Review: The Egyptian Mirror

Title: The Egyptian Mirror
Author: Michael Bedard
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Publisher: Pajama Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 20, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

A darkly fantastic middle-grade mystery with the ominous atmosphere loved by fans of Jonathan Auxier and Jonathan Stroud

Thirteen-year-old Simon’s life has been knocked askew ever since his family moved into his deceased grandfather’s house. First there’s his eccentric neighbor Mr. Hawkins, who is laid up with a broken leg. Simon’s mother begins sending him over there with dinner for the elderly man, and soon Mr. Hawkins is depending on Simon to fetch old books and manuscript pages from all over his eerie, mirror-filled house. There’s one mirror in particular, an ancient Egyptian piece, that keeps showing Simon visions of a disturbing figure emerging from its depths. No one else sees the figure, though—just like they don’t see the huge, gaunt dog lurking in Mr. Hawkins’ bushes. As Simon himself becomes increasingly plagued by a mysterious illness, he is powerless to help as his neighbor descends into paranoia about dark forces encircling his house.

The terrible part is, Mr. Hawkins is right. Everything is about to get much, much worse.

Review:

Simon’s family moves into his grandfather’s old house after he passes away. When the old man across the street breaks his leg, Simon brings him food and helps him around his house. His house is filled with mirrors, because he was an archeologist who collected mirrors. Simon is fascinated with an Egyptian mirror in the house. After examining it, Simon starts seeing things that aren’t there, like a mysterious dog in the yard. He then gets an illness that confines him to his house. Simon has to figure out the mystery behind the mirror.

I love ancient Egypt, so I was so excited to read this book. There was some history of ancient Egypt in the story, but there was a lot about the history of mirrors and what they symbolize. Mirrors represent a person’s double, since it is a copy or reflection of yourself. In many cultures, mirrors are believed to capture a person’s soul when they die. That makes mirrors mysterious and dangerous objects, like in this book.

This book was very creepy and suspenseful. Mr. Hawkins was a mysterious figure at the beginning, because he seemed to have some secrets hidden in his home. His home was also full of mirrors, which sounds very creepy. The illness that Simon had was also quite mysterious. He couldn’t do anything but sleep, yet the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. It’s scary to imagine having a mysterious illness that no one can figure out.

I really enjoyed this story.

Thank you Pajama Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Have you read The Egyptian Mirror? What did you think of it?