I DNF-ed this because the writing was impossible for me to get through. Extremely juvenile and the characters are confusing as people. I will not recommend this.

this was..something. i didn't love the writing style, the plot was unnecessarily drawn out, the characters fell flat and it relied way too heavily on the miscommunication trope. the main character is honestly a bit of an idiot and just annoyed me so much and the "romance" felt like whiplash. there's also a really unnecessary hanging scene that is graphic and purely there for an emotional reaction without any actual emotion or weight behind it.

that being said i feel like maybe contemporary or even contemporary fantasy would suit this author better based on the writing and while i didn't love this one i would still be open to more by this author in the future

The plot and the mirror world concept were so cool, it just didn't capture me the way I wanted! I did really enjoy the characters and the romance storyline was good, I just didn't love it as much as I hoped.
Thank you for the eARC

This book, unfortunately, was a disappointment for me. I felt that too much happened in too little time, and many elements were overly exaggerated. For instance, spending an afternoon and a half studying in the library is portrayed as an intense and exhausting endeavor into alchemical research—so much so that the characters even complain about it. This felt disproportionate and hard to take seriously.

The main character was overly dramatic for my taste and often refused to listen to those around her, which made it difficult to connect with her. I also didn’t enjoy the miscommunication trope between her and the male lead. It’s a device I generally find frustrating, and in this case, it only served to complicate the plot unnecessarily, without adding meaningful depth or emotional weight.

There are some positive aspects, such as the setting, which is imaginative and well-crafted. However, overall, it felt like the story tried to take on too much, resulting in a narrative that was muddled, messy, and heavier than it needed to be.

I really loved the atmosphere and the magical parts of this book. The idea of the mirror world was super interesting, and the first half had me totally hooked. It felt mysterious and a bit creepy in the best way.

But after the halfway point, it kind of lost some of that excitement. The story slowed down, and I didn’t feel very connected to the characters anymore. Ying was okay, but I didn’t care much about the prince (like I know nothing about him), and their relationship didn’t really do anything for me.

That said, I read the whole thing in one day! So even though I lost it a little in the second half, I still enjoyed it and think it’s definitely worth reading if you like unique, atmospheric, fantasy stories.

I appreciate that this is a standalone novel but you're gonna have to give me more Keshe Chow.

Filled with terror, atmosphere and curses, the best trio of spookiness.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. This is a 100% honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I wish I loved this book, and the premise of a mirror world where the mirror people are actually monsters trying to replace their real counterparts is a great one. However, Ying’s naivety and ability to fall instantly in love with either version of the Prince she is arranged to marry is frustrating. Ying being some kind of prophesied hero is not fleshed out enough. There is also a moment where two of her brothers die, we do not know their names or anything about them, and after their death there are a few moments she talks about it but her focus too quickly moves to wanting to marry the Prince properly and the physical side of their relationship. This leads to you as the reader having no emotional reaction to what should have been a poignant moment.

Princess Ying Yue dreams of finding true love through her arranged marriage to the crown prince. But when her romantic dream are shattered, a mirror world offers her a second chance of happiness. 

This YA historical fantasy debut draws inspiration from Imperial Chinese mythology and traditions. The Mirror World legend presents a uniquely underexplored premise, though I found the worldbuilding somewhat underdeveloped. 

The author's writing style is accessible and engaging. The narration successfully establish a chilling, eerie atmosphere in the early chapters, though this atmospheric tension dissipates once the Mirror World is fully revealed. The story maintains good pacing with a well-balanced mix of political intrigue, drama, and action. 

However, the historical setting feels inconsistent with the characters' modern-sounding banter and interactions. The enemies-to-lovers romance, while promising, suffers from predictable development and lack of palpable chemistry. 

This debut shows remarkable promise. I'm intrigued enough to explore the author's future works.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodderscape from Hodder and Stoughton for providing copy of this ebook. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Release date : 8 August 2024

A dark, captivating, and compelling book characterized by evocative writing, vivid descriptions, a fascinating world building, a darkly intriguing story and intense, well-defined characters. A novel that completely captivated me, enchanting and engaging me, despite a few flaws here and there!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars! I loved the premise of this book. I had never heard of anything like it. That, and the cover, get my 3 stars. Realistically the FMC was so stupid and insipid that I couldn't enjoy the story. But I have faith in the author's ability to write and hope I will like a future book of hers more.

Unique and exciting basic idea, but a Protagonist Who Tests Your Patience

Have you ever read a book where a single character completely ruined your reading experiance?

"The Girl with No Reflection" is a romantic fantasy story by Keshe Chow and takes us into an Asian-inspired world. Together with Ying Yue, we immerse ourselves in a world full of magic, mystery and ancient legends.

