I was surprised that this was a debut, I thought it was very well done. The story itself was creepy and a little off putting, but in the way I think it was intended. I really enjoyed it, it definitely reads like a YA with how quickly things move and how much emotion everyone has.

Rating - 3.5⭐️

I think this was a solid debut! I really enjoyed the idea of the mirror worlds and reflections. I thought it was really cool how they worked. The plot was fast-paced so I flew through the book really fast and there was a lot of action happening which was good.

I just don’t think this book was the right one that suited my tastes. The beginning had a strong promising start and it made me feel like I could rate the book 5 stars but then I started gradually losing interest in the characters and the story as a whole after the first 30% of the book unfortunately.

I’d still recommend the book if you like the romantasy genre and enemies to lovers, love triangles, Chinese mythology, and mirror worlds.

The first couple of chapters of this book are amazing. If this had stayed a more horror fantasy than a romance fantasy, I would have LOVED this book. But unfortunately, the creepy build up in those chapters is short-lived and it is no longer scary but just obnoxious. The "romance" is quick and unbelievable, the romance and plot are super melodramatic like, I laughed out loud when the empress announced she had been poisoning her husband, it was laughably dramatic. . I really wish this had stuck to the beautiful horror it could have been.

This book exceeded my expectations in every way. The cover drew me in first and then the writing itself was spectacular! I couldn't put it down and kept thinking of it even after the last page. Thank you for the read!

"The Girl with No Reflection" by Keshe Chow is a spellbinding tale that captivates with its novelty of plot, unique characters, and masterful storytelling.

The plot is refreshingly original, weaving a narrative that seamlessly blends fantasy, romance, and mystery. Ying Yue's life takes an unexpected turn when her dreams of a fairy tale marriage to the crown prince shatter, leaving her confined and isolated in the imperial palace. This sense of confinement is palpable, and it sets the stage for an extraordinary adventure. The characters are vividly crafted and immensely engaging. Ying Yue herself is a strong and relatable protagonist, whose resilience and quest for true love make her journey deeply compelling. The contrast between the cold, indifferent crown prince and the kind, compassionate Mirror Prince is striking, providing a fascinating exploration of duality and perception.

Futhermore, the clever plotting keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The suspense surrounding the fate of the previous brides and the dark secrets of the mirror world are skillfully unveiled, creating a sense of urgency and tension. Each twist and turn is meticulously crafted, leading to a climax that is both thrilling and emotionally satisfying.

i kept waiting to like this book as i was reading but things only went downhill the more i read. i usually don't DNF books because i like to have the full picture before i form a solid opinion and can usually muscle it through to the end even if i'm not enjoying it, but there comes a point where finding out what happens next is more frustrating than not knowing what happens next and that's when i tap out lol so here's why:

the main character felt so wishy washy. ying is conveniently portrayed as either ridiculously naive & dependent or uncowed & capable. she loves her family so much but doesn't think twice about what living in the mirror world would mean for ever getting to see them again; she states several times that she doesn't like the prince only to lines later to be comfortable in his proximity and have her pulse racing at his "hot" touch; her <spoiler>arm aches after being attacked by the serpent but she falls asleep not realizing her neck wound is bleeding and crusting all across her front until the prince points it out</spoiler>. she felt incredibly artificial and inconsistent

the "romance" is either <spoiler>insta love with the mirror prince where ying for some reason is immediately trusting and head over heels for him</spoiler> or a horrible attempt at what i'm guessing it meant to be a <spoiler>"grumpy x sunshine" type trope except the actual prince is just unlikeable and selfish, and every moment he has with ying is just him making suggestive comments that she expresses discomfort and disinterest over.</spoiler> not to mention it also feels distinctly not YA, especially in the romance but also in the themes, self exploration/identity, and writing style.

