I was really looking forward to this book, but unfortunately, it just wasn't for me... Full thoughts are up on my blog.

https://gillyweedsreads.blogspot.com/2020/07/broken-wish-mirror-book-1.html

The Mirror: Broken Wish is the first in a four-book series written by four different authors with four different settings and tied together by a magic mirror. Julie C. Dao kicks things off with the story of sixteen-year-old Elva, who is hiding the fact that she has magical abilities that allow her to see the future. After a particularly devastating vision, Elva is determined to do whatever she can to prevent it from happening… even if it means going out of her way to find the powerful, rumored to be terrible Witch of the North Woods. Dao does succeed at capturing the feel of a fairytale with her storytelling, from the elements incorporated down to the narrative style. But I didn’t love the main character’s ‘voice’, which came across a lot younger than her age. So, even though I liked The Mirror: Broken Wish overall, it ultimately doesn’t stand out among the YA fantasies I’ve read this year. (I do want to mention that, while this wraps up neatly as a standalone, it successfully sets itself up as the first part of a larger narrative. That alone makes me curious to see how the next author will continue the saga.)

The first book in the Mirror series, Broken Wish is a dark YA fairy tale about friendship, broken promises, and the importance of acceptance. Agnes and her husband have just moved to a small village in Germany where Agnes befriends Mathilda. Mathilda, a witch who is shunned by society, offers to make Agnes a potion to help her get pregnant in exchange for Agnes’ friendship. Agnes, desperate to have a child, promises but breaks this promise once she receives the potion since she and her husband begin to fear that they too will be ostracized from society. As retribution for the broken promise, Agnes’ child is cursed with powers of her own.

Elva has a magical gift. She can see the future when she looks at reflective surfaces like mirrors and water. Of course, Elva has had to hide her power from everyone because they fear what they don’t understand. When Elva has a terrible vision, she seeks guidance from Mathilda to help control her power and use it for good. Mathilda agrees to train her, and a friendship develops, though Mathilda continually warns Elva not to abuse her power. Will Elva heed her warnings, and will this new friendship heal old wounds?

Julie C. Dao is a wonderful storyteller, and I loved her writing style. The rich language and imagery quickly immersed me into this dark fairy tale. The characters are also really interesting. I loved Elva’s eagerness, optimism, and kindness, and Agnes’ conflicted feelings about friendship and fitting in. Mathilda, however, was my favorite. At times, she is strong, independent, and sure, while in other cases she is lonely, needy, and harsh. She has suffered injustices at the hands of intolerant people but is more wounded by the rejection of her friend.

I enjoyed the friendships throughout the story. Agnes and Mathilda had such a lovely friendship at first, and they seemed like they would have a long-lasting connection. They did, just not in the way one would expect. Their fractured relationship leads to an even more interesting friendship between Mathilda and Agnes’ daughter Elva. The author deftly examines relationships and how the bonds of friendship and family can strengthen or fall apart.

Another aspect of the story that I liked was that it focused more on friendships than romantic relationships. That’s not to say that romantic relationships are excluded from the story, but that they are not explored as dynamically or positively as the friendships. Strong suggestions about examining people’s true intentions and being loyal to the people you care about regardless of what other’s think is also really powerful.

I also liked the Grimm Brothers’ allusions woven through the story. Magic mirrors, family curses, glass coffins, and other nods to the classic fairy tales and authors are fabulous. They add a sense of familiarity to a unique and interesting story.

An interesting tale about accepting oneself and others, prioritizing friendship and loyalty over popularity and fitting in, and embracing the power of friendship, this is a YA tale with great messages! Thanks so much to Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this story so much I devoured it in less than twelve hours. There are so many different individual character stories but they all intertwine and it's so satisfying. I loved almost all the characters and I even like Wilhelm until he proved himself to be a greedy asshole towards the end of the book. I loved Elva and I really hope somebody figures out how to get her out of the predicament she's in. Also, she ended up causing the storm she was trying to prevent throughout a good chunk of the book.

