Black Mirror

by Nancy Werlin

Convinced her brother's death was murder rather than suicide, sixteen-year-old Frances begins her own investigation into suspicious student activities at her boarding school.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Realistic Fiction, Boarding School, Crime

250 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Nancy Werlin writes young adult fiction: New York Times–bestselling fantasy, Edgar-award winning suspense, and National Book Award-honored realistic novels.

Nancy's newest book is the comedy ZOE ROSENTHAL IS NOT LAWFUL GOOD.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say this book was really amazing...how could one character be so similar to me growing up? I'm half japanese, suffered ridicule as a teen for how I looked, my build was umm...very voluptuous, I wore big slouchy clothes to hide my body, I avoided the mirror, would sometimes have outbursts in school, and had and still have painful cycles...I too retreated into my art class and often the library...I was very much a loaner in my own right...I did have friends...but no one I would consider close to me...I had a few girls who were especially crule to me...I also had a crush on a guy older(6yrs) than me. I couldn't help but feel a kinship to Frances and understood her pain. I didn't lose a brother...but my brother did have lukemia and I understand the sense of not knowing or feeling like I'm not in control of the situation. There were so many similarities to my life and Frances I really do get it. I'm grateful to a friend to suggested I read this.

[Mirrani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a very difficult time putting down Black Mirror, not necessarily because I was held at the edge of my seat with suspense, but because the characters were so real that I simply could not let them go. Reading this book I felt as if I was listening to a friend tell the story of some intense drama that happened to them in the past week and the emotion behind the characters pulled me even deeper into the story.

The main character, Francis, tells the events as they happen, in the first person. It is her story, told I such a way that you can almost feel as if you picked up someone’s diary, opened to a random page and began learning about their life from that moment on. As is the case with everyone, things have happened in her past, before the book begins, however we are not bombarded with the details. We learn about them in mentions here and there; her Japanese mother left them to join a Buddhist monastery, her father moved the family to live with their Jewish grandmother, she grew up, her brother died. It is in this part of her life what we find her, feeling out of place as a part of a mixed family, going to a private school on a special scholarship. As a reader I became drawn to this self-proclaimed outcast, feeling her pain, her worries and experiencing her life /with/ her in these moments of confusion and sadness. She was close to her brother before they grew up, then he drifted away from her and now, with his death, she finds herself all alone with only her own art to comfort her.

As a mystery, the story moves you from one direction to the other. Is there a crime? Who is the guilty party in certain events? What has happened to some of the people she has seen in her time at the school? Some of these questions are answered as you might have expected, others might throw one surprise after another at you before you come to the book’s conclusion. And, as is true of picking up anyone’s diary and learning about their life by only reading part of it, there are events that occur in the book that you will not discover the outcome of. I found that most refreshing since, after all, doesn’t our life continue after the end of a major event? Do we not have our own questions to answer after we go to bed in the evening? Life continues and this book is a perfect reflection of the life of a person that you might have simply met at random, making discoveries that will forever change them.

[Kanae]

I tried it but I gave up on it, because it didn't pull me in like books usually do.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would not recommend the book "Black Mirror" by Nancy Werlin to anyone. I would give the book "Black Mirror" a 1 out of 5 stars. Throughout the book, the author keeps it unexciting with no action or specific plot. The only information that explains what the book is supposed to be based on is the last ten pages. Nancy Werlin writes; "Bubbe, my father's mother, was of course a Leventhal only by marriage. Her statement felt to me like the curse of an evil fairy."(page 3) "I had a couple of morning classes, but with a twinge of guilt I stayed in bed through most of the first one. I figured I could probably still take advantage of the depressed, in-mourning-for-brother loop-hole." (page 120) "And maybe I really am just an inch away from insanity. I might be. I don't know. Do you want to be the one who shoves me there? Do you want that on your tiny conscience?" (page 133) I knew within the first six pages, that I was not going to like this book. When I first picked it up and read the back, it made it sound suspenseful, action packed, and mysterious. When really, it was very boring. For instance, the first quote is what pretty much started the constant repeat of the whole book. The second quote goes along with this. The entire book is this girl Frances who goes to this boarding school everyday, complains about her entire body about how she can't look at herself so she puts black sheets over mirrors, and her recently dead brother and his drugs. Who finds the same events over and over again interesting? The last example is just the same as the one before. Why does Frances have to be such a wallflower, and depressed and winy? I don't understand why people would want to read about an ugly depressed girl with no point in life. It's depressing in itself. "Black Mirror", by Nancy Werlin, which I give 1 star, is a book I definitely would not recommend.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frances, the main character, is a scholarship student at Pettengill, a boarding school. The book begins with her brother's death, and how she is dealing with her grief. She attempts to join the club that her brother was passionately involved in at Pettengill - Unity, and starts to discover the sinister secrets behind this club.

