Inventive premise, poorly structured

It feels like that there's a new East Asian fantasy published every week, which is both a good thing and a bad: good for representation and redressing the extant imbalance, and bad because of the sheer volume of both good and bad books. Sadly, this is one that comes with an interesting and inventive premise but fails to live up to novelist structure or character development.

Using the tropes of East Asian fantasy (Imperial families and palaces, ink and silk, elegant gardens, pools of carp, dragons and phoenixes) but with the added innovation of a parallel world on the other side of mirrors and other reflected surfaces, Chow's novel is intended for young adults, with a little spice, but written like a middle grade novel: problems are presented on one page, and then the solution appears on the next, with no foreshadowing or allusion to the experience, skill or information, so the plot becomes a run of episodic coincidences and the characters develop randomly, lurching from love to hate, from fear to loyalty. Yes, it is fiction and anything can happen in a novel but there has to be at least an internal consistency.

Feels like a first draft: two stars.

This was fantastic, the concept was so unique and I devoured this book.

I am thoroughly on edge about mirrors and the idea your reflection may be sentient or another realm mimicking you until they wish to strike. This plot plays into this concept and does it brilliantly. Mixing a little horror with high fantasy and arranged marriage.

Our two main characters are pure tension and combative energy throughout, but in true enemies to lovers fashion they find they complete each other. I liked how big a role both characters play in the plot and there’s some real growth on both their parts.

This book had the potential to be great because the whole idea of a mirror world is freaking genius! The plot was ok but I didn’t like Ying and it’s hard for me to get into a book when I’m not a fan of the main character. I also struggled with the writing style and pacing.

The Girl with No Reflection had been on my tbr for far too long before I finally got round to reading it.
I am beyond excited and happy that Keshe got a traditional publishing deal with Hodderscape - she deserves it, and this book is amazing. I hope it gets to all the readers!
It was well written in a way that kept me coming back for more. The whole premise of the mirror world is actually quite creepy when you think about it. But I loved the characters, Ying was a little naive but likeable. The Prince, bless him, just didn't know how to express himself.
The world building was so well done. I can't stop thinking about mirror worlds now 😅

Actual rating: 4,5 stars

This book surprised me in the most pleasant way. It's been on my radar for months, but the synopsis sounded like it could be hit or miss for me as I don't usually enjoy portal worlds. However, I love Asian-inspired fantasy, and the cover was too beautiful to not give it a try, and I'm so glad I did.

It took me a minute to get into the book because at the beginning, I wasn't sure if maybe this book would be more vibes than plot as it starts more slowly and you're not quite sure what direction it is going to take.
That changed rather quickly, and when I was a third into the story, I was fully invested.
The first half of the book was really good, the second half was phenomenal. It REALLY picked up pace, there were lots of twists and turns and different elements, but they all worked together so well.

At the end of the year, I always make a top 10 list of the most unique books I've read that year, and I have no doubt that this will be in my top 3.
The way the mirror world was done was so cool and I haven't read anything like it (granted I usually avoid portal world books as I said), and there was so much lore, references to mythology and history, some alchemy and interesting characters thrown in, I was truly in awe of the world the author created. I also think it takes quite some skill to craft such an intricate world for a standalone without making it feel convoluted or confusing. Even though the world was quite complex, I never struggled to understand what was going on.

I think the book is more NA than YA as it was quite dark, which I personally really enjoyed. It almost felt like there were some horror elements added in with the different beasts.

I also loved the cast of characters, and I especially enjoyed the changing loyalties and revelations that kept you on your toes about all the different characters.
The romance was lovely, too, though it wasn't my favorite aspect of the story (not because it was bad, everything else was simply better in my opinion).

Overall, I highly recommend this book and I'm excited for whatever the author writes in the future.

There were so much potential here. The beginning was starting well ; the mirror world and the reflections being people on their own mimicking people from the real world - it was extremely interesting. The announcing war between both worlds, and the need for Ying to close it was, here again, interesting.

But the story suffered a very bad main character and confusion on the Chosen One side.

First off, the plot holes and Chosen One confusion : Ying learns there's a second world in the mirror reflection everything happening in her world? Oh yeah, cool. Ying is 'the Fish' ? No problem. The others can transform themselves into animals? Oh yeah sure, that makes totally sense. Nope. Ying may have always been interested in mythology etc, there is no way this is a logical reaction from a person, from her magicless world, learning that all of that exist. She's just stoical.
And then, that... Fish ? What does that even mean? There is no explanation, it's been taken for granted, she knows what it means of course she's the Fish... While here I am after finishing the book still not really knowing what it meant to be the Fish.
And Ying is the Fish ? But then a fish-turning-dragon rider ? Oh wait no she's a Phoenix ? Please make up your mind. Chosen One is one thing, not 3, or even more.

