Overall interesting storyline. the writing style was not for me unfortunately. the illustrations were a cool addition and helped the story flow.

I personally didn’t really connect with this book. I don’t think it’s a bad book, it just wasn’t for me. I do think other people would definitely enjoy it. I really liked the concept of the book, however, it wasn’t executed how I would have liked. It’s definitely worth checking out though.

The Crimson Mirror by A. K. Bryce is an example of book. It has everything. It has a strong plot, fantastic characters, everytime I turned the page I would crave more of it.

Thank you to Netgalley for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book. Overall, I found the writing to be a bit choppy, the main character frustrating, and the plot to be very dull.

The Crimson Mirror follows Abby, a young woman who washes up on an island beach with no memories. Abby discovers quickly that not only is her body covered with strange burn-like scars, she can wield fire magic, and has vague memories of a horrible life before she washed up on the beach. She is taken in by two locals, Kanoa and Mahina. She has a special connection with Kanoa, and they both help the other heal from traumatizing events in their pasts as Abby begins to put pieces of her previous life together.

The things I did enjoy were Abby developing her power and learning to control and refine it, as well as the development of the relationship between Abby and Mahina in particular. I also liked the glimpses into Abby's life before the beginning of the book. These made me much more interested in what had happened to her and what her past was. I found the darker edge to her previous life and use of her magic very interesting, and wanted to see more of it.

My first problem with this book is with the main character. She's 22, but frequently reads as someone 5-10 years younger. She's often petulant, naive, and has frequent swings between extreme anger and extreme self-hatred. Because there wasn't much of her back story to explain why she would respond this way, and not much growth in these aspects, I was left frustrated by her rather than connecting with her.

I feel also that the way people react to her scars was a bit over the top. I'd certainly expect that sort of thing from children, but when every single adult treats her like a diseased animal for what are very obviously burn scars, it got a little unbelievable for me. This made it feel like a bit of a shortcut to make the reader sympathize with Abby rather than feeling natural.

Second is the plot. This was definitely a book focused more on Abby's inner turmoil related to her power and her missing memories (though there was some external conflict surrounding her trying to hide her magic), but the story felt very one-note. I was annoyed that there were many hints of a broader, darker world that weren't touched at all. The climax of the book was extremely short and seemed to come from nowhere, though there was clear setup for a sequel.

I would be interested in reading a sequel if it dealt more with Abby's past, as I felt this was by far the most interesting part of the book. This book to me felt overall like a prologue to a larger story rather than a first book that stands more or less on its own.