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Mirror in the Sky
An evocative debut, perfect for fans of Tommy Wallach's We All Looked Up, about the discovery of a mirror planet to Earth and how it dramatically changes the course of one Indian-American girl's junior year.
“Beautifully written, surprising and poignant.”
—Lynn Weingarten, New York Times bestselling author of Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls
For Tara Krishnan, navigating Brierly, the academically rigorous prep school she attends on scholarship, feels overwhelming and impossible. Her junior year begins in the wake of a startling discovery: A message from an alternate Earth, light years away, is intercepted by NASA. This means that on another planet, there is another version of Tara, a Tara who could be living better, burning brighter, because of tiny differences in her choices.
The world lights up with the knowledge of Terra Nova, the mirror planet, and Tara’s life on Earth begins to change. At first, small shifts happen, like attention from Nick Osterman, the most popular guy at Brierly, and her mother playing hooky from work to watch the news all day. But eventually those small shifts swell, the discovery of Terra Nova like a black hole, bending all the light around it.
As a new era of scientific history dawns and Tara's life at Brierly continues its orbit, only one thing is clear: Nothing on Earth--or for Tara--will ever be the same again.
“Beautifully written, surprising and poignant.”
—Lynn Weingarten, New York Times bestselling author of Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls
For Tara Krishnan, navigating Brierly, the academically rigorous prep school she attends on scholarship, feels overwhelming and impossible. Her junior year begins in the wake of a startling discovery: A message from an alternate Earth, light years away, is intercepted by NASA. This means that on another planet, there is another version of Tara, a Tara who could be living better, burning brighter, because of tiny differences in her choices.
The world lights up with the knowledge of Terra Nova, the mirror planet, and Tara’s life on Earth begins to change. At first, small shifts happen, like attention from Nick Osterman, the most popular guy at Brierly, and her mother playing hooky from work to watch the news all day. But eventually those small shifts swell, the discovery of Terra Nova like a black hole, bending all the light around it.
As a new era of scientific history dawns and Tara's life at Brierly continues its orbit, only one thing is clear: Nothing on Earth--or for Tara--will ever be the same again.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published June 21, 2016
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4855 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 267 reviews
October 13, 2017
Mirror in the Sky is absolutely nothing like you'd imagine from the marketing, and I think that's going to lead to a lot of DNFs. It's a book I'd only recommend to fans of existentialism and We All Looked Up-type books. Yet it's still so completely worth the read. I want everyone to read this and see how good the second half is.
// THE FIRST HALF AND DISAPPOINTMENT
So let me get the bad over with. Mirror In The Sky does not deliver on its fantastic premise about an alternate earth. Yes, it improves later on, but so many people are going to be disappointed by this. Terra Nova is used mostly as a plot device for character development and feelings. In fact, the first half of the book barely mentions Terra Nova at all. But once you adjust your expectations, the book improves. It was a similar reading experience as We All Looked Up, but with better characters.
This almost feels like two different books to review. The first half is booooooring. Way too long-winded. In fact, I actually DNFed this. The characters don't stand out here either; they're all assholes and the romance sucks so much. If you read this, don't DNF in the first half - it genuinely gets so much better.
// THE SECOND HALF AND DRMATIC PAYOFF
♔ At this point, Khorana seems to finally understand what she wants to talk about, and she gets deep fast. She explores racism. She takes her annoying characters and uses them to explore what it means to be a good person. By the end, the characters had stolen my heart. This book is so raw and real.
♚ In general, there's a ton of character work in this section. Even the protagonist, who didn't impress me much in the first half, won my heart by the end. The side characters here stand out and break your heart. Except for that one love interest. He can go fuck himself.
♔ The romance... is still not great. Seriously, this is one of the most unromantic romance plots ever written. The amount of cheating involved just completely ruined this for me. However, even this horrendous romantic storyline gets an emotionally raw ending.
♚ The ending is perfect. Khorana ends on a note that's an odd mix of tragic and hopeful. You'll have to decide for yourself. Either way, there will be tears.
Recommended to fans (or people who anticipated but were disappointed in) of We All Looked Up, Places No One Knows, and Before I Fall.
// THE FIRST HALF AND DISAPPOINTMENT
So let me get the bad over with. Mirror In The Sky does not deliver on its fantastic premise about an alternate earth. Yes, it improves later on, but so many people are going to be disappointed by this. Terra Nova is used mostly as a plot device for character development and feelings. In fact, the first half of the book barely mentions Terra Nova at all. But once you adjust your expectations, the book improves. It was a similar reading experience as We All Looked Up, but with better characters.
This almost feels like two different books to review. The first half is booooooring. Way too long-winded. In fact, I actually DNFed this. The characters don't stand out here either; they're all assholes and the romance sucks so much. If you read this, don't DNF in the first half - it genuinely gets so much better.
// THE SECOND HALF AND DRMATIC PAYOFF
♔ At this point, Khorana seems to finally understand what she wants to talk about, and she gets deep fast. She explores racism. She takes her annoying characters and uses them to explore what it means to be a good person. By the end, the characters had stolen my heart. This book is so raw and real.
♚ In general, there's a ton of character work in this section. Even the protagonist, who didn't impress me much in the first half, won my heart by the end. The side characters here stand out and break your heart. Except for that one love interest. He can go fuck himself.
♔ The romance... is still not great. Seriously, this is one of the most unromantic romance plots ever written. The amount of cheating involved just completely ruined this for me. However, even this horrendous romantic storyline gets an emotionally raw ending.
♚ The ending is perfect. Khorana ends on a note that's an odd mix of tragic and hopeful. You'll have to decide for yourself. Either way, there will be tears.
Recommended to fans (or people who anticipated but were disappointed in) of We All Looked Up, Places No One Knows, and Before I Fall.
June 2, 2016
Mirror in the Sky is about a teenager, Tara Krishnan, who goes to school with a bunch of wealthy kids, and often expresses her hardships as the only POC in her school. The recent discovery of another planet, called Terra Nova, leads everyone in this book to become thrilled since it is evident that there is life on Terra Nova. The synapsis and the front cover (which I think is beautiful!) make it clear that this book is going to be a sci-fi novel about a mirror planet, but going into this book, any reader should be made aware that they will be gravely disappointed if they wanted to book to be about this mirror planet. This book is more like a bad version of Mean Girls, focusing mainly on Tara’s pitiful journey of trying to become part of the popular crowd, and every couple of chapters briefly mentioning Terra Nova.
As a high school student who just finished her junior year of high school, I can easily say that the author has a very distorted view of what high school is like. Aditi makes it seem like every person in high school only wants to be popular. There is nothing else to life unless you are popular. Oh, and if you are popular, you will probably hate yourself anyways! The way Aditi treated the age of the characters seemed to come from the perspective of an adult who keeps blaming everything on the millennials at your annual family gathering. There was absolutely no depth the characters, and were definitely not relatable to the reader.
I’m the type of person who does not write in her books. If I find something really important, I put a sticky note on the page. This was the first book that I actually felt the need to tab my book, and I was not keeping track of the good things in this book. 20 pages into the book, and I was already tabbing away. Here are a few examples of things that just made me cringe as the book went along:
“Oh my God, and they’re like trying`to track down that lady in the picture.”
“I heard she’s already come forward but they’re like, interrogating her or something?”
“That’s like, so stupid.”
That is actual dialogue in this book, and unfortunately, most of the dialogue in the book is written in a similar fashion.
-“‘…and Alexa… well, you know Alexa.’ This was almost always how Alexa’s eating disorder was referred to, but everyone in the group knew about it.”
