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A review by toddles
Mirror, Mirror by Christina Nolte
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I received an ARC edition of this book from Gay Romance Reviews in exchange for an honest review. The novel will be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million, on February 11, 2025.
**NOTE: There are trigger warnings, however, they are not abdominal or overly traumatizing from what we would normally see in TV shows or movies.
This medium-paced 306-page Grumpy-Sunshine, Work Place Romance, is full of promise and hope. Written in a school setting and duel POV, this Angsty Contemporary authentic novel shows that your life can be destroyed and you can still find purpose and love piece by piece.
Arrick (pronounced Eric with an A) moves to the States to have a clean start in life as far away from his father and ex as possible. His life is in pieces, and his career change is jarring, going from performing music to teaching music. On his first day of work, he meets Evan….his Vise Principle. With a full plate of stress dealing with financials and damage to the school, Evan offers guidance and support, with PE Teacher energy of a golden retriever that just won’t take the hint when Arrick grumpily pushes back. Along the way, as trust builds between them and the students, the brick wall Arrick has constructed starts to come down piece by piece and past secrets, abuse, and trauma come to light.
This debut novel was written mostly as a character development forward plot. Seeing Arrick grow as a person with the help of a stray cat named Millie, he learns to accept his new life and to feel proud of his past and current successes. His journey that we experience with him is hard at points because of the difficult relationships he’s had, which has made him recluse into himself angrily. The realistic physical and emotional homophobic abuse he receives, even as an adult, made him question his purpose as a human. It made him feel unworthy and unaccepted for his career choices. Using the passion he has for his school and life, Evan, with his dog Bee, shows that small town life is welcoming, supportive, and protective of everyone.
This MM Romance is the perfect book for someone who wants to dip their toe into this genre for the first time. It’s simply written with real themes that clearly show how life can (still) be like for a gay man. It’s written abruptly to keep the plot moving quickly with time hops and chapter endings that make you want to keep reading. Because the author is from Europe, terms and phrases are presented a little differently than we normally undergo. It makes the novel more authentic from Arrick’s point of view and dry sense of humor. However, it did take me a hot second to get immersed in Arrick’s life and able to follow the detailed trajectory of the plot.
The spice was tame and perfect for a newbie. 1.5/5🌶. With scenes that have little to no detail in most of the book. They mostly cut to black until their relationship finally climaxes and they physically do too in one scene that was written beautifully with simple details and adoration and love. Perfect for an MM virgin.
Since this is the first book in the Ashland Series, it established a nice sized ensemble including all walks of life from sexuality, financial class, and animal companionship. There are so many friends and found families that support and love each other in the face of villains. This also leads to many prospects of future couplings including other school workers, towns people, shop owners and maybe students, which in my opinion would be a nice Coming-of-Age plot that is needed in today’s society.
I really appreciated this book because it has a different fondness and notion than other novels that I normally read. Where others are not appropriate for all ages, I would be comfortable giving this to a 16 or 17 year old teenager. It gives great life lessons as well as warnings and shows how acceptance and support can come from anyone in life and how it can change your unknown path distinctively.
💜HAPPY READING!🫶
**NOTE: There are trigger warnings, however, they are not abdominal or overly traumatizing from what we would normally see in TV shows or movies.
This medium-paced 306-page Grumpy-Sunshine, Work Place Romance, is full of promise and hope. Written in a school setting and duel POV, this Angsty Contemporary authentic novel shows that your life can be destroyed and you can still find purpose and love piece by piece.
Arrick (pronounced Eric with an A) moves to the States to have a clean start in life as far away from his father and ex as possible. His life is in pieces, and his career change is jarring, going from performing music to teaching music. On his first day of work, he meets Evan….his Vise Principle. With a full plate of stress dealing with financials and damage to the school, Evan offers guidance and support, with PE Teacher energy of a golden retriever that just won’t take the hint when Arrick grumpily pushes back. Along the way, as trust builds between them and the students, the brick wall Arrick has constructed starts to come down piece by piece and past secrets, abuse, and trauma come to light.
This debut novel was written mostly as a character development forward plot. Seeing Arrick grow as a person with the help of a stray cat named Millie, he learns to accept his new life and to feel proud of his past and current successes. His journey that we experience with him is hard at points because of the difficult relationships he’s had, which has made him recluse into himself angrily. The realistic physical and emotional homophobic abuse he receives, even as an adult, made him question his purpose as a human. It made him feel unworthy and unaccepted for his career choices. Using the passion he has for his school and life, Evan, with his dog Bee, shows that small town life is welcoming, supportive, and protective of everyone.
This MM Romance is the perfect book for someone who wants to dip their toe into this genre for the first time. It’s simply written with real themes that clearly show how life can (still) be like for a gay man. It’s written abruptly to keep the plot moving quickly with time hops and chapter endings that make you want to keep reading. Because the author is from Europe, terms and phrases are presented a little differently than we normally undergo. It makes the novel more authentic from Arrick’s point of view and dry sense of humor. However, it did take me a hot second to get immersed in Arrick’s life and able to follow the detailed trajectory of the plot.
The spice was tame and perfect for a newbie. 1.5/5🌶. With scenes that have little to no detail in most of the book. They mostly cut to black until their relationship finally climaxes and they physically do too in one scene that was written beautifully with simple details and adoration and love. Perfect for an MM virgin.
Since this is the first book in the Ashland Series, it established a nice sized ensemble including all walks of life from sexuality, financial class, and animal companionship. There are so many friends and found families that support and love each other in the face of villains. This also leads to many prospects of future couplings including other school workers, towns people, shop owners and maybe students, which in my opinion would be a nice Coming-of-Age plot that is needed in today’s society.
I really appreciated this book because it has a different fondness and notion than other novels that I normally read. Where others are not appropriate for all ages, I would be comfortable giving this to a 16 or 17 year old teenager. It gives great life lessons as well as warnings and shows how acceptance and support can come from anyone in life and how it can change your unknown path distinctively.
💜HAPPY READING!🫶