I thought this was a suspenseful and enjoyable read. Much of the book is built on perceptions. There is Frances' perception of herself: "...you are not going to be a dainty Japanese woman", combined with her 'Asian' eyes set in a non-Asian face. There is her idolization of her brother Daniel. There is her distrust and jealousy of Daniel's girlfriend, Saskia. Frances is kept in the dark throughout the book involving the roles of the various students and teachers that she has personal relationships with.

The under-current of anger and self-loathing that Frances exhibits surprised me at times, creating a complex character who I thought would be difficult to relate to, but was actually all too real.

Some of the elements of the book were predictable, but others caught me off-guard (in a good way). I enjoyed her developing friendship with Andy, winced at what happens with her crush, but I think through the experience, she became a stronger person. Although the ending was anti-climatic in a way (do not expect any jam-packed action scenes or suspenseful watch-your-step thriller-esque moments), yet the final revelation was still satisfying. It made me consider that was appears acceptable, what is on the surface of "doing good" - how much of it is for others and how much of it is for ourselves? And how far are you willing to go to stop something bad from happening? Is it worth it to perform a bad deed to stop future bad deeds from happening?

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis:
After Frances’ brother Daniel committed suicide, Frances decides to honor his legacy by joining the charity organization, Unity Services, which Daniel worked with. Her act is largely born out of guilt for his death, because Frances felt that she was too wrapped up in her own depression and self-hate to notice that her brother was hurting. As Frances tries to integrate herself in with the other members of Unity Services, Daniel’s girlfriend Saskia starts a campaign to make Frances’ life at school unbearable in an attempt to force her to quit volunteering at Unity Services. At the same time Frances starts to notice that something isn’t quite right with the organization at Unity Services and begins to suspect that the charity organization is a front for an elaborate drug ring.

Review:
Werlin’s narrator (Frances) is extremely easy for teenagers and pre-teens alike to identify with. Her self-image and vacillating self-confidence makes her an ideal candidate for YA readers who need to know that their feelings are universal. That being said, I found the book to be an interesting read and enjoyed the vivid description Werlin uses to bring her world to life. Unfortunately, Werlin's narrator reinforces the image of the perpetual teenage girl who is consistently unhappy with herself.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frances doesn't seem to know her brother, Daniel, anymore. They have grown apart ... especially since Saskia Sweeney entered Daniel's life along with the charity organization they both work for, Unity Service. Frances has never wanted to be a part of this school activity even though Unity Service supplied her scholarship.. But when Daniel dies of a drug overdose and suspected suicide, she starts to feel guilty and ashamed. Why would her brother do this? As she gets more deeply involved with these people, including James (the grad student drug dealer), she starts to think there's something going on that may have lead to Daniel's murder.

[Yolanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished this book and was not all that impressed. The begining and some what of the middle dragged on for me. I feel as though, that the reason for this was to try to make the ending a little more interesting then it actually was. I did like the mysteriousness of this story, although i don't really like mystery at all. I would recommend this book if you like drugs, murdre and mystery, but if you like books that get to the point and don't drag on, I would look beyond t his one and keep looking.