-“I looked at my mother now, grateful that I had inherited her slim dancers’ build. Briery was hard enough as it was- I couldn’t imagine going through four years of it like Moira Edwards, the “big girl” in our class who spent all her lunches in the library, reading.”
-“‘Don’t turn into Alexa on us,’ Veronica commented when she saw my half-eaten sandwich.”
Aditi does not know how to handle serious issues, such as eating disorders. Anorexia is constantly treated as a joke in this novel, and people who are overweight are frowned upon. This is not a good trend in novels. This is a novel directed towards people my age, and considering how many people I know that struggle with body image and eating disorders, this is not something to be joked about or referred to lightheartedly. This is not how teens treat their peers struggling with body image, and it should most definitely not be written about like this.
There were a few good things in this book. While I saw the endings “plot twist” from a mile away, it was creative and a good way to end the book. The existential comments in the last couple pages of the book were very well written. Aditi Khorana definitely has potential in her writing, but she should try writing for people her age rather than a young adult novel. It seems to me she does not quite have a grip on her characters and their feelings, mainly due to a misunderstanding about teens today.
Overall, I give this book 2/5 stars. It has an easy flow to the story, and I was able to read it very quickly, as I do for most YA books. I would not recommend this book to others, especially since the synapsis is very misguiding about the direction of the book. If you are looking for a book filled with cheesy teenage angst, though, then knock yourself out.
As a high school student who just finished her junior year of high school, I can easily say that the author has a very distorted view of what high school is like. Aditi makes it seem like every person in high school only wants to be popular. There is nothing else to life unless you are popular. Oh, and if you are popular, you will probably hate yourself anyways! The way Aditi treated the age of the characters seemed to come from the perspective of an adult who keeps blaming everything on the millennials at your annual family gathering. There was absolutely no depth the characters, and were definitely not relatable to the reader.
I’m the type of person who does not write in her books. If I find something really important, I put a sticky note on the page. This was the first book that I actually felt the need to tab my book, and I was not keeping track of the good things in this book. 20 pages into the book, and I was already tabbing away. Here are a few examples of things that just made me cringe as the book went along:
“Oh my God, and they’re like trying`to track down that lady in the picture.”
“I heard she’s already come forward but they’re like, interrogating her or something?”
“That’s like, so stupid.”
That is actual dialogue in this book, and unfortunately, most of the dialogue in the book is written in a similar fashion.
-“‘…and Alexa… well, you know Alexa.’ This was almost always how Alexa’s eating disorder was referred to, but everyone in the group knew about it.”
-“I looked at my mother now, grateful that I had inherited her slim dancers’ build. Briery was hard enough as it was- I couldn’t imagine going through four years of it like Moira Edwards, the “big girl” in our class who spent all her lunches in the library, reading.”
-“‘Don’t turn into Alexa on us,’ Veronica commented when she saw my half-eaten sandwich.”
Aditi does not know how to handle serious issues, such as eating disorders. Anorexia is constantly treated as a joke in this novel, and people who are overweight are frowned upon. This is not a good trend in novels. This is a novel directed towards people my age, and considering how many people I know that struggle with body image and eating disorders, this is not something to be joked about or referred to lightheartedly. This is not how teens treat their peers struggling with body image, and it should most definitely not be written about like this.
There were a few good things in this book. While I saw the endings “plot twist” from a mile away, it was creative and a good way to end the book. The existential comments in the last couple pages of the book were very well written. Aditi Khorana definitely has potential in her writing, but she should try writing for people her age rather than a young adult novel. It seems to me she does not quite have a grip on her characters and their feelings, mainly due to a misunderstanding about teens today.
Overall, I give this book 2/5 stars. It has an easy flow to the story, and I was able to read it very quickly, as I do for most YA books. I would not recommend this book to others, especially since the synapsis is very misguiding about the direction of the book. If you are looking for a book filled with cheesy teenage angst, though, then knock yourself out.
December 18, 2017
Full Review on my blog!
This book wasn’t what I expected at ALL, but once I settled into the understanding that it’s a YA contemporary with what I’d call a sci-fi overlay, I really enjoyed it.
The plot centers around a girl named Tara who feels out of place in her small town. When in a strange and sad turn of events, Tara gets wrapped up in the popular group at her school. She finally thinks that she is finding a way to fit in. But all of that is eclipsed when scientists discover another Earth, far out in the solar system. This new Earth turns out to be an almost exact copy of Tara’s own world; mirroring people, places, and events. Now everyone is left wondering how big an impact their decisions made, and if they had better lives on this new Earth.
The characters are all well-written and reading about their dynamics and relationships was completely absorbing and moving. The main character is the only person of color in her school and I particularly enjoyed her frank discussion of how this effects her and her feelings on the subject. All of the characters are flawed and some are more sympathetic than others early on.
While I enjoyed Mirror in the Sky a lot, there were some things I didn’t like as much, which is why I’m giving it a 3.5 rating.
THE ENDING THOUGH. I want to say the ending was amazing (which it was) but it kind of felt rushed and while some issues are tied up a little too neatly, others are left unresolved. Ultimately, I really enjoyed Mirror in the Sky but it needed something more.
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This book wasn’t what I expected at ALL, but once I settled into the understanding that it’s a YA contemporary with what I’d call a sci-fi overlay, I really enjoyed it.
The plot centers around a girl named Tara who feels out of place in her small town. When in a strange and sad turn of events, Tara gets wrapped up in the popular group at her school. She finally thinks that she is finding a way to fit in. But all of that is eclipsed when scientists discover another Earth, far out in the solar system. This new Earth turns out to be an almost exact copy of Tara’s own world; mirroring people, places, and events. Now everyone is left wondering how big an impact their decisions made, and if they had better lives on this new Earth.
The characters are all well-written and reading about their dynamics and relationships was completely absorbing and moving. The main character is the only person of color in her school and I particularly enjoyed her frank discussion of how this effects her and her feelings on the subject. All of the characters are flawed and some are more sympathetic than others early on.
While I enjoyed Mirror in the Sky a lot, there were some things I didn’t like as much, which is why I’m giving it a 3.5 rating.
THE ENDING THOUGH. I want to say the ending was amazing (which it was) but it kind of felt rushed and while some issues are tied up a little too neatly, others are left unresolved. Ultimately, I really enjoyed Mirror in the Sky but it needed something more.
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December 19, 2015
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
There are books you read that are good. Some that are great. And then there are the books that utterly blow your mind, the ones that are so beautiful they ache deep within your soul. That’s the kind of book MIRROR IN THE SKY is. The kind that aches so good. At first I was skeptical of how this multiverse would play out. Would it be too heavy on the technicalities (not that I mind that, I am a HUGE science enthusiast), would it be confusing? The answer to those questions is a resounding no.
Khorana’s writing is gorgeous and engaging. She’s one of those brilliant debut authors who capture human emotion so exquisitely, you FEEL everything her characters do. I laughed and cried and shook my fist at the world she so expertly captured. Our world. All the good parts and the ugly ones too. The world that still has hope through it all, though. Because of the possibility of a better version lurking just out of reach. A version that perhaps is attainable somehow, someway. Maybe that better version is closer than we think...
I don’t want to go into plot details and spoil it, so I’m just going to say: This book is an amazing patchwork of emotions and journeys that are woven together with a deft hand. Khorana captured an authentic teen voice and a main character who is as multifaceted as the multiverse in the story. I love this book and these characters - all of them flawed, all of them with their own story and journey. There were passages of wisdom so poignant I had to pause and reflect on them. This book not only made me flip the pages well into the early morning hours, but it made me think AND feel. It will certainly appeal to both teens and adults. This should be required reading, I know sixteen-year-old Kerri would have gobbled this up and walked away feeling a little less alone in the world. Maybe even a little wiser.
