Poison and Mirrors

A Twisted Fairytale #5

by Holly Hook

Mara's always had to be tough. She has no parents and lives in the town orphanage with Sara, her best friend. Her crush, Eric, probably doesn't realize she exists—or he's too afraid of her to strike up a conversation. No one's dared to mess with her until now.

But now that she's finally drawn Eric's attention, strange and scary things are happening to Mara and they're right out of a fairy tale. A teacher's tie nearly chokes him to death and classmates turn into donkeys...and it seems all this dark magic is aimed at Mara. Worse, she's been having a nightmare about a very red and dangerous apple. Someone's trying to keep her away from Eric at all costs—someone jealous. Could Sara be trying to eliminate her?

Mara must get to the bottom of this fairy tale nightmare if she is to survive and get her prince. And she might not be able to hold onto her toughness much longer.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Collections, Retellings, Fairy Tales

Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2016

About the author

Holly Hook is the author of the Destroyers Series, which consists of five young adult books about teens who are walking disasters...literally. She is also the author of the Rita Morse series, a young adult fantasy series still in progress, and After These Messages, a short ya comedy. Currently she is writing Twisted, a spin-off of the Destroyers Series due out in December. When not writing, she enjoys reading books for teens, especially ya fantasy and paranormal series with a unique twist.

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different from the previous books in this series. Some really nice twists I didn’t see coming.

[Rashmi Binu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its as dark as it can get... But a lovely twist indeed. The book has a predictablity but with the urge to read on.. That had me hooked till the end. Cant wait to start the next one 😊

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimited

The stories {to do this without spoilers just giving the titles} are 1 Thread and Spool, 2 Wolves and Paths, 3 Frogs and Princes, 4 Towers and Braids, 5 Poison and Mirrors, 6 Swans and Silence, and Glass and Death.

Usually notice when lots of errors but by time did the first one didn't want to bo back and look at all the issues, and secone one glitched so below is just for 3 and 4 and through to 7.

They are the green, it was there, but also the black, and the green made them come back, so why have the green at all? The back and forth with the phone, throwing it, and finally {confusedly} getting it back was unnecessary filler. Do want to know how someone in the back seat of a car can see the 'scenery' go by, by looking in the side view mirrors of the front; there would be very little to see in the front much less the back seat, and why wouldn't you just look out the windows. For someone who didn't eat lunch or dinner, and has been biking around all all, more than odd she didn't want anything to drink, or eat, at the police station or when she got taken home. No, her journal was not in the backpack, she'd already moved it to underneath her mattress before starting to break mirrors, and so why was the mirror she passed unbroken, and with the 2 mirrors broken how did he get through, unless there were other unmentioned mirrors, or as usual with this writer some things are one way then another. And if the one girl lives way off the read, then how was the bus just right down from her house, waiting to pick her up? The 90210 teen angst part with the cheerleaders talking didn't make any sense. How come she didn't try to make the return bus trip, since her bike was still way out there? Why would she go through a window of the house when her main objective was to get the backback back, and she knew she'd left it on the back deck of the back yard? And if the bad guy wiped the other guy's memories, then how come after a sentence or 2 it was all back to him as if it had not been wiped?

There is also The Twisted Fairy Tale Box Set, Books 1-3 (A Twisted Fairy Tale Book 0)
A Twisted Fairy Tale (4 Book Series 1-4}
The Twisted Fairy Tale Box Set, #2 (Books 4-7) Kindle Edition
Plus of course each book individually.

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED the 5th book in the Twisted Fairy Tale series. Each book is more jam packed than the last with even more added adventure and suspense. Through twists and turns, I was questioning the fairy tale identity of the main character Mara till the very end. And when it became apparent who she really was, I got chills. This series is incredibly fun to read and I am so excited to continue it in the next book.

[Jessica (The Mortal Jessica) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received an ARC of this from the author in exchange for my honest review. This in no way affected my review.*
Amazing as usual! Keep 'em coming please! Sorry I forgot to review this one, I've been forgetting to check my emails lately so I didn't realize it had been released!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the plot twist.

