Book Review: The Mirror by Deborah A Stansil

When Amy's daughter, Lily, spots an old mirror in a local antiques shop she immediately falls in love with it. Seeing her daughter so infatuated Amy can't resist buying it for her, esspecially as it is such a bargain price for a beautiful antique.

But once they get the home Amy starts to feel uneasy about the mirror. She can't quite put her finger on it but something is off. Lily clearly loves it so she pushes the thoughts aside. But as Lily's behaviour starts to dramatically change and tension in their once happy home rises, Amy wonders if it is just coincidence, or if the mirror really was such a good deal after all.

This story really reminded me of old school Stephen King with a Christine meets Needful Things vibe going on. I really felt for Amy as she struggled to make others believe her and the frustration when she couldn't prove her suspicions about Lily's behavioural transformation. I've read other possessed mirror plots such as Graham Masterton's Mirror but I liked how in this story the mirror reflected your own desires, with a rather creepy twist.

The book is a self published short story and easily read in a couple of hours which was the perfect length to tell this tale which teaches us how family secrets can potentially tear happiness apart (especially if you own a satanic mirror). I feel the writing style of this author is still developing and there were moments where there was far too much description of what Amy was physically doing, often in the kitchen, which interrupted the flow of the narrative but it didn't stop me enjoying the story.

The ending I'm on the fence about. It felt a bit too saccharine and wrapped up with a bow but I freely admit I kinda like books to leave a little more carnage in their wake (which I know sounds awful!) but it feels more realistic. On the other hand I felt this somehow fitted the horror short story genre which often dips you into a fleeting situation then quickly brings you out the other side unscathed. Almost as if you dreamt it.

Overall an enjoyable quick read from a promising author 3.5/5

You can download The Mirror on Kindle for a bargain. You can find out more about Deborah's fiction on her blog My Random Musings

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