I received a copy through NetGalley for review.

We met Ying Yue, a mostly quiet young woman, who is chosen to marry the Crown Prince.
She's from a good noble family, if not a little obscure in a land which used to once have magic. It's said that of her own family they once possessed enough to turn the carp in the wild streams into dragons and ride them through the rivers. But nobody really has any magic anymore.
Not since the mirror world tried to take over ours, and an ancient emperor sealed them away. Cursing them to never be their own beings, but forced to forever mimic others. They see you though the reflections, but can only move as you do.

Upon meeting the Crown Prince Zhang, he's cold towards her, unfeeling, looking at her for a few seconds before turning around and leaving. She spends the next 3 months before her marriage, locked in her quarters with only her maids for companionship. How can she be wed to someone who hates her? How can she survive in a court she does not know?

In those months alone, she starts seeing movement out of the corner of her eye. In water, in the mirrors, something was watching, and waiting. At first she thought she was paranoid, just a result of being in a new strange place alone. But then she began to hear it moving.

On her wedding day, something finally grabs her and he wakes to find herself in a strange room, with her double. Her mirror's reflection. Her reflection offers to take her place, at least for a little while, Yang needn't actually marry the cruel, unfeeling crown prince at all.
Even the prince in the mirror world seems the opposite of the real one, to be her husband. She thinks, perhaps she can stay there. But Ying comes to find that everything there is not what it seems.
And her double has an agenda all her own.

I enjoyed this one, watching Ying stand up for herself and become her own person. To speak up for what she wants, to be allowed to participate. To help her Prince to become a better man.
She might be tied to a prophecy, but she isn't going to be happy being a bystander to it.

This was a solid 4 star read for me. It lost its grip a smidge in the middle for me, but picked back up again in the end.

<i>First, a thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.</i>

Y’all I am once again, out here feeling like I am taking crazy pills. It’s time for what is becoming my new catchphrase - “DID WE EVEN READ THE SAME BOOK?”

Overall, I think this book’s biggest struggle was there was just TOO much going on. Absolutely any and every chance there was for a “twist”/trope, it was there. Without fail.

The characters felt like caricatures of the stereotypical rivals to lovers teens, and maybe I’m just old, but I’ve seen this done so many times - like, we know! We get it! He’s a cold and distant jerk to her, she’s hot-headed and assertive - isn’t there literally any other way to be and still be interesting?? This just isn’t interesting anymore!

A lot of the moments where I was super frustrated with the FMC and like how can you been so dense!? What is wrong with you?? I had to follow up with well I guess you are a literal child so I can’t be totally an asshole here, but STILL, you just.. fall for every thinly-veiled trick in the book??? This doesn’t make me sympathize with you!

I struggled immensely with the latter 50% of the book, and that was where all the “action” was happening; but it felt a lot of times like action without purpose, just for the sake of action - which, if you like that sort of thing sure, fine - but it’s not my cup of tea.

I also don’t fully understand people labeling this as a “horror” novel - just because there is some spookiness in the first 5% of the book we don’t really ever go back to again, that doesn’t make it a horror novel - if I came into this expecting horror, I think I would be even more massively disappointed than I already am.

Listen, not the worst book I have read in 2024, but no where near the best. I can see the appeal for some, but this book is just truly not for me.

I will say as a debut, I know authors can massively improve and hone their craft, so I wouldn’t say I would never read anything from Chow again, but… I am really perplexed at all the 5 star reviews I am seeing.

It’s not that this book was bad, far from it, the author had a good sense of pacing, drama, and characterization. On top of which the fact that it was drawing from such an obscure Chinese myth that is rarely acknowledged, only made it better.

However, I hated reading this book every step of the way. The romance, while a fun dynamic lacked enough chemistry to make it convincing. Instead it was irritating and felt like a predictable drag every step of the way. I love a good ‘he’s smitten and she wants to kill him’ dynamic, but our two love interests continuously jump to the next step of their relationship with no build up, making it feel janky and tiresome. Something that makes this book all the worse, when the romance is absolutely central to the main plot.

Furthermore, much of the book was exceedingly corny. I don’t have another way to put it, but by the time I reached the final chapter, I was sitting there going ‘oh god, please save me, this melodramatic sweetness ‘but he’s a feminist!’ makes me want to gag’ and it really really did. This was a pervasive issue throughout the book, every step of the way it felt like the author was trying to aim for earnestness, and instead fell short into a vat of corn syrup.

Finally, and perhaps most offensively to my tastes, everything in the book was predictable from about 5 steps away. Absolutely nothing in this book came as a surprise, no plot point, no character development, no plot twist. All of it was mapped so obviously it made me want to scream. The lack of creativity or attempt to say anything left me fumbling for excitement, only to be met with a dull grey powerwash of a background.

TLDR; 5/10 This book was the epitome of mediocrity. Read if you want to be mindless and read some Chinese fantasy, don’t read if you’re looking for <b>literally</b> anything more.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

Keshe blew me away with this debut! The plot was a perfect blend of Asian YA fantasy and dark/horror and the numerous plots and twists in the book made it hard to put down. The worldbuilding was so well-written and unique and I found it interesting how the Mirror World essentially functioned as its own world and the people there had their own consciousness and mind. The characters in the Mirror World also had completely opposite personalities as their real-world counterparts. Even in the real world, the mirror shows a REVERSED version of yourself and this brings so much depth to the worldbuilding overall.

I found Ying to be a very well-writen and likable character and although her initial naivete of trusting the Mirror Prince frustrated me, she has strong character development and learns from her mistakes.

The development of the relationship between Ying and Zhang Lin was so satisfying and although I feel like it could have been a little bit MORE fleshed out, there are times when you need to pay attention to the little details to really see the growth in their chemistry. With their relationship starting off rocky and the Prince treating Ying coldly, she soon realizes the lengths he'd gone to protect her and he in turn falls for her because of her brave and bold personality.


The ending had me shaking because the plot took such a drastic dark turn but ultimately it had an ending I was satisfied with.

What a thrilling adventure unlike any other! Keshe Chow's writing transports you to another world, links you arm-in-arm with her characters, and doesn't let go until the last page. The plot twists (hello hunky love interests!), the villains (who really are the bad guys--ahem--women??), and character development of Keshe's Princess Ying will leave you unwilling to blink lest you miss a critical word. A must read for 2024 and beyond.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for a digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Wow, this was a wild ride! I had such a fun time reading this, the premise sounded so cool and I’m happy to say that the worldbuilding delivered! So many twists and turns, I could never guess where it was going! I loved Ying, she was such a strong and confident MC. Her relationship with Zhang was really fun to watch unfold. I got a bit bored by the ending battle, seemed like everything was going on for a bit too long, but overall really enjoyed this!

I thought the book had an interesting premise and it definitely grabbed my attention at first. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish the book no matter how many times I tried to pick it back up. I got through about 60% of the novel though. I really wanted to like it and continue it -- because I felt like there was a lot of potential.

Here are some of the reasons why I struggled with the book -- I felt like the world building was not fully flushed out and the idea of mirror worlds was so fascinating that I thought there would be more information to provide a more indepth view of how the two worlds parallel, collide, and work along/against one another. There were some plot holes between the mirror world characters and how they function as entire beings -- there were some interesting facets like "past lives" or transforming into new lives but because it wasn't talked about enough, it felt like it was just added rather incorporated.

There was also lack of character development and the love relationship -- I felt like they just "liked" or "loved" each other but the events didn't really convey how they grew to love one another so it felt flat -- and in turn, it felt like their own character development as individuals felt flat.

Areas where action was taken place felt rushed.

I enjoyed the book. The premise is really interesting. A world on the other side of reflective surfaces that's similar to ours but also different, where the inhabitants want to take over our side. The world-building was great. Keshe describes everything so well that you can fully picture it. I was constantly trying to figure out who was the bad guys and who were the good ones, there were so many twists. However, I did feel like the story dragged in some areas, mainly parts with a lot of the romance. I was more interested in the battle between good and evil than the romance itself

The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow is a YA fantasy. The story follows Ying as she getting ready to marry the Crown Prince Zhang Lin. She's locked in her room and she thinks the prince is cold and cruel. She gets pulled into the mirror by her reflection and discovers the world beyond the mirrors and it's people.
This story has many twists and turns and the villains are surprising. I enjoyed the quick pace, it reminded me of reading old legends and fairytale.
Ying seems to make her judgement about people a little to quick. She fell in love way too fast and trusts much to easily at least at first. I'd say she learned her lessons well by the end. I thought she had really good character development throughout.
There were a few instances of cursing which I didn't like. It took me out of the story and made the character sound much to modern.
All in all definitely worth the read!
Thank you to netgalley for this arc. This review and all the views expressed are my own.

The premise of this book had me quaking and ready to not only read it, but support an AAPI author.

I initially loved the immediate dive into the mirror world instead of dancing around it, but then we didn’t get enough of it. The bits of the mirror world were too little.

