Extremely unenjoyable read that I have NUMEROUS issues with

I- the writing was awkward and childish. the dialogue was really relaxed and modern in a world that was supposed to be historial and with a formal court setting
2- the characters had zero depth and were just made up of tropes. The reader was told all about Ying’s training and her clever mind but never did anything remotely smart. Even when she saves the world she had no clue what she did but everyone praises her for being a genius
3- romance was way too on page for a YA novel, there were numerous intimate scenes and constant lustful longing. It felt extremely out of place and made me uncomfortable knowing this was targeted to a YA audience.
4- more on the romance, it was all instalust and theyre calling it love and it was so annoying. Ying thinks with her dick (speaking of there is an on page dick joke wtf). She has no real connection with either of the men in question. One of them actively is extremely cruel to her. But then we get an “explanation” and suddenly he’s nice to her and was actually being nice all along! What. Absolutely not. He’s an asshole.
5- the plot made zero sense. every ah ha! Moment did not have the intended effect because nothing connected or made any sense. New secrets were found in the magic system whenever it was convenient.

Lastly—
The sapphic rep with the two maids felt very forced and like it was trying to check a representation box.
This was a social rigid patriarichal society and theres no mention of how queerness is accepted. The girls were only concerned about their boss becuase servants arent supposed to fall in love. And then once theyre "public" theyre seen holding hands in the middle of court. it really felt like they were just thrown in there without any thought to how queer people would function in this society. And maybe it was totally queer normative and accepting! But that was never mentioned or lain out for the reader before this one sapphic couple for it to feel authentic.

Overall, miserable reading experience and I would actively recommend against reading this

This is a GORGEOUSLY written debut! Fresh and new, this YA fantasy follows Princess Ying Yue who is chosen to marry the crown prince of a large empire. Far from the great honor this could be, Ying Yue finds herself embroiled in a mystery involving missing prior brides...and that's before she opens a gateway into a realm where reflections of people and beasts are held captive. The world building in this book is richly layered and immersive. I can't wait to see what Chow writes next.

A girl has to battle her own reflection to stop a war and win the hand of the prince she loves.

This book had promise. The Ancient Chinese setting, the lush descriptions, the feeling of almost being in a drama set in the Imperial Court, plus a really cool premise.

But the mythology is a bit all over the place. That's not necessarily a deal-breaker, but I found the whole "fish"/"phoenix" thing hard to follow. The prince is a bit awkward and kind-of a jerk who never really explains his reasons for doing things. I couldn't fully understand why Ying fell for him.

But those things are nothing compared to the issue that kept bringing me out of the story every time it happened - the modern, 21st century American swearing. What place does that have in an Ancient Chinese court? Seriously, the author uses Chinese words and phrases all theoughout the story. Why couldn't any cursing at least be somewhat accurate to the culture and time period? Having a Chinese prince and princess dropping F-bombs in a historical setting like this takes me right out of the story and kills it for me. 3 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's for the advanced reader copy. This is a voluntary review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

this book was... not for me. perhaps my expectations were too high, but this book was completely different to what i expected. i went into this book hearing that it was similar to "song of silver, flame like night" or "daughter of the moon goddess" - meaning i was expecting lyrical writing, c-drama vibe romance, and a slow-ish (but in a good way) narrative. instead, i was met with instant action and the craziest insta-love i've read in a long time, plus the single most infuriating heroine ever. the action wasn't a bad thing, but it made me feel like i'd missed a few chapters, and by the time i was a third through the book i literally felt like we'd summed up the plotline of an entire novel in like 200 pages. there was just so much going on!

and oh god the romance... *cue my eye twitches*. this girl was fully obsessed and "in love" with the reflection prince in what, 3 hours? they'd had maybe 1 actual convo. i wanted to slap the fmc and say girl.... what are you doing. she was just BEYOND naive. it was truly phenomenal, the lengths that she'd go to in order to draw crazy assumptions about the actual prince, but instantly become infatuated with the other prince. and honestly even the second romance wasn't that captivating for me - it seemed to leap forwards and then suddenly step back again, over and over, and both the protagonists were just so messy and so adverse to actual communication. i didn't like anyone.

the heroine just kept on getting on my nerves - she made the most out of pocket decisions, she was rude and impractical - she irritated me beyond belief. and don't even get me started on how every time someone mentioned something, her memories reappeared... and changed every single time. girl i think it's clear at this stage that you don't remember shit. she was too easy to manipulate, it was actually embarrassing. i should actually stop talking about her, or i'll rant forever!!

anyway... the worldbuilding was very cool, and i did love the almost horror aspects at the start, with moving reflections and mirrors trying to pull people in. so that's a positive! thank you to the author, tbr and beyond tours, and netgalley for the arc copy.

