceptional series. Dao deftly weaves a spellbinding tale exploring the dichotomy of deep friendship and family loyalty, the inherent power of words spoken and promises made, and how fear of the future can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All opinions are my own.**

I'm so excited about this series and Julie Dao does not disappoint. Magic always comes at a price in fairy tales, and in Broken Wish, one family must pay the an impossible price for a broken promise. Dao sets up a world suspicious of magic and outsiders, and with kind Elva and prickly Matilda, we see the consequences of prejudice drive forward the cost of magic. I can't wait to what happens in the next installment!

Broken Wish is the perfect dark fairytale.

The first of a new four-book series from Disney Books, Broken Wish by Julie Dao kicks of The Mirror series with flying colors. Strong women, fateful choices, prejudices, myth and magic will have readers swept off their feet in this Brothers Grimm-esque tale.

Broken Wish is described as a fractured fairytale, which means the feeling of a darker Disney – with an almost Tim Burton-inspired atmosphere – fills the pages from beginning to end. The witch’s warmth is juxtaposed by the ugliness of misconception that floods the local rumor mill. (This comparison reminded me of the dreary land of the living starkly contrasted by the lively, colorful, music-filled underworld in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. Inverting assumptions is always remarkable.)

‘Family curses start somewhere’ is the tagline and perfectly foreshadows an engaging introduction to Dao’s story. The protagonist-shift in the early chapters was my favorite feature of the book and had me surprised in every good way. I happily encountered many other intriguing twists and turns as I read on and wandered closer to the North Woods.

Baking and blankets; tea, supper and the exchanging of letters fosters a coziness and special friendship between Agnes and Mathilda, and Elva and Mathilda, which transported me to the cottage-filled town of Hanau, Germany in the 1800s – and rallied me to their cause.

But the coziness stops there.

Risky bargains based on unpredictable magic heighten the intensity of an already-dangerous, discriminatory environment. Not only accepting but embracing people who are different from you should not be that hard. It just should be. Not to mention all the wonderful things we can learn from one another… Elva’s wide-eyed optimism and infallible spirit draw you in – you cannot help but care about and vouch for her. She wants the best for her family, friends and the townsfolk. But at what cost?

Change is not so simple when the threat of the gallows looms large. Plus, things are not always what they seem. Heartbreak, rejection and loneliness can only be ousted by hope which hovers just out of reach.

Still, we read on, hoping along with Dao’s inviting characters and looking forward to what books 2, 3 and 4 have in store. If they are anything like Broken Wish, our eyes will be glued to the pages right until the very end.

Thanks to Disney Publishing Worldwide for providing a digital ARC of The Mirror Broken Wish in exchange for an honest review.

I am obsessed with Grimm Fairytales. Always have been, always will be. The Mirror: Broken Wish does an excellent job translating the magic and morals of Grimm stories into a narrative perfect for teen and tween readers. The whole idea of Disney recruiting a different YA writer to write each book in this quartet had me really interested and this book did not disapoint.

The main thing that bothered me was Elva's supposed love of art that was brought up a once or twice at the beginning of the story and then not returned to. Honestly, due to the style of the book I don't think the character even necessitates a discussed 'outside of plot convenience' hobby. She feels real in the way most fairy tale characters do and you can get invested in Cinderella without hearing about her love of sculpting.

My Thoughts: The Good
From the moment I opened this book, I cared about the characters. Dao does a great job of not only introducing them, but forming an instant connection and getting you invested in their story. Not only that, but the prose of the book in general is amazing. I was stopping constantly to highlight lines that stuck with me, something I basically never do.

The way magic works in this book was also super engaging. As the story goes on, we learn with Elva the rules of magic and its limits. I loved the way it was revealed, and I loved the way it worked. Every magical person can perform any type of magic, but everyone has a specialty. However, we only see a few of these specialties in action throughout the book. It got me really excited for the rest of the series and to see other facets of magic that weren’t brought up in this story.

Speaking of magic, the way the book uses it to address xenophobia. Anti-magic sentiment can work as a metaphor for any kind of hatred you want, but it really struck a cord with me as a gay person. The themes of love, acceptance, and not hiding who you are hit close to home, and really helped me connect with Elva’s struggles. The book also touches on actual homophobia very briefly, and gave me one of my new favorite lines ever: “I don’t think love will ever distress me.” This really hit me and got across the theme of acceptance better than almost anything else in the book.

My Thoughts: The Okay and The Bad
I’ll be honest: I didn’t have enough for either of these sections on their own, so they’re getting combined for this review.

I have a whole list of petty complaints and things I thought could have been done better, but they’re all pretty small. One: the mirror for which the series is named doesn’t show up for a while. Two: Elva supposedly has an interest in painting and drawing, but is never shown doing either of these things. And Three: Elva’s suitor Willem feels underdeveloped, and I never really got what his motivations or thought process was.

Now for one slightly larger and less petty complaint: The ending felt weak. It did a great job of setting up the rest of the series, but as an ending to an individual book, it just didn’t work. I won’t spoil it, since I want you to read it yourself, but the book was building up for the entire story, and then at the end it fell flat. This was especially disappointing because I loved the book up until the ending, but then I felt like it fizzled out without giving me the resolution I wanted.

Final Thoughts and Rating
I loved this book. Everything from the prose to the world building worked well and got me engaged and excited to read the story. However, the ending fell flat. Despite this, Broken Wish gets 5/5 stars. I’m excited to see where the story goes next!

This book was amazing! Strong plot! Powerful characters! A plot that held my attention the entire time!!!! I couldn’t put it down. I needed to find out what happened next!

#TheMirrorBrokenWish #NetGalley
Excellent read for tweens and teens, but anyone would enjoy this story.