4.5 stars rounded up! A fun fairytale with sharp edges and smoldering love interests.

Her Dark Reflection is the newest in the overrun market of retold fairy tales, however unlike the majority flooding bookstores everywhere this one is unique. Original characters, original obstacles, an incredible use of the magic mirror, and a dark shadowy figure who needs your help. The smut was just that, something that helped move the plot along without BEING the plot and was honestly very tastefully done. Our leading lady morphs throughout the novel showing how power, if left unchecked, is a dangerous thing to play with.

4.5 rounded up for Her Dark Reflection and waiting patiently for book 2! Recommended for Fairy tale lovers/villain beginnings junkies ages 17+ due to sexual content.

I enjoyed the fast pace of this book however felt like it may have taken away from character development and world building. I didn’t like how the main character’s strong will and steadfastness was easily abandoned due to lusting after a man time and time again. I also felt the ending was a little too good to be true, although it did end off on a cliff hanger. Quick and easy read, but nothing mind blowing.

"If you want a man to marry you, of course you cannot ask him directly."

All of Rhiandra Tiercelin's plans fail when she's scarred. So when Draven offers to make her beautiful again and a queen, she agrees. Like that begins challenges, the game of politics and her attraction to Draven, the mysterious man she can't trust.
The main character and her love interest were morally-grey characters.That made me love them more. Rhiandra is smart, sassy, strong and ambitious woman. She wants power to survive in the cruel world. And only Draven can give it to her. Their chemistry was great.

Their situation, the deal about becoming the queen makes me remind Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. Though the MC and Evangeline are different. Draven is like Jacks. Rhiandra, Jude Duarte from the Folk of the Air and Alessandra Stathos from the Shadows Between Us are all thirsty for power. So if you love these books, you are certainly going to enjoy Her Dark Reflection.
I couldn't put this book down and look forward to the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

I really wanted to like this book. It sounded like something right up my alley- a dark fantasy romance retelling? Yes please! But sadly, it was lacking.
Was it terrible? No. This book had so much potential to be great but kept falling just short.
Romance? Where? The moments with Draven were few and far between and were nothing to write home about. I am am hoping that the romance is ramped up in the next book. Most of this book felt very YA and not adult romance.
Rhiandra is out to get revenge on the people who wronged her, but we never see them again! Maybe they’ll be back in the next book.
I love a good villain origin story and this one has potential. I will just have to wait and see where the next book goes!

Rhiandra’s got by so far on her beauty and charm, but after a violent attack leaves her permanently scarred, her future is in jeopardy. When a strange and dangerous man known as Draven makes her an offer, she doesn’t feel she can refuse - all she has to do is deliver three apples to different people, the first being the king. She’s told if he eats the apple, he will fall desperately in love with her. But as the plan gets underway and power starts to fall into Rhiandra’s lap, she starts to question what she’s doing, and whether the results are worth the damage she’s causing.

This wasn’t quite what I expected. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, in the end - the opening chapter is quite grim and hard to swallow and I thought at first I was going to struggle to finish it. But once I got into the swing of the story, I quite enjoyed it. The writing is very good and very engaging and it was really easy to read. Rhiandra is a really interesting heroine. Her morals are definitely on the grey side but I liked the glimpses of her humanity and unwillingness to engage with certain things. I liked her more and more as the novel went on, and I was definitely rooting for her to succeed by the end of it.

The plotline was interesting and full of twists - it was quite low on actual action and was far more political than I expected it to be, but I enjoyed that aspect of the book. There was some nice world-building going on in the background as well.

I did have some issues with it - I didn’t like the general attitude towards Rhiandra’s facial disfigurement aside from Rhiandra’s own distress and trauma over what happened to her, and I will say I don’t think this book actually qualified as a ‘romance’. I can see that this novel was setting up the sequels, and I assume the romantic elements will be developed more in that one, but I think it’s a bit misleading to label this particular instalment as a romance. There’s very little focus on that aspect of the story - this is mostly about Rhiandra and her struggles for power.

Overall this was quite an interesting read for me and I did enjoy a great deal of it. I’m interested to see what may happen next for these characters. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a darker fantasy with some romantic elements. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

Content Notes: Violence, sexual assault, depictions of serious injuries, references to abortion, seizures, controlling / coercive behaviour, imprisonment / torture, scenes of execution, death of a child / execution of a child (on-page), on-page sex.

FLEW through this excellent, incredible book. Tightly written, earnest, eerie—one of the best page-turning books I've read in ages.

I adored all the characters and the atmosphere so much and I hope the author continues putting out more books like this!

Her Dark Reflection was an interesting take on the Evil Queens origin story. The main characters mortally gray personality gives her just enough grace for you to still hope for her to have her "happily ever after" and the love intrest in mysterious and dark. Already anxiously awaiting book 2 and book one has t even been released.

Points> Paragraphs

Overall 4
Spice 4

• Dark romance lite
• Impressive Worldbuilding
• Ambitious and Flawed FMC
• Anti-Heroine Vibes
• Morally Grey Love Interest
• Cliffhanger
• Incomplete series.
• Magic system was a tad confusing
• Snow White Retelling Featuring the Evil Queen
• Exploration of What Makes a True Villain
• Love the Twiss
• Unique Perspective

Thank you to NetGalley and Hailey Jade and for an ARC of her upcoming release “Her Dark Reflection” Overall, I really enjoyed this book, it completely took the Snow-White narrative and gave it a slightly feminist bend while keeping you on your toes with a slightly dark romance. I loved the mid-book scenes from within the place. And the antihero/flawed perspective of FMC. However, I felt cheated out of loving the MMC due to the “mysterious nature” of his character. I’m looking forward to seeing where this story leads.

Well this one had a lot of politics that I just didn't really care for. I really did enjoy about 30% of this book but the rest just lost me along the way.

"Thank you to Hailey Jade, the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC of "Her Dark Reflection " in exchange for an honest review *

I have a fascination with Morally Grey/Evil characters , so I was excited to read this book. I had some trouble getting into it (but that's probably my own fault rather than the books). But I enjoyed it.

The book is a Snow White retelling from the Evil Queen's perspective starting before she becomes the queen and her rise to power. It was an interesting concept, at times I found Rhiandra to be likable and at other times annoying. Despite the fact that Draven appears to be the love interest and the person responsible for giving Rhiandra the opportunity that she has we learned extremely little about him and his motivations and I just didn't care about him because of that. Overall a decent book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

if you like dark romantic fantasy, morally grey love interests, and ambitious heroines, Her Dark Reflection by Hailey Jade is the book for you. this snow white reimagining is unique from all others, since it follows the story of the “Evil Queen”.

things you can expect from this book:
🪞political intrigue
🪞dark and mysterious love interest
🪞strong, and intelligent FMC
🪞mild spice (romance is more of a subplot)
🪞snow white reimagining

Her Dark Reflection follows Rhiandra, an ambitious and smart-willed woman, whose life changes after a brutal attack. she boldly makes a deal with a mysterious, darkly handsome stranger to achieve her dreams of a better life. Rhiandra’s intellect and cunning shown throughout the novel is genius. this impacted my enjoyment of the book greatly and it makes Rhiandra’s character ever more compelling and admirable.

one of the only problems i have with the book is that some of the characters’ relationships felt underdeveloped at times. her friendship with Senafae seemed short lived and it became disappointing later in the novel. there was a similar situation with the love interest but i think the romance was intended to be more of a subplot, so we could focus on Rhiandra’s journey.

i am so excited for the next book and i 100% recommend reading this book!!

⋆⁺₊⋆ a huge thank you to Hailey Jade and Xpresso Book Tours with giving me this eARC ⋆⁺₊⋆

I LOVE retellings - and I didn't see this one coming. But OH so well done. I have not seen Snow White from this perspective before but I love it. And Snow White is one of my favorite fairytales... I don't think it is an easy one or even a common one to try to retell so I was thrilled with this one. I was pleasantly surprised and will look forward to the next one! Oh, I can't wait!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC to review!

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book!