I didn’t enjoy the pacing. Everything was quick and too rushed, including the insta-love, with all persons. It didn’t make sense because we never got to see the FMC fall in love with anyone. We were just TOLD that she was now in love.

Speaking of being TOLD things, the entirety of the worldbuilding was info-dumped and if that wasn’t jarring enough, the modern dialogue? It gave me whiplash.

I wanted to love this book so much, but unfortunately, it fell too short for me.

This book just got better and better as it went along. The world building is well done. I loved the ending. I was afraid that the big battle that the whole book was leading up to would be anticlimactic and over too quickly, but the pacing and amount of action were perfect. It was a fabulous ending!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's | Delacorte Press for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

I did not expect this book to have as many twists and turns as it did! I was impressed by the authors writing and overall approach to the story. I loved the eerie vibe that this book had and the pieces of horror entwined in the book. As someone who absolutely loves a good thriller/mystery the author did an amazing job at keeping me guessing and anticipating about where the story would go next! I seriously second guessed where loyalties really lied in this book every few chapters. Also having an alternative world like the mirror world was jaw dropping. I had the feel of Coraline from this and it just made me love the book even more. 🫶🏻

This book follows Ying who is to marry the crown prince and everything seems so perfect until she learns the dark secrets that the royal family has been hiding. Dark secrets that involve an alternative world, a world beyond the mirrors that is seen in her reflection. This rattles Yings life as she has known it when she is tasked to solve the problems in both worlds as they collide and things take a turn for the worst.

This was such a fast paced story that kept me guessing at every turn, and had many of my favorite tropes including royalty, arranged marriage, dragons, alchemy, betrayal, and Asian fantasy/mythology.

I would definitely recommend this book to all of my friends and anyone who loves a book that keeps you guessing the whole time!

The Girl with No Reflection had all the vibes, but I felt I was told a lot of things that could've been shown.

I was SO excited for this book. The description seemed interesting and unique. But unfortunately, I really struggled to finish it. First, the pacing felt off. I would’ve loved to slowly see Ying experiencing more unsettling mirror things to set the story up. The story was moving quickly from one thing to another, but seemed to rehash the same thing each time. I felt like I never got an actual connection to any of the characters because of this. Everything about Ying, her actions, decisions, and thoughts, they all felt so juvenile. The relationship was also way too insta-love for my taste as well.

Overall, it was a very interesting idea. It just needed needed to be spread out over two books so it could have more set up at the beginning. Or, it needed to have some of the rehashed conversations, side characters, and dead ends trimmed in order to have more meaningful interactions and a more direct path to the ending.

I really love this book! The world, the romance, the characters... I love it all. Definitely a favorite!

I LOVED this book. It was everything I enjoy in a story: romance, magic, enemies to lovers, a strong female lead and horror. I didn’t really know what to expect, going in. I was drawn by that gorgeous cover and I’m sooo glad I found this book.

The beginning had some seriously creepy moments. I was instantly hooked and finished it in under 24 hours. I really enjoy when authors mix fantasy romance with some horror elements.

We follow our FMC Princess Ying Yue as she prepares for her arranged marriage to the prince and future emperor. She starts to notice some seriously freaky things going on in the palace. Her family can only visit once before the wedding and after that she’s pretty isolated. She’s kept to her chambers and garden with only her handmaidens for company. The prince is cold towards her so she begins to suspect some sort of conspiracy, as 7 previous empresses went missing over the years, shortly after their marriages. Her reflection seems to be doing its own thing and it just gets wild from there.

I seriously can’t give this enough praise. This was truly an excellent story that brought me so many emotions. It will keep you turning the pages and anxious to see what’s going to happen. I will definitely be purchasing a copy for my shelf once it’s released! This is a solid 5 stars for me. Thank you so much to Random House Children’s and Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's for access to an ARC! This is my honest review.

Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this one. The concept is very interesting, and I liked the protagonist, Ying, at first. It seemed like this had all the makings of a possible new favorite of mine. After that, it sadly went downhill.

Probably the most glaring issue in this is the modern dialogue which is entirely at odds with the setting. I can't fully settle myself in the kingdom of Jinghu Dao while simultaneously having the prince call people "man" casually in dialogue. It just really took me out of the story.

I also felt that the mirror world was the most compelling part of this novel, and unfortunately was also barely fleshed out beyond some dumped worldbuilding through dialogue. Even when it was being explored, I found it disappointing in comparison to how it feels it COULD have been with such a unique and captivating premise. When Ying first found herself in the mirror world, I was intrigued and was under the belief that this would be where she was spending most of the story. That was not the case, and I was quickly let down by that.