i also wasn't impressed with the writing, where repetition was frequent (at times for effect) and there was no real evocation of emotion--i felt disinterested and distant from everything that happened and each of the characters, and i got sick of seeing "ying walked and walked" "she ran and she ran" or "her belly was empty--the fruit had not been enough to fill her belly." i never felt the urgency of whatever stakes there were meant to be. everything that happened to ying, like <spoiler>when she was attacked by the gjushe/serpent, felt insubstantial because i guessed/knew she would be saved every time. opportunities for intriguing foreshadowing were wasted/used too soon--i was hoping ying's opal ring would come in at a pivotalpivoto moment in the climax where it's been mostly forgotten until you realize it's perfect to save her in some way, and it was underwhelming for (all of it, mind you) to be used to "hopefully knock out reflection ying a little longer than without it."</spoiler> it made me feel like ying didn't need strategy or skill to get through her obstacles and she would just succeed in everything she needed to in the end. specifically where i gave up on the book was the end of ch 15/beginning of ch 16, where 1) the prince makes another suggestive comment that made me want to close the book and 2) <spoiler>they were chased by more monsters/creatures</spoiler> that i knew wouldn't actually cause anything other than maybe another opportunity for a tropey moment before we move on to the next basically inconsequential thing. by this point i lost any investment in the story because the cards were shown too early and i could either guess the answers to my questions or didn't care anymore--for example, finding out <spoiler>reflection ying's motivation stripped the potential for a feeling of betrayal between ying and what's basically another version of herself, which could have been so cool--and the "betrayal" ying is meant to feel after with the mirror prince is entirely manufactured because my first thought after finding out reflection ying wanted to take ying's place was that the mirror prince was in on it & that that explains his insta love with ying without ever missing a beat when he learned she swapped with his soon to be wife. it makes no sense for him to be so unbothered at having romance with someone else when he has no reason or no insinuation is made about him not liking relfection ying (especially because, since he's supposedly nice unlike the actual prince, reflection ying has no reason not to like him back). but apparently all this never even crossed ying's mind because, even though she's only spent a few days with the mirror prince and for some reason never doubted his unhesitant agreement at the yings swapping, she only ever thinks "he's in danger because reflection ying might go after him too, i have to save him, i want to be with him."</spoiler>

additionally, i couldn't help but feel like the better parts of the book's concept were unoriginal. in the beginning, ying discovering the reflection oddities and then being introduced to the mirror world and its magic was interesting and different, like the detail that <spoiler>mirror people are cold to the touch like glass and how they could only dress in what their real-world counterparts wore. as soon as reflection ying's intentions were revealed, however, it became glaringly similar to the film "Us" which explores the exact same idea of people's reflections rising against them to take their places in the real world at any cost after living the other side of the same life with countless deficits-- </spoiler> but with poor execution and shortsighted intention.

**3.5 STARS**

Content Warning: violence, death, profanity

When I first started reading this I was surprised and thought I was maybe reading a horror story but it isn’t! I honestly wouldn’t have minded if it was. Ying is about the marry a prince but she’s not feeling like he cares about her and keeps her trapped in a room except for the times she is allowed to be out. A way to escape this marriage is in front of her – literally. In the mirror!

I thought this was such an interesting story and one that is a little bit creepy because what do you mean there is a whole world inside a mirror and your clone is basically living there? Ying finds out though that not everything is so great on the other side of the mirror. There are monsters, there are untrustworthy mirror-people, and now she has to find a way to close the portal in the mirror or else these monsters will take over the real world. And why does it have to be her? Because there is a prophecy and she is the chosen one.

The romance was enemies to lovers but there is a love triangle, which I thought was messy but very entertaining. I felt like Ying was falling too fast for a guy in the mirror!

Speaking of Ying, there were times I found my eyes rolling because of her behavior and actions. She’s falling fast for a Mirror-Prince yet on the other side of the mirror she hated the real Prince and fought with him every chance she got even when it wasn’t called for. And then the prophecy said Ying is the fish who will close the mirror portal, but I didn’t know why a fish? Maybe because water is reflective? Anyway there’s even dragons in this book. Yeah it gets wild by the end, but I just went with it.

In summary…

Reflections are not so nice, Ying is the Fish-the one in the prophecy to close the mirror portal, there is a war, and fights with mythical monsters. There are even dragons in this story! The romance is a love triangle between Ying, a Mirror-Prince and the real Prince. Ying did get on my nerves at some points, but overall the story was still pretty entertaining. I look forward to reading more books from this author!

The Girl With No Reflection is a unique blend of royal court drama, spine-chilling horror, and pushes the boundaries of fantasy in today's world. The premise of the story is brilliant and the book overall had a decent pace to it. While there were some issues about how the characters talked that clashed with the time period the story was set in but other then that I really enjoyed this novel. The protagonist, Ying, is wonderfully written being brave, witty and hostile when necessary. Overall, The Girl With No Reflection is a good YA novel that anyone who enjoys Asian culture, witty characters, romance or double-world fantasies should add this book to their TBR.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Random House for providing the eARC.

"It was our love that saved the world."

What if your reflection in the mirror was trying to kill you? That's the premise behind this delightful new fantasy.

Ying has been sent to marry a crown prince who shuts her away in a wing of the house with a private garden before the wedding. In addition to her loneliness, Ying begins to see strange things in the reflections of mirrors and the pond. Flashes of movement become hands reaching towards her, until it all culminates in a disaster the day of her wedding, when Ying is kidnapped into the mirror world.

Within the mirror world, Ying meets her own reflection and finds a mirror counterpart to her cold husband. This prince delights in her and wants her, capturing her lonely heart. But as the barrier between worlds continues to weaken, allowing monsters to slip into our world, Ying holds the key to decide the fate of both worlds.

