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Mirror, Mirror

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Offered a chance to have it all--beauty, popularity, and more--Dore jumps at the chance, but her pact with her new friend, Luci, may have cost her her soul. Original.

130 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

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About the author

D.E. Athkins

9 books46 followers
D.E. Athkins (a.k.a 'Deathkins') is one of the pseudonyms used by published author Nola Thacker. Nola has also written several other books under the pseudonym Tom B.Stone.

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5 stars
92 (21%)
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89 (20%)
3 stars
173 (40%)
2 stars
52 (12%)
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21 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
Profile Image for Sandra.
745 reviews6 followers
October 27, 2017
Dore Grey is a very beautiful girl. She's a high school senior who has won countless beauty pageants, and she has a steady boyfriend, Stan. Dore knows she’s beautiful; her whole life is based on her beauty. But she wants more from life.

There is a new girl in school called Luci. Dore thinks of Luci as a vamp (red-haired, sexy, hot, bad). Luci says Dore can have more in life. Luci gives Dore a present…an old-fashioned mirror with odd decorations around it.

After a while Dore’s personality starts to change, she becomes mean and vindictive to her friends and her parents. She starts hanging around Luci more often. And her reflection in her strange mirror looks worse and worse, while Dore herself seems to look prettier and prettier.

This was a book written for teens/young-adults but I found it pretty captivating. (It reminded me of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" at times.) Most of the characters weren't very likable. But I still enjoyed this book and I found myself turning the pages to see what was going to happen next. I also liked how the story ended.
Profile Image for Emma Beckett.
71 reviews16 followers
January 19, 2023
This has immediately become one of my favourite Point Horrors.
Strong 'The Cheerleader' vibes.
Insane dialogue, and a bit saucer than I'm used to.
Will definitely read again.
Profile Image for Alex (The Bookubus).
445 reviews544 followers
May 21, 2019
Mirror, Mirror is basically a teenage version of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Dorian is teenage girl, Dore, and the painting is an antique mirror. I thought this was an interesting take on the story and one that works whether you are familiar with The Picture of Dorian Gray or not. You still get the themes of being good looking on the outside but horrible on the inside, and of being careful what you wish for.

D.E. Athkins has to be the best pseudonym ever and was one I got a kick out of as a kid when I read a couple of her other books. Mirror, Mirror was one I picked up recently as an adult. I really enjoyed her writing style, lots of clipped sentences and a sense of unreality. It reminded me a bit of Christoper Pike. The main character Dore is a bitch, quite honestly, but she was still a lot of fun to read about. There are some more adult themes in this book than are present in a lot of the other Point Horror type titles.

A few TV/film titles that came to mind while reading this were Twin Peaks, Heathers, and The Neon Demon. I could definitely see this being adapted into a film, maybe something similar to Cruel Intentions (which coincidentally is an adaptation of another piece of classic literature - Les Liaisons Dangereuses).

Overall, I enjoyed this one and I'd recommend it if you're looking for a fun and thrilling slice of 90s nostalgia!

Profile Image for Sara .
565 reviews5 followers
March 1, 2020
I don't like leaving bad reviews but this book was terrible, characters were annoying and the story didn't stay on track, it often went on a different Tangent making it hard to understand :/
Profile Image for Trisha.
861 reviews27 followers
May 5, 2019
This one surprised me by being quite compelling, and well-written compared to some of the other Point books. It was another one that had quite "advanced teen" moments, such as when one of the guys is stoned, characters are talking about sex like it's a given, the main character has a one night stand, etc.

I don't know that I remember particular parts of this story from reading it previously, but I'm fairly sure I did read it before. It felt familiar. Of course, back then I wouldn't have noticed the obvious themes in the book that I noticed now as an adult when rereading. Themes like:

1. The red-head Luci (short for Lucinda, bur really short for another famous biblical name?), loving apples most of all. And coming from somewhere that was REALLY HOT all the time.
2. The fact that Dore's name is Dorothy Grey ... but she's called Dore. To be frank, I only realised near the end of the book that this was a reference to another famous character who has a mirror for company.
3. The gothic, eerie elements of the story such as the descriptions at the graveyard, the 'knobby' trees dancing outside the window with lengthening shadows creeping over Dore, etc.