[Carmen Yeung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frances is an unique girl to me, because she would do anything for her own brother, Daniel. Even though she is really self centered, she still manage to try to join the unity because of Daniel. In the beginning, Daniel was known as being murdered. Frances would blame everyone about it, but she never knew that Daniel was killed beacuse of her. Daniel tried to protect Frances and was murdered by his own girlfriend Saskia. Daniel was finding out facts about Saskia about Patrick. Saskia had to find out crimes about Patrick. Saskia told Frances that she had to kill Daniel in order to get Patrick under arrested. Frances thought Daniel was not murdered and committed sucide, but she also believed that he would ever do that, because Daniel is so outgoing and would help anyone if they need help at the shelters. From the beginning of the book, in the forest James helped Frances. Frances started to tell him everything as a normal friend will do. James stayed with Frances throughout the days and they started out to like each other. Frances did learn to let go and move on, she forgived Saskia, because she understand how much Saskia hated Patrick and she also moved on to a new love. I think this novel is not the best, but it was quiet interesting, in the beginning of the year i mentioned that i like mystery novels. I found myself attracted to the fact that i am helping out to solve the mystery by reading along. I thought Frances was a bit smart for trying to figure out what happened to Daniel, because if she never thought about finding out the truth, she probably never met James and become more talkactive. She would still be "trapped" in her little world of everything is other people's fault. Nothing is her fault. But truth is scary, she faced it and understand it. I think she is very smart and she actually understand things better than others. If i was her, i would be scared and just move on with the fact that Daniel had died. This book turned out better than just the blurb i read from the back.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frances had issues with coping. She couldn’t cope with herself, with others and then when her brother dies she couldn’t cope that that either. Instead of hiding which was her normal coping mechanism she does the opposite and slowly starts to break out of her shell. Hard as that is, she learns a little about herself and the world around her. When her brother dies unexpectantly of a drug overdose she blames herself and later on she realizes she didn’t really know her brother as well as she thought she did. Living secluded, she begins to realize the things she has been missing out on and thinks about whether she should open up her life to other things. There is this mystery about Frances, she’s dark and I almost feel sorry for her boxed-in life. Her fear of being exposed to life makes you really think. Anyways, as she begins to open up and tries to come to terms of her brother’s death she pushes she own boundaries and when others start to push her back into the safety of her box, she starts to get upset. Just when she decides to change her view on life, others are not willing to accept the new Frances. Why is that? Why can’t her brother’s old girlfriend be more accepting of her? Can’t they all see she is trying to more outgoing and be more like her brother, Daniel?
I had troubles getting started with this book, it just did not grab my attention. It wasn’t until Frances’ issues started to surfaced did I start to enjoy the book. The way Daniel’s thoughts and saying kept creeping into Frances’ head told a lot about how much Daniel meant to Frances. When Frances started to put the pieces together, I didn’t know if she still had some issues going on that needed to be addressed so the ending was quite a surprise to me.

[Anjali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Black Mirror narrates the story of a sixteen-year-old girl Frances Leventhal whose brother committed suicide. Somehow she feels responsible, feeling she shouldn't have been wrapped up in her own self-hate and misery and realised that her brother was hurting. This is the second of Nancy Werlin's novels I have read, the first being The Killer's Cousin which was enjoyable. This novel was edging on slightly too boring and quite disappointing compared to The Killer's cousin, the character of Frances, though suffers body image issues is not as relatable and I found myself disliking her. There was and wasn't action. Some parts of the novel are okay because you want to know the truth about Frances' brother's death, but other parts were plain boring, telling a cliché story about how everyone hates her, how she is just miserable, unsociable, unloved and friendless. After a while you feel you cannot sympathise with her, but that is just me. Though I disliked the characters there were some sort-of exciting parts like when Frances is threatened by Daniel (her brother's), ex-girlfriend Saskia but that's about it.

[Redd Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an Edgar Award winner Werlin has the skill to create characters who carry readers into the story. Then she uses the mystery as a vehicle for readers to learn about Frances’ world. A great combination.

In essence Black Mirror is a coming-of-age mystery. Frances’ brother kills himself and she is left to decipher why. In the process she uncovers secrets about a charity at her school and learns that even those she thought she knew best have secrets.

Written in first person we get inside of Frances’ head along with her many misinterpretation of people and events. Characters are developed through Frances’ eyes, but Frances is wrong more often than not. She’s hard on herself, can’t look in the mirror and doesn’t trust people enough to make friends, but that doesn’t stop her from crushing on an older guy. She finally partners with a mentally impaired janitor and tries to reach out to a teacher for help, but who can she trust when the evidence mounts. A surprise ending leaves Frances with her biggest challenge yet, forgiveness.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Werlin's characters and her stories. There is a coming-of-age-ness to this book. Frances was basically abandoned by both parents - her mother left to join a Buddhist monastery and her father is plainly depressed - and as the book opens, she is coping with the death of her brother. He was, she says, her best friend. Her only friend. She is different - not all Asian, not all Jewish, not all anything. Just in between and being in between is tough, lonely. But sometimes the alone is good. I liked her description of discovering art, about Frances love of creating art. It fills in the lonely so its just alone.