I cannot wait for 2016 to arrive and bring MIRROR IN THE SKY into reader’s hands. Do yourself a favor and add it to your lists, and tell your friends to do the same. This is something special, something completely out of this world. I can only hope if there is a multiverse, another version of me has already read this book and shouted from the rooftops about its beauty too. Thank you, Aditi Khorana. This story has made me a fan for life. <3
There are books you read that are good. Some that are great. And then there are the books that utterly blow your mind, the ones that are so beautiful they ache deep within your soul. That’s the kind of book MIRROR IN THE SKY is. The kind that aches so good. At first I was skeptical of how this multiverse would play out. Would it be too heavy on the technicalities (not that I mind that, I am a HUGE science enthusiast), would it be confusing? The answer to those questions is a resounding no.
Khorana’s writing is gorgeous and engaging. She’s one of those brilliant debut authors who capture human emotion so exquisitely, you FEEL everything her characters do. I laughed and cried and shook my fist at the world she so expertly captured. Our world. All the good parts and the ugly ones too. The world that still has hope through it all, though. Because of the possibility of a better version lurking just out of reach. A version that perhaps is attainable somehow, someway. Maybe that better version is closer than we think...
I don’t want to go into plot details and spoil it, so I’m just going to say: This book is an amazing patchwork of emotions and journeys that are woven together with a deft hand. Khorana captured an authentic teen voice and a main character who is as multifaceted as the multiverse in the story. I love this book and these characters - all of them flawed, all of them with their own story and journey. There were passages of wisdom so poignant I had to pause and reflect on them. This book not only made me flip the pages well into the early morning hours, but it made me think AND feel. It will certainly appeal to both teens and adults. This should be required reading, I know sixteen-year-old Kerri would have gobbled this up and walked away feeling a little less alone in the world. Maybe even a little wiser.
I cannot wait for 2016 to arrive and bring MIRROR IN THE SKY into reader’s hands. Do yourself a favor and add it to your lists, and tell your friends to do the same. This is something special, something completely out of this world. I can only hope if there is a multiverse, another version of me has already read this book and shouted from the rooftops about its beauty too. Thank you, Aditi Khorana. This story has made me a fan for life. <3
February 18, 2016
How I wish I DNFed this book. It was so boring and didn't hold my interest in the slightest. I kept waiting for it to pick up, and to learn more about Terra Nova—the mirror planet to Earth—but the plot had little to do with it. The mirror planet's purpose in the book is basically to get everyone in the book to toss aside their morals, responsibilities, and families to chase after their lost dreams at any cost. This book actually reminded me of Mean Girls, except if Regina George was actually nice.
Mirror in the Sky focuses around Tara, the main character, and how she becomes a member of the "in-crowd." Tara has a constant chip on her shoulder and seems to hate everything and everyone around her for no obvious reason. Until she becomes part of the "in-crowd" and then her hate for everything calms down a bit, but it didn't make her likable. I also didn't like the writing. There was a lot of info-dumping, mixed in with long explanations of scientific theory that made me wonder if the reason for the long explanations was that the author didn't fully understand it, so she took textbook information and pasted it into her book. It's sad, because the concept of this book sounded really amazing but unfortunately, there aren't any positive things I can say about it.
Read my full review of Mirror in the Sky
Mirror in the Sky focuses around Tara, the main character, and how she becomes a member of the "in-crowd." Tara has a constant chip on her shoulder and seems to hate everything and everyone around her for no obvious reason. Until she becomes part of the "in-crowd" and then her hate for everything calms down a bit, but it didn't make her likable. I also didn't like the writing. There was a lot of info-dumping, mixed in with long explanations of scientific theory that made me wonder if the reason for the long explanations was that the author didn't fully understand it, so she took textbook information and pasted it into her book. It's sad, because the concept of this book sounded really amazing but unfortunately, there aren't any positive things I can say about it.
Read my full review of Mirror in the Sky
March 14, 2016
This book snuck up on me. When I started it, I didn't think it would be a page-turning read that I would finish in two days and shed tears over. But it was.
When I started the book, I half-expected a certain kind of SF story, and I was wondering how the author would get around the scientific implausibilities inherent in that. (If we just now discovered a parallel Earth, how could it possibly be close enough for us to go there?)
But no. This is a book about what the sheer discovery of a second Earth — Terra Nova — would mean for the people on this Earth, and specifically for one teen and her friends and family. It's a what-if story that reveals dark and powerful truths about human nature, just like the best Twilight Zone episodes.
All the book's characters are nuanced and believable, starting with narrator Tara—a quiet, studious girl who's inspired by Terra Nova to find her voice and explore the paths not taken in her life. Some of her choices are empowering, others lead down dangerous pathways to deep regrets—but that's life.
If you like thoughtful contemporary stories flavored with speculative concepts, I strongly recommend this. It's a fascinating novel for anyone who's ever wondered, "What if my life had gone just a bit differently? Who would I be?"
When I started the book, I half-expected a certain kind of SF story, and I was wondering how the author would get around the scientific implausibilities inherent in that. (If we just now discovered a parallel Earth, how could it possibly be close enough for us to go there?)
But no. This is a book about what the sheer discovery of a second Earth — Terra Nova — would mean for the people on this Earth, and specifically for one teen and her friends and family. It's a what-if story that reveals dark and powerful truths about human nature, just like the best Twilight Zone episodes.
All the book's characters are nuanced and believable, starting with narrator Tara—a quiet, studious girl who's inspired by Terra Nova to find her voice and explore the paths not taken in her life. Some of her choices are empowering, others lead down dangerous pathways to deep regrets—but that's life.
If you like thoughtful contemporary stories flavored with speculative concepts, I strongly recommend this. It's a fascinating novel for anyone who's ever wondered, "What if my life had gone just a bit differently? Who would I be?"
May 9, 2019
What did I just read?
Honestly, it was a mixture of science fiction psych, messy love triangle, obvious plot twists. Expectations:
I was really looking forward to a space adventure. Where the characters discover a way to communicate with Terra Nova, pretty much to the point where they eventually find themselves traveling to the strange, conveniently overlooked planet just on the edge of the Milkyway.
Actualizations:
I was not expecting to be dragged through a girl's struggles of maintaining her relationships with her delusional mother, best friend, and a new group of popular friends. The story heavily revolved around Tara's grudges and secrets. Terra Nova has pushed aside for the majority of the story. The planet really had no significance at all. It was just something that lingered in the character's thoughts, as well as above their heads. I nothing would change significantly if the planet was never discovered.
The only thing this book has going is its cover. The writing was good, but the story took away from that.
Honestly, it was a mixture of science fiction psych, messy love triangle, obvious plot twists. Expectations:
I was really looking forward to a space adventure. Where the characters discover a way to communicate with Terra Nova, pretty much to the point where they eventually find themselves traveling to the strange, conveniently overlooked planet just on the edge of the Milkyway.
Actualizations:
I was not expecting to be dragged through a girl's struggles of maintaining her relationships with her delusional mother, best friend, and a new group of popular friends. The story heavily revolved around Tara's grudges and secrets. Terra Nova has pushed aside for the majority of the story. The planet really had no significance at all. It was just something that lingered in the character's thoughts, as well as above their heads. I nothing would change significantly if the planet was never discovered.