This book is the first in a series by four different authors that tell the story of four generations of a cursed family. This one is about how a broken promise between two friends curses a family and sets the foundation for the rest of the stories to come. I'm thrilled to read the rest of the books in the series when they are released.

I had a feeling when I first picked this book up that I would really like it, and it certainly did not disappoint! In the Author’s Note at the end, Dao mentions being heavily inspired by both Disney and classic fairy tales, and I think it really shows in this work. While reading, I caught many references to classic fairy tales, which almost felt like little Easter eggs for fairy tale nerds like myself. The book also focused on a strong female friendship, which I thought was excellent, and kept me wanting more as I read.

Broken Wish focuses on a few characters, but begins with a friendship between a young woman named Agnes and a witch named Mathilda. The year is 1848, and Agnes and her husband have just moved to the small town of Hanau, Germany, where they hope to make a new start. Agnes is quick to befriend the local witch Mathilda, but soon realizes that the witch has been completely ostracized by the other members of the town for pulling several pranks on those who have harmed her. Mathilda, learning that Agnes wishes to have a child, offers to give her a potion to help her conceive, but asks for her continued support and friendship in return. Agnes’s husband, however, fears they will also be ostracized by the townsfolk, and begs his wife to end the friendship as soon as she takes the potion. Agnes reluctantly agrees, and eventually Mathilda moves deep into the North Woods where normal humans dare not to tread.

As punishment for her broken promise, Agnes’s daughter Elva discovers she has powers of her own at a very young age, having the ability to peer into reflective surfaces and see the future. Though her parents have begged her to hide her magic for fear of what the townspeople will do to her, Elva shares this knowledge with her fiancé Willem, who appears to accept her for who she is. When Elva discovers the letters Mathilda wrote to her mother, she seeks out the witch in the North Woods to make amends... and to ask for the witch’s help in controlling her fledgling powers. Will their friendship be enough to break the curse on Elva’s family, or will doom and gloom follow wherever they go due to Agnes’s broken promise?

Like I said before, this book is full of fun references to fairy tales, from the glass coffin at the end of the book to the bright red shoes and enchanted mirror that Mathilda give to Elva. While I’ll admit I’m not an expert on fairy tales, I picked up on quite a few little Easter eggs throughout, and loved that this book felt like reading a classic fairy tale. While it initially seems to be historical fantasy (based on the 1800s German setting), I was relieved to see that no actual history plays a part in the story. The Grimm brothers are mentioned briefly near the beginning of the story, but this book requires no previous historical knowledge to properly understand, which I appreciated.

I also loved the strong theme of female friendship throughout, as YA is a genre in which more female friendships are desperately needed. While Agnes eventually chooses popularity over her friendship, Elva forms a deep bond with Mathilda, strengthened by the way they are both judged and ostracized from society for their magical abilities. While Elva is able to blend in by hiding her powers, Mathilda refuses to do so, choosing to be herself rather than conforming to societal norms. In this way, much of this story seems like a feminist take on fairy tales, as one woman chooses to be independent while the other sees the best in everyone. Both characters are strong in their own ways, and form a sort of “opposites attract” friendship throughout the story.

Another thing this story handles well is the romance. While I initially rooted for Willem and Elva, Willem slowly reveals his true colors as the story progresses. Continuing with the feminist theme, Willem turns out to be using Elva for her abilities, threatening to out her to the entire town if she refuses to marry him and go along with his “circus scheme.” Willem, like the rest of the people in this small town, view any woman who is different as a dangerous threat, reminiscent of real historical events like the Salem Witch Trials. In the end, Elva stands up for herself, realizing that not everyone in her life has the best intentions as she previously thought. As a whole, the story focuses much more on the family relationships and friendships Elva develops than the romance, which is a refreshing change in fantasy YA.

