Beautiful photo by @aaliyahsbookshelf._
Hello fairy family!
Welcome to day two of our readalong of The Girl with No Reflection by Keshe Chow. Yesterday’s section threw us headfirst into an atmospheric world filled with plenty of action! I cannot wait to read more today with you all!
Today we’ll be reading from Chapter 12 – to the end of Chapter 22.
When you’ve finished today’s section, catch up with me in the comments down below so we can discuss all of our thoughts!
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for The Girl with No Reflection by Keshe Chow from chapter 12 – 22. Please only read on if you have finished reading this section!
–!SPOILERS!–
We re-enter this mysterious world with Ying Yue’s feelings for the mirror prince growing by the day! I ship them, this Prince seems very caring and sweet!
Strange forces seem to be at work however as Ying keeps having strange dreams of fish… very odd and I wonder if they mean anything?
Luckily the mirror prince is by her side when she wakes and they have their first kiss!
But before they can continue with their kiss, Ying notices that reflection Ying is strangling the real prince?!
Before she leaves, the mirror prince shares some important information, the reflection Ying is very dangerous and that the mirrors only open for her and Ying!
Ying and her reflection engage in an intense fight. As Ying had trained as a child, so had her reflection to mimic her. Her reflection reveals that the reflections actually want to take over their world and leave the mirror for good!
The real prince wakes up and although initially shocked, helps Ying to knock her out. Ying uses the poison that her brother gave her before they both push her back into the mirror.
Ying agrees to tell the real prince everything but they first have to move to a place with no mirrors. The real prince takes her to his secret spot which surprises Ying.
After telling him everything, Ying cannot help but compare him to the mirror prince that she is missing and is worried about.
As it is late, Ying and the prince sleep at the cabin but of course there is only one bed and due to the freezing weather they end up sharing it!
After their evening together we see some moments of tenderness and banter between the two, and when the prince realises that Ying is injured, he is worried.
Ying questions the prince about the missing empresses and he seems to know more than he is letting on, it seems that the Imperial family definitely knows something.
The real prince is being very hot and cold to Ying, confusing her with his behaviour. When Ying states that she wants to go back to the mirror prince he’s actually hurt by that.
Suddenly mythical beasts that shouldn’t exist in their world appear and attack the prince and Ying! The prince surprisingly protects Ying and ends up pretty injured!
The prince is luckily brought to Mei Po who manages to heal him and she reveals a lot of hidden truths to both of them. That she had saved Ying from drowning when she was a child and explains all about the mirror people.
There used to be more contact between the mirror world and the real world, until the mirror people grew greedy and wanted to take over. A war ensued and the mirror people lost, as part of their punishment they were cursed to mimic in the mirrors by the Crimson Emperor and the barrier between worlds was closed.
As it turns out, Ying is part of a prophecy that says a powerful being in the form of a fish will reopen the gateway, letting out the mirror people who have been preparing for another war. But that the fish will also be the one to close the barrier for good.
Due to her reflection being a copy of Ying, she has also got those powers!
Every time Ying crosses the gateway, legend says the barrier becomes more broken. In order to close the barrier for good, she needs ‘The Book of Alchemy’ that the Crimson Emperor had used to seal the barrier. Of course it’s been lost for a very long time and Ying doesn’t know where to begin looking.
The prince insists on going with Ying and she finally relents. They decide to visit the temples where the priests perform alchemy. The only issue is that there are 99 temples??
On the first day of visiting the temples, the last one that Ying and the prince go to has been raided! Ying spots a weird title in one of the rooms, and using the prince’s blood, finds a secret compartment! They can’t get their hopes up however, as whatever was there has already been stolen.
Of course these two cannot catch a break as there is a mirror in the room. Reflection Ying appears but this time she’s kidnapped Ying’s maid! Ying tries to save her but as the prince tries to stop her, his arm is pulled through the mirror too! The barrier is almost fully broken!
Ying and the prince argue and Ying is furious that he stopped her from saving her friend. She realises that she can’t win against him physically so she decides to kiss him!
