Fractured Path

The Mirror #3

by J.C. Cervantes

Can dreams come true when you're living with a family curse?

1965—San Francisco, California

The 1960s are bursting with music and movement and love in San Francisco, perfect for a budding artist like Blake. Unfortunately, the art world is not welcoming to people of her gender or her multi-racial heritage, making it tough to land an internship that could put her on the map. That, plus the fact that Blake’s family has been notoriously riddled with bad luck, makes her feel like she can’t catch a break. Things only get worse when Blake starts to have ominous, confusing visions that grow stronger and more frequent, prompting Blake’s aunt and uncle to tell her about a long-lost family heirloom that could be the key to everything

Fueled by the ambiguous clues in her visions, Blake sets out on a journey through the city to retrieve her ancestors’ legendary mirror. But Blake is not the only one looking for it. Soon she must attempt to unleash her own dormant powers . . . or else risk all she holds dear.

Fractured Path is the third book in the YA fairy-tale quartet, following one family—and the curse that plagues it—over several generations.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Historical, Retellings, Witches, Magic

384 pages, Hardcover

First published July 19, 2022

About the author

J.C. is a New York Times best-selling author. Her books have been published in more than twelve countries and have appeared on national lists, including the American Booksellers Association New Voices, Barnes and Noble’s Best Young Reader Books, and Amazon’s Best Books of the Month. She has earned multiple awards and recognitions, including the New Mexico Book Award and the Zia Book Award.

She currently resides in the Land of Enchantment with her family and spoiled pups, but keeps part of her heart in Southern California, where she was born and raised. When she isn’t writing, she is haunting bookstores and searching for magic in all corners of the world.


Author also writes under Jennifer Cervantes

Reviews

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is and does something special. When reading the first book I was quite surprised that there was no happy ending. When reading the second book I was quite surprised that they were going that far and that the themes were that heavy. When reading this third book I started to feel a flicker of hope, while I also knew there was a fourth book waiting for us, which meant that things were not gonna be solved in this one. The magic in this book was amazing, though. I loved how complicated and clearly alive it was. It wasn't just a tool. It was an entity in itself. I also liked how eventually all the vague parts of the book started to make sense. This is the kind of book you'd wanna read again after finishing it, because a lot of it will make a lot more sense now you know what was happening. I think the ending was a little abrupt though. It felt like there was a lot more coming and yet it never really happened. I am however quite curious where the fourth book will pick up now, though!

[Mrs_R_Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book 3 in the Mirror series that follows one family through many generations. The first 2 books are Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao and Shattered Midnightby Dhonielle Clayton. Fractured Path by J.C. Cervantes is set in 1960's San Francisco and picks up the story with Esperanza Blake Estancia. Blake is an artist living with her Aunt Remi & Uncle Cole. She knows that there is magic in her family, but doesn't believe that she has any until the visions start. Her Aunt and Uncle tell her of a family heirloom that was hidden by her grandmother. The visions seem to be clues that will lead her to it's hiding place.
I cannot say any more without spoilers for this book or the ones that came before, so I will stop there.

I read this one in one afternoon and cannot wait until the 4th and final book Splintered Magic by L.L. McKinney comes out in January!

[Kaity ✿ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review to be posted to Kait Plus Books on July 17 as part of the Rockstar Book Tour!

Initial Review: I really enjoyed this one! But my biggest thought at the end (other than what) is just that I NEED THE LAST BOOK NOW PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!!! I need everything to wrap up and loose ends to be tightened and all of the answers please!!!!!

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[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find myself again thinking here goes I am bored only to be sucked in so quickly I can barely get over myself. Cliffhanger ending was awful it was so good. I now have to sit and wait for the next one and it will torture me the entire time.

Bravo to the authors for writing these books as if written by the same hand. Technically you could read this one without reading the others. You have enough information to understand what is happening. Definitely recommend reading the first 2.

