Monster In The Mirror (Shadowvale book 6) by Kristen Painter - A Spoiler Free Review (Plus A Free Copy of Book 1!)

Check out my review for Monster In The Mirror (Shadowvale Book 6) by Kristen Painter - PLUS if you haven't started the series yet you can get book 1 for free for a limited time!

Blurb About The Book
Shadowvale isn’t your typical small town America. The sun never shines, the gates decide who enters, magic abounds, and every resident bears some kind of curse.

For Isadora Graham, Shadowvale seems like a dream come true. A safe haven where she can hide from the darkness that lives within her, and hopefully, keep everyone else from finding out about it too. She needs this kind of place where she’ll be left alone. Where no one will realize who she really is.

Dr. Henry Jekyll, or rather a monstrous part of him, makes Shadowvale a more dangerous place for everyone, no matter how hard he tries to stop that side of himself from emerging. He’s doing everything in his power to control it, but control is hard, and solutions don’t come easy. Fortunately, the town understands he needs to be left alone.

Until somehow things go wrong, and he gets a neighbor. Izzy is incredibly nice and for her own safety, Henry knows he has to tell her what everyone else already knows. That he’s a monster. But he only ends up shocking her and turning her against him. Then another disturbing encounter makes her understand he was telling the truth, and that they are so very much alike.

When they join forces, their collaboration feels like a match made in heaven. Except for the part where the town is being targeted. And Izzy seems like the one causing all the trouble.

Can Henry battle his own demons in time to save Izzy? Or will the monster in the mirror be the ruin of them both? Only time, and love, will tell.

Now For The Review

Standalone or series?
Book 6 in a series (but like most of the Shadowvale series you could jump in here - not quite as seamlessly as with book 5 though.)

How did I get this book?
I am lucky enough to Kristen's alpha reader.

Why did I choose to read this book:  
Because I will literally read anything with Kristen's name attached!

Genre
Urban Fantasy (light)

And Now To The Review!

First Impressions:
I do love a Jekyll and Hyde reimagining and that is what you get here - with emphasis on the "Reimagining"
​
General Review
As always I was impressed at the unique direction Kristen seems to take things in, and this was no different. I think of all the books that I have read by her, this one shocked me the most. As I don't believe in spoilers in my reviews all I will say is that if ANYONE predicts the outcome to this story - then kudos to you because I was totally blindsided!

Final Thoughts
I am very curious to hear what other people think about this story. It, for me, hit very differently to most of Kristen's other stories, but I think that is probably a me projecting my issues rather than an actual story flaw. Regular readers of my reviews will know that I do have some strange ideas about things.

Rating:
5 Stars! I have a rule that authors should be able to tell the story that they want and although personally I would have preferred a couple of other things, the story itself is definitely a 5 star read. 

As always let me know what you think in the comments!

Pineapple Code word for this article is Empath