[Cleocutie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting addition to the series. This one is set almost entirely in the "real world" but still has plenty of magic and nice twists on a classic tale.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice twist

[Teri Campisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all the Twisted Fairy Tales!

I love all the Twisted Fairy Tale books. I try to figure out which fairy tale it is and then read Holly's ending! They are all great! You have to try these books! They are all very,very good!

[Seraphia Bunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review. All of the opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s. ***
Poison and Mirrors (A Twisted Fairy Tale #5) by Holly Hook is a story about a girl named Mara and her best friend Sara. Mara is the tough girl and her and her friend Sara live at Haven House. No one really expects much of Sara since she lives there. Her crush Eric barely knows she exists which only goes to bother her more. Then Sara gets in trouble in class because she falls asleep and then she pulls out her dream journal to write down what she can remember what happened in the dream and go over it later. Her teacher demands to talk to her after class when she refuses to give him the journal, then his tie almost strangles him which is just weird. Then other strange things begin to happen and Mara begins to wonder if her friend Sara is out to get her and that this is some sort of twisted fairy tale.
This story is number five in the Twisted Fairy Tale series and while it’s not my favorite it is still an enjoyable read. You get to follow along with Mara as she tries to figure out what is going on in her life as all these changes start happening to her. I’ll admit that once you put the pieces together that it’s easy to recognize Snow White in the story but the fun part is figuring out this…who is who? I really like that the author gives us something different with this story which makes it really interesting and unique. Because it just goes to reinforce…nothing is what it seems and sometimes the stories are changed to make sure that only the good are remembered for the good and the evil for the evil when there is so much more dimension to the story than just that.
I really enjoyed this book overall and cannot wait for Holly Hook’s next book in this series. If you’ve read her books so far and enjoyed them all then I definitely recommend this book to you. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. While the other stories were told in Fable this one is not. Things are not as the appear to be with memories erased and replaced with false memories. The battle will be separating the truth from the lies. Will the truth be sorted out soon enough to save the world or will the darkness from Fable leaked out. Lots of excitement love Mara, Sarah and Eric. Don't think I want to come up against the dwarfs in the light of day or edge of night. Another remake well done. I like the variations in the stories so there is no opportunity to get bored or figure out the direction of the story.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poison and Mirrors was awesome!! I have liked all of the first four of the Twisted Fairy Tale books, but this one was very fast paced and it was my absolutely favorite of all of them.

Unlike the first four Twisted Fairy Tale books, this one does not take part in Fable. It takes part in our world. Mara wakes up one day in a class and is confused. She feels like she has been somewhere else and just woke up in the class. She knows her best friend's name is Sara and she is in love with Eric. Mr. Rains tries to get Mara's dream book and she puts it away but he keeps her after class. While she is standing there talking to him, his tie starts to choke him and Mara gets blamed for trying to kill him. Then all the students are eating in Foods class some things that they brought in that are healthy. Sara and Mara brought in salads. Turns out the salads were not so healthy and one salad turned two boys into donkeys and the other brought them back to normal boys. Then Sara gives Moanna a comb that belongs to Mara and Moanna is found in the bathroom passed out. Mara believes she is in some type of fairy tale but just not sure what is going on around her. She goes to the library and gets a fairy tale book so she can see if she can figure it out. She feels she is Snow White and Eric is her prince and that Sara is the Queen that is trying to keep her and Eric away from each other. Alric comes to the real world to try and help Mara get her prince!!

This is definitely a story you don't want to miss. So many twists and turns goin on. I could not put this book down. It was an excellent read!! I can't wait to start the next one and see where things go from here!!

