Review for Eyes in the Mirror by Julia Mayer

Eyes in the Mirror
By Julia Mayer
Published by Sourcebooks Fire
Won from Brenna (Thanks!)
214 pages

     Dee
I always thought it would be cool to escape into another world. I never believed I'd find one in my reflection. But there I was, falling through the mirror into a parallel life-Samara's life. And she needed me. The cutting, the dead mom, no friends...She was hurting, and I knew it was up to me to fix it. She needed me to fix her.
"She'll thank me..."
Samara
I never had a friend until I met Dee, at least not a real friend. But then she's my reflection, so maybe I'm just crazy. When she suggested we switch places, it seemed like the perfect answer.
So I let her live in my world, and I lived in hers.
With her mom, her boyfriend, her friends-her perfect life...I don't belong here.
But how can I go back after what she's done?

Two girls, one reflection, and a startling discovery about what really lies beyond the bathroom mirror...-Goodreads       

Don't let the creepy cover fool you - this book packs a good contemporary punch. It weaves an interesting tale of two girls opposite lives and blends it together with lots of heart!

Eyes in the Mirror is told through the viewpoints of Dee and Sam - girls who's lives are polar opposite. I didn't quite connect with Dee as much as I did with Sam. Both girls were developed and their friendships with others were well thought out. Their friendship together was touching and it tore me to shreds when they fought. The only thing I found very hard to believe were their reactions to finding out about the parallel universe thing. Seriously, no one batted an eye at it. They just went with it.

Julia Mayer did something incredible.... she weaved a fantasy sort of experience (travelling through a mirror to a another world) with some hard core teenage issues. She handled the issue of cutting very well, the actions that were taken to help Sam were reasonable and are what others should do. It wasn't fast paced but it held my interest and even made me hit a wall once

(I did not expect that to happen). The ending was ok, although it lacked something, I don't know what but it did.

Overall, this was a very interesting read that dealt with issues which deserve some attention. I would recommend it to those who enjoy fantasy/paranormal (just transporting to another world kind of paranormal) mixed in with a little contemporary. I certainly enjoyed it.

Excerpt

I watched my reflection in the water making all the same motions that I did, but the exact opposite. I stared at her for a moment. I thought of Jamie. "It'll look just like this world, but completely different," he had said. I rubbed my cheek against my shoulder, and my reflection made all the same motions I did, but the exact opposite every time. She was exactly what Jamie had said she would be: something identical and completely different at the same time.