the looking glass by Janet McNally

86th book of 2021

Reading period: October 19th 2021 – October 25th 2021

Summary

GIRLS IN TROUBLE.

That’s what Sylvie Blake’s older sister Julia renamed their favorite fairy tale book, way back when they were just girls themselves. Now, Julia has disappeared—and no one knows if she’s in trouble.

Sylvie is trying to carry on Julia’s impressive legacy at the prestigious National Ballet Theatre Academy, but Julia, ever the star of the show, can’t stay hidden forever. And when she sends Sylvie a copy of their old storybook with a mysterious list inside, Sylvie begins to see signs of her sister everywhere she goes. She may be losing her grip on reality, but Sylvie has to find out if the strange, almost magical things she’s been seeing have anything to do with Julia’s whereabouts.

With the help of her best friend’s enigmatic brother and his beat-up car, Sylvie sets out to the beat of a Fleetwood Mac playlist, determined to return to New York with her sister in tow. But what Sylvie doesn’t expect to learn is that trouble comes in lots of forms—and that the damsel in distress is often the only one who can save herself.

Trigger Warnings:

Addiction, drugs use

Rating

Review

The story concentrates on Sylvie, a future ballerina who decides to search for her missing sister, Julia, after receiving an old book from their childhood.

Overall, I like that book. It was an easy and fast read. You have short chapters which are divided into parts. Those parts are logical and help to know where the main character is in her own story. This book is about complex topics, but the way it’s done is like you are floating or doing jetés.

However, some of the elements of the book weren’t for me.
First, the fairy tales are redundant in the story. It’s a part of the bond between the two sisters. But sometimes, you can’t make the difference between reality and fairy tales. Then you have an explanation of why it’s so present, and it falls down a little as it’s not convincing.
Second, it’s the romance. It’s predictable from the beginning and not because of the chemistry between the characters but because it’s a young adult. I found this romance not believable, but I think it’s not the worse.
The last one is the ending. Again, I wasn’t convinced by it. It was a little rushed and strange (spoiler: the sister sent a book with names in it after one year and doesn’t want to be found, like what?).

To finish on a good note, I liked to see Sylvie evolves and make peace with a part of her story. Of course, it’s hard to overcome something like that, but she discovers a lot about herself and her own capacities, and I like how the author shows it in the book.

Liz.