Speaking of familial relationships, I found Elva’s relationship to her younger brother Cay to be extremely sweet and touching. Cay is extremely supportive of his older sister, viewing her magic as a gift and wanting to help her explore it further. Throughout the book, he expresses interest in finding a magical wishing well to improve their situation, while also begging Elva to share her secrets with him. In the end, it is fear for Cay’s safety that leads Elva to break her own promise with Mathilda, setting off a chain of events that alter the entire story. This utter devotion to family was both realistic and touching, and I love that a lot of the focus was put on this aspect of Elva’s life. Cay is living proof that someone who is different can find unconditional love, and I’m excited to see where his story leads in future books.

Though Elva’s ultimate fate is a tragic one (though I hope this might change in future books), I admired her decision to take matters into her own hands and shape her own destiny. In the end, both she and Mathilda choose to be unapologetically themselves, though they do so in different ways. Mathilda prefers to self-isolate and keep to herself, while Elva longs to use her abilities to help people and walk among society. Elva takes a lot of agency in her own life throughout this story, which is awesome to see from a female character living in the 1800s. While I hope Mathilda and Cay are able to resurrect her in future books, I found her arc to be extremely satisfying, and love her as a strong female character. The story appears to be hinting at more, as this is the first in a series, so I will wait with baited breath to see where this story goes next.

I would recommend this book to fans of both fantasy and fairy tales, especially those who love strong female protagonists and healthy female friendships in literature. It’s fun, well-written, and suspenseful, and I found myself really rooting for these characters as the story progressed. Best of all, this book is devoid of any foul language or sexual content, making it a good pick for younger teens as well. I look forward to seeing what Julie Dao writes next, as this book was a delight from beginning to end.

Such a cute fantasy fairytale book! Both of my daughters (ages 16 and 14) both enjoyed this one as well. Our first book by Julie C. Dao, but will definitely not be our last!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Very much in the genre of cautionary tales. This was interesting and had such heartbreak! It's going to be interesting to see where it goes, but it went a direction I was not expecting but I liked it.

The Mirror: Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao is a great story! I loved the fantasy aspect and the main character Elva.

If you are looking for a cute fairytale with Princesses needing to be saved by Prince Charming, this is not the tale for you. The first in a four-book series from Disney Books, Julie C. Dao creates a stunning, dark new tale, filled with strong women who don’t let society dictate who they’ll become. Fateful choices lead to unsuspecting consequences that span decades and into generations.

Dao is new to me, but I was immediately captivated by her writing, so much so that I finished this book in a day, which is highly rare for me. The flow of the story was easy to get into, with a plot that you would expect from Disney but it had a darker ending that I had hoped wouldn’t happen. What intrigued me the most was the balance of the magic system, and that your word as a promise is not something to take lightly. Once that promise is broken, it felt an awful lot like losing someone’s trust. The consequences could be severe, and unpredictable. Also, that magic is and can be dangerous. If you go too far into the magic, you might not like what it asks for in return.

The world building that was done for 19th Century Germany felt so realistic, with its complexity, the light and the dark aspects of society. It was engaging and believable, it had an air of truth about how the world worked back in 19th century. The ugly, misconceptions that filled the times are contrasted by how cozy, warm, and friendly the witch actually is. The North Woods where the witch lives is not what it seems, yes there are dangerous things to lure in unsuspecting children but there is also a great beauty to it as well. I was glad to see more of it as the story progressed.