Ying knew the only way to win was to catch the prince off guard and she placed the remaining poison on her lips before kissing the prince… Despite knowing it’ll weaken the barrier, Ying is determined to save her maid Li Ming.
Once Ying is back in the mirror world she heads straight to the mirror prince’s room. Only her reflection is waiting there and they engage in another fierce battle. The mirror prince catches them both and he defends Ying, he’s angry the reflection is hurting the woman he loves!!
Reflection Ying manages to get away and turns into a raven! Very intriguing!
Wow, how did you all find that section? It was such a rollercoaster with so many revelations and some intense battles!
Which prince are you rooting for to end up with Ying Yue? The mirror prince or the real prince?
Do you think all the mirror people can change forms and if so why?
I can’t wait to see you all tomorrow for another day of reading!
Love,
Isla
Blog Post Copied to Clipboard
Conversation
27 Comments
Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Most Recent Stories
Follow Us
Most Recent Stories
i had high hopes for ying yue’s reflection but it seems she truly is evil. i also think the mirror prince is way too good to be true and I like the real prince much more. However, I do think that the real prince knows something and it might have been his brother who stole the book of alchemy. Something is going on in the royal family and I want to know what that is. Reflection Ying Yue changing form was a surprise, and I’m interested to see how that plays into the story.
Me too, the mirror prince seems to know what vulnerable Ying Yue needs at this moment… Something is definitely up but I’m loving all these plot twists, I am also intrigued to see how it plays into the rest of the story!
I definitely think the prince is hiding something, he does seem to good to be true
I absolutely loved Mei Po saying that mirror people are just people, some good some bad, and why would anyone assume an entire people are bad? Too real.
Which prince are you rooting for to end up with Ying Yue? The mirror prince or the real prince?
It’s hard for me to say. Both relationships have been moving SO fast and I feel like she doesn’t truly know either of them. The real prince did turn out to be less bad than I initially thought, but still problematic at times.
Do you think all the mirror people can change forms and if so why?
I…hadn’t really thought about that? I guess it might make sense just in the way that we see distorted reflections at times? I have no idea what the rules are for the mirror world yet hahaha.
I loved Mei Po saying that as well! There’s always good and bad people!
I feel like everyone (real prince, reflection prince, reflection Ying) knows more than than Ying! They’re all keeping something from her. I think I’m rooting for the real prince – we all love a tortured, dark prince, who might have a soft spot that the MC can poke through 🙂
It’s starting to get interesting, having the worlds start to mesh.
Me too, I always love a slightly misunderstood character!
I knew reflection-Ying was evil! So many thing happening in this section and with a nice fast pase! Still hard to put down.
Maybe it’s stupid, but I still don’t trust the mirror-Prince. I sort of doubt if he is the one who stole the book, since he could maybe also have the same blood as the Prince?
I actually think the real Prince is not too bad, maybe just a little misunderstood. But I do really get the feeling he knows more than he says.
I like the Mei Po character. I thought the fish were the missing empresses, but apparently Ying is the Fish? (Or could the missing empresses still be the other fish somehow?).
Not sure about the form changing, I at least never expected that part, so curious to see what will happen now. 🤩🐟🐦⬛
I think she definitely shouldn’t trust Mirror Prince as much as she does or at all. The real prince has at this point done much more to help her.
I didn’t see the reflection Ying to be able to transform. Maybe they all can because they transform from something to mirror the people they have to be reflections for?
ooo you could be right about why they are able to transform!
I still maintain that these reflection characters cannot be trusted, the Mirror Prince included. Wasn’t surprised about reflection-Ying, tbh, and I’m kind of wishing the book leaned more into the horror-ish aspect of the Mirror World. I feel like it’s interesting that Mei Po talked about a prophecy where Ying is this so called “Fish” but I wonder if that’s not the case and it was the reflection version of her who is? Reflection-Ying is the shapeshifter between the two. As for the prince, I actually warmed up to the real prince, but again, I don’t trust these reflections. And it’s also just strange to me that Ying spent maybe 2 days at most at most with the Mirror Prince and she’s suddenly in love with him after he practically delivers everything she wants no questions asked. So yeah, my bias is towards real Zhang. For now.
