Dangerous Reflections by Shay Fabbro

Synopsis:

Alexis Davenport wants to go home. She hates her new school, her mother for moving her away from her friends, living in her aunt's guesthouse, and her father for walking out. 

To make matters worse, Alex is haunted by the images of strange girls reflected in her mirror. It is 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?

Review: 

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.