Description
A young woman chosen as the crown prince's bride must travel to the royal palace to meet her new husband-but her world is shaken when she discovers the dark truth the royal family has been hiding for centuries-in this lush fantasy debut perfect for fans of Amelie Wen Zhao and Iron Widow.
Ying Yue believes in love. So when the royal matchmaker selects her to wed the crown prince, Ying hopes that love is exactly what awaits her. No matter that the royal family is notoriously reclusive, rarely leaving their walled palace-and no matter the rumors about the previous royal brides, who after their weddings, were supposedly never seen again. Ying knows that she was chosen for a reason. After all, why else would the matchmaker select her, out of all the girls in the kingdom?
Yet upon her arrival at the royal palace, Ying's dreams of a fairy tale wedding quickly disintegrate. Her husband-to-be is cold, stoic, and utterly infuriating-he and Ying can't make it through a single conversation without wanting to throttle each other. Left alone in her room with only her own reflection for company, Ying begins to see things. Strange things. When Ying discovers a secret parallel world accessible through the palace mirrors, she thinks she's found the perfect way to escape her upcoming nuptials. In this mirror universe, the prince is kind and compassionate, and it isn't long before he and Ying start to fall for one another. But there is darkness in this new world, too. It turns out, Ying was chosen as the prince's bride for a reason-but not the reason she thinks. The two worlds have a long and bloody history, and Ying has a part to play in the future of them both. And the brides who came before Ying? By the time they found out what their role was, it was already too late.
Review
Ying Yue has grown up in an aristocratic and loving family, and as the youngest she has always been indulged by her brothers. When the royal matchmaker selects her to marry the Crown Prince, she expects to fall in love with him.
But every conversation they have ends up in a disagreement, and Ying is becoming more stressed about the wedding every day. Before the wedding she starts to notice strange things happening to her - like when she looks at her reflection it’s not smiling even though she is - but why?
When she gets dragged through the mirror she quickly realises that there is a parallel world exactly the same as her own, and it is filled with all the reflections of every person in the palace, as well as many monsters, and they don’t all have good intentions.
Ying was chosen because an old prophecy says she is supposed to stop a war between her world and the reflections, but she has no idea how to do this. When the Prince finds out about the upcoming war he wants to help Ying. Together, they try and find out what Ying needs to do as they plan to defend the palace as best they can. Will Ying find the answer in time or is her world doomed?
This is a wonderful fantasy story of courage, love, friendship all entwined with Chinese mythology. It is fast-paced and full of mystery, murder and palace intrigue.
Ying is an amazing character who doubts herself but persists anyway as she tries to save her world from monsters. She is smart and funny and resilient. I loved this book and would highly recommend it for any fantasy lovers aged 15 and up.
