Splintered Magic - (Mirror) by L L McKinney (Hardcover)

About the Book

When disturbing images keep appearing in Tai's camera lens, Trey and Tai reignite their search for their mother, who mysteriously disappeared 10 years earlier, uncovering strange secrets about their magical ancestors and a threat to their very existence.

Book Synopsis

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

NEW YORK CITY, 2000

Twins Trey and Tai are not like other high schoolers. Trey struggles to suppress his surging magical abilities, which continually impede his dream of making first chair cello in orchestra. A budding photographer, Tai just wants to take pictures and maybe find someone to take them with. But disturbing images keep appearing in Tai's camera lens, reigniting the twins' search for their mother, who mysteriously disappeared ten years earlier. As the two discover more clues, Trey and Tai also uncover strange secrets about their magical ancestors and about a cunning villain who threatens their very survival. Together, Trey and Tai must work to unearth the past and preserve the future of their family.

The Mirror: Splintered Magic is the fourth book in the innovative YA fairy-tale quartet following one family--and the curse that plagues it--over several generations.

Unravel the secrets of this family curse in the other books in THE MIRROR:

• Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao
• Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton
• Fractured Path by J.C. Cervantes

Review Quotes

As Tai and Trey approach their 16th birthdays, strange things start happening in this final entry of the Mirror quartet, whose entries are written by different authors. Trey's telekinetic and transformative magic gains heightened emotional sensitivity after he loses a coveted orchestra position to a new student, leading to broken cello strings and a shattered salad bowl. Aspiring photographer Tai, who can see brief visions in reflective surfaces, starts seeing a mysterious young woman through her camera lens. The twins grow more unsettled when they find a portrait of a girl called Elva painted by their missing mother, artist Blake Estancia Watson from J.C. Cervantes' Fractured Path (2022), and references to her in their mom's notebook. There's also the family curse to consider--it causes two good incidents to follow one bad one--but to Tai, it seems like there's only one good thing at the moment, and that's her cute new classmate, Ayesha, who helps the siblings when they notice they're being followed by sinister, magic-using strangers. When Tai finds a mirror that reveals a strange secret, she realizes that she may have found the key to finding her mother. Snappy dialogue and pop-culture references establish a strong sense of place and time in this story, which sweeps the three Black teens into a heart-pounding adventure that sets them against a hostile organization and on the path to dissolving a curse that began long ago with a broken promise. An exciting series conclusion. (Fantasy. 13-18)- Kirkus (May 1, 2023)

About the Author

L.L. McKinney (https: //llmckinney.com) is an advocate for equality and inclusion in publishing, and the creator of the hashtags #PublishingPaidMe and #WhatWoCWritersHear. She was named one of The Root's 100 most influential African Americans of 2020. Elle's also a gamer, Blerd, and adamant Hei Hei stan, living in Kansas City, spending her free time plagued by her cat-Sir Chester Fluffmire Boopsnoot Purrington Wigglebottom Flooferson III, esquire, Baron o'Butterscotch or #SirChester for short. Her works include the Nightmare-Verse books, Nubia: Real One through DC, Marvel's Black Widow: Bad Blood, and more.