The characters were enjoyable, Mathilda seemed to be the most developed of them but all of them were good with clear personalities. I enjoyed the blossoming friendship between Agnes and Mathilda in the beginning. It almost seemed like fate that they would become friends, so that way when Elva, Agnes’ sixteen-year-old daughter came later on, that it was like full circle with their friendship. The optimism that Elva had with the world was refreshing to the judgmental town she lived in. Even though she wanted to be accepted for who she was, in the end, all she needed was to accept herself and not care what others thought of her. Same with Mathilda, she was so afraid of what people thought of her, that in the end, it caused her to push away people who could have really helped her grow as a person.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. I thought it was a wonderful start to the series. The themes of acceptance, loneliness, heartbreak, rejection all reached me on a deeper level. I will read on, giving my hope to the characters that they find what they need in books 2, 3, and 4. If these stories are anything like Broken Wish, I will be intrigued from the start. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fairytales, in the Disney style but with a darker ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for providing me with this beautiful e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I started out loving this book but by the time I got to the end I was less enchanted by it (excuse the pun). The book starts with a young couple who live next door to Mathilda, a witch. Mathilda keeps to herself unless provoked. Agnes, the wife, befriends Mathilda and even accepts her magic. Agnes and her husband are unable to have children, and Mathilda offers to help in exchange for Agnes' friendship. Agnes agrees, but after accepting the magic potion, breaks off the friendship at the insistence of her husband, setting a curse (for lack of better words) into motion.

Years later, we meet Elva, the oldest daughter of Agnes. She has discovered that she has some magical ability: she can see the future when she gazes into any kind of reflective surface. She discovers the connection between her mother and Mathilda and seeks Mathilda out. Mathilda trains her but warns her not to abuse her powers.

Here is where things went off the rails for me. Mathilda, who has been around for a very long time, relies heavily on Elva, a teenage girl. This did not make sense to me. Mathilda's personality has inconsistencies in it: at times, a strong, wise, independent (albeit lonely) woman, and at other times, a needy, fearful, almost irrational one. I couldn't reconcile the two.

I found the ending to be somewhat of a letdown. References to Grimm's fairy tales and Mathilda's constant warning were certainly a foreshadowing that there would not be a HEA, but the ending felt cold and abrupt. It seemed to lack resolution for many of the characters, in particular, Agnes and Mathilda.

I don't read much fiction in this genre and perhaps I was the wrong age demographic for it to fully enjoy it. The premise is good, there were just some minor things that kept it from being great for me.

WOW! I've read Dao's work before, but I wasn't sure if I'd like this one--fairy tales aren't really my thing. But this book delivers! It sucked me in from page one, and while it has a generous dash of fairy tale tropes, they don't overshadow the characters, who are compelling and lovable. This is a great start to a new series, and I can't wait for the next one!

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book, it didn't start in a way that I thought it would. The beginning is kind of slow, but it picks up pretty quickly. This is kind of a "slow burn" plot, and I loved it. More often than not when a book takes a few pages or chapters to get the plot moving, I lose interest. But this book had what I am going to call a "slow burn" plot. The book is about Elva, but she is not who the book starts with, and things pick up long before Elva is there, and there is a lot of insight into the Witch of the Woods, and the magic surrounding the town that is needed for when things really pick up.

I loved the setting of this book, taking place in mid-1800's Germany in the town the Brothers Grimm were born, they even have a mention/cameo. The characters were also great. Elva and Mathilda were great characters. Elva trying to show Mathilda that there are people she can trust and how to open up to others again.

Finding the right words to explain what I loved so much about this book, while not spoiling anything, is really hard fresh from reading it. There was so much more to this book than the magic. It was about the relationships people form, Agnes and Mathilda, Elva and her brothers, Elva and the boy she is betrothed to, and the most important one Elva and Mathilda. The bond they have is one of the more special parts of this book.

This book touches on acceptance and trust. That it's okay to trust, but that you should also be careful of who you trust. It was just a lovely book, and I was crying by the end.

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I really want to go read her other books. I can't wait to read the rest of this series, and I am really curious for how this series will turn out. Each book is written by a different author and each book takes place in a different time period. I hope all the books in this series are as touching as this one.

