The Woman in the Mirror

"In a lot of ways I really liked the writing and this is a well thought-out book. Weaving two timelines together isn't easy and I felt the author weaved the story - for the most part - well. However, throughout the book I kept feeling like something was missing. It felt like each element of the story was always a step back from where it should be:<br/>-- it has a Gothic and creepy feel but it's not scary at all. Certainly isn't "read with the lights on" as the reviewer on the front cover wrote. Fine. I can accept that, especially as "scary" is more the horror genre, but it felt sometimes like too many things were going on - sometimes trying too hard to be Gothic- and sometimes not enough. I agree too many cursed things - a mirror, a painting, a wall pattern ((J.A. Ironside explains some of this better than I in their review).<br/>-- there are hints of romance but nearly all of it is described as a memory. In the present you sort of get the idea of Rachel and Aaron and Rachel and Jack but there isn't really any chemistry as you'd see in a normal romance (again, fine if it's not supposed to be a romance per se but we keep seeing these romance elements thrown in but nothing really done with them). <br/>-- the mystery - this is by far the most compelling aspect of the book and got me to want to find out what happened to Alice even though you know it can't be good, but there are issues here, too. <br/><br/>The story of Captain and Alice is nearly all from Alice's perspective and you wonder how much of it is her fantasy - which is fine as it's a good way to keep the reader guessing. However, there is a lot of "telling" rather than "showing." The best (worst?) example is at the very end there is a letter from the Captain's perspective and it was so jarring for me. It was nothing like what we witness in the book in the interactions between them or even in Alice's memories. I also felt it was an easy way out for the author - to just explain some things and tie up loose ends with a letter rather than try to weave some of this into the story itself (especially in the interactions between the Captain and Alice during their time). <br/><br/>I wish there had been more "real" interactions between the Captain and Alice and between Rachel and Jack to make their relationships and their progressions more realistic and to help the reader connect with them. We're basically told (in both cases) how things turn out and it's just kind of flat, especially with Rachel. <br/><br/>I also had some very real issues with the book as a whole. Why would a woman betrayed by a man basically spend her efforts punishing other women? Yes it is explained briefly in the beginning and very succinctly in the end (ie if I can't be happy, no woman can) but it just didn't work for me. Punish the men makes sense and yes some are "punished" in this book but they don't suffer nearly as bad as the women. Although I guess you could make a good case that the Captain may have suffered most of all. I really wish there had been something about the man who started it all - but no real punishment for him, which was disappointing. <br/><br/>So on one hand, it was a very interesting book with parts that really are intriguing and it kept me thinking about the story after I finished. However, a lot of those thoughts for me were things I had issues with and trying to make sense of them. It is very hard to find a good Gothic novel and even harder to find a good modern Gothic. This book tries and in a lot of ways it was a good Gothic. For me it was good, just not great."

"I really love books about genealogy and finding the roots of your family and this book definitely delivered on that front. Its a book about a three women in different times. The first is Mary <br/>Cathrine who drowns herself at sea rather than face a mob set on burning her at the stake. Then there is Alice a newly placed governess to two young children coming to Winterbourne for the first time. And lastly there is Rachel who learns that her Aunt has passed and left her Winterbourne to inherit. This book was wild. The absolute creepiness of the house and what is really causing the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the de Grey family. I feel like this book could have gone so many ways and honestly I connected best with Rachel whose just trying to find out who her birth family is. I struggled with Alice's timeline where her decent into madness is heart wrenching, but you never really know how stable she ever really was due to what she experienced in her younger years. It makes it very confusing as to what she was really experiencing and what was just in her head. The ending made me kind of sad... I wish it had gone differently since I really liked Rachel's character and growth. I think overall I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend the audio book for anyone who prefers listening to them. It's got two different narrators and I think it's very well done."