I loved the love triangle - if you can call it that - between Ying and both versions of the prince. It's fun to watch Ying have moments with both of them as she tries to assess which one she can really trust.

The author did a good job with the details of the mirror world as well, from the mundane to the horrifying. The mirror people have limitations compared to their human counterparts, such as they can only wear clothes that their human counterparts put on. The deeper Ying gets into the mirror world, the more the reader learns about the curse that shaped it.

A dazzling debut that balances love and high-stakes action.

Ying's engagement to Prince Zhang ought to be a great honor, but after being locked up in a palace for months prior to her wedding, she is just ready for it to be over. Then her reflection kidnaps her. All reflections are sentient individuals, it turns out, and Ying's is dying. A short stint in the real world would cure her, though, and save Ying the bother of marrying her indifferent fiance. Ying falls fast and hard for his reflection instead. Prophecy, hormones, and treachery leave her in turmoil. Insta-love, impetuosity, and other poor decision-making makes Ying a frustrating protagonist.

I really really really wanted to like this book. But at chapter 20 i had to call it quits. The main character was a tad insufferable to me. I mean like every other page there was a comment about how thirsty she was for the prince or his mirror form. It got ti be really juvenile to me and just not necessary. Like we get it. Also I get it's like based on arrange marriage traditions but I thought we as a society grew past the whole "Omg im totally in love with this prince I barely know". It gave me non-good flash backs to snow white or sleeping beauty.

Main character aside, the premise sounded really cool but just seemed to not be executed as well as it could have been. There were some things that seemed overlooked (idk if they get cleared up eventually but based on other reviews it seems unlikely and only got worse). It also seemed rushed and a little ridiculous. For example, there was a part where she has to search for some book and needed to find a temple that had knowledge of it. The prince said that it would take forever since they would have to search 99 temples. But then they found it on like the third try? Like why mention the 99 temples to just end up making it that easy? Also the first chapter really set a different vibe for the book that just didn't seem to follow through for the rest of what I read.

Overall, I was disappointed. Other people might like it, I always say to give it a shot if you are interested but this one just wasn't for me. Sorry 😕

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This was certainly an enjoyable read, but I didn't love the overall pacing. I liked the mystery and the FMC, but found myself reconvincing myself to finish. I think if that was cleaned up more and re-edited, I would have found myself better immersed. Apart from pacing, I really did this that this was a great read, and would highly recommend to those who enjoyed books like Girls of Paper and Fire. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy!!

I was super excited about this release and I did enjoy it. It was a nice blend of romance and brewing trouble. I really enjoyed the writing but I was a little disappointed in the pacing of the book- I felt stuck at times and needed to really force myself to keep reading. I was glad that I read it at the end but it wasn’t as effortless as I would like. Overall, I liked but didn’t love.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for my honest review.

This was a really great book with a blend of action, romance, and creepiness.

There were several things that I really liked about this book that the author did a great job on. One of the things that I really liked about this book was the concept of having a mirror world. I found this to be very creative and enticing. I didn’t find it confusing when the author was writing about the actual character or the counterfeit mirror character. The overall story flowed well, and I felt that there was good growth with the main characters. I loved the developing relationship with Ying and Zhang.

Some of my issues with this story were that some of the “twists” in the plotline were so obvious that I found it a little annoying that Ying, the main character, couldn’t see them coming. Also, I felt that there was a lot of build up in the story towards the end, but then the ending happens a little too quickly.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the summer and I couldn’t wait to start reading it, unfortunately it was a miss for me.

I had such a hard time getting into the story and eventually ended up putting it down.

**Thank you so much Random House Children’s/RHCBEducators for the earc! All words and thoughts in this review are my own honest opinion!**
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The Storygraph
Posted on: 15 June 2024

3 out of 5 stars.

I feel a little betrayed by how people talk about this book compared to what’s actually in it. I’m skipping my usual rambles here and digging straight into the core of my thoughts, let’s go:

First off, I see it often described as ‘horror’ or ‘chilling’- it’s not. I was disappointed in this fact because I set it aside to read during my celebration of ‘Summerween’ where I just read spooky books throughout the summer since I usually can’t fill my fix during October. I want to say that I didn’t find it scary because it’s YA horror and I’m starting to get into more adult horror, but I find Kylie Lee Baker and Erin A Craig’s books a lot creepier and eerier than this- and both authors’ books are YA! This is a thriller at most, but that’s still pushing it. It’s a high fantasy YA novel with minimal eeriness in the beginning that doesn’t really carry through to the end.