The only thing this book has going is its cover. The writing was good, but the story took away from that.
December 3, 2016
I loved this book so much, and I can't believe I didn't post anything about it. A contemporary YA / sci-fi genre blend of a book, I adored every single page.
Plucking this from my Book Riot review of the book (which you can find here bookriot.com/2016/07/16/reading-list-... )
The wonderful thing about this story, is that it becomes less about the sci-fi and more about Tara’s experience dealing with the extraordinary circumstances she’s placed in. The entire planet is trying to figure out where we fit in the galaxy. Why we exist. Why we’re here. What the emergence of this planet even means. But the focus is on Tara, who has been dealing with figuring out her place in the world her entire life.
And that’s what makes this story extra beautiful, I think. Watching Tara see other people feel the way she feels, and has felt, all this time.
Plucking this from my Book Riot review of the book (which you can find here bookriot.com/2016/07/16/reading-list-... )
The wonderful thing about this story, is that it becomes less about the sci-fi and more about Tara’s experience dealing with the extraordinary circumstances she’s placed in. The entire planet is trying to figure out where we fit in the galaxy. Why we exist. Why we’re here. What the emergence of this planet even means. But the focus is on Tara, who has been dealing with figuring out her place in the world her entire life.
And that’s what makes this story extra beautiful, I think. Watching Tara see other people feel the way she feels, and has felt, all this time.
April 30, 2016
The premise of Mirror in the Sky is nearly identical to that of Another Earth: scientists discover a planet that is nearly identical to our own. But Mirror in the Sky has a half-Indian, half-white teenage girl for a protagonist! And she will also go through a journey of self-discovery, but it will involve less housecleaning and guilt.
Tara Krishnan doesn't really fit in at her white-ass Connecticut school, and when her best friend decides to take a year off abroad, she's left floundering. Until the discovery of Terra Nova causes shifts in people's behavior, subtle and dramatic, and she suddenly finds herself part of the group of popular kids she'd previously envied/hated. A group that includes the boy she's had a crush on. A boy who now seems interested in her?
The science fiction side of Mirror in the Sky...doesn't quite work. While Another Earth left most of the details hazy enough to allow it to be the thought experiment that it was meant to be, Mirror in the Sky digs deeper into communications with the other world, which should be cool but comes off a little too cutesy, as Terra Nova is like Earth with random variations in fruit and spelling. The most interesting detail—despite the silly "one-letter-off" nature—comes in the story of a famous literary figure whose life took a different path on Terra Nova. That was fascinating to think about, but overall the connection between the idea of Terra Nova and the reaction on Earth didn't make sense to me. Some people choose to follow wild fantasies at the expense of their families, some people choose to make small brave steps forward, some people choose to place all their energy, positive and negative, on one random woman caught in the media frenzy.
The contemporary side—which is, like, 95% of it—works a bit better, especially with regards to how it addresses Tara's status as a poor Indian girl. The popular kids? Rich as hell, of course. Her dad owns an Indian restaurant, and the coolest girl in school has a fucking mansion. She deals with casual racism constantly; I particularly groaned in empathy every time her white friends discussed Indian food with her. It took some time for me to get truly caught up in the story of Tara and her new friends, as it is a lot of teenage drama, but I did like how all the drama does culminate in an explosion of feelings that results in...something I did not expect. I've never been a teenage girl, but I feel that those who are or who have been will relate much more to Tara's story than I did, because it does a lot with female friendships.
Mirror in the Sky is a swift, easy read. But while I liked Tara, I wasn't emotionally engaged in the story because so much of it was telling me what she felt, either directly or through metaphors that didn't land. It was frustrating, but I also don't read a lot of contemporary YA, and I came at this book from a more science fiction-reader side. While I didn't find the book as evocative and thought-provoking as I'd hoped, I know it may strike a chord with other readers.
Tara Krishnan doesn't really fit in at her white-ass Connecticut school, and when her best friend decides to take a year off abroad, she's left floundering. Until the discovery of Terra Nova causes shifts in people's behavior, subtle and dramatic, and she suddenly finds herself part of the group of popular kids she'd previously envied/hated. A group that includes the boy she's had a crush on. A boy who now seems interested in her?
The science fiction side of Mirror in the Sky...doesn't quite work. While Another Earth left most of the details hazy enough to allow it to be the thought experiment that it was meant to be, Mirror in the Sky digs deeper into communications with the other world, which should be cool but comes off a little too cutesy, as Terra Nova is like Earth with random variations in fruit and spelling. The most interesting detail—despite the silly "one-letter-off" nature—comes in the story of a famous literary figure whose life took a different path on Terra Nova. That was fascinating to think about, but overall the connection between the idea of Terra Nova and the reaction on Earth didn't make sense to me. Some people choose to follow wild fantasies at the expense of their families, some people choose to make small brave steps forward, some people choose to place all their energy, positive and negative, on one random woman caught in the media frenzy.
The contemporary side—which is, like, 95% of it—works a bit better, especially with regards to how it addresses Tara's status as a poor Indian girl. The popular kids? Rich as hell, of course. Her dad owns an Indian restaurant, and the coolest girl in school has a fucking mansion. She deals with casual racism constantly; I particularly groaned in empathy every time her white friends discussed Indian food with her. It took some time for me to get truly caught up in the story of Tara and her new friends, as it is a lot of teenage drama, but I did like how all the drama does culminate in an explosion of feelings that results in...something I did not expect. I've never been a teenage girl, but I feel that those who are or who have been will relate much more to Tara's story than I did, because it does a lot with female friendships.
Mirror in the Sky is a swift, easy read. But while I liked Tara, I wasn't emotionally engaged in the story because so much of it was telling me what she felt, either directly or through metaphors that didn't land. It was frustrating, but I also don't read a lot of contemporary YA, and I came at this book from a more science fiction-reader side. While I didn't find the book as evocative and thought-provoking as I'd hoped, I know it may strike a chord with other readers.
July 13, 2017
This is one of the most thought-provoking books that I've had the pleasure of reading. MIRROR IN THE SKY poses some incredible philosophical questions about parallel universes and the impact the discovery of life outside our own planet could potentially have on our society. I loved getting to experience these events alongside these characters. This is such an intriguing and innovative story, and I would recommend it to readers of all ages.
On top of the incredible scifi elements and the deeper themes of questioning where we came from and what we would be like if we were the parallel versions of ourselves in an alternate universe, at the heart of this story is a teenage girl still trying to figure out her place in THIS world.
I really enjoyed Tara as a main character. Despite the upheavals in her family life and the world around her, Tara still has to cope with the day-to-day challenges of being a teenage girl and a young woman of color. Tara absolutely came alive for me while I was reading this. She felt so authentic, and I was rooting for her throughout the entire story.
It is clear from this brilliant debut novel that Aditi is an incredibly intelligent woman and talented author, and I am so excited to read her next novel LIBRARY OF FATES.
On top of the incredible scifi elements and the deeper themes of questioning where we came from and what we would be like if we were the parallel versions of ourselves in an alternate universe, at the heart of this story is a teenage girl still trying to figure out her place in THIS world.
I really enjoyed Tara as a main character. Despite the upheavals in her family life and the world around her, Tara still has to cope with the day-to-day challenges of being a teenage girl and a young woman of color. Tara absolutely came alive for me while I was reading this. She felt so authentic, and I was rooting for her throughout the entire story.
It is clear from this brilliant debut novel that Aditi is an incredibly intelligent woman and talented author, and I am so excited to read her next novel LIBRARY OF FATES.
