Dark Mirror
Dark Mirror (Dark Mirror, #1)M. J. Putney
Lady Victoria Mansfield, youngest daughter of the earl and countess of Fairmount, is destined for a charmed life. Soon she will be presented during the London season, where she can choose a mate worthy of her status.Yet Tory has a shameful secret—a secret so powerful that, if exposed, itcould strip her of her position and disgrace her family forever. Tory’s blood is tainted . . . by magic.When a shocking accident forces Tory to demonstrate her despised skill, the secret she’s fought so hard to hide is revealed for all to see. She is immediately exiled to Lackland Abbey, a reform school for young men and women in her position. There she will learn to suppress her deplorable talents and maybe, if she’s one of the lucky ones, be able to return to society.But Tory’s life is about to change forever. All that she’s ever known or considered important will be challenged. What lies ahead is only the beginning of a strange and wonderful journey into a world where destiny and magic come together, where true love and friendship find her, and where courage and strength of character are the only things that determine a young girl’s worth. (goodreads.com)
Hi, remember me? *waves* The week off from work I had just did not go as planned. I have done little to no blogging and less reading. I am just not in the mood. It didn't help that the chest cold knocked me out and that my Macbook's hard drive died and I lost EVERYTHING. (bad words) but I suppose I should post something on this here blog lest you think I have fallen off the face of the earth.At Christmas, the lovely Erica from The Book Cellar, sent me two books - Dark Mirror and Dark Passage. I happened to pick up Dark Mirror one night this week as I was up coughing up a lung and I was instantly hooked! Again, this book preempted my reading of Swift (which is on the sidebar as Currently Reading right now), but honestly, this was only because of proximity. Swift was downstairs in the living room, I was upstairs hiding in the guest room while I tried to sleep and cough without waking up my husband. Dark Mirror also happened to be in the guest room. We had a little bit of an affair. Don't tell Swift.I had no idea that I was about to embark on a love journey almost as potent as the one I have with LJ Smith's Secret Circle books. This book is the Secret Circle of the 1800s. Historical fantasy with witches and a boarding school. A group of witches all with different powers, both boys and girls and they all work together.I LOVED THIS BOOK!What's extra awesome about the book is that it remains historical even as the characters from 1803 travel to the future, because that future is in 1940 with World War II. So it's historical even in their "future" Woot!Seriously, I loved everything about this book. I loved the characters, the writing, the plot the dialogue. Everything.I wish this book (and series) had been around when I was a teen. I was desperate for more stories like the Secret Circle trilogy but nothing ever lived up to those books in my eyes. It was hard to find books about witches (in the case of Dark Mirror they are mages, or magelings) and I wanted witchy books so bad. Witches are my crack.I love the idea that magic is shunned among the high born, yet the commoner can yield it with pride. I love that children who are unfortunate enough to exhibit magical powers are sent away to Lackland Abbey where they are hopefully cured of their curse of magic, yet never the same among their peers, their stations now lowered.Of course no boarding school is quite complete without secret tunnels and secret societies within those tunnels. People you meet along Tory's journey are not always what they seem.Finishing Dark Mirror was one of those moments I was supremely glad I also had the sequel in my house. I picked up Dark Passage almost as soon as I finished the first book. I would have gone back to Swift but I just needed MORE of Tory and her friends, both in 1803 and in 1940.M. J. Putney (whom I always call J. M. Putney, because obviously I am correct and she has misspelled her own name) has a fantastic manner of taking actual historic events and putting her own twist on them. This book (and its sequel) come with little historical notes in the back which I read with glee. I honestly never really paid attention to this stuff in school (I was going to be a Rock! Star! and Rock! Stars! didn't need to know things like when WWII and WWI happened. Nor did Rock! Stars! need to know math, science or anything about phys ed.) so I am sort of learning it all again for the first time and cherishing the information a little more. (Of course, I did, embarrassingly just ask my husband at the top of this post if it was WWII or WWI in 1940 since I'd already forgotten. Don't judge.)This Dark Mirror series has the feeling of a series I will reread more than once, as I do with the Secret Circle. I cannot wait for the third book to come out this year.Thanks big time to Erica for sending me these books at Christmas. It wasn't a bunny, but I think I'm happier this way. ;)Dark Mirror series
- Dark Mirror
- Dark Passage
- Dark Destiny - July 2012