This one was a little hard to rate for me. On the one hand, I can see the potential and where things will probably pick up in book two. On the other, because book two isn't out yet, this is all I have to go on. For a start to a series, it has its strong points. The beginning held my attention, and I was very curious to learn more about our female lead, what her past was like, why she held on to that mirror, etc. I was also really excited to see her out for revenge but...this is an area that seemed to fizzle for me. She decided to take Draven's offer pretty quickly, despite having been suspicious of him from the start, and then there isn't much mention of the people she actually wants to find and get vengeance on. There is A LOT of court intrigue and politics in this, which, I really should have seen coming considering this is a book about a girl who wants to be made queen, and we all know how the story of the wicked stepmother swooping in and stealing the heart of Snow White's dad goes, but for some reason, I didn't anticipate this much. I think it was because of the books it was compared to and the warnings. What I expected was a sexy story filled with mystery and revenge, and I suspect that's what we'll be getting as the series progresses, but it isn't quite what we find in book one.

First books have to set the scene, so again, I get that, but it was hard not to be bored at times. There also was almost no romance/interactions between Rhiandra and Draven. Draven had my curiosity piqued in the beginning, but I slowly began to lose interest as time went on. Even Rhi's character started to get a little frustrating for me. I do still think I'll pick up book two, because this did set the scene well and the world-building was really well done. I just hope in book two we're given a bit more explanation into why we should care about Draven and also get to see the two of them interact more. As far as heat went, I'd say there wasn't much in this, but there's promise for more to come.

I'd still recommend for anyone looking for a dark romance with political intrigue and mild steam.

🌟 = 4.5
🌶 = 1/1.5

Her Dark Reflection is a dark retelling of Snow White, from the perspective of the Evil Queen (starting all the way before she even became the Evil Queen). It's about Rhiandra who got into an accident, leaving half of her face burned off. All she had was her beauty, so she ended up on the street. When Draven came up to her, a mysterious man with dark, profane magic, who offers her a chance. Her beauty back, if she helps him deliver some apples to certain people. She eventually decides to go along with it, making her Queen as well. Once in the castle, it isn't over and she has 2 more apples to give for Draven, because if she doesn't she'll lose her beauty and her power. But they become more and more difficult to give. Leaving her with hard decisions to make.

I loved this book so much! It had a little bit of everything for me. Grumpy mc, mysterious side character, magic, trouble and a little bit of spice. I started to really like, and for some even love, the characters. Especially Draven and Gwinellyn were the best for me. Sometimes Rhiandra did annoy me a bit, but I guess that's also her character. I was also really annoyed with the people in the castle itself, but I guess that's also how they were supossed to be written. And in that way it was good, I guess. But all together, it was just really good! Everything fit well together. A bit difficult to follow, with all the different types of magic for example and the law's for the magic. But the magic was also a really fun and amazing side of the story! Some being illegal, some permitted but only for certain people. It was confusing, but good too!

Her Dark Reflection by Hailey Jade is an intriguing new twist on Snow White and gives a new background story to the wicked stepmother. We follow along Rhiandra's rise in the kingdom and find out who is truly pulling the strings along the way.

I found myself enjoying this retelling immensely, despite a few qualms that came up by the end of the book. The main one being I wish that other characters and their relationship with Rhiandra had been fleshed out better! Her only female friendship seemed shallow and short-lived. I have no idea why Senefae lasted in the book as long as she did. Their connection didn't seem that strong or well developed to justify Rhiandra's care for her. Similarly, her attraction to Draven didn't make sense. Perhaps something magical was influencing that, but it's clearly manipulative, and I'm very curious what Draven's backstory is. He would flit in and out throughout the book to help propel the next part of the plot, with no meaningful connection to Rhiandra herself, so I felt a bit misled about this being a romance.

However, this book is very well written, and I found myself invested in watching the "evil" queen begin her ascent to the top. I'm very interested in finding out how the rest of this series will go!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Her Dark Reflection by Hailey Jade is a dark and steamy adult retelling of Snow White from the "evil" Queen's perspective. The story revolves around Rhiandra, who is brutally attacked one day while working at a tavern. She makes a deal with Draven, a handsome fae with magic. He will give her a glamour to disguise the scars on her face, and she will become the new queen. In return, she will have to obey all of his commands, including assassinating the king. Can Rhiandra go from lowly prostitute to the most powerful woman in the nation?

