Name: The Mirror Broken Wish
ISBN: 9781368046381

Julie C. Dao

"Elva must learn to wield her magical powers in a town that fears all witches while righting her family's past wrongs before it's too late"--

The Mirror Broken Wish

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy from the publisher when I did the original review. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Broken Wish

Author: Julie C. Dao

Book Series: The Mirror Book 1

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: young adult books, fantasy, retellings, historical fiction, fairy tales

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Recommended Age: 12+ (violence, gore, discrimination, animal death mentioned, natural disaster)

Explanation of CWs: There is some slight violence and some gore in the book, especially a graphic detail about someone’s leg being broken. There is some discrimination (non-race based) against a witch and magic in the book. There is animal death that’s mentioned throughout the book occasionally. There is a frightening scene with a natural disaster shown.

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 311

Synopsis: 1865
Hanau, Germany

Sixteen-year-old Elva has a secret. She has visions and strange powers that she will do anything to hide. She knows the warnings about what happens to witches in their small village of Hanau. She’s heard the terrible things people say about the Witch of the North Woods, and the malicious hunts that follow. But when Elva accidentally witnesses a devastating vision of the future, she decides she has to do everything she can to prevent it. Tapping into her powers for the first time, Elva discovers a magical mirror and its owner—none other than the Witch of the North Woods herself. As Elva learns more about her burgeoning magic, and the lines between hero and villain start to blur, she must find a way to right past wrongs before it’s too late.

Review: I absolutely loved my reread of this book! It was so good and I can’t wait to dive into Shattered Midnight! The book was a little bit of a mishmash of different fairytales but it completely held its own. The book had excellent character development and world building. The book also had good foreshadowing.

The only issue I had with the book is that because it’s such a fast paced book some of the details are just bypassed and I wish that it wasn’t. There’s also some time skipping, but it’s not that evident until about a few sentences into a new chapter, which is a bit confusing.

Verdict: It was amazing! Highly recommend!
