Review: Plague In The Mirror

Plague In The Mirror by Deborah Noyes

Release Date: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Source: ARC Tour
Format: ARC
Pages: 272
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In a sensual paranormal romance, a teen girl’s doppelgänger from 1348 Florence lures her into the past in hopes of exacting a deadly trade.



It was meant to be a diversion — a summer in Florence with her best friend, Liam, and his travel-writer mom, doing historical research between breaks for gelato. A chance to forget that back in Vermont, May’s parents, and all semblance of safety, were breaking up. But when May wakes one night sensing someone in her room, only to find her ghostly twin staring back at her, normalcy becomes a distant memory. And when later she follows the menacing Cristofana through a portale to fourteenth-century Florence, May never expects to find safety in the eyes of Marco, a soulful painter who awakens in her a burning desire and makes her feel truly seen. The wily Cristofana wants nothing less of May than to inhabit each other’s lives, but with the Black Death ravaging Old Florence, can May’s longing for Marco’s touch be anything but madness? Lush with atmosphere both passionate and eerie, this evocative tale follows a girl on the brink of womanhood as she dares to transcend the familiar — and discovers her sensual power.

The premise to this book sounded so promising and I was ecstatic to get a chance at reading it. I wanted so desperately to like this book. I tried soooo hard to like it! The premise sounded amazing, and there was so much that could be done with it! The setting is a dream come true, but for some reason it just wasn't quite there for me.

Although I'm a fan of action books, I don't necessarily NEED a lot of action in a book. But I DO need a book to get somewhere and progress. For me that was really slow in this book. I didn't get sucked into the story like I thought I would've been. It was just kind of so so for me.

The story line had a lot of promise, but was very under developed. It lacked..something, although I can't quite put my finger on it. I kept hoping at some point I would get invested in it and I never really did. The parts with Marco, the soulful Italian painter, were incredible!!! But all the other parts without him were just really flat and I found myself giving up. 

I feel like this book has a lot of potential, it just needs more work and isn't quite there yet. For that reason, it was a Didn't Like/Didn't Finish for me. Love the idea behind it, and the setting! It just wasn't quite for me. Definitely will try this author again though!