Customer Reviews

Black Mirror (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The best thing about this book, I think, is the characters. They were very well developed. Frances, who is so solemn and depressed. James, her love object, who isn't who he seems. Saskia, the cold and scheming little witch. Andy, retarded but very gentle. Etc. While in general it wasn't as well executed as "Locked Inside" and "The Killer's Cousin" and "Are You Alone" I liked it a lot. I started reading it in a bus station and went kind of in a trance, forgetting the heat and the noise and exhaust. After I was finished I thought about it for a long time. Like, I still can't make up my mind about Saskia; whether what she did was good or bad. Or James for that matter, and what he thought about Frances. All in all: yet another wonderful book from Nancy; I can't wait to read the next one!

Frances's only friend was her brother, Daniel. But when they started at Pettengill school they started to grow apart, and now, 2 years later, she realizes that she didn't know anything about Daniel. He apparently killed himself with an overdose of heroin, and Frances feels terrible. To try to make herself feel better she wants to join Unity, the charity that gave them scholarships to the school. Daniel was very involved with Unity and was ashamed that Frances didn't want to join. But now when she wants to her brother's girlfriend Saskia, and most of the other members don't want her. She is confused by it and the more she finds out, the more she notices is strange with Unity.

Black Mirrow is a good book that I couldn't stop reading. Frances is an interesting character and I can relate to alot of what she is feeling. The other characters were well portrayed too and it was as much them as the plot of the story that made me want to find out what was going to happen. At the end I was completely suprised. Nancy Werlin is a good writer and all her books are great, but this one really made me think.

Black Mirror is the story of a young girl searching for many things- a sense of family, her true identity and peace with herself.

The book follows a bumpy road of life after Frances's brother Daniel commits suicide. Frances, shy and suffering low self-concept, feels that without her brother, she should make some sort of effort to fit into the school she never really belonged to. Her odd life with divorced parents (her mother studying Buddhism miles away) and mixed heritage leads her to believe she can never fit in anywhere.

The author makes the characters both realistic and unique, creating an environment to completely immerse the reader in.

Frances decides to join Unity, a school charity group. But as the mentally challenged janitor James points out, it's "all fake work." Unity is a front for something else, and Frances and James are the only ones who know. Did her brother Daniel really commit suicide? Was there a note? And why is her art teacher so insistant that she join Unity, anyway? Read this, one of the best for YA in 2001, to find out.

Black Mirror, just reading the title of the book gave me chills. There are many reasons why I chose this book. First of all, I like to judge books by their cover and this book had an interesting looking cover. Another reason why I chose this book was because I had noticed it had received an Edgar Award. Which meant the book was going to be a thriller. As I started to read, I realized I had made a good choice.

The story is about a girl named Frances and how she deals with her hard life. Her parents are divorced, she has very low self-esteem, and her brother supposedly committed suicide. While her brother, Daniel, was still alive, he attended a charity group called Unity. Somehow Frances feels like she should join Unity for her brother even though she isn't the most social of all people. As Frances gets to know Unity more, she realizes there is more than charity involved with the group. She becomes aware that there is something wrong about Unity. Frances learns the real truth about the group, how her brother really died, and her life becomes in danger.

This book was probably one of the most exciting books I have ever read. Many parts of the book were both thrilling and suspenseful. I think that's what made the book so hard to put down. I just wanted to know what happed next.

I would definitely recommend this book to teens that enjoy reading suspenseful novels. Black Mirror is truly an amazing book!

I enjoyed this book, but don't think it is for everyone. Black Mirror is about a girl named Frances who was a resiprient of a scolarship program. But after her brother Daniel commits suicide, she just can't get over it. She feels that it's some how her fault. But all isin't quite what it seemes: something deeper is going on here.

All in all this was a pretty good book. I've read better, but also much much worse. It's a some what dark book about a depressed young women trying to find her way. Black Mirror has a well thought of plot, though it can be somewhat confusing at times. This may be a good book to try just for the sake of trying it. Hope you like it!

In some cultures it's customary for people to drape their mirrors in black cloth as a symbol of mourning. But Frances does this for other reasons. She hates mirrors and how she looks, and she never wants to look in one ever again. But more importantly she doesn't only want to mourn her brothers death, she wants to be reminded of is and find out why he really killed himself. So as she tries to find the reasons why she starts by looking into Unity, a voulenteer group in which her brother was an active part of. But she soon discovers things aren't right. The group isn't everything she says it is. But when she tries to investigate she finds herself involved in a dangerous world of drugs, lying, betrayel, and the brutal reality of her brothers death.

I really enjoyed this book. Though it wasn't as good as the last Nancy Werlin book I read, (The Killers cousin which a fully reccomend) Black Mirror is a unique and suspenseful novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I reccomend this to any fans of teen suspsence novels or works by Nancy Werlin. I hope you enjoy it!

Nancy Werlin's Black Mirror establishes her place as an interpreter for angsty teenagers everywhere. The interesting, tightly woven plot serves as a background for an exploration of depression, self-involvement and discovery that allows us a look inside that often forgotten misery known as high school. She creates well-realized characters that, while not always likeable, are often loveable. Can't wait to read the next one!

A very fast read, I loved being able to relate to the Jewish stuff. I love the scenes with her trying her brother's drugs, and I love when she stands up to Saskia. I like Andy, too.

I think the characters are extremely well developed, a factor which I thought The Killer's Cousin did not have, even though I loved that book. I think this book is a really great coming of age and accepting yourself story.

This is a great book. In the beginning I got a little bored, but when the plot started to speed up I got more and more intrested. I would say that you should definitley read this book. If you like books that are mysteries that take turns and curves then you will like this book. Nancy Werlin is a great author and writes good books. I will read more of her works in the future.

This book was very suspenseful and had a lot of emotion. It kept you interested the whole way, and had a very surprising ending.