Ying is betrothed to the Emperor's Son, Heir to the throne. But he has locked her in her rooms alone and ignores her, so she finds solace in the arms of his reflection in the other side of the mirror. What follows is a beautifully written, well crafted story about betrayal, romance and magic. I was totally gripped and disappointed when I reached the end - I could have happily read more!

Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy to review.

Lots of tropes in this one that felt a bit overdone. But enjoyable, fast-paced story! It felt a bit YA so heads up on that. I wanted to like this one more than I did.

the girl with no reflection is a fantasy debut following new princess ying yue, a new princess who braves the secrets of the throne she's married into, the disarray between reality and the mirror world, and being the chosen one with no clue how she's meant to save the world.

this book was a journey alright. it was chaotic, and intense, and confusing. i believe the plot of this, while slightly contrived, made perfect sense when one considers the atmosphere of the book. the mirror world (a world just like ours but different) converges with reality as war begins which makes for a truly mind-twisting novel. the worldbuilding created a vibrant world, and even after ying yue made bad decision after bad decision, i was still so invested. there is so much deceit, betrayal, and confusion amidst this novel but i wholly believe it completely fits the themes and makes complete sense for the plot. the characters themselves cannot trust one another, so why should the reader be able to?

one gripe i had is the romance. ying yue falls in love way too fast with zero buildup other than the fact that the princes are nice to her. every time she was swayed i was like girl STAND UP!!! i believe the romance COULD have been done well, but instead was left to be shoehorned in alongside all the chaos coming from the actual war that is building. the ending was quite nice though, so ill give it that.

overall, a LOT of things happen in this book and whether intentional or not, it does work really well. the romance is meh, but the ending kills. solid three stars!

thank you to netgalley and random house children's for the arc!

The book has potential but it was very haphazard and the FMC was very annoying. I get it's a YA novel but I expected much more of this. I did like the world building and the plot was also good, but the execution was flawed. Hopefully, the final version is better edited.
3 Stars

Oh, Ying. Why did you have to be so inconsistent, immature, and self-centered? The amount of times I rolled my eyes at the things she said or thought was ridiculous. I was rooting for the reflection most of the time. I think my time with YA has come to an end. The insta-love with the mirror prince was the breaking point (pun intended).

I feel like I finished the book in spite of the FMC because there were many times I wanted to just put it down and never pick it back up.

The three stars are just because it has potential if the focus isn’t on Ying.

The motifs in the cover art captures the essence of the book so well.

It starts out like a horror story. Imagine the Ring but mirror form. Ying loves magic and folklore and so the unusual happenstance in the Palace is nerve-wracking.
She discovers a Mirror World but not all is what it seems. There is a malevolence amongst this reflective world.

A prophecy that could lead to war. And she is the key. The Fish. The Dragon. The Phoenix.

The journey of Ying is a fantastical one. Filled with mythical beast, monsters, and facades of truth.
Her would-be-husband is a mysterious man. Cold one moment and hit the next. Throughout this journey, Ying discovers who she can trust and what the true meaning of love is.

The ending was a surprisingly loving one. The ultimate gesture of love.

I finished this book earlier today and I cannot stress enough of how much this book was a hot mess. Correction, it was just a mess. This summary/review might be a reflection of that because I am not even sure where to begin. (1) This book relied heavily on tropes: lover to enemies, enemies to lovers, the chosen one, fated lovers, "main character energy" that is beyond cringe and overly played that we get it. (2) The writing was just not up to par. I've read many YA books and this does not come close to it. (3) The FMC was problematic alone. She was immature, fell in love way too easily, and was way too naive. Add in the whole, "I'm a tough female character, I love swords and I was brought up to be tough because of my brothers/family" was a bit much, too. (4) There were way too many (sub) plot lines happening. Why couldn't we just stick with one major one and then maybe two other ones, versus MULTIPLE ones. It was as if the author felt like they needed to please too many readers versus finding their own niche and sticking with it.

One could argue that it has some good bones and relatively good main plot. This book deserved more time and attention to editing than it did. I hope that it did. Sadly, this is a one for me.

Thank you Random House Children's | Delacorte Press, Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

I will be posting this to Instagram, Goodreads, and Storygraph.

Thank you to Net Galley and Delacorte Press for the ARC. I really loved the way this book started, it was really intriguing and I loved the initial concept of reflections and horror. Unfortunately, it soon became very boring, predictable and tropey. All the mystery and intrigue from the beginning of the story quickly disappeared, turning this into a disappointing read.

