DARK MIRROR by MJ Putney

3/1/2011

Dark Mirror | MJ Putney

St. Martin’s Griffin

Paperback | 306 pp.

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, it could 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.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
I’m always cautious with historical fiction.  It’s really just not my genre.  So I have to be really, really interested to pick one up.  This was true for DARK MIRROR.  When I first saw it, I really was not interested, but once I started noticing that my friends at Electrifying Reviews and The Story Siren were enjoying MJ Putney’s YA debut, I decided to give it a try.
 
Lady Victoria Mansfield has just found out she’s a mage, the marrow in her bones replaced with a magic that’s just now starting to flow out from her in the most unfortunate times.  Like while sleeping, or even at a party.
 
When everyone finds out about Tory’s status as a mage, her parents send her off to Lackland Abbey, a school widely known for reforming mages.  But when Tory arrives, she finds out that she’s not the only one opposed to getting her magic ability “reformed.”  She wants to keep it, and with the help of some of the other students, she just might be able to…

My favorite things about DARK MIRROR were the descriptions.  MJ Putney really takes her readers back to the regency era in her YA debut.  Her historic, paranormal world was very authentic. 

I usually find historical fiction overly descriptive.  DARK MIRROR was, at some points, overly descriptive.  But that didn’t take away from the novel at all.  MJ Putney sucks readers into her world with details on 1800 England society.

DARK MIRROR is a fantastic book for readers itching to read about interesting characters set in a rich historical, paranormal setting.

Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars