The Town with No Mirrors - Christina Collins - ★★★.¾

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AUTHOR: Christina Collins

GENRE: Middle-grade/YA Fiction, Dystopian.
RATING: 3.75 Stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade story with an unusual premise, with the protagonist staying in a town with no mirrors or reflective surfaces. The ending is a bit hurried but the book otherwise offers plenty of fodder for thought. It also contains an important message for kids (and adults.)


Story Synopsis:
Twelve-year-old Zailey lives with her grandmother on Gladder Hill, a gated community that forbids any kind of thought or material about appearance. There are no mirrors or any kind of reflective surfaces, and people are not allowed to stare. But Zailey has a secret: she has been drawing faces of those around her in a sketchbook that she keeps hidden. She feels conflicted about this ‘superficiality’ but cant help herself as she loves sketching portraits. When circumstances change in a way that Zailey finds herself beyond Gladder Hill, she realises how different life is outside. Is she ready to step beyond the life she knew so far?
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Zailey.


Where the book worked for me:
✔ The premise is outstanding, no doubt. I was confused deciding if Gladder Hill was utopian or dystopian, because many of its principles seemed sane, and an equal number seemed crazy. But it offered me plenty of thought-provoking content.
 
✔ I had plenty of queries about how practical or possible it would be to eliminate all reflective surfaces from a town. Seriously! Think about it! You have water, house windows, tyre hubs, metallic instruments and implements,… Every query of mine was answered in the book without a single loophole. I love it when an author preps well for their work.

✔ The writing is quite smooth and easy-going.
 
✔ The final quarter didn’t go exactly as I had thought it would. When a children’s book surprises me, it deserves a bonus score.
 
✔ I loved the message put forth by the book, though it comes across in a somewhat distorted manner. Humanity is truly obsessed with external appearance. (I can’t remember the last time I saw a photo without filters! It is my biggest pet peeve about Instagram and other social media.) Hopefully, such books make kids realise that what they look like does NOT dictate what they are. Poor body image is a widespread problem (and not just among children), so I am glad the book tries to tackle this issue.

✔ Don’t skip the author’s note. It reveals much and is very heartfelt.


Where the book could have worked better for me:
❌ The ending is a bit rushed, farfetched, and quite weak compared to the rest of the content. It was also too neatly tied together, though I can see why this is necessary in children’s fiction.

❌ Zailey is the only character to get in-depth detailing, The rest are somewhat surface-level.
 
❌ The middle of the book drags a little.


All in all, I loved the premise, and liked the story and the message. I am certain it will work even better for the right age group. The content make it better for older middle-graders and younger YAs: the 11-15 age group. There are many discussion opportunities in this story.

Recommended to the above age group if they are interested in reading an unusual dystopian/utopian fiction with some meaningful content.

My thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Kids and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Town with No Mirrors”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Note; The book contains certain tough topics such as parental abandonment and poor body image. Keep that in mind if you are purchasing this for your child/students.

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