Review: Just didn't enjoy it.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2014
Why I Picked It UpI’ve been trying to expand my reading horizons and this sounded like something that I haven’t read before.PlotMirror X was a real let down for me. I actually debated multiple times just putting it down, but it was something that I told the publisher I would read so I figured I’d give it a chance. Cassie wakes up over one thousand years in the future, finding out that she had died, been frozen, and was reanimated. This brings me to my biggest problem with this novel: it was very unrealistic. Cassie was immediately at ease with Doctor Michael Bennett, almost the moment she wakes up. I mean, you wake up a thousand years into the future and are calmed right off the bat by a random doctor? No. And then things just got a lot more interesting with the introduction of the baby issue. You see, the citizens of this world are infertile and they want to use Cassie was a breeding mare to help their population. She put up a fight a little at first. Then gave up. Realistic? No. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there was a plethora of things in this novel that just tickled me the wrong way. It was too unrealistic, even for a dystopian/sci-fi novel. It seemed as if Thompson was just trying to pile on drama with all the babies and secrets and stuff. It was a great try, but it didn’t hit the nail on the head. In addition to that, the pacing was bad. The entire novel was rushed and it had one of those abrupt endings. It completely messed with the flow of events in the novel. The outcome was too simple and easy. I couldn’t believe that they were hit with everything under the sun and then everything working against them just vanishes within like, five pages? Again, unrealistic.Leading LadyCassie was just a really one dimensional character. She was too trusting, kind of stupid, but tried to play herself as a strong heroine. I just didn’t see it. I couldn’t get over her stupid, brash decisions, and I couldn’t stand her rolling over for the people who were using her. She was just a character that I couldn’t stand reading, couldn’t relate to, and couldn’t root for. Her character made this novel even harder for me to get through.Leading MaleMichael Bennett was the doctor that reanimated Cassie. He was just as bad of a character as Cassie. He was constantly lying to her and rolling over to the hospital coordinators. He had absolutely no back bone, wasn’t trustworthy, and I never liked him from the beginning to the end of the novel. I really couldn’t find a redeeming quality in him, regardless of what he did at the end of the novel.RomanceThe romance in this novel was a joke. It was creepy, there was no build up, and it messed with the flow of the plot. There was no time for the things that they were trying to make time for and there were too many secrets between them for it to be realistic. It wasn’t enjoyable at all.World BuildingThe world building in this novel was okay. Compared to the plot and character development, it was great. Thompson did create an interesting world with interesting problems and I give her props for that. I’ve read a few dystopian novels in my time and none of them were like this. She explained the world pretty well even though it happened mainly through info-dumping. Regardless, it was a bit interesting to discover the history of their world.ConclusionUnfortunately, Mirror X was an overall sucky novel that I could barely get myself through. Unless you enjoy rushed pacing, an unrealistic plot, and flat characters, I wouldn’t recommend this one.