This book was received as an ARC from Disney Publishing Worldwide - Disney-Hyperion in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I could not help but feel transported into a magical world where it is difficult to distinguish the good and evil characters. While reading this book, I could not help but think Snow Queen meets Game of Thrones and all because of perception and magic. When Elva discovers her magical powers, and figures out she possesses the magic mirror of the evil queen, the line from right and wrong is blurred and its up to Elva in discovering what is right from wrong before evil magic invades her way of life. Disney with the brilliant mind of Julie Dao delivers a masterpiece that I know our YA fans will enjoy. I can't wait to hear the discussions that spring from this book at our next meeting.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Wow. Dao is so talented. It's a beautiful world where good and evil are not definitive. Hero and villain are one in the same. This is a series I would continue to read.

Wow! This was fast pacing, entertaining, well-written, riveting story! It’s also dark, depressing and intense with the alluring vibes of Grimm Brothers’ bloody eerie fairy tales meet Tim Burton’s gothic world building. And I have to congratulate the talented illustrator who created this remarkable book cover!

This is extra special event for me to start this book because this is the first time I received an ARC from Disney ( At least 10 rejections later as I see the book at my virtual bookshelf, I thought it was not real! )

The best things I truly enjoyed:
Poignant story line with powerful messages:

This is not only a magical story about witches’ world, extraordinary abilities, paranormal powers. This is a strong story about trust, loyalty, women’s devoted friendship with feminism vibes. It’s about two broken hearted women’s emotional story who are looking for acceptance of the people surrounded them and their struggle to be a part of world whose people are so adamant to be judgmental, cruel, viciously criticizing. Being different, unique and expressing yourself freely may turn into an unforgettable crime in that world!

Characterizations:
I both love Mathilda and Elva and their strong bound. They were like master and apprentice, elder and young sister kind of close relationship melted my heart.

World building:
Hanau, a small town’s portraits located in 19th century’s Germany, was well described and the cameos of Grimm Brothers who were recently seen at the town’s bar to learn more about magical stories also entertaining.

Conclusion: Satisfying and intriguing enough to encourage you read the upcoming books of the series!

Quick summary of the story: Agnes Heinrich and her husband spends all their money to buy a dilapidated cottage at Hanau, for starting fresh. But their neighbor is rumored to be a witch named Mathilda who is shunned away, living isolated, lonely life and Agnes empathizes with her. They also had hard times because of the gossips about her husband’s family. They become friends.

Agnes wants a big family with kids but she cannot conceive a baby and Mathilda offers her help with her magical powers. Agnes finds herself stuck in dilemma: she has to cut her relationship with Mathilda after getting her help because they may stake their reputation if someone finds out they are friends with town’s witch, but this means she will use Mathilda’s powers for own benefits and break her heart.

And yes, as you may imagine she breaks her friends’ heart and used her powers to become a mother. But this broken wish comes with curse: Her daughter Elva can see the future as she looks at the glass or the reflection of the water. Now Agnes is worried that town’s people may find out her daughter’s powers and exile her from the land.

Elva finds her mom’s correspondences with Mathilda and she realizes she is the only one who may help her which means she needs to go to journey in the North Woods to face with her own destiny and meet with the town’s haunted witch.

Overall: I always mesmerize with the magical, lyrical world of Disney works which brings out singing, dancing inner child of me! I read this book at one sit and I cannot wait to read the other books in near future.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for sharing this incredible ARC in exchange my honest thoughts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this dark fairy tale-esque fantasy. The story takes place in Germany in the 1850s. This is the story of Elva, a girl with the magical ability to see into the past and the future when she looks at a reflection. Elva’s family has been cursed. For every two good things that happen to them, something really bad happens. Elva discovers that perhaps it is a broken promise her mother made years ago that is the cause of this curse. This is also the story of Mathilda, the fabled witch in the woods, and Elva asks for her help in understanding and using her magical ability.

I really enjoyed how elements of various Grimm’s fairy tales are woven throughout. There is even an awareness in the background of the story that the Brothers Grimm are going around collecting fairy tales.