I found the basic idea not only exciting, but also unusual, because I've never read anything like it before. The idea of a mirror world in which not only our reflections exist, but also mystical creatures, really fascinated me.

However, my enthusiasm quickly faded due to the protagonist, Ying Yue. I just found her incredibly naive and really frustrating in places. She constantly acts rashly and always causes trouble and disasters. Her gullible and thoughtless nature kept driving me up the wall.

And as if that weren’t enough, Prince didn’t fare much better. The novel leans heavily on, miscommunication - and unfortunately in a way that is more annoying than exciting.

I give "The Girl with No Reflection" 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

The writing style/prose in this is good, but I just … couldn’t get invested in the characters or storyline. DNF at 15%.

I liked this book however there were a few spots that left me wanting more and I don’t feel delivered the way I wish it had.Overall, I think there is a lot of promise here and I would love to read more by Keshe Chow.

I love the concept but didn't enjoy how it was done. I couldn’t get into the story and connect with the main character; her reckless decisions were infuriating. The romance also fell flat with close to no chemistry between the two.
I enjoyed the mystery for a while but the villains were too obvious as were the betrayals...

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♟️Rating:1/5⭐
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Thank you, NetGalley, for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I think we need to have a serious reflection as to what went wrong with this book. It has an interesting premise from the synopsis itself. Truth be told, I had pretty high hopes for it. However, just like the title itself, whenever Ying runs into some problems, she fails to reflect on it.
For starters, the writing style is very literal in a sense where I feel like I’m reading a movie script or a play script instead. There’s a lot of telling, especially when it comes to the depiction of emotions or actions. For example, there were certain sentences like “...his voice at once both tender and savage” and another like “Then came a sound. Screaming. Endless screaming.” I’m very particular about a book’s writing style, and the lack of metaphors (that made sense) and literal usage of words just irked me. I do not need to be spoon-fed; I can figure things out on my own. It makes the characters and plot very superficial in a sense where the words themselves hold no weight or meaning to carry the plot. There was loads of info dumping on the worldbuilding as well. The fight scenes were also quite glazed over, where you don’t really feel the rush of action. There was this scene where the word pirouette was used in a fight scene, and my ballet head was trying so hard to envision that scene. I didn’t know ballet can train martial arts.

This also brings me to the next point: why are these royals out there cursing their heads off? Every time they said 我操, I cursed internally as well. It’s so out of place, and I’m not saying that royals can’t curse, but when it’s so rampant and frequent throughout the book, it just feels strange. I was expecting a lot more formality in the way the characters talk rather than some modern-day teenager. (Plus, isn’t that like a modern curse word? I might be wrong about it. The author also constantly added Hanyu pinyin of the Mandarin words before following it up with an English term. This might seem fine to non-Mandarin-speaking readers but as someone who speaks mandarin, it’s akin to saying chai tea. Also, there was this scene where vampires drinking blood was mentioned, and I found that scene weird. Chinese vampires do not drink blood, and vampires who drink blood originated from Eastern Europe, which was then popularised by Dracula. It’s just a very minor detail, but it just ticked me off.
There were lots of plot holes throughout the whole story, and there weren't any clear rules about the mirror realm, which caused lots of loopholes. (Actually, the whole story could have ended earlier if people realised the importance of tonal pronunciation.) As stated before, we’re constantly being told about what is going on throughout the book, which made a lot of the upcoming plot twists super predictable. We’re constantly told (x) character is a good person, the only person that would believe that is a kid who hasn't watched Frozen yet. Speaking of frozen, the romance here was so insta love. Like what Elsa said, “You can’t marry a man you just met.” However, this proves to not be the case in the book. Ying was instantly enamoured and down bad for one of the love interests the moment she met him. Afterwards, barely 25% in, there was a kiss scene, and Ying just thinks he’s the love of her life even though they just met for 2.5 days. Something similar also happened for the other love interest, which made me really frustrated and want to pull an Elsa on Ying so badly. Honestly, the romance is basically ‘but daddy I love him’ as well as ‘down bad’. (Except make it x10 more aggressive.) Like the other love interest is honestly a walking red flag at the start, but he suddenly became a green flag later on because he was protecting her. But hold up, protecting her? Guess what? Ying is not like any other girls! ✨

Unlike other girls, she prefers reading weird magic/occult-related books as well as sword fighting. The amount of times I’m told Ying had (x) niche hobbies and how she’s not like other people/girls, I just roll my eyes. However, her hobbies or knowledge beforehand constantly proved to be useless time and time again. She’s extremely naive and hot-headed at times.

Normally I would have rooted for the antagonist in this novel if I had disliked the protagonist, but I actually struggled to like them. They lacked depth or nuance to their cause, and they also disappeared in the latter part of the book. I just didn’t care about the plot or any of the characters near the end.

