Proceed With Caution:
This book contains lynching, racism, slavery, segregation, blood and gore.
The Basics:
Mirror Girls is narrated by seventeen-year-old twins, Charlie and Magnolia, who don't know about each other. Charlie has lived in New York with their Black grandmother, only returning to Eureka, Georgia upon Nana's request. Magnolia was raised in Eureka by their white grandmother because she passes for white. When both grandmothers die, the girls learn the truth of their pasts and must fight for their futures.
My Thoughts:
I nearly read Mirror Girls in one sitting! Not just because it's short, but because it hooked me from the first chapter and never let me go! If life didn't come calling, forcing me to take a break, I wouldn't have stopped until I reached the end. This book is dark and gripping and atmospheric and at times brutal, but is ultimately about good trumping evil and making positive change for the future! It was just all things good. The ending was a bit underwhelming, which is the only thing that kept this from being 5-stars.
Mirror Girls is set in 1953 Georgia. Charlie is escorting her grandmother back to her hometown where she planned to die and be buried. Upon Nana's death, Charlie learns that she's a twin! And that her twin has been raised by their white grandmother. Meanwhile, Magnolia learns that she's really half-Black from their white grandmother on her own deathbed and promptly loses her reflection and ability to eat. Lots of death. Lots of secrets. Lots of pain. Lots of page turning!
I don't want to spoil anything, so I can't say much more about Mirror Girls. I really liked Charlie and Magnolia. They're very different girls and not just because of their skin colors. They were raised very differently, but both of them need to change their view of the world in order to make a better future for themselves. I loved the gothic atmosphere and the spirits interfering with the girls' lives. It was just exactly what I wanted to read at exactly the right time.