The book is also a bit of a mystery - something is going on (it says so on the book jacket so this isn't a spoiler) in Frances' world. Only a part of it is external though. Mostly, she is growing up, and that can be a big mystery on its own.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was in deed suspenseful. Francis, a young teenage girl going through things that most teenagers do feel like she is never noticed. Who wouldn't when you live with a bad father and your mother left in order to find her inner self- not caring much for her children at all- but for herself and her hopeful future. Francis' brother Daniel commits suicide and Frances blames the guilt on herself. It isn't till long that she begins a journey to solve the mystery of her dead brother and what could have driven him to commit such an act. I learned a lot from Francis- things that I can develop now as i get older. This is a great read and also a good eye opener to the realistic problems of the world.

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be incredibly boring. It was very cliché and the main character, Frances, was awful. I get the whole depressed girl with body issues thing. But she was so obnoxiously self-pitying that I stopped caring about what might happen to her. The only reason I kept reading was because I was honestly intrigued about what really happened to her brother, because I knew it wasn't as simple as suicide. Oh, and when Frances starts smoking pot, I almost lost it (does this count as a spoiler? Because to me, it was so cliché, I saw it coming from the start of the book). Those were some of the most painfully tedious segments in the book. I rolled my eyes so hard they almost popped out of my head. Definitely not something I would recommend.

[Cherylann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I swore that I wasn't going to read dark books for a while. I was only going to read funny books that made me laugh and were light and enjoyable. And then I realized that there was one book by Werlin that I hadn't read. How could that be, I wondered. So I began Black Mirror. It is dark. Or at least it begins with a tragic event. And as the novel unfolds the reader learns that everything they think (and Frances, the protagonist) thinks about Pettengill School, her classmates, and her brother are not what they seem. This novel kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't read fast enough to find out if my predictions were correct. The plots twists kept the reading exciting and interesting enough for me to forget about the darkness of the beginning events.

[Kewpie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frances and her brother attended an exclusive prep school on scholarship. While she didn’t fit in or feel comfortable, her brother had a large friendly group of friends connected to a charity organization. When he suddenly dies of a heroin overdose, Frances joins his organization to get to know his friends better. Instead of befriending them, she becomes suspicious that her brother might have been murdered – and the club was involved somehow in his the crime. Readalikes: Readalikes : Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Silent to the Bone by E.L Konigsburg. Red Flags: Drugs, mild sexual references, violence.

[Allysa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book!!!!!!
I was just casually strolling through the library, when i noticed this book. never heard of the author.....so i decided to try it, best decision ever.
When reading this book, be sure to look for some hints the author drops to foretell the ending. I feel this book is best recommended for those who have some previous knowledge about Buddhism, and a also some knowledge about the Jewish religion.
(THE MAIN REASON I RATED THIS BOOK A 5 IS BECAUSE A CHARACTER'S NAME WAS ALLYSA. SHE ONLY APPEARED ONCE BUT I WAS STILL EXTREMELY HAPPY. I HAVE NEVER SEEN MY NAME SPELLED CORRECTLY ANYWHERE ELSE ;-p)

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book because it had a good mystery to solve. It starts off as Frances being insecure about herself because all her life her grandmother told her that she was never gonna be as pretty and secure like her, from then on she promised herself that she was never gonna look in a mirror again. The only friend Frances had was her brother who unfortunately died from an overdose, but Frances thinks it very suspicious because her brother hand't done drugs for a very long time. What Frances thinks she has to do is find out who really is being all of this. Her main suspects are his brother's girlfriend and the Union club from school his brother always hanged out with.