Secondly, I had a love-hate throughout it. I feel like the plot and the characters were there, but they were *lacking*. Let me split this into a two parter, it’ll be short and connect in the end I promise. Characters first-
The characters were very trope-y. They did honestly feel like people plucked straight from C-Dramas which isn’t a bad thing! I just think they were just too heavily reliant on these tropes to move their growth along. The way the writing was also lent no hand in rounding them out. It was very Tell Not Show in a lot of places and it just made it hard to feel and connect with these characters.
The plot was very similar. It felt like a drama in that there were a lot of moving pieces, but I think that the length of the novel just didn’t allow it to reach its potential. Some bits felt rushed, others felt like they were thrown in for the sake of filling in a gap left open by another plot point. If the book were a little longer, I really do think it could’ve felt less… choppy and stitched together. I think there was just too many things trying to pull the story along that the ends got frayed along the way. And again, there were a lot of drama tropes tossed in that just didn’t really help to flesh out the actual book and it really just left me wanting something more or better from it.

I don’t have too much else on my reader notes about this- nothing that hasn’t been repeated above like five times a paragraph. I just wish I would’ve enjoyed it more! The premise was interesting. I read the summary and was *instantly* hooked, but I just don’t think the summary gave the story the right push-off it needed. It felt a little misleading, especially with so many people calling it horror when it’s not even terribly creepy (I guess the idea of this mirror world is creepy? But the execution lightened the blow that it could’ve had). I can definitely see how people can enjoy this though and I hope more people will!! For a debut book, it’s pretty nice especially for drama lovers. I just couldn’t get into it and never quite found my footing enough to enjoy it. As Keshe Chow grows more as an author, I’d love to see what else she comes up with! Because again, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the story and the characters could’ve been so much better than they were if more time was given to them and if it was polished a little better.

2.5 stars rounded down

I have mixed feelings about this,,

The writing was both good and bad, I constantly felt like some of the words used felt unnatural and out of place, which made it hard for me to fully immerse myself in the story. However, it wasn't so bad to make me stop reading but, it was enough to bug me the whole time.

And the repetition, wow. It felt I was reading the same thing over and over and over, all within a few chapters, it kind of felt like when your trying to increase the word count on an essay except using the same wording.

The story itself wasn't terrible! But did Ying frustrate me so much, from 3 chapters in until the very end, everything was right in front of her!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really love mirrors as a metaphor and this one is so much fun! The court intrigue nailed down the tension and suspense to make it a quick and fun read.

The Girl with No Reflection is a beautifully written book that kept me on the edge of my seat! The story follows Princess Ying after she’s chosen to marry the prince. She wants a beautiful wedding and marriage full of love but her husband-to-be is cold and confines her to her rooms when she arrives! And to stir the pot, there are rumors around the imperial palace of other royal brides who mysteriously disappeared after their weddings! Very strange! Ying fears the future and only has her reflection to keep her company. Then strange things start happening and Ying’s reflections reveals that there is a mirror world and pulls her inside. This world is everything Ying wanted when she first arrived at the palace and the Mirror Prince is kind and sweet. But not everything is as it seems and the two worlds have a long and bloody history.. Ying has responsibilities she uncovers that change everything!!

I enjoyed the Chinese mythology and lore that was put in the story! Keshe Chow is an awesome writer and did a great job with character development! The plot of this book was so original and was so engaging! The court politics, the chemistry between characters, and the world building were all amazing! I highly recommend picking up this book!!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

DNF 20%

I try my very hardest to not DNF ARCs as I want to give them a fair chance. But I made a resolution for 2024 to not suffer through books I’m not enjoying and after 20% of this book I have good gist of the writing style, plot etc. that I know it’s not going to improve for me.

I’m pretty confused cause a lot of these early reviews are fairly positive but I found The Girl with No Reflection to lack depth. Unfortunately, a lot of the descriptions are being told to the reader instead of shown and when the world created could be so lush. It makes the writing sadly just lack substance and comes off as quite bland. As for the characters themselves, like the writing fall pretty flat. I just couldn’t get a grasp of a real personality on any of them.

I also don’t quite understand the mirror world and how it works? Like they’re their human counterparts reflection but somehow they can have their own lives but they also need to be able to be ready to be the reflection? The way it’s described is pretty flimsy and I don’t understand why we couldn’t just have an alternate reality thats in the mirror and not worry about the reflection stuff. I think we’d have something less convoluted and actually more fun to play around with.

Ying’s acceptance of trading places with her reflection is also pretty perplexing. Like I know her reflection offers her a chance at freedom but she doesn’t want to take a night to think it over…? She seems to just lack any common sense, which in some cases I can understand with her being sheltered her whole life, but there has to be a line somewhere.

Overall, I’m sad I didn’t like this. It had such wonderful potential but in the end fell really flat for me.