Blake is a budding art student who discovers quickly she has magic. Not just any magic either. Her parents are dead, her grandmother lives in her head and she has a best friend that won't leave her side. Blake comes from Zoras blood. In this book bloodlines are put together to make Blake's family.

I will write no more because I don't want to spoil anything. It is too good. I say read it read it and jump in with both feet. Embrace the magical ride.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just keeps getting better and better!! I love the first two books dearly and I think I love the third book even more!! I love being apart of Blake’s journey on freeing/understanding her magic and finding the mirror. This book had a mystery vibe to it which I truly enjoyed and it kept me captivated the whole way through. I have to say I was quite mind blown when we learn more about the Crow and Serpent and what they do to people with magic!! Also, I love the scenes, even in the second book, of Elva in the mirror. I think those scenes are very cool but also really intriguing. I wish we had the fourth/last book already!! I’m really curious on how they would be able to free her from the mirror and if that will truly break the curse since the curse started with Agnes breaking her promise.

[Faith Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read overall. It was really cool to see tie ins from the last book and how Zora’s story continued while still letting this be Blake’s own individual story. The ending felt a little unsatisfying because it ends without wrapping things up, but I am very intrigued as to how the final book will conclude everything

[Rafael Andrade · Rating 2 out of 5]

The weakest book of the series so far. A touch of treasure hunt adventure the likes of the Tv show National Treasure. It lacks the quality of the first book broken wish, and the vibrant narrative of the second. An unnecessary addition to the saga.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't my favourite in the series - I just didn't care for the characters, and our main character really should have seen the plot twist coming a mile off, but didn't which really annoyed me tbh.
TW for mention of death of parents, heart attacks, near-death experiences, kidnapping, grief.

[Holly Stahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minor error?: Blake's neighborhood's houses on page 17 are described as Italianate, then described as Victorian on page 19. Italianate and Victorian and Victorian Italianate have distinct characteristics yet are being used interchangeably here. Britt Rubiano, ask a few more questions as an editor next time. Good job on using Grammarly.

Access to this copy: purchased a bookplate SIGNED copy for $5.70 at the Book Warehouse Outlet's monthly sale in Pickens, SC in 2025. Bought the entire series in order to donate it to my local Spruce Pine Public Library in Spruce Pine, NC.

Spoilers ahead, because they're helpful for the sake of clarity, but not tantamount to understanding the concepts outlined.

As an older reader of young adult literature, I'm gonna see a lot that needs to be implied when my Big Auntie Radar flares reading these works. What seems like injustices are later interpreted as blessings by the protagonist, but without proper implications.Grayson was just a sexist pig, expecting a male with a name like Blake! Not taking into account that Jeffrey Dahmers were rolling around every street corner and SA happens to boys (one in every three). I'll be speaking about what happened to Rose later on. The St. Christopher pendant Blake wears ballooned in popularity during the 1960's. They were most popular with surfers (which would've made a sensible correlation had her parents or her been more into the Beach Boys than a passing mention of relevance late in the book), but a better allegory Cervantes could have connected was its forebearance with travelers, both in the sense Mathilda's lineage has traveled so far and the implications Mathilda had been a traveler/gyp*y (especially considering her features/geographical relation/opportunity to reinforce a positive stereotype in the series' context). Instead, there's only a fleeting mention of a curandera. Not that they were practicing Catholics, but the iconography could've bore more import on the plot and Cervantes just decided... Not to? Instead we get named characters in class foisted on the reader that do nothing to move the plot near the endgame (and have minor, questionable inclusion at three different intervals), but I'm getting ahead of myself.

