Confessions of a Literary Addict

This book review is spoiler-free!

This book was received in exchange for an honest review.

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Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror by Rachel R. Smith
Series: Records of the Ohanzee #1
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Release Date: May 9th 2015
Format: ebook, 265 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Find it here: Goodreads || Amazon

Nerissa, the Heiress of Chiyo, prepares for the masquerade celebrating the twentieth anniversary of a thwarted assassination attempt on her family. Longing to be admired for herself and not her title, she arranges to switch costumes and enjoy the ball in blissful anonymity. But, when the fateful night finally comes, a prophetic warning of a second attack arrives too late, and the evening turns from revelry and romance to violence. After being pulled from the chaos by an enigmatic guardian, Nerissa learns that the Royal Family has been concealing a formidable secret for generations–and it is only one of many that are about to be revealed.

The first thing I want to say and get out of the way is this: beautiful cover! I absolutely adore the cover that was given to this story, it’s so pretty!

Now, for the plot, which I’ve quoted in the top there. I really enjoyed the idea behind the plot of this book and, despite being a little slow and hard to get into in the beginning, I really enjoyed the execution of it. Nerissa was a very enjoyable character and I was very glad I liked her as much as I did, since dislikable main characters is a bit of difficulty with me. I also really enjoyed a lot of the other characters of the story, with Rian and Raysel being two of my favorite ones.

That being said, I really hope there’s not going to be a struggle in the form of a love triangle like it seems is developing. I know that’s a big thing for a lot of YA stories, but it’s personally one of my least favorite tropes!

As for the rest of the characters, I did find them likable quite a bit, even though the sheer amount of them left me floundering to remember who was whom at various times as I read the story. (Little did I know, there was a character directory at the end, whoops!) I think it might have been a little easier to read if some of the characters hadn’t been introduced so closely to one another, it seemed like there was at least one new character for each chapter there in the beginning, and it did make it difficult to read smoothly. Once it started nearing the end, though, and we were more focused on what was happening with Nerissa, it was much easier to read. The second half was also my favorite part of the whole book, with the exception of the masquerade scene. I really love balls and dances of the sort.

Also, the orange dress that was mentioned? I’d love to see a picture or drawing of what it would look like. It sounds gorgeous!

I do plan on reading the next book in the series at some point (once I’ve gotten my Goodreads goal back in order…), since there are four planned parts to this story! I would love to see what happens next.

Thanks for reading!