There were some great descriptions used in this story, such as:

* the moon "was sailing belly-first into the tattered clouds."
* " ... was a small disturbance of people dressed in black, pressed against a lowering sky."
* "The shadows in the room deepened. The wind rose. Knobby branches on gnarled trees twisted and danced in arthritic glee."

I found it interesting as this was one of those stories where you don't really ever like the main character. I admit that at one of the early points in the book, I felt sorry for her because all she knew how to do and be in her life was beautiful. That was all she had going for her, and all her family seemed to see she had going for her.

Obviously she learns an important and valuable lesson in this story, however I don't think she actually did learn it, given the way the story ended. Yikes!

Here are my notes written down during the read:

Profile Image for Beth.
290 reviews2 followers
March 2, 2023
Grim and hilarious and bonkers and dirty. Loved it.
Profile Image for Jojo Holm.
40 reviews
March 30, 2023
This was my first actual D.E.Athkins book that I have read, I did read last date by I feel like that wasn’t truly their writing style. Mirror Mirror got me out of a reading slump with its fast pace. Athkins writes about page long scenes that don’t go to much into detail which leaves a lot up to the mind. Some may call it lazy but I feel like it made the book more fun. As for the plot of the book, our main character Dore makes a new friend who gives her this special mirror. But as the days go on Dore’s starts to change her ego inflated and she looks prettier each day. But in the mirror here reflection becomes more monstrous. That is all you need to know. This story probably would of bored me but Athkins writing is what made me love it. I feel like this is the kind of book you have to read in one sitting to have the full experience. The book is short only being 130 pages. There is a death in this that isn’t fully explained but only heard about and I loved the way it was presented. Overall I would give this book five stars
Profile Image for Hew La France.
Author 6 books47 followers
April 6, 2015
This is the first classic Point Horror book I've read that R.L. Stine didn't write, and after reading it, I see why Stine is the only one of those authors still writing. Compared to what Stine had written for the series, this was nothing. Nothing scary happened until the very end, and what happens was predictable from the start. Athkins also FREQUENTLY would not explain something. A character would out of nowhere make a decision or say or do something, and there'd be no explanation for it. One whole character's existence isn't explained. It can be assumed there's something supernatural about her, but we're never given any idea about anything about her. I don't know, the whole narrative is just a mess.
Profile Image for Paula Brandon.
1,267 reviews39 followers
December 15, 2016
I hated this one as a kid, when I was after creepy notes and sinister phone calls from my Point Horrors. As an adult, I enjoyed this obvious riff on The Picture Of Dorian Gray, and it is one of D.E. Athkins' better books! I think a lot of this went right over my young head back in the day, as there are some definite hints at sex! It's an entertaining read, if pretty thin.
Profile Image for Courtney Gruenholz.
Author 13 books23 followers
April 1, 2022
Part of me knows that I just read a book loosely based on "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde.

The main character is a girl named Dore Grey for crying out loud and there are subtle hints that her friend Luci is clearly the Devil. I do love little references like that, I use them in my writing too, but the other part of me is like..."What did I just read?"

I'm not even sure if there was any real conflict...just a vain young woman's decent into madness. I'm not saying that the book wasn't good by any means I just usually expect some sort of twist or reveal to blow my mind. Maybe I just couldn't connect with any character, not even our main character, to like them or even dislike them enough.

A more modern take but I'd stick with the Wilde classic and keep Mirror, Mirror on your shelf to round out your Point Horror collection.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Melanie Scalera.
67 reviews
April 7, 2024
I’d give it 3.5 stars. I did enjoy reading it, however; I have questions.
Was Luci a demon? The devil?
What exactly was the old mirror, and what exactly did it do?
Was there not really an audition?
Did Luci actually push Dore at the end?
I mean, I can come to my own conclusions on these; but I just think these things really should’ve been elaborated more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
6,202 reviews80 followers
October 6, 2024
A girl with a pretty nice life wants more. When a new friend has a magic mirror, the girl leaps before she looks. Magic mirrors are bad news!