Here is a captivating excerpt from Chapter 1, which introduces us to the setting:

"The Winking Nymph was always flooded with patrons after the Burnings.
​The atmosphere wasn’t the same as it was on a busy night at a regular tavern; the dim lighting encouraged the shadows closer instead of banishing them, leaving pockets of space where patrons could lurk without being recognized. People came to drink, either alone or in groups, but for the most part they didn’t sing bawdy songs or tell dirty jokes. Perhaps the place was debauched enough on its own so they didn’t feel the need.
​Women drifted in and out of the shadows, flirting with the light as it caught on their spangled wrists and ankles and throats, and at the front of the room a beautiful redheaded girl sang with a voice as sweet as sun-warmed strawberries."

Overall, Her Dark Reflection is a romantic fantasy that will appeal to fans of From Blood and Ash or The Selection. One highlight of this book is how well-written it was. The prose was beautiful and as good as any traditionally published fantasy book. Another highlight of this book is the political intrigue. I loved how the author incorporated the politics of the fantasy world into this romantic fantasy. I also loved reading the origin story of a character who is traditionally depicted as a villain. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of fantasy books in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in June!

I am trying to pull my thoughts together for this review.

I read the whole book, and I respected the retelling, but for me the book just wasn't enough.

The premise was great, The Evil Queen origin story. But she wasn't Evil was she? If you're going to do the 'evil' queen then just own it. Be evil. Be the character that I love to hate. Instead, I didn't really care about Rhiandra either way. I was totally indifferent to her as a character.

I also felt that it lacked depth of emotion, particularly in regard to her relationships. Her friendship with Senafae was described but I never felt a real bond. Their friendship was a few early conversations and then it dissolved but I couldn't be sad about that because it hadn't been that deep anyway...

Likewise, I felt her attraction to and chemistry with Draven, but there was no substance to their relationship again. It was just some snarky conversations with some heart thumping lust and yet it was acting as if it were a legendary romance.

Overall, loved the idea but I just didn't feel that the depth was there for me to be fully immersed in the world and characters. I don't think I'd read the next in the series.

Thank you netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for this Arc.🍎

The Evil Queen in the making.

I found it very easy to follow, fast paced, mildly fine world building. I got hooked from the very first page. This was definitely heavier on the political schemes and cunnings than other aspects of this world.

The Evil Queen has always been a vociously powerful character and Rhi isn't quite there yet by the end of this book.

Romance? Where? There was alot of tension and physical attraction between them, tho. And no great emotional development.
We barely see the love interest. and when we do he's usually a jerk. I believe their relationship might be a slow burn throughout the rest of the series. There wasn't any emotionally significant moments for their relationship in this one. And let me tell you they do have quite the chemistry, however, he does spend the duration of the story manipulating her. I don't think he's going to stop any time soon. But I got a strong feeling once they get on the same page they'll make a powerful couple.

She'll be quite the devious queen in the sequel.

First let me say thank you to the publishers and Hailey Jade for the amazing opportunity to read this novel.


This novel is a very interesting take on a retelling of the story of Snow White. The story follows Rhiandra, a young women who has made the best out of a tough life working as a women of the night. Until one night when she is attacked and horribly disfigured ruining her looks and therefore ruining her current working situation. Fate isn’t quite done with her yet though when Draven enters the picture and offers his help to restore her looks in exchange for help with his own scheme. She’s agrees and life for Rhi only gets more topsy turvy as the story goes on. There’s mystery, intrigue, royal balls, scene building, kings, manipulation, and everything you can ask for from a story.

So why did I only give this story 3.5 stars. I came into this story expecting a little more romance and while Draven and Rhi do have some explosive chemistry, they seem stuck in the slow burn stage with nothing to stoke the embers of chemistry into a full blown spark, and since I was expecting more romance, I was a little disappointed to not receive the amount of romance I was looking for. I also wanted a bit more from the friendships happening throughout this book, and they seemed shallow and surface level at best. Overall this story was enjoyable and I’d like to see where the author goes next!