Twin Reflections
By Elizabeth Joseph
I love magic so I was definitely interested in this story when the author presented it to me. It has a very basic plot, two kids are thrust into a situation they can’t quite handle and we are invited to watch them struggle to the end! Yay, exciting and thrilling.
The maze was cool, the characters were interesting and I enjoyed watching them grow and adjust to the situations and each other during the story. Progression is something I definitely feed on when I read, if characters are still the same people from beginning to end then there’s a problem—unless that was done on purpose. But Twin Reflections allowed the characters to develop along the way so it really felt like I was experiencing the story right along with them.
Plot-wise, it was creative. I think Twin Reflections was definitely original in some sense but the main basis of the story—being stuck in an unknown realm with a source of magic—was somewhat…recycled? I’m not complaining though, it was very well put together and I felt like it was refreshing and unique enough.
Now, what I didn’t so much like was the style of narration. This was third person narration but I feel like it would have been better if the story was written from first-person perspective. I suggest this because in third person there’s usually a bit of information that the readers know but the characters don’t. That didn’t happen here. I was just as confused as the characters, probably more when I read through the maze scenes. I don’t know if that was intentional by the author but I don’t like stumbling through a book, I think the characters should be the only ones stumbling around.
The other reason I think it should have been narrated in first-person is because the perspectives switch between characters VERY often. That’s fine with me in some cases, I love duel narration, but I don’t love being yanked from one character’s head and thrown into another in the same paragraph, page, or chapter. I think I just wanted a little more clarity on some things. The story was great but it was definitely confusing in some parts.
At the end of the day, this was a solid book with some great potential. I would recommend it to readers with an interest in fantasy and adventure. Young Adults and children will take a particular interest in this book and probably enjoy it very much.
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*