[Taye G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book. You have to be mature to read this book there are many heavy topics. Such as drugs, crime, betrayal, and love. As you go through the book you find it gets darker and the main character is lonely and doesn't like the way she looks. Another main subject is suicide and you find out one of the reasons the main character is depressing is because she couldn't see her brothers pain before he killed himself. Other that these topics it's a great book that we loved reading with many plot twists and a story that can turn anyway. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes Mystery and can handle these subjects.

[Veazey · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Rating.

This book was very mild. It wasn't bad, I did enjoy it, it just wasn't nearly as thrilling or exciting as I anticipated. I enjoyed the characterization and overall plot. I also liked how Werlin writes her character's interactions. It was just a little too dull. It wasn't dull enough for me to put it down, I'm glad I finished it, I was just expecting something a little bit more.

Normally I can drone on and on about a book, but this one...sadly, I just don't have that much to say about it. It was just okay. I'd definitely give this author another chance, though.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for school recently. I hated it so much! Frances was all depressed about loosing her pothead brother Daniel, so she goes in his room and smokes Pot and cries about it. She is such a frickin' dope, and she was very unlikable to me. She also had a cliché romance with a drug dealer. The setting was unknown to me, but in a very cloudy, snowy, depressing area. I didn't learn any lesson or gather any entertainment from this book. If you are a bi-polar, whiney pot head, go ahead and read this book. I can warn you, but I can't stop you!

[Sarah Dickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black mirror was alright but not necessarily amazing. Although it only took a few hours to read those hours seemed to last quite some time since it was not very fast paced at all. The climax was also rather disappointing as I kept reading in the hopes that there would be a big dramatic mystery revealed but it fell quite short. I guess to sum up my experience, I read forty pages then put it down to finish my other books before forcing myself to finish. I'm very easily pleased so that, in and of itself, says a lot for me.

[Nnhslibrarygmail.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a good, fast moving mystery, you should check out Nancy Werlin's, "Black Mirror".
Frances feels alone in the world. Her brother recently passed away from a drug overdose-- he left a note so everyone thinks it was a suicide. Her mother ran away from the rest of the family and settled in a zen monastery in Japan; and her dad has checked out emotionally and no longer talks to her.
She goes back to her private school, continuing to grieve while starting to put together clues to find out what really happened to her brother.

[Roslyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third Nancy Werlin book I have read, but it definitely is not a favorite. Frances Leventhal is half Jewish half Japanese. She is a loner and definitely not comfortable with who she is - actually I don't even think she knows who she is. Her brother dies from a drug overdose. Frances takes his death very hard and yet she believes that his death was not a suicide. Werlin's books have strong characters that can analyze themselves and their situations.

[L.M. Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read. The character's voice is what truly kept me engaged the most. I loved this shy, quiet, lonely girl who unknowingly started to pursue her brother's killer and found herself. The villian was someone I didn't expect and it kept me guessing during several tense moments. This is a good read for someone that loves an even paced mystery with thrilling suspenseful moments and surprises.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have of history of loving/being totally frustrated by Nancy Werlin books, so I'm excited for this one!

It's not my favorite of Nancy Werlin's books, but it was still good. In tone, it was pretty similar to The Killer's Cousin, but I enjoyed the mystery and the conclusion more in that book. Still there were aspects of this book that really surprised me (in a good way), and I read it all in only about two days, because I really wanted to find out what happened.

[Charity · Rating 2 out of 5]

I completely despised the ending, it made me angry just like the ending in Extraordinary. Also, I guessed who James was after his encounter in the woods so I kept reading to see why he was there, that was about the only part I liked. Saskia was not a believable character nor her name, I don’t even know if I pronounce her name correctly. I can’t imagine a person not showing any remorse for what she did to Daniel.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it took a bit to get into the full story here, there wasn't any point in the book where I wanted to stop reading it. At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like it - it was one of those stories that starts after a huge event, and you don't fully understand until the end. I'm not too fond of those types of plot but this one I hugely enjoyed. It was totally not what I expected but I loved it. Towards the end especially it became very hard for me to put it down.

[L. Petunia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe a 2.5? I waffled between a 2 and a 3 for this one. I've loved all of Werlin's books I've read before this but this was my least favorite. I didn't connect with the main character at all--I didn't like most of the characters, other than Andy. I felt the mystery was a little odd... And it seemed strange that drug use was that rampant at a boarding school. Some things about the final reveal surprised me, though.