Although I said that the most glaring issue is the modern dialogue, the thing I probably disliked the most was how I was told and spoonfed how to feel the entire book. Instead of being able to feel betrayed as Ying did (I don't want to spoil this for anyone who hasn't read it and intends to, so I will try my best to be vague), I saw it coming a mile away because of how intense and heavy-handed the text was about it. I was TOLD that she was in love, despite barely having 3 conversations with this man. I was TOLD that he was thoughtful, TOLD that he was caring, and TOLD that he would put himself in pain for her sake. Again though, I am barely given any time to learn a thing about this character or come to my own conclusions about him. The plot twist could have been an impactful one, but I sincerely doubt there was a single reader who did not see it coming, and I doubt even more that there was a single reader truly attached to the character in question. I wish this was the only case of this happening in the story but it isn't. We are told the Prince is honorable, we are told his mother is cunning, but these things don't need to be spelled out for us if we are shown these things and come to that conclusion naturally on our own. You have to trust your readers enough not to handhold them the entire way through. It dims any care I could have had for these characters or any respect I could have gained for them because I am constantly told how I SHOULD feel.

The romance was, unfortunately, heavily rushed in my opinion. I do mean this for both romances in this story. For the first one, we are expected to believe that Ying fell in love with him within a mere day or two. It just simply doesn't make sense, especially given the very limited scope of conversation that they'd had in the first place. Then, with the second, not only was it rushed but it was also insufferable. Ying is constantly having these extreme mood swings between hating him and loving him, but this isn't even for any logical or understandable reason, it's just very odd and honestly forced. As if, perhaps, the author was trying to introduce conflict that was unnecessary or to make the relationship seem more developed and slow burn than it truly was.

That brings me to my next issue which is that Ying is an intolerable protagonist. She comes across as extremely naive, aggressively temperamental, and sometimes downright stupid. Not only did she base her entire perspective on someone she hardly knew for a large portion of the book, she also continuously made irrational and stupid decisions with no regard for other people. She then isn't forced to deal with the consequences of these actions and the plot moves on. I couldn't stand the plot point (minor spoiler) near the end where both she and her partner refuse to properly deal with the enemy because then they would be "monsters too." It's possible that this could have been a good plot point if it was given any time to develop or be properly fleshed out, but it just wasn't, and so it just feels extremely annoying.

Lastly, I feel like this book sped past things that should have been given more time to develop, like how the worldbuilding is just dialogue infodumps for example. Then, it would linger far too long on slow and sometimes irrelevant things that felt in opposition to the otherwise very fast pacing.

I really wanted to like this, and I genuinely think this author has the potential to make great stories in the future, but at this moment it wasn't working for me. The concept was great, as I said, and I felt the imagery was well done. This could probably be a fun read for some people, and if it sounds like something you'd like based on the description then I encourage you to try it and form your own opinion on it.

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: magic, mirror world, Asian fantasy, enemies to lovers, horror

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 4/8 and will be posted to my review blog on 4/30 and Instagram on 5/5.

I absolutely flew through this book, it was so good! It already starts in a really interesting place, with Ying preparing for a wedding to a prince who had her confined to her set of rooms in the palace as soon as she arrived. Weird things start happening almost immediately, but they remained stable enough that it was questionable as to whether it was all in Ying's head or if it was actually happening.

Things escalate from there and Ying ends up in the mirror world, discovering her ability to travel between the two. The mirror world is identical to Ying's own, complete with mirror versions of each and every person. Despite the fact that there are identical versions of everyone, these mirror versions can have vastly different personalities, as seen with the Prince and the Mirror Prince. Mirror people are also distinct in the fact they have cold, glass-hard skin. They've been cursed to be 'reflections' and are made to mimic exactly what their 'real-world' counterpart does, and it's this curse that lies at the crux of the book. While things are mostly the same, there are some key differences that Ying discovers, including the fact that monsters exist. I really enjoyed seeing the mirror world and learning how it worked. I also liked how Chow brought some of our physics into the magic of the world. The mirror people are reflections and, as such, they need light. So if one of them is injured or ill, they need to access light in their world or somehow find a way to cross over into Ying's to get it. I thought it was a nice touch and added an interesting layer to things.

Ying is fairly lighthearted, though she knows her duty. She's willing to get married to Zhang Lin, despite his horrendous attitude, because she knows it's what she's supposed to do. I feel like that's not a trait you see a lot in arranged marriage fantasy books, so it was actually refreshing. She's also quick to want to help people, which both helps and hinders her since sometimes it means she puts herself in dangerous situations. However, it's clear that she's willing to go to great lengths to keep those she cares for safe and is willing to go to bat for them if something threatens them. I liked seeing Ying grow as a person and realize she doesn't have to do everything alone. Despite how fiercely she loves, she's hesitant to rely on others even when it would benefit her.