One last thing: there were a few scenes where beforehand Ying was grieving for her family or a fight took place (where lots of lives were lost). But what did Ying do? Both her and the love interest just started making out. Like... there are people suffering outside.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed with this book. Honestly, if I wanted PDA (which I derived so much secondhand embarrassment from), I could honestly just go to some big public NYD celebration on the streets and watch the crowds of couples before me. But seriously though, someone should let Ying listen to BDILH.

I honestly wish I had read this book earlier, because wow, it might be one of my favourite reads of 2024, so I'm really, really glad I was able to squeeze it in before the year ended. THE GIRL WITH NO REFLECTION is fantastic crossover romantic fantasy, brilliant from its exceptional cover to its last line. There are misunderstandings and creatures and betrayals and shock revelations and twists-and-turns, not to mention a great execution of the one-bed trope. Anyone who is looking for a beautiful love story, strong and rich fantasy elements, not to mention political intrigue and a vivid cultural base, you'll absolutely enjoy this one!

first, i'm so sorry. i didn't enjoy this book at all. that was absolutely comical but not the intentional kind of comical😅

so the concept is that there's a whole different world on the other side of mirror, and the "mirror people" was cursed to mimic everything the real people do near the reflective surface. but they're actually different individuals with different personalities.

it didn't take much time for Ying attracted to the mirror prince, in less than 24 hours, to be exact. which was ridiculous.

Ying is gullible, stubborn, reckless, petulant, witless, the list could go on. she's that kind of MC who can fight because she's the youngest and has many brothers. naturally. good luck on telling her anything because she'll absolutely do the exact opposite. she's also the Chosen One, the key between 2 worlds, ultra special individual who's been prophesied for long. etc etc. nothing's wrong with this but her behaviors were just frustrating and tiring to read

i don't want to talk about the romance because it's awful. it made me cringe, rolled my eyes so hard and frowned constantly. just no.

and the fantasy aspect, i felt like i should just accept whatever the terms at face value, with no clear reason or explanation. so they're mirror person, their skin is solid and cold like porcelain. whatever they need in order to mimic the real person will instantly appear out of thin air, like clothings or stuffs. they can also shapeshift into animals. they need light to live. sure yeah whatever. but WHYY?

the only positive thing is that i managed to finish it in several hours so that's something.

I was genuinely curious about this book; the plot seemed promising, and the first chapters had drawn me in. However, as the story progressed, the romance turned out to be forced and illogical, with an unconvincing love triangle that made things even worse. Moreover, I found the protagonist quite unlikeable, even irritating in some of her choices, which made it hard to empathize with her. These elements unfortunately ruined an experience that could have been far more rewarding. A real shame, because the initial potential was all there.

The idea of this book is great. In a way, it reminded me of Coraline, with a parallel world that’s not quite like ours, even though the same people exist. But there are more than enough differences, so no need to worry that it’s just a cheap copy.

The plot was nice. But unfortunately, it was very very foreseeable. There were many plottwists and I guessed most of them immediately. The ones I didn’t guess were so far fetched that they barely made sense.
In fact, most of the plottwists were so obvious, that I gaslighted myself into believing that it wouldn’t happen that way as no author would write something that obvious. I would’ve liked more suspense, or a bigger surprise at some of the plottwists. So that was quite the disappointment.

Ying was fine as a character. A bit naive, prone to making kind of stupid decisions, but to be honest - I’d probably react the same way in her place. She’s been sheltered and doesn’t know how to stand up for herself, she barely has any real life experience. So I’d say that she’s actually kind of realistic.
Unfortunately, the other characters were also bit too foreseeable for me. I saw through basically everyone immediately and there was no tension left.

The romance lacked chemistry. It started out in a good way, but Ying was too indecisive in my opinion. On one page she couldn’t decide whether to trust someone, the next page, she was ready to declare her love. It’s okay if she’s naive, but at some point, I seriously started questioning her intelligence.

I’m not a big fan of the ending. Sure, it was thought through and worked well, but it was a bit too cliché for me. I also wish that the aftermath of the grand finale had been stretched out a bit more. So many terrible things happened, and no one seems to care. Maybe show me, how everything needs to be rebuilt, how it doesn’t just stop and turn into a fairytale?

There were some very nice scenes though, that were very well written and I really enjoyed. The book definitely has potential, but it needs editing.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hodder&Stoughton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl With No Reflection is a young adult fantasy standalone in which we follow Ying, the future bride of the Crown Prince, as she accidentally opens a gateway to a portal world and must try to close it to prevent a war... or worse.

The magical world created was so beautifully executed and not something I have seen done often. Full of magic, mystery and intrigue.

Also the cover is stunning and does justice to the beautiful storytelling. I cannot wait to see the special editions!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ebook in exchange for an honest review.