Mirror, Mirror

Nancy Butcher

When Queen Veda sets up the Queen’s Academy for Girls, the pretty students happily accept a wonder beauty pill, but Princess Ana is suspicious and, as a sinister illness sweeps the school, she must confront the truth to save her friends.

• A lyrical and absorbing tale that resonates strongly in today's looks-obsessed world.

• Echoes of the classic fairy tale "Snow White" are skillfully entwined with contemporary notions of beauty, acceptance and body-image.

• Nancy Butcher wanted to be a writer since the age of thirteen, and has since published numerous books on health and well-being as well as young adult fiction, as well as the New York Times’ bestselling children’s book "It’s Snow Problem".

Review by Jessica (120507) Rating (7/10)

Review by Jessica
This is a tale of friendship, beauty, love and being vain. The fairest in the land, Queen Veda sends her only daughter, Princess Ana, away to a beauty academy for girls set in the heart of the mountains. The Princess is puzzled because her mother has never wanted anyone other than herself to be beautiful. Queen Veda has hated her daughter since she became a young woman and made her life a misery so that poor Princess Ana was forced to eat and eat in order to make herself plump and ugly. It became the only way to get her mother’s affection. There is one question on Ana’s lips, why is her mother sending her and fifty other young girls to this school?

During her time at the school, Ana discovers that the girls there are taking pills to make them become more beautiful but surely there is more to this than meets the eye? Ana must discover the reason!

The characters in this novel are quite believable and will appeal very much to teenage girls. The tale is skilfully plotted with an underlying theme - beauty can sometimes only be skin deep. The book is a manageable length and there is always plenty of action to stop you being bored. It doesn’t slip into the pitfall of some novels where little happens.

A timeless story, a cross between Snow White and a modern fairy-tale.
On the whole it is a short and readable novel, made to appeal to young readers.
Jessica (12th May 2007)