Mirror Girls is a horror YA novel by Kelly McWilliams. This is definitely a book from outside my norm reading selections. I don't even remember the last time I read a horror book if ever. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book- which I selected purely because the cover intrigued me.
The author does a wonderful job of centering a book around a difficult topic- Jim Crow in the South without being too preachy about the topic. There were some references to General Lee that reflected a modern lens being applied to history but for the most part the storyline stuck to the actions of a small town in GA during the 1950s. It truly demonstrated how far the nation has come even though there are clearly areas we can still learn and improve upon.
The actual plot of the story was well written and descriptive. The paranormal aspects were well done and quite interesting. The existence of spirits and how they came to haunt the area are explained and intriguing. The book is a nice balance of plot and deeper themes and ideas to reflect upon. Overall I really enjoyed this book and am glad I read it.
Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really didn’t know what to expect with this book. The cover captured me when reading a book publication. I am definitely not a normal horror reader. This book was a wonderful read. The story and plot are very good and intriguing but the deeper themes and ideas are amazing. For the most part the book refrains from preaching and guilting about the past wrongs that occurred in this country. I think the stories and the demonstrations of the pervasiveness of Jim Crow laws is much more effective in explaining the past horrors. The symbolism of the mirrors and coming to see herself for who she is and is capable of being adds such depth to Magnolia. I appreciate that this book isn’t all happily ever after but there is hope which is what the world needs to move forward through difficult times and to affect change in a healthy and pervasive way.
This book is a wonderful read
View all my reviews
Challenge Prompts
The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:
- Library Love #LibraryLoveChallenge Book #31
- Literary Escapes #LiteraryEscapes GA
- 2022TBR #2022ReadingChallenge # 14 Horror
- Virtual Mount TBR #VirtualMountTBR2022 Book #42
- Historic Fiction #histficreadingchallenge Book #5
- 52 Book Club #the52bookclub #50 A person of color as the main character
- BooklistQueen #booklistqueenreadingchallenge2022 #43. Spooky Read
- Beat the Backlist #BTB2022 #23 book written for an age group you don't belong to
- Nerdy Bookworm #NerdyBookwormChallengeXO #28 Read a YA book
- Nancy Drew #38. The Mystery of the Fire Dragon (1961) - read a fantasy book
- Nerd Daily #NERDREADING2022 #52 bipoc author
- OWLS 22 #57 Animagus: Includes a shapeshifter
- PopSugar #popsugarreadingchallenge # 12 A book about the afterlife
- Pick your Poison #74 a book about a ghost
- Diversify your reading #DYRC22 Mar Fantasy
- 52 books in 52 weeks #6 Haunted
No comments:
Post a Comment