The first chapter of The Girl With No Reflection had me instantly hooked.

Unfortunately, I think that may have been where the book peaked. I really wanted to like this story. The horror elements were great. The concept of mirror people is so interesting and had so much promise, but was greatly overshadowed by.. not one but two insta-love situations that were kind of insane. The story just didn't have any time to breathe. I don't think the characters really did either. There is so much history, action, and betrayal that is thrown at the reader in not a lot of time. I feel like if this plot had been drawn out over a longer period time, the characters given more time to get to know one another and actually develop logical feelings, this book would've been a slam dunk.

Generous 3 stars because I really like the idea, just not the exection.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Delacorte for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Girl with No Reflection by Keshe Chow starts with an intriguing premise, but unfortunately, the execution fell short for me. The writing style felt somewhat simplistic, lacking the depth needed to fully explore the themes and characters. There was a lot of potential for the story to delve into complex emotions and the psychological aspects of the plot, but it remained too surface-level. As a result, the narrative didn’t feel as engaging or impactful as it could have been. While the initial concept drew me in, the overall delivery left me wanting more substance.

Ying Yue is chosen to marry the crown prince but she keeps seeing strange things in the mirrors of the palace. When her reflection talks back and asks her to switch places, Ying Yue agrees since she thinks it'll get her out of marrying the crown prince. However, she soon realizes the two realms are intertwined and she's part of a prophecy that involves them both. Overall, this book had a lot of potential with the mirror world concept, but could have benefitted from a more consistent tone. At times the writing seemed quite young and at others, involved rather mature concepts which made it feel a bit jarring.

The Girl with No Reflection is a gorgeous fantasy centering an imperfect but determined heroine. For what I consider on the high fantasy spectrum, the pacing is quite quick and high octane from the jump, which might appeal to readers who have issues with pacing from other fantasy novels. The prose is lovely, but keeps the main action of the plot in the foreground. Overall, a delightful read especially if you enjoy heroines and romance that isn't cut and dry.

The characters felt barely developed, and the dialogue pulled me out of the story at times. Wasn't for me, but I can see younger readers enjoying this.

This was a DNF at 10%. There was nothing objectively wrong with what I read, the writing style just did not work for me.
I found the writing very drawn out and long winded. The main character would begin to run, you would turn to the next page and the author is still describing how the main character is running. The book is very descriptive but I personally prefer writing that is more concise.

Thank you to Random House Children's - Delacorte Press for this ARC of The Girl with No Reflection for an honest review. First of all, look at this cover! Absolutely stunning. I had really high hopes for this book but unfortunately, I found it a little unbearable because of the main character. I have a lot more patience with teenage protagonists but the main character of this book was really testing that limit. I found it hard to root for her and alongside a very basic plot with little to intrigue me, this book dragged quite a bit. It had it's beautiful moments but for the most part, I found it to not live up to the hype I assigned it unfortunately. I am interested to see what the author puts out next because there IS promise!

This story was so unique. The prose definitely connoted a novice writer and I had some issues with the pacing of the story, but overall enjoyed it very much.

The Girl with No Reflection
3.75/5 Stars - Rounded up to 4

I thought that The Girl with No Reflection was a solid debut novel, with an interesting plot and a fascinating way to format and tell the story. But I found the magic system a bit complicated for the story. I also found the two mc's had a juvenile nature to them, which made it harder for me to connect with them at times.

I also think there were issues with pace throughout the book. Despite liking the plot, it felt like it would start building up and up and would hit a wall before starting up again, only to hit the same wall. I feel like this book could've benefited from taking more time to develop the plot and the characters, potentially leading to this book being split into a duology.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy of the book in return for an honest review!

I felt like this was such an interesting concept, but it fell flat for me. There were a few things I felt were not fleshed out enough to make a complete and cohesive story. Although, I did find it fun at times.