I wish she had better plan on saving people than just rushing and breaking the barrier more 🙈
I would like to see more interaction with each prince to know more about them. I can’t decide which one is better for her. Right now mirror prince is better one so far.
I’m curious about changing forms. I’m guessing all the mirror people can do it, but no idea why.
me too, but also it shows how much she cares about everyone!
I really wish the horror and creepiness factor stayed a feature, The mirror world with its monsters and oddities would have played out really well as a dark and even more twisted Alice in wonderland-esque world.
When the path’s kept leading to that big pond when the mirror prince left her, I had a feeling he was dodgy and wanted her to trigger her ‘Fish’ prophecy powers or what ever they are 🙂
The mirror Ying knows all of her insecurities and wants and as such I imagine the Prince does too through mirror Ying. He’s far too accommodating and the insta love he has for her are massive red flags!
He definitely knows to say what it is she wants to hear!
Which prince are you rooting for to end up with Ying Yue? The mirror prince or the real prince? I’m rooting for the Real Prince. Ying’s relationship with the Mirror Prince feels too much like instant love. With the real prince, there more relationship building.
Do you think all the mirror people can change forms and if so why? Yes. Reflections are just light? Or something like that? Swords can’t hurt them.
I think that’s an interesting thought, I do wonder why swords can’t hurt them!
I am not sure which prince I am rooting for. The real prince can certainly be a jerk, but there is something off about the mirror prince. Maybe one of those “too good to be true” type of deals.
I think you could be right!
Although I did guess the betrayal, I was hoping that maybe Ying Yue would be the one that had more darker intentions, have a little “villain” moment in order to get the life she wants. Her relationships with the princes are both interesting, but I can’t help but think the mirror prince is a bit to perfect for our MC. And it would make sense if every mirror person could turn into something else, they are their own kind of being.
That’s true, it’s easy to forget they are their own being when they look like our main characters!
That part was really interesting ! 🤌 Real Price definitely know more that he shows. He is hiding something and I need to know what that is 😅.
I hope that Ying will end up with Real Price but at the moment it looks like she has more feelings for the Mirror Prince.
I’m glad you found it interesting, I’m honestly not sure who I root for!
Ok, so maybe i was completely wrong about the mirror version of Ying being evil. I wanted so badly to believe she was just misunderstood! I’m sure she’s the only one or one of only a few that can change shape. Let’s see what happens!
I am rooting for the real prince! I think the insta love with the mirror prince is a little blah and I am loving the banter with the real prince. I would assume all the mirror people can change forms, but I am still confused as to why Ying is a fish?
Daily Q&A:
Q:
1.) Which prince are you rooting for to end up with Ying Yue? The mirror prince or the real prince?
2.) Do you think all the mirror people can change forms and if so why?
A:
1.) Prince Zhang is an asshole, but he doesn’t seem bad. It seems like he’s hiding something from her though – definitely family related, but father (seems scared of), brother (family was never the same after his death), mother (still thinking about the tea ceremony & how she’s the only Empress to not disappear in centuries), or a combination. Mirror-Prince seems like a sweet guy, but I keep waiting for something to happen (like he’s been working with Reflection-Ying to gain Ying’s trust or something).
2.) I wouldn’t’ve thought of that from what I’ve read so far, but now that it’s asked, it would actually make sense seeing as how the reflections were their own people/species before being bound to mimicking the human world as reflections. Who’s to say what their true forms look like 🤷🏽♀️
I was a little p**sed at Ying for going through the mirror despite knowing the risks it will break the barrier. But I also get it because she’s really close to her maid and want to save her. And I guess it’s the way to help the story going. I’m still super suspicious of the mirror prince even though I want him to be a good man and I love how he treats Ying but still something is fishy here. And I feel like there so much more to know about the real prince, I feel like he is deep down a good man.
Still really intrigued