It is no easy feat to get me hooked on a fantasy that is over 400 pages long and finish it within a few days, but The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow was easily one of the most action packed, pacey and enjoyable fantasy reads I’ve read in recent years. Blending horror elements with romance (and an unusual love triangle) upon the backdrop of a fantastical and lush world inspired by Chinese mythology this stand alone was a very fun read.
BLURB:
Ying Yue believes in love. So when the royal matchmaker selects her to wed the crown prince, Ying hopes that love is exactly what awaits her. No matter that the royal family is notoriously reclusive, rarely leaving their walled palace—and no matter the rumors about the previous royal brides, who after their weddings, were supposedly never seen again. Ying knows that she was chosen for a reason. After all, why else would the matchmaker select her, out of all the girls in the kingdom?
Yet upon her arrival at the royal palace, Ying’s dreams of a fairy tale wedding quickly disintegrate. Her husband-to-be is cold, stoic, and utterly infuriating—he and Ying can’t make it through a single conversation without wanting to throttle each other. Left alone in her room with only her own reflection for company, Ying begins to see things. Strange things. When Ying discovers a secret parallel world accessible through the palace mirrors, she thinks she’s found the perfect way to escape her upcoming nuptials. In this mirror universe, the prince is kind and compassionate, and it isn’t long before he and Ying start to fall for one another. But there is darkness in this new world, too. It turns out, Ying was chosen as the prince’s bride for a reason—but not the reason she thinks. The two worlds have a long and bloody history, and Ying has a part to play in the future of them both. And the brides who came before Ying? By the time they found out what their role was, it was already too late.
Some spoilers lie ahead! Read at your own risk 🙂
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REVIEW:
I am not usually one who can do horror or horror elements in a novel, but Keshe writes it so well you can’t help but continue to read, pulling the book close and pushing it away all at once as the action and tension leaps from page to page. Ying is a strong willed young woman, kind hearted, and at times, naïve. But she always fights for what she believes is right, even if that causes her, and the empire, trouble. When you look at her romance with the Prince… well that too has it’s own complications, but the slow burn, misjudgements to understanding journey of it all is worth the wait. Having known since birth she was promised to the Emperor’s son, she has been dreaming of a romantic life with the Prince (perhaps naively). So when the real world Prince Zhang locks her in her rooms, and the Mirror Prince offers her kindness and safety, it is natural for her to fall hard and fast for him, when she is so desperate for the romance she envisioned. But of course, nothing is quite as it seems, and things certainly get more complicated. I’ve never read a novel where the love triangle was between alternate versions of the same people (which is not quite true, but I don’t want to spoil things!). It is interesting how both insta-love (love at first sight for those of us that are older readers) and slow burn romance is explored in a way that make sense for Ying’s cultural upbringing and the advancing plot. Throw in lots of action sequences, fights, magical fish, dragons and more there is a lot driving this book forward. Ying may have dreamed her life at court would be a fairy-tale but instead her actions will make her a legend among her people.
The dynamic of the ‘real world’ versus the ‘mirror world’ is also well fleshed out and distinct from one another despite the physical mirroring. Bring that together with well-crafted court intrigue this satisfied that love of chinese tv drama’s I developed over the years. It was fun to see the threads of history and myth drawn upon and weaved together to create this story. Having not read young adult novels in a while this was very enjoyable. Also who doesn’t love a good curse and ancient prophecy in a book?
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This is a very tropey book, which for me, I thoroughly enjoyed. There’s arrange marriage, enemies to lovers, one bed and many more that add to the fun of this novel. While it could be read on a surface level as a very straight forward read, able to see where the plot is going, Keshe cleverly integrates interesting ideas on what it means to be human, how to react and experience life, what it means to trust and more when you look that bit closer. It injects surprising depth in unexpected moments upon close reading. The writing style also has a strong young adult voice, really leaning into it, which I think lends itself well to being very approachable, especially if unfamiliar with the Chinese or historical elements that inspired this work. That being said, if you are familiar, or have a Chinese background, there are extra things you may enjoy and take away from the novel that I may have missed as an English first language Australian reader.
Regardless, this book was an enjoyable escapist read into an eerie world that had me turning every page, sneaking in chapters on the train, at lunch, and before bed. I’m looking forward to Keshe’s next book, For No Mortal Creature, a romantic horror ghost story, where even ghosts can have ghosts in the layered realms of death. In the meantime if you want a fun, stand alone, romantic horror read, then The Girl With No Reflection might just be the next book you need to read.
Until next time,
Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: Young Adult (Fantasy Horror-Romance)
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Want to know more about Keshe Chow? Check out her interview as part of our The Writing Process series.