I love that this is going to be a series, I assume following different generations of this family as they deal with the family curse. Because of Elva’s ability to see into the future, we even get (very) brief glimpses into what is yet to come in the future books of this series. Each book will have a different author, which is neat, but the other three have their work cut out for them because Dao did an awesome job on this one.

This is an amazing original fairy tale that I cannot wait to continue with. It follows a young girl who has visions and is living in a time where any sort of magic is feared and ridiculed. Our girl befriends the feared witch in the woods so that she can improve her magic and try to stop one of her visions from coming true.

This is a great tale of friendship and shows well how ignorant people can be when faced with people who are different than themselves. The magic was interesting and well placed. The main character was lovable and bold. I can't wait to continue with this series!

Star Rating: 3.75-4

The Mirror project promises to be an ambitious and interesting project, one I'm definitely intrigued to see how it progresses. Four generations. Four stories. I love this concept of a cross-generational fairytale and it all starts here with Broken Wish. Because every family curse starts somewhere.

Broken Wish is the beginning of this saga, and the one I foresee being the most traditional fairytale-esque. Centered in late 1800s Geremany, it definitely unveils the beginning of a Disney-dark fairytale. Witches, spells gone wrong, and unpredictable magic, all under the flag of fighting what it means to be different. My biggest qualm is that this story, while enchanting and very much feels like the beginning of a Disney movie franchise, is just that: a beginning. Instead of standing on its own as it's own book, Broken Wish very much feels more like a prequel novella, with the real, true story on its way.

The characters are all archetypes you know, and not all of them have much depth. The story is easy to digest in the way that Disney encourages their books to be: clean prose and straight forward story. It's YA in the way of the Twisted Tales series, which also means the writing level is more geared towards younger YA readers and MG-aged readers.

Still, I'm honestly still excited for the stories to follow. While this is more like an introduction, I love the concept of this interconnected, multigenerational story. There's so many symbols and the like that I'm eager to see how they're carried over, and the next installment already sounds like it will promise heavier topics while extending the witchy feel outside classic Grimm Bros. era and into 1920s New Orleans.

Even though Broken Wish as a standalone doesn't feel as strong of a story as it could be, it has all the potential to hold the keys to a magnificent unraveling as The Mirror series continues!

From the first sentence I loved this book. I like the author’s style and the plot is well done. The cover is beautiful but it’s also a little small and I can’t fully see all the details online.

I find myself slowly getting sick of stories that don't seem to have any overarching effects on anyone but themselves and their family. This book is, in one word, boring. Not a lot happens, and even though it's only 320 pages, it feels too long. None of the characters seem to have a reasonable motivation for what they do to themselves and to other people. I couldn't finish it, so the rest of my criticism may be wrapped up, but here's what really annoyed me. Why doesn't Elva tell her parents when she gets blackmailed? Her family is super affluent, and the person who blackmails her is a farm boy. Who would the townspeople side with? We all know the answer. What does Elva want in life? She seems to just be floating around, doing whatever suits her fancy, and not really having any motivation to do anything. There was absolutely no foreshadowing to the betrayal she goes through, and there was not enough build up for me to really care when it happened. The biggest issue I had though, is WHY DIDN'T MATHILDA JUST LEAVE? Like really, everyone hates you, why not move to a less bigoted town, or how about a city? Why does she stay when she stays alone all day every day with people coming by to threaten to kill her? It makes absolutely no sense. Also, why did Elva's mom just drop Mathilda? She knew there would be a curse and did it anyway. And then anytime anything bad happens, she rues the day, as if she didn't totally bring it upon herself. And did she try to go make amends? Of course not! It made no sense. If they became friends again, the promise may have held up, but her mom, like the rest of the characters, doesn't seem to care about anything but vanity and how people will view them, even over the safety of her children. Overall, this was a serious disapointment.