July 28, 2016
DNF @ 26%
Although the premise for this is really interesting, and I was eager to read about it, the story is a lot more focused on superficial high school drama and I just can't read about that anymore. Also, some of characters were really inconsistent and I just didn't understand their actions. The main character's voice was very immature, too.
I think this is a book that I would've enjoyed if it had been released when I was fifteen. Right now, though, it wasn't enjoyable.
Although the premise for this is really interesting, and I was eager to read about it, the story is a lot more focused on superficial high school drama and I just can't read about that anymore. Also, some of characters were really inconsistent and I just didn't understand their actions. The main character's voice was very immature, too.
I think this is a book that I would've enjoyed if it had been released when I was fifteen. Right now, though, it wasn't enjoyable.
January 9, 2016
I enjoyed this book so much. Aditi Khorana's language is gorgeous, and her character development of Tara is great. She seem so real, and I loved spending time with her. Tara's voice is authentic and sparkling, and Khorana doesn't shy away from her characters' good qualities or their flaws. I really loved the exploration of the relationship between Tara and her mother. The concept here is fantastic: what if there were another version of our world, but we couldn't really access it. How would it change things on Earth? So fascinating. I'm a huge fan of books that explore the idea of the multiverse, and I was completely engrossed in this novel. A beautiful debut.
March 24, 2018
I can't even formulate why or how I love this book so much, I just do.
I'm a bit of a contrary reader where I like reading about experiences I can relate to, and though I can hardly empathize with Tara's story of being the only Indian girl in an all white prep school in Connecticut suddenly cool with the popular kids and all their secrets and drama, the science fiction aspect of discovering a mirror Earth to our own that supports the multiverse theory suddenly makes this book just "other" enough for me to get it, and I still sympathize with her.
I typically stray away from High School finding yourself books as I am no longer in HS and my experience wasn't typical, yet I LOVED this high school, science fiction, coming of age, romance, drama.
This story brought in threads of Tara's school life, unrequited crush (we've ALL been there), her parents' struggling marriage, all in the midst of the global changes from discovering this second Earth and the eternal "WHAT IF?" question to bring a completely relatable story in an unrelatable situation. What if I had made that choice instead of this one? Could my counterpart on the Earth be living a better life than I am? Could something as small as wearing a red coat versus a blue coat completely change my life?
This'll need a re-read (with note-taking) one day for me to pick up the smaller pieces of wisdom and knowledge interspersed in this masterpiece. I was so scared I had overhyped this book prior to reading it, but I didn't, which is such a relief.
I'm a bit of a contrary reader where I like reading about experiences I can relate to, and though I can hardly empathize with Tara's story of being the only Indian girl in an all white prep school in Connecticut suddenly cool with the popular kids and all their secrets and drama, the science fiction aspect of discovering a mirror Earth to our own that supports the multiverse theory suddenly makes this book just "other" enough for me to get it, and I still sympathize with her.
I typically stray away from High School finding yourself books as I am no longer in HS and my experience wasn't typical, yet I LOVED this high school, science fiction, coming of age, romance, drama.
This story brought in threads of Tara's school life, unrequited crush (we've ALL been there), her parents' struggling marriage, all in the midst of the global changes from discovering this second Earth and the eternal "WHAT IF?" question to bring a completely relatable story in an unrelatable situation. What if I had made that choice instead of this one? Could my counterpart on the Earth be living a better life than I am? Could something as small as wearing a red coat versus a blue coat completely change my life?
This'll need a re-read (with note-taking) one day for me to pick up the smaller pieces of wisdom and knowledge interspersed in this masterpiece. I was so scared I had overhyped this book prior to reading it, but I didn't, which is such a relief.
April 14, 2016
I had no idea what to expect when I read an ARC of MIRROR IN THE SKY, but I am so happy I gave it a chance. There is a science fictional context to this story, yes, but what it's really about, and where it really shines, is in the stunning characters and their relationships.
A strange and unsettling discovery in space is giving everybody on the planet a reason to look at their lives and reassess their choices. Tara is a wonderful character, and so are all the people around her, including her parents and the friends she has at school. These are all such imperfect people, with believable prejudices and problems and biases and flaws, but also powerful friendships and love for each other. The high school social dynamics are dramatic but believable--sometimes serious, sometimes petty, always affecting.
The writing is lovely, thoughtful and sometimes a little melancholy, always perfectly capturing the feel of life constantly changing beneath our feet. I agree with the other reviewer who said the book sneaked up on me. I wasn't grabbed by the first chapter and actually put it down for a couple of days, but when I went back, I was almost immediately sucked in and read through the night. It's such a unique book. I'm glad I had the chance to read it.
A strange and unsettling discovery in space is giving everybody on the planet a reason to look at their lives and reassess their choices. Tara is a wonderful character, and so are all the people around her, including her parents and the friends she has at school. These are all such imperfect people, with believable prejudices and problems and biases and flaws, but also powerful friendships and love for each other. The high school social dynamics are dramatic but believable--sometimes serious, sometimes petty, always affecting.
The writing is lovely, thoughtful and sometimes a little melancholy, always perfectly capturing the feel of life constantly changing beneath our feet. I agree with the other reviewer who said the book sneaked up on me. I wasn't grabbed by the first chapter and actually put it down for a couple of days, but when I went back, I was almost immediately sucked in and read through the night. It's such a unique book. I'm glad I had the chance to read it.
August 25, 2016
Silly me. I thought this book was actually about parallel universes.
It was, in reality, a soap opera, albeit one featuring some impressive scientific terminology, a cult, and a mystery that popped up 20 pages or so before the end of the book. Oh, and multiple instances of apparent drunk/drugged driving. The mirror universe merely provided an exciting opportunity for everyone to wonder "what if" and do stupid things they normally wouldn't do.
For her part, Tara spent the entire book complaining about how everyone mistreated her or didn't understand her or assumed certain things about her because of her ethnicity when in reality the problem was that SHE held herself apart from everybody and SHE assumed things about other people, and not so much the other way around.
This book is what I imagine Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars or Mean Girls must be like...which is to say I have no idea because I typically avoid that sort of stuff...unless, of course, I'm completely fooled by a pretty cover and a (perhaps?) misleading blurb.
It was, in reality, a soap opera, albeit one featuring some impressive scientific terminology, a cult, and a mystery that popped up 20 pages or so before the end of the book. Oh, and multiple instances of apparent drunk/drugged driving. The mirror universe merely provided an exciting opportunity for everyone to wonder "what if" and do stupid things they normally wouldn't do.
For her part, Tara spent the entire book complaining about how everyone mistreated her or didn't understand her or assumed certain things about her because of her ethnicity when in reality the problem was that SHE held herself apart from everybody and SHE assumed things about other people, and not so much the other way around.
This book is what I imagine Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars or Mean Girls must be like...which is to say I have no idea because I typically avoid that sort of stuff...unless, of course, I'm completely fooled by a pretty cover and a (perhaps?) misleading blurb.
March 6, 2022
Sometimes I preface my reviews by stating that I'm perhaps unqualified to make an apt review of a particular book and usually that's probably unnecessary. In this case I think it may be appropriate, since this book is a story written for teenage girls. I'm a middle aged man, why am I even reading this nonsense? Well one of the prompts on my 2022 reading list was to find a YA scifi and this was the book I picked. It wasn't until I got around to reading some reviews that I realised I was about to read something unappealing.
I'm not sure if I could in good conscience recommend this to teens. The bulk of the story is about high school drama and an outsider joining the cool kid clique. I want to be able to recommend it for the casual placement of science facts and the high concept of parallel worlds but this was a minor feature of the plot and there was a lot of insensitivity in the writing.
So much of the plot is typical stuff. Less popular kid (LPK) has one real friend who goes away for a while, so LPK joins the cool club in the meantime and then gets embroiled in all sorts of girlfriend/boyfriend melodrama with all the usual lies and heartbreaks that afflict our teenage years. LPK's friend returns to find the friendship is no longer valid, cool club has a meltdown and the LPK walks away with a life lesson and a new sense of self.
I don't really go all in for parallel universe stuff, personally I don't find the idea of slightly different versions of myself very interesting. For whatever reason this plot has a parallel planet in our own physical universe even though it discusses multiverse ideas. That didn't make sense but I did like the idea of thinking about how humans would react if such a thing were proven to be the case. Not simply a case of finding out that there is other life somewhere out there, but that there is another version of your life out there. Some of the batshit craziness that results is unfortunately not hard to imagine.
The interesting parts of the book were mostly in the main character's family life. The mother eventually joins a cult that want to psychically communicate with their parallel selves. This causes a lot of anguish at home and was probably the most emotionally mature thread of the book.
I did not enjoy the book overall. Even though it handled a few themes well, the main theme was about kissing boys and impressing the cool girls. I debated about giving this a third star because the book isn't fit for me to judge but I'm settling on two because I think the author mishandled a lot of opportunities in this plot.
I'm not sure if I could in good conscience recommend this to teens. The bulk of the story is about high school drama and an outsider joining the cool kid clique. I want to be able to recommend it for the casual placement of science facts and the high concept of parallel worlds but this was a minor feature of the plot and there was a lot of insensitivity in the writing.
So much of the plot is typical stuff. Less popular kid (LPK) has one real friend who goes away for a while, so LPK joins the cool club in the meantime and then gets embroiled in all sorts of girlfriend/boyfriend melodrama with all the usual lies and heartbreaks that afflict our teenage years. LPK's friend returns to find the friendship is no longer valid, cool club has a meltdown and the LPK walks away with a life lesson and a new sense of self.
I don't really go all in for parallel universe stuff, personally I don't find the idea of slightly different versions of myself very interesting. For whatever reason this plot has a parallel planet in our own physical universe even though it discusses multiverse ideas. That didn't make sense but I did like the idea of thinking about how humans would react if such a thing were proven to be the case. Not simply a case of finding out that there is other life somewhere out there, but that there is another version of your life out there. Some of the batshit craziness that results is unfortunately not hard to imagine.
The interesting parts of the book were mostly in the main character's family life. The mother eventually joins a cult that want to psychically communicate with their parallel selves. This causes a lot of anguish at home and was probably the most emotionally mature thread of the book.
I did not enjoy the book overall. Even though it handled a few themes well, the main theme was about kissing boys and impressing the cool girls. I debated about giving this a third star because the book isn't fit for me to judge but I'm settling on two because I think the author mishandled a lot of opportunities in this plot.
June 11, 2016
I think I went in to this book expecting Life As We Knew It and instead got something more dull and uninteresting though it tried and I tried to like it. I think there is an audience for it and it has some unique features that would make connections with readers-- Tara's half Indian, half white as a first generation daughter whose Indian father wants to see her succeed and help fix her problems. Oppositely, with the realization of a "mirror" planet that allows the characters to explore their life decisions and wonder, Tara's mother becomes obsessed with the news and leaves the family for a cult after this scientific discovery.
Yet, the book was very little science fiction that it can almost be classified as a "magical" book in that this element alters the characters in some way, but it's not a true science fiction story in the way I would have liked it to be. And if it had been that, would have appealed to gendered audiences. Instead, this will likely only end up appealing to girls because the majority of the book is a teen girl navigating her junior year without her best friend but with the interests of the more popular crowd mixed with the drama of her home life. That is why it fell flat for me.
Cool cover though!
Yet, the book was very little science fiction that it can almost be classified as a "magical" book in that this element alters the characters in some way, but it's not a true science fiction story in the way I would have liked it to be. And if it had been that, would have appealed to gendered audiences. Instead, this will likely only end up appealing to girls because the majority of the book is a teen girl navigating her junior year without her best friend but with the interests of the more popular crowd mixed with the drama of her home life. That is why it fell flat for me.
Cool cover though!
April 21, 2016
This was such a fascinating book, unlike anything that I've read before. The premise is sci-fi: a planet is discovered that seems to be a parallel version of Earth, existing in some other part of a multiverse, yet connected enough that Earth can receive signals from this other place. It's a planet so similar to our own that versions of each individual person on Earth might also exist in this other place. Yet the story's focus is ultimately on the very Earthly lives of Tara and her friends and family, and on how each character is personally affected by the knowledge of this other planet. What does it do to you to know that another you may exist somewhere, and that this other you may also be different from you in important ways? How does that affect your decisions? Your relationships? Your understanding of who you are? Khorana's writing is beautiful, giving the book a touch of poetry and philosophy. It made me think and feel and wonder.
September 27, 2018
The cover and synopsis for this book are very misleading. I found it on a list of space YA recommendations and I loved the sound of a) Indian protagonist & author b) mirror planet but in fact I was c) majorly disappointed.
This book was cringey, angsty, problematic, and the space aspect was little more than a subplot. The protagonist, Tara Krishnan, was an unlikeable, bitter, jealous person, and pretty problematic. At one point, she said she was grateful for her lithe figure so she wasn't like the "big girl" who had to eat her lunch alone. What the fuck? Girl. No. Every character sucked and was problematic, including one girl's supposed best friend outing her in front of a bunch of people (not cool at all) and another friend in the group being the butt of jokes for her eating disorder.
It seemed like the author had a grudge against popular kids in high school and wanted to take it out in them in this book, in which the MC seemed like a major self-insertion.
This book was cringey, angsty, problematic, and the space aspect was little more than a subplot. The protagonist, Tara Krishnan, was an unlikeable, bitter, jealous person, and pretty problematic. At one point, she said she was grateful for her lithe figure so she wasn't like the "big girl" who had to eat her lunch alone. What the fuck? Girl. No. Every character sucked and was problematic, including one girl's supposed best friend outing her in front of a bunch of people (not cool at all) and another friend in the group being the butt of jokes for her eating disorder.
It seemed like the author had a grudge against popular kids in high school and wanted to take it out in them in this book, in which the MC seemed like a major self-insertion.
February 2, 2016
Loved this book. With all the talk about life on other planets, this book really hits home. This book is what the movie "Another Earth " could have been.
April 7, 2017
I knew that I would enjoy this the moment I read the synopsis and it said "Alternate Earth" & "NASA". I just love any and all things universe & NASAish.
Aditi Khorana really blew my mind with this one. I really felt connected to Tara, and to the events of the book. Mostly questioning how I would react if I had found out there was an ALTERNATE EARTH with me on it. My name would probably be spelled Britaini instead of Brittany and I'd probably have my life figured out.
Sometimes I still feel like I'm 16 so it was so easy to relate back to Tara and her unending questions. Especially concerning alternate Terra Nova, Tara. In fact I really felt like I connected with all of the characters. That apart of them was also apart of me. (Except Nick. He can choke.) That's probably a theory in itself about alternate universe, finding yourself in book characters.
But that just goes back to how AMAZINGLY WELL Khorana captured real feelings. And especially the worlds reaction to finding out about Terra Nova. There's no doubt in my mind that thats how the world would react. Very real.
I don't have much negative things to say. It was a light read. I read it in one sitting. I do wish we learned more about Terra Nova but as a space geek I know it'd take more than a year to find out about that planet. Technology IS limited so I guess I understand. Also that Plot twisty kind of ending makes me sad. I would like to know what happened to that certain character.
I wish I could do a super in-depth, every few chapter, kind of review. There are great points to be brought up from MIRROR IN THE SKY. But I know me. If I don't type this up on my phone right after finishing it, I won't review it at all. If you can call this a review lol
Lastly, goodness this book had wonderful quotes and passages that made me think. My favorite?
"Is there someone watching us, trying to observe the outcome of our reality? We live in a world of choices too. Or do both possibilities exist??"
Thank you Aditi Khorana for sending me this wonderful book!
Aditi Khorana really blew my mind with this one. I really felt connected to Tara, and to the events of the book. Mostly questioning how I would react if I had found out there was an ALTERNATE EARTH with me on it. My name would probably be spelled Britaini instead of Brittany and I'd probably have my life figured out.
Sometimes I still feel like I'm 16 so it was so easy to relate back to Tara and her unending questions. Especially concerning alternate Terra Nova, Tara. In fact I really felt like I connected with all of the characters. That apart of them was also apart of me. (Except Nick. He can choke.) That's probably a theory in itself about alternate universe, finding yourself in book characters.
But that just goes back to how AMAZINGLY WELL Khorana captured real feelings. And especially the worlds reaction to finding out about Terra Nova. There's no doubt in my mind that thats how the world would react. Very real.
I don't have much negative things to say. It was a light read. I read it in one sitting. I do wish we learned more about Terra Nova but as a space geek I know it'd take more than a year to find out about that planet. Technology IS limited so I guess I understand. Also that Plot twisty kind of ending makes me sad. I would like to know what happened to that certain character.
I wish I could do a super in-depth, every few chapter, kind of review. There are great points to be brought up from MIRROR IN THE SKY. But I know me. If I don't type this up on my phone right after finishing it, I won't review it at all. If you can call this a review lol
Lastly, goodness this book had wonderful quotes and passages that made me think. My favorite?
"Is there someone watching us, trying to observe the outcome of our reality? We live in a world of choices too. Or do both possibilities exist??"
Thank you Aditi Khorana for sending me this wonderful book!
January 18, 2019
This starts off like a slightly cliched YA sci-fi novel and quickly spins into this incredibly thoughtful delving into the moments of our life when we are both surrounded and lonely. Gah. Such good writing. I tore through this one in less than 24 hours despite having to go to work.
July 11, 2016
I cannot stress this enough, Mirror in the Sky is NOT in any way a science-fiction novel. I typically don't like to delve too deeply or research books before picking them up. I saw that Penguin was hyping up this book, realized that it was written by an Indian author and featured an Indian-American protagonist and decided to pick it up from my local library. I also made the mistake of assuming that there would be stronger sci-fi elements to the book.
Yeh Tara Woh Tara
Our protagonist's name is Tara Krishnan. Tara means 'star' in Hindi and happens to be part of the title of one of my favorite Hindi songs (hence the sub-heading). Tara is half-Indian with an Indian father who runs a restaurant and a white mother who teaches ballet. She is entering her junior year at Brierly without her best friend, Meg, who has decided to study for a year abroad.
Their world soon discovers the existence of a mirror planet, where things seem similar and yet a little different. This sparks a lot of spiritual and philosophical debates amongst Tara's family and friends. That is the extent of the science-fiction premise in the novel. The rest reads like a contemporary high-school story about Tara, and her family, and her friends. In fact, Khorana calls it a contemporary speculative novel, which describes the atmosphere of the book very well.
Family & Friends
I loved Tara and her family. Her relationship with her parents was genuine and wonderful, but not suger-coated. All three of them have dealt with serious disappointments and that has had a substantial impact on the family. I thought Khorana did a great job depicting the loving bonds that existed and persisted through their hardships and struggles. It was woven together with the appearance of the mirror planet, and the self-reflection that came along with such a discovery.
Without Meg, Tara felt absolutely bereft at her high school. She hated her school and feared having to sit in the library for lunch. There were moments that I felt she was just being a little over-dramatic. But then, I thought about my high school years and remembered the holy terror I felt having to walk into a cafeteria when I knew absolutely no one, and realized she wasn't being all that dramatic after all. Lucky for her, she happened to accidentally become friends with the popular crowd. Even better, one of them is Nick, her crush. Only he's crazy in love with Halle.
Halle is the Queen Bee. Everyone in the friend group revolves around her, especially Nick. Tara then spends the rest of the time trying to deal with her crush, and navigating the new friendship dynamics she finds herself in.
Being Indian
This book addresses what it is like to be a brown teenager in an all-white school. As such, Tara has always felt like an outsider even after she is deemed a part of the popular crowd. She often feels stereotyped because of her skin color, and has some struggles with her guidance counselor because of that. I thought it was an interesting topic to read about especially since I have never felt discriminated against for being in Indian in America (at least the places I've lived). I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but I often take advantage of the stereotypes.
People assume that Indians are smart and great at school. I happen to enjoy that inherent assumption. When I first moved here at the age of fourteen, numerous people remarked upon my perfect use of American English down the accent. Many more told me how surprised they were that I could speak and write so well. I took it as an opportunity to disavow my Indian heritage since I had spent the majority of my life out of India anyway. I hated being thought of as backward, and I disliked living in India anyway, so I didn't embrace that part of my identity. For these reasons, I couldn't relate to Tara's struggles with racism, but I am glad to have gotten to opportunity to read and understand her perspective.
Pacing
I wasn't very pleased with the pacing of the book. Mirror in the Sky kept my attention, but I found the first two-thirds of the book to be a little too slow for me. Towards the end of the book, we get to see Tara and her friends celebrating their friendship with child-like joy. That was the moment when I realized how much I enjoyed these characters and I wished we could have spent more time with them in that state of being. The last third of the book felt a little rushed. A ton of things were happening at once, but that was when I truly felt engrossed in the book. It's just a pity that it took so long to get there.
I wanted to address the romance aspect very quickly. I LOVED how the author chose to write it. It is one of the more realistic depiction of a high school crush/romance that I can think of. I think Tara handled herself with true maturity, while remaining a 16 yr-old girl.
Last Thoughts
I believe Mirror in the Sky is a promising start to Khorana's writing career. I look forward to reading more of her stories!
Yeh Tara Woh Tara
Our protagonist's name is Tara Krishnan. Tara means 'star' in Hindi and happens to be part of the title of one of my favorite Hindi songs (hence the sub-heading). Tara is half-Indian with an Indian father who runs a restaurant and a white mother who teaches ballet. She is entering her junior year at Brierly without her best friend, Meg, who has decided to study for a year abroad.
Their world soon discovers the existence of a mirror planet, where things seem similar and yet a little different. This sparks a lot of spiritual and philosophical debates amongst Tara's family and friends. That is the extent of the science-fiction premise in the novel. The rest reads like a contemporary high-school story about Tara, and her family, and her friends. In fact, Khorana calls it a contemporary speculative novel, which describes the atmosphere of the book very well.
Family & Friends
I loved Tara and her family. Her relationship with her parents was genuine and wonderful, but not suger-coated. All three of them have dealt with serious disappointments and that has had a substantial impact on the family. I thought Khorana did a great job depicting the loving bonds that existed and persisted through their hardships and struggles. It was woven together with the appearance of the mirror planet, and the self-reflection that came along with such a discovery.