I enjoyed the myth format of the book and is a great story for anyone who wants to have a good time. The book had surprising twists and kept me wanting to go just one more chapter. The book felt a little childish at times but I think that that means it will fit a broader audience. The setting is an interesting place in old China as she is to be married to the emperor's son. She despises the emperor’s son because he kept her locked up in her apartments at the palace without friends or family or so she thinks. I don't have any things I disliked besides the fact that some of my theories were wrong. I enjoyed the quick pace of the book. I also appreciated the uniqueness of the story in general.

The idea for this book is so interesting. There is a mirror world that must copy everything that the "real" world is doing but there is some rebellion brewing in this world and our main character is a key person in this plot. But I feel that the execution was lacking. And I felt the book was really bogged down by the characters and the relationships between them. Ying Yue is such a frustrating main character; she is incredibly naive and she is always falling into obvious traps and trusting people that she really shouldn't. All the betrayals were obvious since the beginning.

The book had a lot of conveniences so everything would work out in the end.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

This was a great debut from Chow that delves into “mirror realms” and a romance with high stakes. The creepiness of the figures in the mirror really captivates your attention at the beginning and keeps you intrigued as you question which prince you really trust. A fun read that also has elements of eastern mythology!

Thank you Net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. This book is full of fantasy, adventure and so much anticipation I would definitely recommend.

1.5/5 stars rounded down to 1

DNF at 42%

I struggled HARD with this one. After a promising and atmospheric opening, I was severely disappointed that the rest of what I read was a slog, so much so that I did what I never do - jumped to the end of the book to read the last chapter.

It did not inspire me to continue.

I wish the book had leaned more into the horror aspect seen at the beginning; the author did a great job of subtly unnerving me in bits and pieces, but the effect was ruined by the overall pacing, and by the questionable decisions made by main character Ying Yue.

I did learn partway through my reading that this was meant to be a duology, but was bought by the publisher as a standalone. Had the author been allowed two books to flesh out the characters and story fully, I really think this could have been great. As it stands though, because of the rushed story, the plot became predictable, the main character became massively annoying, and the relationship between the main character and her love interest jumped immediately into instalove (one of my least favorite tropes).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free digital ARC for my honest review!

This is a delightful and imaginative romantic story with compelling characters and a familiar-yet-strange world! Keshe's descriptions are lush and detailed, and the characters were so vivid I started dreaming about them! I enjoyed this book immensely and would look forward to more works set in the real/mirror worlds.

This book reads a little bit on the younger side of YA, but not so much that it detracted from my reading experience as an adult.

The Girl with No Reflection is a YA fantasy romance from author Keshe Chow.

I was immediately drawn into this lush world as Princess Ying Yue feels conflicted about her upcoming marriage to the Prince. Then we are introduced to the creepy mirror world and those who live inside. This was a really interesting concept and I liked how everything played out.

I'm not a big fan of insta-love and love triangles, but overall I enjoyed the journey Princess Ying took and the choices she made.

I have rounded this up from 3.5 stars. What bothered me the most about the book was the instant love. Not so much with the Mirror Prince as that could be explained away with her lack of experience with romance, but with the real Prince. For the time that it happened in it would have made more sense for it to end in something less than total love. The plot was interesting, but some of it seemed a bit shallow. I do like how not everything ended happy. It overall lacked a bit of depth for me.

This book started out intriguing, but it quickly went downhill for me.

Instead of the story following the rules of the world, it was more like rules were made up when they were convenient. Very little of what was going on made sense.

And the main character's choices made even less sense. She was all over the place with her two insta-loves. And whenever things were particularly desperate or important, that was always when she would choose to either get distracted or destructively stubborn.

It was also confusing because this is categorized as YA, but things vacillated between too immature for the target audience and very mature (dubcon, graphic violence and murder, and sexual assault, to name a few).

This book was not it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

DNF at 27%

I loved the concept, and honestly the world was interesting...but I was several chapters in and I hated the main characters, found the plot predictable, and found myself more frustrated than engaged.