And this criticism bleeds brighter when the reader is barraged with baffling impressionistic dreams. Stylistically, the cacophony conveyed remains true to the effect it has on Blake and it performs allegorical acrobatics to remit art styles to the reader. The prose also mirrors unsettling hallucinogenic effects of psychotropics that were popular of the period and Cervantes conveys this in ways unflattering to read. Books like Illuminae may set the bar too high, but Repeat After Me sublet creative typefacing to assist the plot when plot action is being established outside of concepts of linear time of consciousness. All the reader is afforded are italics. Granted, the mediocre typesetting employed is ALSO a method to illustrate how blended this feels to Blake's reality, but only insomuch as a vinaigrette must be shook prior to deluge on a salad. Blake mentally never struggles diverting from trance to reality states, even if she's assumed intoxicated or moves like a somnambulist, only gains new clarity over time, while the reader may struggle to adapt. Since this book is set in a modern era, if other characters remarked Blake's actions resembled a seizure or sleepwalking, it would better reference the effects of the trance as it was conveyed in Broken Wish. Maybe these books were being compiled at the same time and the authors lacked access to previous installments to reference established acts of trance induction. Nevertheless, the mental mindscape could be better touchstoned by the cascading hills of San Francisco as much as the fog.

And while Cervantes did a ...serviceable job creating a sense of place in San Francisco, all other settings are two-dimensional at best. What happened to Rose being murdered by Corvus would not have likely happened as much as accidental manslaughter during SA from a male nurse, especially on wards with Alzheimer's patients, because the doors require keycards. And having spent so much time in nursing homes in the 80's and 90's personally (mother was a nurse at a few nursing homes in the Southeast where even poorer regions employed keycard usage), why was there no mention of the white nursing dresses and caps worn? Why did Cervantes leave out the hum of fluorescent lighting, the mild squeak of shoes on tiled floors, the mild antiseptic smell (mixed with other unknown origins)? Had the nursing home been an elder care facility run by a convent, all of the other nods to Catholicism's prevalence in the area would have reinforced and supplied regional context (and removed fears of SA from my Big Auntie Radar). The church we go to where Martin Luther King Jr. speaks only gets the benefit of stained glass lighting because it serves for clue discovery, not because any time is spent on the setting as much as it is what people are wearing. The reader lacks benefit from resinous or woodsy residue on Blake's hands when she climbs the tree to sketch. So much setwork absent from the pages when we could and should have been spared a few hallucinations, or hamburger/milkshake dates. 

And now my greatest complaint about the ending: it was written like an afterthought, like Cervantes ran out of pages, possibly deleting a hallucinatory chapter, and sprinted towards an awkward abduction (that lacked any blood traces? Really? The disarray was too ... careful? This is where the veneer of Cervantes periwinkle prose thinned to a wash, and everything that attracted me in the first hundred pages began to dilute. The narrative wheels threw their lugs as chapter 33 barreled to the Epilogue. Had the paragraphs following 33 interceded around chapter 18 (or chapter 23 at the latest), it would've cemented this book as a 4-star, instead of rounding down my 3.5 to a 3. 

Also, the entire plot beat of Ms. Ivanov was unnecessary in regards to the Epilogue. Blake can infer artistic integrity whether in spite of failure. Being shown in Ivanov's gallery directly excuses same-gendered sexism when the overall tone implied prejudice in the art scene solely against women as a whole. The plot needed the realism of quality denied (because even the best folk artists are rejected outside of scholastic pedigree) and Blake achieving college attendance regardless. Instead, relying on Blake achieving her specific goals is required precedent. Cervantes wrote the Epilogue to allow Blake to unintentionally assimilate elitism, much like one of the plot setbacks of Shattered Midnight.

Was that supposed to be the happy ending? College acceptance? With the plot left as fractured as the pacing, I guess college acceptance was the goal. 

Thankfully, the racial diatribes remained more of an underpinning compared to Shattered Midnight. Where Cervantes recognizes that money, institutions, and coordinated economic strategies were forms of patriarchal submission in this era, the dialogue created didn't hijack the entire narrative like Clayton allowed. These injustices weren't a Mary Sue motivation, making Blake more realistic in her aspirations. 

