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A review by aingealwroth
The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This is an alternative history, magical realism, mature YA, romantic fantasy based in ancient China.
~
PROS & CONS
+World building.
+All (but especially the main) characters are believable.
+The plot is creative, weaving entertainment with mythology and history.
+Overall vibe alternates between (justifiable) feminine rage, creepy AF (mirror creatures), and ('just kiss/talk already!') romance.
+Contains a Queer couple (named secondary characters) with the FMC in firm support of them.
+Correct levels of violence and loss portrayed in the war they undertake. (While it may not be the kindest thing to consider a pro, it is rare to have anything touch main characters in stories like this. Though they don't get to linger over losses, because of war, it still occurs.)
++Dragons. Not just any dragons, Asian Dragons. Riding dragons using their manes to hold oneself upon them? Heck yeah.
+'Chosen One' internal mythos that actually works.
-/+ The FMC. This is a hit and miss issue, but especially near the beginning, she chafes. While the FMC is frustrating, she's also completely understandable. She is so out of her depth that her depth feels bad about how out of it she is. Start: being overly naive yet headstrong, nearly getting herself killed multiple times and instead opens a door that gets multiple people killed. Progress: being harsh in all interactions, asking accusing questions constantly, and still being so naive that she gets a bunch of people killed. End: naive but actually self-aware about it, extremely (justifiably) violent, and more mature by bounds.
- The Prince. Yes, yes, he's misunderstood and tortured and blahblahblah. He's also so frustrating. His learned sexism (or concept that safety = confinement) shows regularly, he doesn't explain anything in a way that doesn't sound like an order, his unlearning process is slow, and sometimes his tendency to assume he can handle threats (or challenges to his authority) gets them into just as much trouble as her naivete. At one point the Prince even lectures the FMC about being able to take guards and not needing to do everything herself, but also, he insists on doing the exact same thing.
-/+ The characters are very hormonal and struggle so hard to communicate, YA 'first love' style. These two MCs deserve each other so much; they balance each other's flaws and fit together in a way that reads more chemistry and real than many. (It gets hot & heavy, but after a certain point it fades to black, it nicely straddles the line between spicy and closed door, for YA audiences.)
- The lack of secondary named characters except villains (or key family members, or maids). Royals who run around without any guards, not even a convenient-to-name bodyguard. (When one is the dedicated heir to the Empire and the other is his 'destined bride', thus possibly being pregnant. I'm sorry, but how is there not at least a single guard per character?) The Price apparently has super loyal military unit guys, but we learn no names, and none play vital roles, we just see some die. While the few named secondaries we get... the maids' role rapidly dwindles out of the story and the family's roles are mostly tragic plot pieces. (Example? "The soldier who had given her his cloak"... like why not ask what his name is? Why must we have this poor nameless man referred to this way three times?)
- This is an oddly intermittent issue, as sometimes they're good about it and the rest they're awful, but the way animals are treated by the main characters. The dragons are not thanked, to the point that when one is being maimed the FMC physically and verbally assaults it because it's thrashing unthinkingly, endangering others. I get that the animals are voiceless characters, but 'putting it out of its misery' without communication is still not okay.
~
If you liked the general plot of Twilight* but wanted something better, I'd recommend this one.
*Not the vampire plot, the "normal girl stumbles into nonsense with powerful creatures, her and the guy she is obsessed with save their part of the world because she's actually super special" plot.
~
TLDR: Romantasy book girlies will love this, especially with that cover.
~
PROS & CONS
+World building.
+All (but especially the main) characters are believable.
+The plot is creative, weaving entertainment with mythology and history.
+Overall vibe alternates between (justifiable) feminine rage, creepy AF (mirror creatures), and ('just kiss/talk already!') romance.
+Contains a Queer couple (named secondary characters) with the FMC in firm support of them.
+Correct levels of violence and loss portrayed in the war they undertake. (While it may not be the kindest thing to consider a pro, it is rare to have anything touch main characters in stories like this. Though they don't get to linger over losses, because of war, it still occurs.)
++Dragons. Not just any dragons, Asian Dragons. Riding dragons using their manes to hold oneself upon them? Heck yeah.
+'Chosen One' internal mythos that actually works.
-/+ The FMC. This is a hit and miss issue, but especially near the beginning, she chafes. While the FMC is frustrating, she's also completely understandable. She is so out of her depth that her depth feels bad about how out of it she is. Start: being overly naive yet headstrong, nearly getting herself killed multiple times and instead opens a door that gets multiple people killed. Progress: being harsh in all interactions, asking accusing questions constantly, and still being so naive that she gets a bunch of people killed. End: naive but actually self-aware about it, extremely (justifiably) violent, and more mature by bounds.
- The Prince. Yes, yes, he's misunderstood and tortured and blahblahblah. He's also so frustrating. His learned sexism (or concept that safety = confinement) shows regularly, he doesn't explain anything in a way that doesn't sound like an order, his unlearning process is slow, and sometimes his tendency to assume he can handle threats (or challenges to his authority) gets them into just as much trouble as her naivete. At one point the Prince even lectures the FMC about being able to take guards and not needing to do everything herself, but also, he insists on doing the exact same thing.
-/+ The characters are very hormonal and struggle so hard to communicate, YA 'first love' style. These two MCs deserve each other so much; they balance each other's flaws and fit together in a way that reads more chemistry and real than many. (It gets hot & heavy, but after a certain point it fades to black, it nicely straddles the line between spicy and closed door, for YA audiences.)
- The lack of secondary named characters except villains (or key family members, or maids). Royals who run around without any guards, not even a convenient-to-name bodyguard. (When one is the dedicated heir to the Empire and the other is his 'destined bride', thus possibly being pregnant. I'm sorry, but how is there not at least a single guard per character?) The Price apparently has super loyal military unit guys, but we learn no names, and none play vital roles, we just see some die. While the few named secondaries we get... the maids' role rapidly dwindles out of the story and the family's roles are mostly tragic plot pieces. (Example? "The soldier who had given her his cloak"... like why not ask what his name is? Why must we have this poor nameless man referred to this way three times?)
- This is an oddly intermittent issue, as sometimes they're good about it and the rest they're awful, but the way animals are treated by the main characters. The dragons are not thanked, to the point that when one is being maimed the FMC physically and verbally assaults it because it's thrashing unthinkingly, endangering others. I get that the animals are voiceless characters, but 'putting it out of its misery' without communication is still not okay.
~
If you liked the general plot of Twilight* but wanted something better, I'd recommend this one.
*Not the vampire plot, the "normal girl stumbles into nonsense with powerful creatures, her and the guy she is obsessed with save their part of the world because she's actually super special" plot.
~
TLDR: Romantasy book girlies will love this, especially with that cover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent