Author: Deborah Noyes
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Shelves: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Paranormal
Recommended for Fans Of: Siri Mitchell, Ruta Sepetys
Synopsis: Desperate to escape her parent's recent divorce, 17 year old May goes to Florence, Italy with her best friend Liam and his mother. There, she is haunted by the ghost of a girl identical to herself- except Cristofana comes from fourteenth-century Florence. Lured by the promise of adventure and love in the arms of a handsome painter named Marco, May travels back in time to experience the horrors of Italy past, where the Black Death made the city a very dark place. Meanwhile, May's ghost twin has the power to destroy everything she holds dear- and the very chance she has at finding love. Caught between two different time periods, May must decide between a new life in the past or finding the silver linings in her present life. For fans of historical fiction, comes a sensual and romantic story about a girl who must cheat time when it can only really be tricked.
Review: I admit that I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, but I do make an exception in some cases, but unfortunately, this book was not one of them. It started off slow, so I had high expectations for a strong ending, but that did not really happen. The characters well quite one dimensional and vapid. Not only did May seem like a very impractical and ditzy girl, but Cristofana seemed to be bipolar. She was clearly not right in the head, which is seen when she mercilessly drowns a kitten, but then she took care of the orphan baby like it was her own. This type of behavior did not make for a great character, in my opinion. The romance in this novel was also lacking. Liam came off as an emotionless jerk, and I honestly do not think this romance was at all intriguing. The only saving grace for this book was the historical content, which is set during the Black Death in Italy. The descriptions of the city, both present and past, were actually enticing and appealed to me.
Conclusion: This is not a book I would recommend buying. Borrow it from a library, but Plague in the Mirror was kind of flat. Overall, an okay book, but it does not really make me want to read other books by the author, but who knows. Maybe this was just written on a bad day.
Fiction_TheNewReality
Historical Fiction is my favorite genre, but one dimensional characters always annoy me.
ReplyDeleteHistorical fiction is not my cup of tea. It is rare that I find one that I actually enjoy. One exception is anything 1920's, but that is beside the point. The point is, if I am going to take a chance with HF stories, it has to be on some serious recommendations, and there has to be more to the story than just the history itself. This one's synopsis makes it seem intriguing, but after reading your review, I think I will pass. It just doesn't seem like there is anything about it that would capture my attention or emotions.
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