Let it be known that my Big Auntie Radar doesn't implicate necessity of more adult, wizened themes. This is a work written for young adults about young adults. Nonetheless, there is value in writing adults as adults. Guardians should cringe, bluster, and make mention of explicit or implied atrocities that occur (or they intend to commit) in the book. These characters should be worthy of mature characterization beyond heart disease, but they're not. Worthy discussions to be had, problems posited through prose, pathways for readers to engage in mature dialogue with adults... Neglected. Adults should be conveyed as more than glorified chauffeurs and custodians (a sophomoric oversight in most young adult works), to subconsciously engender personification of parental figures for readers to remit in their relationships with their own. A healthy cohabitation is present in Olivia's relationship with her mother, but it's barely a mentioned blip, and apart from emotional codependence between Remi and Cole for Blake's orphanhood, not a lot of structure is established to convey a healthy relationship, either. Healthier than Harry Potter, but that's not saying much.

Overall, while the plot is fanciful and much better at conveying a sense of place than Shattered Midnight in all of the dimensions it decides to traverse (even with Rose "living in the bright place of her best memories [page 45]"), the diction wavers as it kaleidoscopes between them. A lot of the mystery aspects and symbolic interpretation lag behind convoluted crushing that even Blake barely seems invested in. And while the relationship between Blake and Olivia seemed suspiciously sapphic (and could've been better contextualized specifically in the 1960's), all semblance of counterculture awareness that burgeoned during this period (especially in Big City art scenes {don't even get me started about Haight-Ashbury's mention}) is sanitized to the point of censorship. Why use these extreme settings if they're mere caricatures; the story itself didn't need to hamper itself like the artist at Coit Tower.

At the start of my read, I expected to have kept this book, yet at the end decided its better suited for its intended audience at my local library. It inspired no personal evaluation, no unrecognized revelation, no moral clarity. The framework the beginning established beleaguered itself with its own comported complexity, pruning my interest when the plot accelerated towards exciting events like birthdays and fairs and ... breaking into school? When ideas like Rose existing liminally, Blake's paternal matriarch involvement, concepts like binding magic and mediumship in the tent were treated like scaffolding instead of worthwhile framework (like for a window, or at least a bracing cornice), my excitement waned. 

And still, at the end, this book itself was an Italianate, or a Victorian, or an Italianate Victorian house (Cervantes never decided): so much set dressing reliant on pre-existing styles, multi-leveled, exuberant, and eclectic, yet without structural integrity. The audience reflects the region the book is set: both are unfamiliar with earthquake and upheaval, because curses.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fractured Path by J.C. Cervantes is the third book in The Mirror series by Disney Publishing. The series puts a new, unique and spooky spin on the young adult fantasy genre. It comprises four books and follows one family―and the curse that plagues it―over several generations.

Fractured Path follows Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao (book one) and Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton (book two). In Fractured Path, Cervantes weaves dreams and curses together in sunny San Francisco in the 1960s, where a startling and mysterious journey unfolds.

Descendants, broken promises, tragedy and old magic generally sums up Fractured Path. While these are the main themes of the story that steer the reader deeper into the unsettling mists of this bewitching new series, it is the new spin Cervantes puts on magic and what flows from it that makes book three particularly intriguing.

This fun magic is countered by old magic which is shown in a very different, more sinister, light. Ultimately Blake has a lot to learn more before she can properly harness it, and thus begins the tricky and temperamental journey of taming the magic beast. Not to mention this old magic is likely the reason her family is cursed and prone to tragedy, and there are mysterious forces at work tracking it for their own ominous purposes. Fear is also explored in Fractured Path in a captivating way, essentially as being the instigator for “protection”. Some of my favorite lines from the book include “In binding her magic, she will be shielded from any powerful magic in her path. She will not recognize it. Instead she will fear it” and “but this fear hasn’t protected me… [i]t has only tangled the truth.”

I found Blake to be a complicated and, at times, hard-to-love protagonist. With magic (and, let’s face it, family) comes secrets, and it is in keeping those secrets that problems can arise. With how earnest her aunt and uncle are to help her, and given their awareness and understanding of magic too, it was a struggle for me to really side with Blake when I thought she was being unfair to them to their detriment. But of course, they have their secrets too, which makes such multifaceted characters interesting and worth chewing on.