Without Meg, Tara felt absolutely bereft at her high school. She hated her school and feared having to sit in the library for lunch. There were moments that I felt she was just being a little over-dramatic. But then, I thought about my high school years and remembered the holy terror I felt having to walk into a cafeteria when I knew absolutely no one, and realized she wasn't being all that dramatic after all. Lucky for her, she happened to accidentally become friends with the popular crowd. Even better, one of them is Nick, her crush. Only he's crazy in love with Halle.
Halle is the Queen Bee. Everyone in the friend group revolves around her, especially Nick. Tara then spends the rest of the time trying to deal with her crush, and navigating the new friendship dynamics she finds herself in.
Being Indian
This book addresses what it is like to be a brown teenager in an all-white school. As such, Tara has always felt like an outsider even after she is deemed a part of the popular crowd. She often feels stereotyped because of her skin color, and has some struggles with her guidance counselor because of that. I thought it was an interesting topic to read about especially since I have never felt discriminated against for being in Indian in America (at least the places I've lived). I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but I often take advantage of the stereotypes.
People assume that Indians are smart and great at school. I happen to enjoy that inherent assumption. When I first moved here at the age of fourteen, numerous people remarked upon my perfect use of American English down the accent. Many more told me how surprised they were that I could speak and write so well. I took it as an opportunity to disavow my Indian heritage since I had spent the majority of my life out of India anyway. I hated being thought of as backward, and I disliked living in India anyway, so I didn't embrace that part of my identity. For these reasons, I couldn't relate to Tara's struggles with racism, but I am glad to have gotten to opportunity to read and understand her perspective.
Pacing
I wasn't very pleased with the pacing of the book. Mirror in the Sky kept my attention, but I found the first two-thirds of the book to be a little too slow for me. Towards the end of the book, we get to see Tara and her friends celebrating their friendship with child-like joy. That was the moment when I realized how much I enjoyed these characters and I wished we could have spent more time with them in that state of being. The last third of the book felt a little rushed. A ton of things were happening at once, but that was when I truly felt engrossed in the book. It's just a pity that it took so long to get there.
I wanted to address the romance aspect very quickly. I LOVED how the author chose to write it. It is one of the more realistic depiction of a high school crush/romance that I can think of. I think Tara handled herself with true maturity, while remaining a 16 yr-old girl.
Last Thoughts
I believe Mirror in the Sky is a promising start to Khorana's writing career. I look forward to reading more of her stories!
December 4, 2017
Have you ever wondered about the choices you made in life?
What would have happened if you chose differently?
What about all the 'what ifs' you've ever wondered about...
And what if you could see these outcomes in a different reality? Or maybe even on a different planet?
This is what Tara is about to find out, because a second Earth has been discovered, just outside our galaxy, a mirror of Earth with just tine differences; a different colour of jacket, a slight difference in names.
Would you find it creepy or rather comforting to think that there is a different you out there?
One thing is for sure: you'll think more about your own life and your choices in life. You might want to make changes.
This book was very powerful to me, although I would have expected more talk about life on this other planet, our mirror. The discovery is made and we get signals from them. But no further glances into it. We do see what happens to people on our very Earth, how they change the way they think about life and also start making changes. For the better or for worse.
This book is less space-related than I expected, but it made me think about life. And how there is so much that we humans still don't know about life, and reality/realities.
What would have happened if you chose differently?
What about all the 'what ifs' you've ever wondered about...
What if I stayed with that guy? What if I never kissed him? What if I never rang that door bell?
What if I chose a different field of study? What if I would have gone for the other job?
And what if you could see these outcomes in a different reality? Or maybe even on a different planet?
This is what Tara is about to find out, because a second Earth has been discovered, just outside our galaxy, a mirror of Earth with just tine differences; a different colour of jacket, a slight difference in names.
Would you find it creepy or rather comforting to think that there is a different you out there?
One thing is for sure: you'll think more about your own life and your choices in life. You might want to make changes.
This book was very powerful to me, although I would have expected more talk about life on this other planet, our mirror. The discovery is made and we get signals from them. But no further glances into it. We do see what happens to people on our very Earth, how they change the way they think about life and also start making changes. For the better or for worse.
This book is less space-related than I expected, but it made me think about life. And how there is so much that we humans still don't know about life, and reality/realities.
February 21, 2016
MIRROR IN THE SKY is one of those rare books that transcends the boundaries between contemporary reality fiction and science fiction. The idea that a "mirror" planet might be discovered is really just the starting point of this book that is all about the "what ifs." What if I made a different decision? But instead of this being a story of regret, it's one of possibility. If I knew there was someone just like me on another planet, what would my best self be? Or my better self?
Tara is stuck as the "one brown girl" in an uptight rich kids' high school in Greenwich, CT, a fact that is only made worse because she's not at all rich. She's different from the start, and when her best friend -- her only friend -- leaves for a year abroad, she's left feeling like this might be the most desperately alone year of her life. But then this planet is discovered, and the discovery changes everyone around her -- most poignantly her mom -- and suddenly, Tara is thrust into a group of friends she never thought she'd be with, and becomes a person she only barely recognizes. Tara keeps asking who she is and where's her place, as things grow more and more out of control.
A unique and interesting YA debut, especially for people who like contemporary stories. Don't be scared away if you're not into the science fiction, it's really barely there.
Tara is stuck as the "one brown girl" in an uptight rich kids' high school in Greenwich, CT, a fact that is only made worse because she's not at all rich. She's different from the start, and when her best friend -- her only friend -- leaves for a year abroad, she's left feeling like this might be the most desperately alone year of her life. But then this planet is discovered, and the discovery changes everyone around her -- most poignantly her mom -- and suddenly, Tara is thrust into a group of friends she never thought she'd be with, and becomes a person she only barely recognizes. Tara keeps asking who she is and where's her place, as things grow more and more out of control.
A unique and interesting YA debut, especially for people who like contemporary stories. Don't be scared away if you're not into the science fiction, it's really barely there.
July 20, 2016
This book is about romance and finding your place in the world, and will appeal more to women than men (imho). The lead character is a 16 year old high school girl of Asian Indian descent, but she was not raised in India. Her classmates are uppercrust white. Each character has major pluses and minuses, and whether you like them or not - will change as you read. Even when the girl, apparently begins to fit in, .... well ... you have to read it to find out. The "Mirror" in the sky is an alternate Earth, light years away and ripe for speculation. For me this book is 3+ stars. But for you it may very well be a four star read.
Read
May 9, 2016Read 70 percent and skimmed to the end.
While I liked the slow reveal of information about Terra Nova and the realistic reactions and fall out, this book is decidedly not for me. The main action revolved about high school social hierarchy with a decidedly negative/dark edge.
The storytelling is strong and the writing solid and often insightful. I think other readers will find this rewarding and well-written - it's just not something I enjoyed.
While I liked the slow reveal of information about Terra Nova and the realistic reactions and fall out, this book is decidedly not for me. The main action revolved about high school social hierarchy with a decidedly negative/dark edge.
The storytelling is strong and the writing solid and often insightful. I think other readers will find this rewarding and well-written - it's just not something I enjoyed.
August 4, 2016
I DNF'ed this book at pg 42. I skipped ahead to see if anything would catch my attention, but it seemed more of the same: complaining about not being popular, confusing family dynamics, and flat characters. The writing style didn't flow with the 1st person POV and was too over-the-top for me. The premise promised a more sci-fi element that kept getting glossed over for meagerly related high school drama.
Want to read
February 9, 2016This reminds me of a movie I saw a few years ago called Another Earth. Can't wait to read this!
February 19, 2016
Read for School Library Journal review.
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