Zhang Lin is, as mentioned, quite terrible. He does get better, I promise, but at the beginning of the novel he's truly an asshole and it's hard to see how he could possibly redeem himself. While I don't think his later explanation totally explains his behavior, by then he shows enough good that I'm willing to let it pass. Despite this terrible introduction, it is clear from the get-go that Zhang Lin is dedicated to his people and takes his duty as prince very seriously. As we get to know him, more of his true personality peaks through and it's easy to like him. I think Zhang Lin just doesn't totally know how to express himself, because once he starts opening up, he quickly becomes much more tolerable and his rate of assholish behavior goes down, which is nice.

Of course we also have mirror!Zhang Lin, who is shown to be nice from the get-go. He immediately helps Ying and decries his counterpart's terrible behavior. He seems genuinely distressed at having to copy it as a reflection, which gets back to how mirror versions can differ from their counterparts. Mirror!Zhang Lin spends a good deal of time showing Ying around the palace, taking her on the tour she should've gotten but didn't when she first arrived at the palace in her world. It's easy to like the Mirror Prince based on how he treats Ying, and we even see some of that kindness extended to Ying's friend and handmaiden, Li Ming, whom the 'real' Zhang initially dismisses as unimportant.

While they're minor characters (they have even less page time than Li Ming), I particularly liked Ying's family, and especially her eldest brother Hao. Hao seems to have a soft spot for his only sister and encouraged her to tag along on their adventures and to learn martial arts. He also slips her a ring full of poison on her wedding day in case her husband is untoward, which I liked and thought was funny. Their whole family is obviously quite close, and I liked getting to see them together.

While the interpersonal relationships of the characters are important, this is mainly a plot-driven novel and there's a lot going on. In the mirror world, Ying finds friends and enemies closer than she could've ever expected, and things go south rather swiftly. It's clear there are some weird things going on and when she gets back to her world, she's desperate to try and find the answers. But with mirror enemies and flesh ones abound, there's a lot of tension over who can be trusted. Some of this was kind of predictable, but I was still hooked trying to figure out when the other shoe would drop. It was also fun trying to puzzle out the song/quest/riddle alongside Ying, and I actually kind of thought of the answer without realizing, lol. This was definitely one instance where I did not see where that was going.

I really liked how the reflection/mirror thing played out and the way it was used to amp up the horror. The horror aspect is particularly apparent at the beginning of the novel, when Ying is seeing things in reflections that disappear when she looks fully or when other people are there. I really liked the creepiness of that. Later on in the novel, the horror element is more about whether mirrors/reflections are present and if they are, who is watching through them.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book and thought the mirror world and reflection idea was super interesting. There are some horror elements but I wouldn't say this is a scary read, most of the book is focused on figuring things out and going on a mini quest.

"She was caught between two princes. Caught between two worlds. One, her own world, warm and familiar but hollow with loneliness. The second, the Mirror Prince's world: cold, vicious, full of monsters. And also love. True, steady, once-in-a-lifetime love."

This is one of those books that's easy to get sucked into. The fast pace and emotional roller coaster makes it difficult to pull away from! On top of that, the concept of a mirror world and reflections with their own wills and identities is so fascinating. I've been giving my own reflection a suspicious eye ever since beginning this novel ;) I'm also a sucker for love triangles and morally grey characters so I was hooked!

The downfalls for me are as follows: 1) the side characters don't get enough page space for me to care about them. I felt nothing for any of them; 2) the protagonist is SO naive and rash it hurts. I made a hundred notes in my kindle and most of them are me going "girl are you serious"; 3) I don't love the direction this story went in. We begin with this idea that the reflections aren't all bad and that the ones who act horribly only really do so because they've been oppressed for so long, but this idea is never explored fully or really acknowledged by the ending. Instead we're left with this idea that seems to promote division rather than unity; 4) I can't figure out how this world works. In some cases, the story makes it seem like non-heterosexuality is accepted in this fantasy world, but still certain characters feel the need to hide it. Women are not allowed into positions of power or autonomy, but suddenly everyone acts okay with a woman rising to power. I never got the feeling that this fantasy world is very cohesive or consistent.

But overall, I'm glad I read this. It's a good time and an quick read, so I really can't complain!

It was an amazing book. The romance between Prince Zhang and Ying felt realistic. It also shows the grey and black morality of human nature