All books in the series to date do a good job of addressing gender and racial disparities. It is inspiring to see great stories bringing these issues to the fore in significant and clever ways. While The Mirror is premised on fantasy, the disparities flagged are raw and real (and have been since the 1800s in which the first book is set). Dao, Clayton and Cervantes use their talents not only to raise awareness but to educate intelligently and thoughtfully. Young readers and adults alike can learn and benefit a lot from such storytelling.

Protagonist Blake is tasked with the near-impossible as she seeks to balance the beauty of magic with its burdens. The reader experiences the beauty of magic in a sweet and whimsical way: Blake’s magic initially consists of an ability to draw memory from objects, while Aunt Remi can send messages on the wind. I loved being introduced to such unique, seemingly simple abilities and how they are used, especially in the early chapters.

I read a hard copy version of Fractured Path which includes family trees on the inside of the cover. These trees are helpful in reorienting fans of the series with Agnes’s and Mathilda’s family – the characters that readers met in book one, Broken Wish. They also gave me pause to wonder which characters readers might be introduced to in book four.

Another aspect I love about The Mirror is the time – and geography – travel between the stories. Readers are transported to:

1800s Germany (in Broken Wish, book one)
1920s New Orleans (in Shattered Midnight, book two), and
1960s San Francisco (in Fractured Path, book three).
Each different period brings with it new context and characters, and Shattered Midnight and Fractured Path build on the trials, tribulations and lessons learned from prior books in the series. There is a lot of unpacking to do, and this series strikes me as one in which every time you read it, you may pick up on something new.

Fractured Path continues the pursuit of magic while grappling with family secrets, broken promises and tragedy. It mixes the supernatural with the historical and wedges its characters into a reality near enough to our own from which we should aim to learn, improve, and grow.

[Dusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4 STARS

PLEASE NOTE: While this review is free of spoilers for Fractured Path, there may be some minor spoilers for Broken Wish and Shattered Midnight. If you have not read the first two books in the series, please proceed with caution!

“Magic is often fractured, unpracticed in the hands of those who haven’t had proper training.”

In the first two books of the Mirror series, readers were treated to stories taking place in 1800s Germany and 1920s New Orleans. Now, with J.C. Cervantes’ Fractured Path we skip another generation and move to 1960s San Francisco. Blake is the granddaughter of Zora (the protagonist of Shattered Midnight), and her life is starting to be affected by magic (and the curse) now too. As her birthday approaches, she starts to have dreams (bordering on nightmares), and she and her family believe those dreams are the key to understanding the mystery of her family’s past. Will she be able to fix things, or will she be the latest family member to succumb to the curse’s power?

This book is slightly different than the first two, as now instead of having the two separate bloodlines they have been combined. One thing I really appreciated in Fractured Path that wasn’t really present in Broken Wish or Shattered Midnight is the presence of adult figures in Blake’s life who are ready and willing to help her figure things out. Elva’s parents refused to acknowledge her power in Broken Wish, and we all know how that turned out. Zora did embrace the musical aspect of her gift, and that led her to Phillip, but after the heartbreak at the end of Shattered Midnight, she refuses to use it ever again (in the misguided belief that it will spare her family more pain). Now, Blake has a more watered-down version of magic than other members of her family (like her mother and grandmother) but when the curse comes into play her aunt and uncles are more than willing to help as much as they can. I loved that, and I think if Zora or Elva had someone like that in their lives things would have turned out much differently.

I’m still incredibly impressed by how well the authors have maintained a sense of continuity throughout the books. I can only imagine how many calls and planning sessions and drafts were necessary to make that happen. Each author has expanded upon the worldbuilding of the series, and J.C. Cervantes did a great job with her piece of things. If you like the worldbuilding in her Storm Runner series, then I feel you’ll like what she did with this book.

