Synopsis: 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.
As the world lights up with the knowledge of Terra Nova, the mirror planet, 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--and for Tara--will ever be the same again
Review: Mirror in the Sky was one of those books I knew nothing about and had no expectations going in. I found Tara interesting to read about and her struggles with family and school were easy to relate to. Her growth in this book was a bit unbelievable, but still good to read. Mostly because Tara learns to find herself away from the best friend who left her. She also does a great job of calling out racism and microaggressions. The other characters were not quite as enjoyable. Nick was very flawed, which I deeply appreciated. He wasn't just this nice, hot guy who started to date our main character. There were other layers to their friendship and I liked where they were at the end of the book. More than anything, this was like a case study on how to live your life without being latched onto other individuals.
The story was compelling. I'm not going to compare this book to others, but it would be a great read for someone who enjoys Adam Silvera's books. It has a mostly contemporary story with a subtle sci-fi element. It's really great for people like me too who don't tend to read a lot of sci-fi. That being said, there were elements that I wish had been expanded on. There's a character who is gay, but they are forced out of the story and other questions regarding that remain unanswered. I also wish there was a bit more with Terra Nova. Through the entire book, I wondered if we were actually following Tara's story on Earth, or if she was the Tara from Terra Nova. It was a thrilling possibility, but it was sometimes disorienting. That could have just been the way I was reading the book though. The story ends on a mystery and it's open-ended. Given the nature of Terra Nova, I enjoyed this aspect a lot. Generally, I like a closed ending, but the wonder of "what's next" when you finish Mirror in the Sky fit quite well.
Enjoyable story that might not go the way you expect.
4 howls
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