About eight years ago, before the movie Beastly came out, I read the book of the same name by Alex Flinn. I’m a sucker for a fairy tale and especially for one with a good twist. I blew through all of the books she had out at the time and lost track of the author among life and other things. After finishing the last book which was heavy and dark, I wanted something light-hearted and which I knew would have a happy ending. So I looked up Alex and found she’d written a few books. MIRRORED was available on my Scribd ap and so I thought why not. While I read BEASTLY, I did not read the book in between these two. Also, I didn’t find it necessary. I didn’t realize I’d skipped one in the series until I was nearly done. It stands completely alone.

What I love about Alex Flinn’s books is her ability to weave a familiar fairy tale into something new and beautiful. MIRRORED is essentially a Snow White story told in three parts. First from what one might consider the traditional evil witch (stepmother) point of view. The second from who would be Snow White, and the third from one of the 7 dwarfs point of view. Except make it all modern and the Witch’s name is Violet, she grew up in the 80s. Snow White is Celine, Class of 2014. And The person of short stature is her best friend Goose. Prince Charming is a pop star and (shocker) not all that charming.

What I loved most was getting to see where each character came from. The evil witch was not always evil. She was a kind-hearted girl at one point who was bullied and dumped by her only friend for being ugly. You sympathize with her and get to see this other side. Snow White was the daughter of the girl who bullied the witch more than anyone else. Honestly, I really enjoyed this story a lot. The bubbling romance and feelings between Goose and Celine gave me butterflies in a way I rarely feel. It was sweet and innocent and comes from true friendship and love.

I’ll be hunting down a copy of the book I missed in between for sure. I’ve always loved Alex Flinn’s books, her ability to modernize, make fresh, and leave me feeling happy and fulfilled at the end is a true treat.