My one (minor) issue with this book is that it didn’t deliver the same vibe and atmospheric feel like the others did. Maybe it’s just a personal opinion because San Francisco doesn’t equate to as many ideas or concepts as New Orleans (music, great food, racial segregation in the 1920s) or Germany (Brothers Grimm, older more superstitious culture, prevalence of religious ideas and power) do, but that was a difference I noticed between the three books.

Once again, Disney delivered yet another fantastic installment to the Mirror series. With how Fractured Path ended, I’m eager to get my hands on L.L. McKinney’s Splintered Magic to figure out how the story (and hopefully the curse) will end for the family after so many years. While you could technically read these books individually as standalone novels, I recommend reading them in order for the most in-depth and satisfying reading experience.

Thank you to the author, Disney Books, and Jaime at Rockstar Book Tours for providing me with a complimentary review copy. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review Fractured Path immensely! Please note - I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All opinions expressed in the review are my own and not influenced in any way.

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fractured Path is the third part of a tetralogy that follows a cursed family through the centuries, each book is a different character and technically they work as stand-alone

San Francisco, 1965. Blake is a talented artist, when her 18th birthday approaches, she begins to have nightmares, which she believes are signs and messages that will help her understand the mystery that is her family.

Blake is descended from two magical bloodlines, but her powers are slight compared to her mother and grandmother. In her family, magic and bad luck go hand in hand. Blake believes in the rule of 3, for every two good things that happen to her, one bad thing will happen and she will soon put her theory to the test.

Blake scrolls for San Francisco (forever on the bucket list). She is looking for clues, but soon she will begin to be stalked, and people close to her are injured, that is when she begins to lie, to protect her family (Her uncles were my favorite characters)

Little by little, we will discover the secrets and find the family heirlooms, the shoes and the mirror gave me dark fairytale vibes.

Fractured Path is a mix between fantasy and history. Set in the 60s, there are references to the time (such as telephone booths), with a subtle touch of magic.

It's an atmospheric story with gothic vibes, I think it would be a good read for autumn, it's fast and engaging; you want answers! Where is the mirror? Who is trapped inside it? What do dreams mean?

Overall: It atmospheric and fast-paced story about family secrets, curses, and magic. Beautiful setting with a good mystery and an ending that will make you want the sequel and final book ASAP

Read it if you are interested in:
• Sagas that follow the same family for generations
• Curses and magic
• Mystery and secrets
• Follow clues and unravel messages
• Stroll through San Francisco
• Poetic and atmospheric writing

Thanks to RockstarBkTours and DisneyBooks for the free copy, All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This was a really fun continuation of the Mirror series. This series follows several generations of the same magical family and each book is about a different generation. This one took place in the 1960's in San Francisco. It follows Blake who periodically has visions when she touches an object. She learns about a lost family heirloom and a curse on their family.
Blake was a wonderful main character and I loved her friendship with her best friend Olivia. Blake lived with her aunt and uncle and they had a great family dynamic that was very believable.
The plot was a little bit slow moving at first, but the ending had some great twists and it really ended with a kind of cliffhanger that makes me really excited for the last book!
Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Books for an audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Becca Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars

FRACTURED PATH is a story about how the choices made in the past can result in a fractured path for those who come after. I thought this was a solid book, one I understood better than SHATTERED MIDNIGHT. I liked Blake and thought that her experiences as a multi-racial young woman in 1960s San Francisco was really compelling. I loved seeing Blake with her extended family as she tries to figure out the magic inside of her. It's great to see that kind of dynamic in a YA Book. I really enjoyed how Cervantes brought 1960s San Francisco to life in all of its vibrancy and its flaws. Cervantes's writing style kept my attention well for the most part. I also really enjoyed the narrator as well. I remain feeling a little disconnected from this series and may not continue with it, but so far, this was the best installment for me.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a day for series for sure as I got a hold of the third book in the quartet featuring a magical mirror weaving through history and bloodlines that will (hopefully) culminate in the last book. The beauty of the stories having different authors but still a lush setting and mystery surrounding the family and their epic relationships and hidden histories.

