Dangerous Reflections by Shay West was generously given to me in exchange for an honest review. I accepted because I loved the cover as soon as I saw it, the title was intriguing, and from reading the teaser, the story had a lot of potential. I had a few books ahead of it on my TBR list but I was excited to get started.

The main character of Alex is your typical teen who has a lot on her plate. She is dealing with what a lot of kids have to deal with. Her father has left and she and her mother have to move away. I get it because my parents separated when I was young and we also had to move. I could empathize with her and how angry she was at having to leave her life and her friends behind. Alex is a fun character and the new friends she makes are also likable, especially Jennifer. Readers will be happy with the set of characters they are introduced to.

The plot was actually great for a YA story. I love the idea of looking into a mirror and seeing someone from the past looking back at you, being compelled to touch the mirror and then thrown into the past to save it from being changed. Truly a great idea! The book stays focused on Alex figuring out what is happening to her and trying to control her time travel. Each time she went back to the past, I enjoyed figuring out which historical figure she had to save. While their wasn't really any romance in this book, there was some of the usual teen angst so I'm sure something will develop in the future.

I have two wishes for the story. One, I think it could have been longer and had more historical detail each time she went back in time. Part of what I love about historical books is the learning about history. Plus, I loved the mystery of the "man" who she kept seeing and feeling connected to. Maybe this will be her future romance? Second, the story ended quite abruptly with no teaser of another book on the way even though I am pretty sure there is going to be a second story. I would have liked this first installment to wrap up a bit more. I have so many questions! :)

All in all however, this book was fun and original for this age group. I hope to read the second one when it come out and see where Alex travels to next and find out more about her role as a time protector! ( )

Amazon Description:
Alexis Davenport wants to go home. She hates her new school, her mother for moving her away from her friends, and her father for walking out. To make matters worse, Alex is haunted by images of strange girls reflected in her mirror. It’s bad enough juggling homework, a relentless bully, boys, and a deadbeat dad; now, she must save the world from an evil presence hell-bent on changing the past – and our futures. Who knew her A+ in history was going to be this important?

Narration: Third person through Alex

Opinions: This book is about a fifteen year old girl who finds out that she can travel back time through mirrors – usually an inopportune times. Therefore, the story should generally appeal more the younger young adult audience.

Some good things about the book include: Obviously the time travel. Alex is unsure how she able to go back in time, but whatever it is, it can take her to different times and countries. Luckily, for Alex that she is a wiz on history. Unlike usual history lovers that have a particular era that they focus on, Alex loves everything. The concept of having an evil man trying to change history and Alex has to save the day so history stays the same gives the story a new twist. It is also easy to read and moves quickly.

A few things that could have been better for me: This book ends in a cliffhanger. The protagonist and antagonist never confront each other in real life. The book ends without resolving her family’s situation. I feel like part of this should have been resolved in the first book. It doesn’t feel like many things are tied up by the end – like it should have been a chapter ending not a book. Also, I think there is an inconsistency with Alex’s movie taste – unless she lied to the one boy.

Overall, I think young adults who like history and time travel might enjoy this book. It’s a fun, quick read.

Standalone or Part of a Series: First Book in a series ( )