Predictable, like a Syfy movie.
Profile Image for Nia Ariel.
14 reviews1 follower
July 19, 2013
God, where do I start with this one?

So this girl named Dore (Dorothy's her full first name) is your typhical pretty rich girl. She's got her two best friends Gwen and Carol, her boyfriend Stan who's the football team mascot and her two parents. She's apparently ridiculously beautiful because she won a crapton of pageants when she was younger and everyone is always saying how pretty she is. Now, when I picture her, I see Mila Kunis or Jenna Dewan-Tatum (well, when she was in the movie Tamara and not pregnant).

Soon this redhead Luci transfers to her school and she's the epitome of sex appeal. Dore is apparently much more beautiful than Luci, but she's boring and sexless compared to her. Soon, she and Luci become friends and Dore and Gwen drift apart.

Luci gives Dore this old mirror as a gift for, "the beginning of the rest of her life". She looks in the mirror and apparently she looks even MORE beautiful in it!
This mirror is weird though. The more she looks in it day after day, the more horrifying things she sees herself as.

One day, Dore gets attacked at the school after football practice one day and she notices that Stan and Gwen are acting strange and lying about things.
Dore is suspicious of Gwen because she and Stan have been acting weird. She asks Gwen for her notes on an upcoming exam so she can snoop and see if there's anything going on. Lo and behold, Stan is cheating on her with Gwen.

She passes her exam and Gwen fails. This was her big plan: find out what Gwen was hiding and then make her fail the exam.

One day, Dore and Luci are at the mall reading a magazine and they see an ad for a new movie that's looking for an unknown actress. Of course Dore assumes she'll get the part because her only talent is being beautiful.

She and Luci are now what I refer to as "The Young and the Reckless". Luci drives batshit insane and they embarrass popular girl Mary Moran before the big dance near the end of the book.

At the dance, Dore confronts Gwen and tells her she knows that Stan pushed her at the school that one night. This of course riles Gwen up, but Dore could care less.

Now for the big embarrassing wardrobe malfunction!!

Remember the movie ad I mentioned earlier? Well while shopping for a dress for the dance and an outfit for the audition, Dore saw that Mary Moran had a dress being resized at the same shop. Dore took the opportunity to figure out how the dress worked so she could embarrass Mary again. For what reason? Because she wants Mary's boyfriend. And she gets him after causing Mary's one piece wrap dress to unravel from around her.

Dore has transformed into a full-blown bitch at this point. She even attacks her own parents, calling them thieves because they put all of her pageant reward money into a savings account for college and afterwards and they refuse to give it to her.

Before then though, here comes the whammy.

Gwen died on the night of the dance. That's right. Gwen got drunk, attacked Dore again, and in their struggle, Dore shoved her off and down the steps. Gwen died from the fall, but Dore hardly even cares. Gwen's chapter in the book of Dorothy Grey's life was over.

Now it's the day of the audition and Dore "borrows" her father's car to drive there and reserve a hotel room. She takes a bath, looks into the mirror again and is, once again horrified at what she sees. She runs out of her room, sees her reflection and she looks SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL. On her way to the audition, she thinks she sees Luci. She's enraged and pushes "Luci" into the street. Except there was no one there and now she's fallen in front of a car. She's run over and dragged for god knows how long.

Now she's in a hospital bed and her face is covered in bandages. She goes in and out of consciousness for a few days. Finally, her bandages are removed and she looks hideous. She's scarred and gap-toothed and her parents are horrified, as well as Stan who comes to visit her.

After Stan leaves, she looks in the plastic mirror and sees her horrible scarred face. She looks in Luci's mirror and sees the most beautiful girl in the world and begins to laugh hysterically.

I used to like this book a lot. I don't know why, but I did. I even started writing a fanfiction about it when I was sixteen, but I don't think I'll continue it.