Blake is our artistic main character who is seeing visions- one that might start helping figure out the power dynamic and a curse. The 1960s are an interesting time and while there are bits and pieces that feel well-placed, the other settings were a little more embedded that I was surrounded by it, this complimented it only.

I'm excited for the final book!

[The Keepers of the Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic runs in Blake’s family. One of her grandmothers, Zora, is telekinetic and the other is a healer. Blake, however, wants to become a professional artist. When she starts having visions in her dreams and then in waking hours, she turns to her aunt and uncle for help. They explain to her that the family is cursed. To break the curse she must find the lost mirror. As she follows the clues, her friend Oliva and a British boy named Ian, find fractured clues and breadcrumbs about her family’s history. Will they find the mirror and break the family curse?

The plot is well developed, engaging, and full of mystery. The characters are likable, authentic, and well developed. Readers who like fantasy, adventure, and mystery will want to pick this one up. Recommended for most library collecti

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a GODDAMN cliffhanger of an ending. I didn't like this one as much as I liked the first two (I've never read Cervantes before and I particularly like Dao and Clayton so I'm a tiny bit biased). It was genuinely a three star, but that ending man...that bumped it up to a four I saw the Ian betrayal coming from a mile away, but the whole part with Remi HOLY SHIT. This is a series of books that feels like you could absolutely go down a rabbit hole of red string and theories. I am eagerly awaiting book number four.

[Valeria · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Magic attracts magic."

A dazzling, pressing, suspenseful, heartbreaking, beautifully crafted tale.

The talented writer J.C. Cervantes is attentive to details and creates a magic maze through Blake's visions scattering telltale clues that the brave, bold, adventurous Esperanza Blake - in her quest for family memorabilia - has to figure out to "break the curse" that plagues her family over several generations.

The story burst with magic, family bonds, fractured paths, overprotectiveness, tragedy, loss and grief, love, deception, friendship, memorabilia, the eternal battle between good and evil and so forth.

The writer had me hooked till the very last page of her yarn.
A well-deserved 5-star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
On with Splintered Magic.

[Robin Pelletier · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 1960s in San Francisco. Blake is an artist in a world where women are still expected to conform to gender norms and not be famous artists, so Blake is rejected from several opportunities because she's a lady. Grrr, right? Blake blames it on her family curse and notoriously bad luck, So when Blake is given an opportunity to seek out a family heirloom that could break the curse and help her live out her artistic dreams. Will Blake be able to find the mirror and save her family and get back her art skills?

What I loved:
The friendship between Blake and Olivia
The love of Kole and Remi for Blake
The open ended epilogue - so many loose ends to tie up in the next novel!
The narrator was fantastic!
The bits of history intermingled into the story
The betrayal - it's a good one

[Ziyan Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The story follows Blake, a 12th grader aspiring to be an artist in the 1960s. She comes from a long line of magic, and throughout the story, her own powers begin to grow. She then learns of her family heritage and a curse that has followed them over generations and seeks to break it. The story has a mix of mystery, action, and suspense, making it intriguing and entertaining. Overall, this book was captivating and interesting.

[Cait Hutsell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t realize this was part of the series so the fact that I cared a lot about the character and the implications of her decisions I think speaks to how well done this book is. The pacing was a little off for me but I think the book’s intended audience will really enjoy it.
Thank you Netgalley.

[Saguaro Style · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give it five stars if didn't rush/end so abruptly! I really loved it so much up until the last chapter, which felt super rushed, unfortunately. I wish this was a two-parter just for this generation/story of the mirror!

[Weronika Miarka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is this book inspired by some culture?

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first 3 back to back and will now have to patiently wait for the next release.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Magen - Inquiring Professional Dog Trainer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one the least of all of them. The story isn't very engaging and the plot twist is obvious.

[Georgie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional

[Chrissy]

(Read for a class)

[Margarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

good, will continue reading whatever I can find by this auther.