This is a well-crafted young adult novel that is a great start to a series. I admit that I only purchased this ebook because I was given the second book in the series to review, but I am so glad I did! Time travel and young adult was as much as I needed to know before downloading book one.
The book is all about Alexis Davenport. Alexis is a freshman in high school who has just moved with her mom to a new town and started a new high school. She faces common adolescent dilemmas such as clothes drama, crushes and her parents getting a divorce. However, she is not just a typical girl. She time travels. At first she has no idea what is happening to her and wonders if she is going crazy, luckily she is not, or this would be a very different book. Alexis sees other girls’ reflections in mirrors. At some point she will then come to be in that girl’s body and time period. I loved the author’s building of why she has the gift of time travel and why exactly does she happen to be in these exact girl’s bodies at the moment she is. I will not give away the why, but we do get an answer. While we do get some answers we are still left with plenty of questions about time travel and how it works, which is good since this is a series.
Some of the chapters chance viewpoints and we catch a glimpse of two other time travelers. These time travelers are not good and the book gives only a little information about them. What information we get seems to set them up as the evil guys of the series, and I am eager to learn more about their backgrounds and why they use their time travel abilities for evil.
Alexis comes to realize through an encounter with one of these “bad” time travelers that other time travelers exist. I hope this means she will be able to find someone to help guide her in her abilities and show her ways to use her ability even better. I am intrigued by the possibility of another character showing up that may hold some answers for Alexis, there were hints in book one!
Alexis loves history and history books, a nifty hobby for someone who ends up traveling through time. It is fun to imagine the different time periods that she travels too. This book really weaves the typical, everyday things of adolescence with the fantasy realm of time travel. I really want to applaud the author, Shay West, for how she incorporates bullying into the story. The way she uses bullying can really help young girls who are unfortunately probably experience bullying like Alexis does. Shay West does not preach but shows bullying in a real light, and shows how today’s technologies have changed the way bullying works. Girls who feel like they don’t fit in, have been bullied, or even done the bullying need to read this book for the high school portions alone.
I am not a tween or teenager, but I could see even preteens loving this book. The content is definitely suitable for older preteens. I love that it is a book I can see so many different age groups reading and loving. It is just a little over 200 pages and I loved every page of it. At first I was concerned I was not going to love it because it did seem juvenile, but the action builds quickly and it becomes a perfect for any age YA book. I will be starting book 2 immediately and I can definitely see myself rereading book 1, which is always a sign of me truly loving a book!
http://lostbraincell.weebly.com/blog/dangerous-reflections-by-shay-west ( )

I love historical fiction. In this case we have a teen, Alexis Davenport whose father has deserted her and her mother taking all of their money with them. They are forced to live with an aunt in her guest house. She is starting high school, which I itself is traumatic enough. She makes a couple of friends and then a very bad bully, enemy. One of the most popular girls is out to get her. Add to all of that the fact she keeps seeing someone else’s reflection in the mirror and you think things can’t get much worse. You would be wrong. Alexis finds herself drawn through the mirror. She soon learns that the history she loves is being altered. It’s a good thing she loves history so much. Now she must do what she has to do to save it, to keep it from being changed.

I was given an electronic copy from the author to read for this review. I definitely want to get a physical copy to put on my shelves. The author has done an excellent job of creating a character that teens will be able to identify with. They will understand so many of the situations she finds herself in and then be able to escape to another world or time period with the character. I believe this is a book that won’t stay on my shelves long. I look forward to the second book as well. ( )

This book is a Young Adult book, but it has kind of a cool premise so I wanted to see how this book was going to turn out. Basically the main character Alex is thrown into a situation that probably a lot of teens are faced with these days, a family that has been broken a part, and the aftermath of coping with how to deal with your life suddenly changing in more ways than one.

I have to compliment Shay Fabbro in being able to write a realistic teen in this book. There were a lot of moments when I was getting annoyed a little bit with the way that Alex was acting, but it's authentic, when I was a teenager I either knew girls who acted like her or even acted a bit like her myself.

I think Alex as a character is easy for people to relate to. Like I said a lot of people have had to deal with having your parents split up and the resulting fall out that can lead to school changes and moving from the only home you have ever really known. But Alex also has good friends, and problems with bullies at school. She is easily likable because you know she has been dealt a bit of a bad hand, but even though she has been dealt a bad hand she still keeps going, she really learns to work through the hard times.

Then of course the "magical" element of the book is the mirror that Alex discovers that can transport her to another time. It's kind of a cool concept, one seen in a few different tv shows. But the reason why all those tv shows work is the same reason why this book works. Each different show/book has their own take on how the "time travel" works and the goals of it. Plus in a book form and specifically geared to young adults, it gives you a really interesting perspective to work with.

I think another reason why this book works with the time travel element is because Alex is just a normal girl, but she is also a smart girl. It's known from early on that she is a history buff, and if anyone would be suited for time travel it's her. I think all history lovers wish at one time or another you could go back in time and experience different times in history just for a little while.

Overall, I think this book is a really good young adult book, and I would recommend it to young adult readers. It did take a little while to pick up in the beginning, but the plot was good and the pace was good after the beginning. I will say this book does read like a young adult, so if you don't like young adult this book is not for you, but if you do then you could check out this book. ( )