**Vault Reviews were posted previously on the main MonsterLibrarian website and are transferred here in an effort to preserve our history. Efforts have been made to ensure the books are still available, but formats, covers, and other details may have changed.** 
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0316056106
Available: New Hardcopy, paperback, audiobook, Kindle
Jacob Reckless, exploring his father’s study several years after his mysterious disappearance, discovers a mirror that acts as a portal to another world: an alternate, semi-medieval Europe, where creatures from fairytales are still very much alive and magic works, although technology is slowly pushing it out. What starts out, nominally, as a search for his father, soon becomes an escape for Jacob, who establishes himself there as a treasure hunter of magical objects, although he often secretly travels between the two worlds. His brother Will discovers the portal in the mirror and follows Jacob through. Once there, he is attacked and infected by the Goyl, creatures made of living stone with the ability to infect humans so that they turn into Goyl as well. The Goyl , recent victors in a war between Goyl and humans, are pursuing Will because he is the subject of a prophecy. Jacob, his shapeshifter partner Fox, Will, and Will’s girlfriend Clara, race to find a cure for the spreading infection before Will turns completely into stone, and to escape capture by the Goyl.
The consequences for Jacob of curing his brother are dramatic and threaten to be fatal when Jacob is tricked into uttering the name of the Dark Fairy, which curses him with death within a year. Jacob keeps this information to himself. Will and Clara return home, and Jacob, with Fox’s help, races against time once again to find the magical object or spell that can overcome the curse and save his life. His last hope is to find a crossbow that is capable of mass destruction, that may also be able to save a life. Unfortunately, he has competition—another treasure hunter, a Goyl called Nerron, or “the Bastard.”
What’s amazing about these books is the world-building. The lush descriptions, attention to detail, evocative language, and vivid images shape an entire reality. Objects, plants, characters, and tales, all come together to create an immersive experience. In fact, the Mirrorworld is a perfect setting for a visually impressive and interactive game. An app is expected to debut in late April, and I am sure it will be both of those things.
What’s frustrating is the lack of backstory and transitions from one point in time to another. I received an advance copy of Fearless, the second book, before the first volume was sent, and I really felt lost—I could tell I was missing backstory essential to making sense of the book. I hoped that Reckless, the first book, would provide a lot of that backstory. Instead, the book began by making huge leaps in time—Jacob is a young teen when he discovers the mirror, then suddenly he’s 25. Will follows Jacob through, but there’s no indication of what happened or how long he was there when he was infected. It’s unclear how Clara finds her way in at all, with both Will and Jacob on the other side of the mirror.
These gaps are frustrating for a couple of reasons. First, the discontinuity is jarring, and it disrupted the flow of my reading, Second, when characters refer to events that have taken place during the time gaps in vague terms, it makes me think I missed something, so I have to go back and reread, which also interrupts the reading experience. Third, Jacob simply isn’t a likable character. Given his treatment of Fox, especially at first, it’s hard to understand why she would wait patiently for him for weeks or overlook some of his less desirable behaviors. It might be easier to understand what the secondary characters see in him if some of these blanks were filled in. I almost feel like the extensive development of the setting was at the expense of the narrative and character development, especially in the first book.
The secondary characters are wonderful. In the first book, I really loved Fox. Valiant, the greedy, unscrupulous dwarf, was a treat. The Goyl were fascinating, and the fairies were complex and powerful. In the second book, the secondary characters were even better. The relationship between Jacob and Fox changed and grew, and Valiant took on much more of a role as a partner. Troisclerq was a true surprise to me, and Dunbar made me think. Nerron, “the Bastard” was well-developed, and became a sympathetic character. He had much in common with Jacob, but he was a more likable, and in the end, more poignant, character.
While my own reading experience was flawed, Funke has done a fantastic job with her world-building and mythology making, her secondary characters are wonderful, and she keeps the story moving. It’s worth it to pick these up just for this—the opportunity to lose yourself in her Mirrorworld. Recommended.
Contains: Violence, gore, black magic, references to cannibalism.