[Chris Sanford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holly Has done it again! In this fifth installment of the Twisted Fairy Tale Series Holly has spun a version of the famous take Snow White. This new adventurous tale spin on the old tale we follow Mara, Sara, and Eric but even compared to the other four Twisted Fairy Tales this one is different. It was set almost entirely on Earth not in Fable and the only returning character is the evil wizard Alric. While Mara weaves her way through the magic messing with everyone's memory and all the other weird magic as well as normal teenage issues like the hot guy crush on Eric she learns far more than she ever wanted.
Through out more and more questions arise to drive the plot. Who is the good guy and who is bad? Is it really that simple? Why is Alric helping Mara? Is it possible that the darkness of Fable could spread to Earth? All of the twist in this plot not only make it hard to put down but keep you fully engaged. The magic was also as engaging as any character and drove the mystery surrounding everyone and everything. The development of the characters in the real world and time, with current struggles helps make the fairytale modern and able to connect to, but the magic makes it fun. It was a great joy to read and I am looking forward to he next book.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poison and Mirrors is book 5 in Holly Hooks A twisted fairy tale series.

This instalment is told slightly different as most of the story takes place in the real world as opposed to Fable, the land where Fairy Tales are real. This story revolves around, as the title suggests, Snow White. We watch Mara, Sara and Eric learn and remember who they are and their place in their story. And all the while we continue as Alric advances in his plan to make all the Stories Fall and takeover Fable.

I enjoyed this one, due to its differences compared to the previous instalments, as it provided a different look into the world of Fable, it's characters and its effects on the real world. It was interesting to see this story develop with its notorious twists and turns Holly Hook is famous for, and contains elements that keep you guessing right to the end.

It was great to see Holly bring an alternate element into book 5 and excels at telling it from a different angle. Hook has also excelled at highlighting different Fairy Tales and putting a darker spin on them. An excellent series to get stuck into.

I was gifted a copy by the author in exchange for an honest review.

[L.J. Bus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings with this book... I didn't feel much credibility there. Haven house (sort of orphanage) ruled by one adult, her partner alone in another house like haven house? No, not plausible, at least not on earth, not with 9 kids. I had many little moments where I was thinking 'huh?' and other moments where I went 'no' (sorry but I don't want to spoil anything), the story, to me, at some times missed the right details and therefor just wasn't plausible enough. That was a real shame because Holly has never dissapointed me before, all her stories have such believable details. BUT... Around 80% into this book all that lack of credibility was disolved. Those little times I went 'huh' or 'no' made sence from that point on. It's just not as well built as her other stories but my! The remaining plot twists sure make up for that! So I still liked it!
This 5th book is definitely the darkest one yet and the most twisted one.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advance Reader Copy


This is the 5th instalment of the Twisted Tales and we're now following Mara, Eric and Sara into their own tale, this time based on our well known fairy tale - Snow White.
We spend most of our time in the real world instead of our enchanting world; Fable.
Whilst continuing to join Alric - our favourite, love to hate Wizard. - on his quest to make Fable fall to his will, we watch the three characters go on a journey of "self discovery". - A wonderful story told by Holly once again!

This one definitely holds many twists that keeps you wanting to read on. Quite different from the previous tales and it's not one you'll want to miss out on either! Brilliant and exciting! Read!

Thanks again, Holly!

[Princessdi13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grammar Police Alert

I have always loved fairy tales and have enjoyed the series very much, thus far. I think the different take on familiar tales is very well done. However...

The entire series needs to be edited by someone who knows and understands verb tenses, as well as the difference in correct usage between "I" and "me". It is very jarring to be yanked out of the flow of the story by silly mistakes that any ten-year-old would be ashamed to make.

That being said, I am anxiously awaiting the rest of the series. Ms. Hook has a delightful imagination that makes for a fresh take on old material.

[Melonie Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!!!! I loved it. Those of you following this series will love the twist! I can't comment on it or it will give away too much, but WoW Holly!
You really surprised me with this one. Can't wait to see how this one continues to unfold in the series!

[ROBIN CONKEL-HANNAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read

Holly Hook writes faery tales with such an interesting twist.. Each one is better than the last.. Can't wait for the next one..

[Raymi Slays Windmills · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7 stars
One of the better takes on Snow White I've read in quite a while. Really enjoyed the books I've read in this series so far, will definitely be finishing it out.