It's here for your reading pleasure or disappointment: http://princessoftheinsane.deviantart...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for D.L..
465 reviews64 followers
July 2, 2020
This was a strange one.
Profile Image for Kelly.
1,367 reviews12 followers
April 9, 2019
Really bad even for this genre of book. There is no point to it and not a good plot.
Profile Image for Carmen Tudor.
Author 22 books14 followers
July 29, 2025
Three and a half stars because I love a fellow logophile. Note: This is a ninety-minute read, so best allow an acceptance for wobbly characterisation. I'm familiar with Athkins's other Point works, where this has also been noted (NB the author's name is Nola Thacker, which I prefer to use). While there is always a lot of clever -- even lovely -- language and knowing use of literary devices in the prose, Thacker's dialogue stands apart. It's a bit too sharp or witty, in a way that we more often see in the 21st century. I'm not sure why her characters always have to be the most popular, or the most beautiful. Or the least sympathetic. As I'd anticipated, that's what we find here.

As a retelling of Wilde's Dorian, those familiar with that novel's fiendish elements can appreciate what's coming, both plot- and protagonist-wise. It should indeed be uncomfortable, but not overly ambiguous and unsympathetic. Even so, part of what I really enjoy about Thacker's writing is that she never says exactly what she means. Protag Dore and antag Luci have a symbiotic relationship; I really love that we, the readers, only receive snippets of their understanding. It's my preferred way of reading, actually, and allows for so much creative interpretation. However, with such a short work that must only be c. 25,000 words, the said fiendishness and devolution can't be explored in the way it deserves. This leaves us with fractured supporting characters, relationships that don't quite make sense (see Carol; Mary; Tom), motifs that don't evolve into useable symbolism (see silver and gold*; Alice in Wonderland) and the ever-present absent parents (pun intended) who, in this case, had so much potential for exploration. All of this would have been dealt with by adding another fifty pages. And Thacker is clearly talented enough to furnish those words. So why not?

In the end, this '90s work is somewhat hampered by its own deftness. Awful characters do and should appear in literature (Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations are two of my very favourite books!). By the same token, those characters should not be dropped on the page and left there to make their own way home. I can only suppose that the publisher demanded a work with an impractical deadline and from an author juggling other projects at the time. Still, there's a craziness you can't help but admire.

*In the first ten pages we are told Dore's bedroom is both pink and silver and pink and gold. As the combination of gold and silver features in other parts of the book, I think it's more of an oversight in description and not an error. I would have loved to see this explored.



226 reviews10 followers
June 21, 2020
More psychological horror than you usually see in Point Horror books.

Despite her caring parents, her beautiful looks, her adoring boyfriend, and admirable popularity, Dore's life feels empty. She knows she wants something more with her life. When a new student, Luci, arrives at her school, Dore is jealous at first. She and Luci soon become friends, and Luci introduces her to a life where she doesn't have to feel so repressed. Her new life may end up costing her all those good things in her life she used to count on.

A lot of ambiguity remains even at the end. A lot of it can be explained by its thinly-veiled inspiration The Portrait of Dorian Grey. Even at the beginning Dore is not someone a reader would want to root for: she is vain and self-involved to the point of obliviousness. I felt a little sympathy for her though because it seemed like that shallow image was pushed on her by her mother. There's one scene where Dore confides to her mother that she's not feeling so enthralled by her boyfriend anymore, and her mother "helps" by pointing out how popular he is, hinting that she cares more about how good Dore's life looks than she is about how Dore really feels.

Dore's descent into becoming shamelessly bad is portrayed in a terrifying manner in which she can hardly distinguish what is real and what isn't. It's even harsher the second time around realizing that

