Official Review: Beyond Every Mirror by Christine Church

ananya92 · Post by **ananya92** » 15 Mar 2017, 12:21

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Beyond Every Mirror" by Christine Church.]

3 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

Beyond Every Mirror by Christine Church is the first book in the Anachronistic Dimensions series. It can be loosely categorized in the romantic fantasy genre.

Dane Bainbridge has always been both afraid and enchanted to look at a mirror. Afraid that he will see something that no one else can, and spellbound by the ginger-haired, emerald eyed beauty who haunts the world of red mountains and clouds reflected in the mirror. As the lead singer of a popular rock band, Dane lacks for nothing in his life: money, fame, woman, he has it all; and yet his life is an empty shell, devoid of that one person who can bring him true happiness: his mirror lady.

Meirah met him for the first time when she was a teenager, to satisfy her curiosity, which got her into trouble. Since then she has loved, and lost him countless times: the human who stepped into her world, Mikaire, by accident. Her love and his will ensured that they both suffer this hell repeatedly, for all eternity. Dane’s blood is the life source for Meirah’s world, and he is cursed to be reborn every thirty years, only to be kidnapped to Mikaire where he can die a cruel death again. Can they break the curse this time, or will history repeat itself again?

Since, the narrative is fairly uncomplicated, the emphasis is on building the romance and working on the scenes. The characters are well developed and the author has left no stone unturned in portraying the characters in depth. Dane tries to fill the vacuum in his life with meaningless, short-term flings, since he has no memory of his past lives. This facet makes his character quite believable as he is not painted as a lovesick hero, but an ordinary human with his failings and weaknesses. His strength is his courage which he discovers much later in the story.

On the other hand, Meirah’s character faithfully stands by Dane through all his lives. The romance is riding completely on her shoulders in the first half of the book; she catches glimpses of Dane through the mirror when its expressly forbidden to her, bears all the humiliation heaped on her for loving a human, is ostracized from her community, watches Dane suffer every Mikairian year, and despite all the hardship continues to love him. Although Dane is chosen as the sacrifice for his strength, it’s Meirah who displays unbeatable spirit to be with her love.

The author’s writing style is vivid and imaginative. She has spared no detail in depicting the world of Sakkana, the creator and lord of Mikaire. It is easy to visualize the story unfolding in the novel, with the scenes smoothly switching between time periods and dimensions. There are quite a few action packed scenes in the novel. However, after reaching the high point in the novel, the storyline starts to dip. The narrative drags on for a few chapters, which I found disappointing. My only criticism of the book is its length; there was scope to edit plenty of scenes, especially post the final action sequence, where a lot of unnecessary details were added.

Readers who enjoy intense, convincing romances within the boundaries of fantasy fiction, would like this one. I rate it 3 out of 4 stars.

******
Beyond Every Mirror
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like ananya92's review? Post a comment saying so!

MASIDDO · Post by **MASIDDO** » 17 Mar 2017, 08:00

The story has no twist for me its like you will know what happen to the epilogue of the story like "...and they live happily ever after..." and boom... that's it. I want a romance that something new that the lead character is not destined to be happy... its like I want the lead character to be an open-ended story which means that the boy and the girl has there own life with someone else... and this story is not exceptional...

Joy Boudreau · Post by **Joy Boudreau** » 17 Mar 2017, 08:06

Wow - this sounds like an incredibly fresh story. That is hard to do, actually. Seems most often that there is "nothing new under the sun." Kudos to the author for coming up with it. I hope she strengthens her writing style for future editions.

Post by **kandscreeley** » 17 Mar 2017, 08:23

This doesn't really sound like something I would enjoy. It does sound like a good idea for a story, though. Glad that you liked it.

Mavovo · Post by **Mavovo** » 17 Mar 2017, 17:24

Well it is quite intriguing, it seems like a book i would pick up.Books are truly never what they seem as your perspective changes each time you read the book. Had that experience with books that i read when i was young then a few years later. This definitely seems like a book i would love to re-read.

Dh_ · Post by **Dh_** » 17 Mar 2017, 19:28

This sounds like my kind of book! Fantasy is my favorite genre if all time and the storyline sounds exciting. Thanks for the review!

princess27 · Post by **princess27** » 24 Mar 2017, 15:21

This is intriguing ,it is incredibly fresh story my perception of romance changed just from the first chapter. This is a kind of book I will like to re-read.