Review of The Looking Glass by Jessica Arnold

Format: eBook
Genres: Paranormal, Ghosts, Romance,
Pages: 324
Publisher: Month9Books
Release Date: 15/05/2014
Find The Author: Website ¦ Twitter
Abe Books ¦ Book Depository ¦ Goodreads

Fifteen-year-old Alice Montgomery wakes up in the lobby of the B&B where she has been vacationing with her family to a startling discovery: no-one can see or hear her. The cheap desk lights have been replaced with gas lamps and the linoleum floor with hardwood and rich Oriental carpeting. Someone has replaced the artwork with eerie paintings of Elizabeth Blackwell, the insane actress and rumored witch who killed herself at the hotel in the 1880s. Alice watches from behind the looking glass where she is haunted by Elizabeth Blackwell. Trapped in the 19th-century version of the hotel, Alice must figure out a way to break Elizabeth's curse - with the help of Elizabeth's old diary and Tony, the son of a ghost hunter who is investigating the haunted B&B - before she becomes the inn's next victim.


The Looking Glass was an addictive, dreamy read. It is listed as a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, however other than the title (and the main character's name) there is no resemblance to the original book. Marketing tactic? This tale is about Alice, who decides that diving off of a swimming board was a great idea until she bashed her head on the bottom of the pool. Now in an epic bout of insta-karma, she's stuck in a dreamlike world watching her world go by through mirrors.

Alice and Tony are a great couple. I rooted for them the moment they met. Tony's Dad has spotted a pattern on the hotel, that every few years a girl has had some sort of accident, been in a coma and then died a few days later. Alice quickly realises she's running out of time and has to try and find her way into her world to try and fix the curse she has.

 The curse idea was really clever, and we get glimpses of what had happened in the past through a diary that Alice finds in the mirror world. It's Elizabeth Blackwell's, a spoilt, vain girl dabbling in things she obviously doesn't understand. We hear a little about a sister she has that's always trying to catch her with spell books but she thinks she's got them well hidden.

 This is a great, creepy read without being too scary. I do think you could read it at night time - as long as you cover up your mirrors first! The whole concept felt fresh and original, despite being linked to Alice in Wonderland. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the author comes up with next!

Comments

  1. Chased By My Imagination9:01 pm BST

    That cover is BEAUTIFUL. I so want to read this book!

    Check out my TTT!

    Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination

    ReplyDelete
  2. BooksToTheTea1:18 am BST

    Oh I am so freaked out by mirrors! This book would be ideal for me to read during Halloween time lol! Great review, this isn't the kind of book I would normally pick up, but your review is very persuasive. Happy reading!
    http://bookstothetea.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love comments! Spam comments will be deleted.

Popular posts from this blog

Many Covers Monday - ALL THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

Image
After it was not so recently revealed that the classic, original covers were to go out of print and replaced with new, shiny covers, I thought I'd do something crazy this Monday. Harry Potter. But not the first book, no! This Monday I'm showcasing... entire sets of the books. Cool, but a lot of work. And a lot of tabs. These won't just be the covers you know and love, I've included international sets of the books too, which I've never seen before. Not all of the covers are here, but most of them are. (Ignore the random pattern for the last image. I wanted to tile them right) (This post was originally posted back in 2014 and since I'm re-reading the whole series I thought I might as well go for a full Harry Potter week on my blog by sharing my most popular post with new cover sets added. UK - these are the new covers revealed by Bloomsbury recently. These are my favourite covers, I wasn't impressed initially but the amazing covers won
Read more

Many Covers Monday: 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Image
Today we're looking at the many different covers of Jay Asher 's 13 Reasons Why and choosing a winner! Some are rejackets and others are foreign language covers. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers. Book Depository ¦ Amazon UK / US ¦ Goodreads This was his freaking debut? Oh man, this book was amazing. I read it at least 5 years ago and still remember it, I'm going to read it again - as soon as I can grab a co
Read more

Many Covers Monday: One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Image
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.   Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.    UK/US I really love the US cover. It keeps the air of mystery by covering t
Read more