Profile Image for Daniel Stalter.
Author 6 books22 followers
June 16, 2021
First things first: D.E. Athkins is an amazing pseudonym. I thought it was really cool the way Mirror, Mirror was based on the Oscar Wilde classic The Picture of Dorian Gray. That being said, the concept was the strongest part of this book. Dore was not a likable main character from the jump. This worked for the most part given the nature of the story, but I think the story would have been better if she started out a little more humble. Showing a greater change in her character from page one to the end could have really elevated this. I was also left wanting to know more about Luci’s motives. I think the story would have benefited from having a clearer answer to this question. Generically just evil villains don’t cut it for me. Give them wants and make them weird. It will always be better than [instert evil laugh]. The narrative was predictable, which I suppose is to be expected given that it was based on a famous work of classic literature. In spite of that, it kept me engaged. Overall, I liked it more than I didn’t. If nothing else, Mirror Mirror left me motivated to finally read The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Score: 3

A full review with spoilers, snark, and gifs can be found on my blog:
https://www.danstalter.com/mirror-mir...
Profile Image for Khurshid Ali.
839 reviews1 follower
November 22, 2023
We have all the saying “mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all” from the Disney Classic Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Now let’s look at it from a point horror lens.

Imagine feeling you are the most beautiful girl in the world.

Imagine being able to have it all because of your beauty.

Imagine being overcome with anger until you started doing evil things to your boyfriend, best friend and someone you know

Imagine receiving an ancient mirror that firstly showed you as being beautiful until

Your best friend dies
You try to run someone over
You receive calls calling you a murderer
Your mirror image starts to reflect

An evil person
A person whose skin is coming off
It frightens you

The truth is shocking
The truth is fitting

Read and find out why
Profile Image for ★彡MeganReads彡★.
69 reviews10 followers
April 8, 2024
I could have finished this in one day, but I was busy enjoying a day out in the Sun for once.

ANYWHO….this took be back to the days I would watch Tales From the Crypt. It’s short but has all the elements to create a classic tale of horror.

Story starts off from typical high school kids dealing with typical high school struggles and drama, raging hormones and cliques.

Dorothy (Dore) is our FMC and she is struggling with life and why everything comes to light for her as boring, typical and expected. She follows rules, she’s nice, shes always pleasing her parents. Eventually it’s not enough for her. She’s desperately wanting to live on the fast lane….

But at what cost.

Profile Image for La Nécropolivre.
30 reviews2 followers
January 9, 2023
Plus grim qu'à l'habitude. Mais mon enfant de 12 ans arrêtait pas de rire tout au long de notre lecture (les romans Frissons, ça marche pus pour les doomers). Bizarre de structure pleine d'ellipses mal annoncées (je sais pas si les éditions Héritage cherchaient à économiser le papier en coupant les espaces entre les paragraphes ou si c'est aussi comme ça dans la version originale). Comme à l'habitude, le récit peine à rester cohérent mais... c'est curieusement addictif et j'ai hâte d'en trouver d'autres dans un croque-livres!
46 reviews
February 13, 2023
Nonostante non siano menzionati i bisogni fisici dei personaggi, cosa che avrebbe illustrato la loro educazione, questo libro mi è piaciuto molto. La trama è ben congegnata e molto apprezzabile anche da un adulto. Lo stile è molto scorrevole. Il linguaggio dei personaggi è tuttora azzeccato. Ci si affeziona poi a tutti i personaggi, anche a quelli più ambigui. Leggere questo libro è un modo molto intelligente di passare il tempo libero.
Profile Image for Madame Jane .
1,102 reviews
October 16, 2021
This one was fun because I imagined the book like a horror version of 90210.

Beauty pageant psycho: Dore/Kelly
Dumb boyfriend: Steve
Dull best friend: Gwenn/Donna
Sunny rival: Mary/Brenda
Sunny rival's boyfriend: Corbin/Dylan
Sexy mystery girl who causes trouble: Luci/Valerie

Yep this was more entertaining than I thought.
Profile Image for Derek L..
Author 16 books15 followers
September 17, 2024
I'm actually between a four and a five on this rating. It's one of the best in the Point series. I wasnt captivated by it until I was a quarter of my way through this book. Not surprising for me lol. It's a great story, albeit dated. But, as I always say, good storytelling always wins out!
Profile Image for Sara.
452 reviews4 followers
August 26, 2022
I devoured 90s Point Horror books when I was in middle school, and I was so excited to read them again. How disappointing. They are all so vapid.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews

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