I also really didn't liked Ying. She's insufferable. She's falling in love in not even one full day? She's naive, doesn't/can't think first, she's egoistic, and then there's only her eyes to cry (a awful lot) from her mistakes. She thinks herself superhuman, and everything goes pretty easily with her. There's also no character development at all, except the last 10% where she FINALLY discovers what she's supposed to look for since the beginning.

I'm really disappointed and sad, it's a pity. The story had so much potential but it felt like the ideas were weaker than expected, and Ying the MC was all the "not like any other girl chosen one" characters mixed into one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC

I found the concept of the novel really intriguing and wasn't let down by the execution. I liked the mythology aspect and the eastern-asian culture. I wasn't too fond of the insta-love, but it worked. I wish there would've been a bit more character development since the book was so long. Otherwise it was an enjoyable book with amazing and enchanting descriptions and I couldn't see the ending coming which is a major plus point.

I thought the whole concept with the mirror world was really intriguing (and a bit creepy, which was a clear bonus) and I was excited about it from the start. The motives and behavior of the reflections were also interesting and I wished we’d seen even more of both the reflections and the mirror world.

Another strength of the novel was the vivid descriptions and I do believe the “Enthralling” and “Enchanting” descriptors from the blurb’s were very accurate. The first half of the book was more captivating, while the second part was rather predictable and dragged a bit more.

What did bother me was the insta love (x2), the extreme impulsiveness and naivete of the main character and lack of depth of most characters, which I wouldn’t have commented on if it wasn’t for the fact that the book is almost 500 pages long and surely a bit more development of the characters could have fit in. I think shortening the time Ying spent doing research and instead spending more time on the backstory (the mirror world, the empress, Ying’s family’s history) would also have made me more invested in the story.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and a good debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book.

The concept of this book was what made me want to read it: entering a world where we have reflections of ourselves. They have to mimic the « original » reflection and feed with light. I enjoyed reading about their world and monsters at the beginning.

At first it was quite easy to get into the book, but after a while, it just got too long for me as I was not attached to the main character and the love interest.

The chapters were not too long, which is always a plus.

I did not see the plot coming at the end with the emperor, and was quite surprised.

Eastern mythology meets YA fantasy with a hint of enemies to lovers romance. If that’s you’re vibe you’ll love this like I did

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded to 4

While this was a pretty easy and entertaining read, it was a little too predictable for me which lost it half a star. That being said, the characters were great and easy to love, the plot was fast paced and the ideas of the mirror world and magical system were fantastic. I do think it felt rushed in places - some parts of the plot and the characters themselves would have benefited from more development, perhaps extending the book to a duology. The romance was a little fast and could have been stretched out more to make it feel more authentic.

The Girl With No Reflection is a gripping fantasy with a strong romance and a bit of horror. It's so magnificently written, and I couldn't put it down for a second. I am already eagerly waiting for more from Keshe Chow!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

3.5 ⭐️ The beginning of the book is so good! The concept that the author created for this story is super different and captivating. For me the problem was the pacing, in the first 40% I was super entertained but after that I feel like the book lost me a little. I’d still highly recommend it to anyone who loves YA fantasies.

How interesting, full of small twists and complex (and sometimes a little exasperating) characters that this story has.

The Girl with No Reflection is a fantasy novel that has a lot of interesting elements (which I prefer not to tell you about so that you will find out when you read it) and that reads super quickly.

The author gets us into the story from the first moment because she doesn't beat around the bush and gets to the point. Furthermore, she has such a captivating way of writing that there are moments where everything is a little darker, more grotesque and you really feel trapped there with the protagonist.

Something that made me not be able to give this book 5 stars is the romance. I felt that on many occasions it was there in excess (although at other times it seemed necessary for the plot to develop), also... some plot twists didn't seem so shocking to me because I could see them coming.

A very good impression of Keshe Chow with this novel, I hope to read more of her!

Thank you very much Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. The idea of the mirror world is very cool, especially the beginning where the motives of the mirror reflections are unclear it's genuinely so unsettling and creepy. However the actual execution didn't live up to the cool premise, plus the main character seemed to fall inexplicably in insta love and the romance aspects felt quite forced and detracted from the other stuff happening in the story so I just couldn't finish it.