This started off super strong, with an eerie sort of almost-horror vibe. Is the FMC losing her mind? Is she in real danger? I so, SO wish we had followed that thread for a while, through the marriage for at least a few weeks of character development and suspense. Imagine finally discovering about the mirror people thing after chapters of neglect from the prince and Ying questioning her sanity—her willingness to go along with what they said would make so much more sense, and the betrayal would be so much more cutting & emotional.

Instead, it felt like things took a hard shift into a more tropey direction, which was a disappointment. The villain heel turn was fun, and there were a lot of aspects of the underlying story that were interesting. Unfortunately, I felt the romance aspect was very rushed and underdeveloped, so as the romance became more and more important to the story, I felt more and more disconnected from it. The ending did feel a little cringy, like, “and then they all clapped!” vibes.

It’s a shame because I feel like the bones of something great were in this book and it just didn’t get there.

This has such a cool concept, and it started out really strong, but wow did I end up disappointed.

I can’t pinpoint where things went downhill. Things moved quickly with the mirror prince, and it was very insta-love. But things just felt off. Then there were some twists and betrayals, and characters had to realign on their alliances. But again, things moved quickly.

However, Ying and the plot became super melodramatic. She was impulsive and rash. Explanations for characters’ actions were certainly told to us, but I never really saw the development.
By the end I was rolling my eyes so hard I think I strained them.

While this did have some steamy non-detailed open-door scenes, this absolutely feels like a YA book. It’s got the chosen one, and fated souls, an epic battle, and a death scare. But all done in an over the top cringey way.
This has such promise, but really fell flat.

Many thanks to NetGalley and PRH Audio for the preview. All opinions are my own.

So...this book caught me by surprise. It was fresh, very witty, and having female rage representation was top. I decided not to expect anything because the plot twist were right there and I didn't see them coming. I had a hunch, but wasn't able to figure out neither of them.

I liked the first few pages, which had a horror vibe, especially when Ying saw her own reflection in the mirror. It also makes the hairs at the back of my neck tingle. Each chapter is brief, yet I couldn't stop reading. You'll understand what happened to Ying right away. I wasn't expecting to experience tension at every turn in the action-filled chapters. I am a sucker for Chinese mythology and truly enjoyed it. Ying and the princes have good chemistry. There are two princes, but I can't tell you more because it would be a spoiler, so you'll have to read it for yourself when it is out.

I don't particularly like Ying. I believe she is overly trusting and naive, and she falls in love easily, which frequently puts her in danger. This is in sharp contrast to Ying's principle of not wanting to be governed yet appearing independent. Honestly, Ying's adventures in the mirror world are what I like the most, and I wish she was locked there for longer. I don't know if it's just me, but the plot started to go off track near the end. Ying and the prince's exchanges felt dull. Many questions popped into my head regarding the fate of Ying's reflection. There is a lot that hasn't been disclosed regarding the mirror world and needs to be clarified, but that doesn't make this book any less interesting, and I highly recommend it, especially for those who enjoy reading Asian fantasy with dragons and other Chinese mythological creatures

3.5 rounded up

This almost felt like reading 2 different books, the beginning was giving me mysterious gothic, thriller/horror leaning vibes and I was LOVING it! The introduction of the mirror world and mirror people, the rumors surrounding the Shan family, not being sure who to trust, etc.

Somewhere it took a turn into more strictly fantasy, which came with an all too predictable plot, a LOT going on, more than one dues ex machina.

I really enjoyed the Chinese mythology in the book, it was uniquely told and very interesting. Not being familiar with the specifics of it kept me from entirely being able to guess the plot, which at its core was not very unique.

I thought the character development was decent, I certainly spent enough time being annoyed by Ying in the beginning, which dissolved as I got later into the book.

Keeping in mind that this is a debut, I would definitely read more books from this author. Thank you Random House Children's and Delacorte Press for the ARC!

2 stars. ☆

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

in this fantasy debut advertised for fans of song of silver, flame like night, and violet made of thorns, a young woman chosen as the crown prince's bride must travel to the royal palace to meet her new husband. however, her world is rocked when she learns the dark truth the royal family has been hiding for centuries. once upon a time, princess ying yue held the belief in love. but over the course of the book, she loses faith? and perhaps gains it as well. i felt like there was no real storyline and it was hard to follow but i think people who are very in-tune with complex asian fantasy would like this!

love, mitra <3

This one was just not for me unfortunately. It read like any other Asian mythology novel. There was nothing special here.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting but it wound up not being for me. I loved the concept but the execution didn't meet expectations