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36th out of 92 books
—
21 voters
Black Mirror
by
Nancy Werlin (Goodreads Author)
Convinced her brother's death was murder rather than suicide, sixteen-year-old Frances begins her own investigation into suspicious student activities at her boarding school.
Published
(first published October 28th 2001)
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Frances had issues with coping. She couldn’t cope with herself, with others and then when her brother dies she couldn’t cope that that either. Instead of hiding which was her normal coping mechanism she does the opposite and slowly starts to break out of her shell. Hard as that is, she learns a little about herself and the world around her. When her brother dies unexpectantly of a drug overdose she blames herself and later on she realizes she didn’t really know her brother as well as she thought...more
I had a very difficult time putting down Black Mirror, not necessarily because I was held at the edge of my seat with suspense, but because the characters were so real that I simply could not let them go. Reading this book I felt as if I was listening to a friend tell the story of some intense drama that happened to them in the past week and the emotion behind the characters pulled me even deeper into the story.
The main character, Francis, tells the events as they happen, in the first person. It...more
The main character, Francis, tells the events as they happen, in the first person. It...more
Frances is an unique girl to me, because she would do anything for her own brother, Daniel. Even though she is really self centered, she still manage to try to join the unity because of Daniel. In the beginning, Daniel was known as being murdered. Frances would blame everyone about it, but she never knew that Daniel was killed beacuse of her. Daniel tried to protect Frances and was murdered by his own girlfriend Saskia. Daniel was finding out facts about Saskia about Patrick. Saskia had to find...more
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I have to say this book was really amazing...how could one character be so similar to me growing up? I'm half japanese, suffered ridicule as a teen for how I looked, my build was umm...very voluptuous, I wore big slouchy clothes to hide my body, I avoided the mirror, would sometimes have outbursts in school, and had and still have painful cycles...I too retreated into my art class and often the library...I was very much a loaner in my own right...I did have friends...but no one I would consider...more
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Frances, the main character, is a scholarship student at Pettengill, a boarding school. The book begins with her brother's death, and how she is dealing with her grief. She attempts to join the club that her brother was passionately involved in at Pettengill - Unity, and starts to discover the sinister secrets behind this club.
I thought this was a suspenseful and enjoyable read. Much of the book is built on perceptions. There is Frances' perception of herself: "...you are not going to be a dain...more
I thought this was a suspenseful and enjoyable read. Much of the book is built on perceptions. There is Frances' perception of herself: "...you are not going to be a dain...more
I would not recommend the book "Black Mirror" by Nancy Werlin to anyone. I would give the book "Black Mirror" a 1 out of 5 stars. Throughout the book, the author keeps it unexciting with no action or specific plot. The only information that explains what the book is supposed to be based on is the last ten pages. Nancy Werlin writes; "Bubbe, my father's mother, was of course a Leventhal only by marriage. Her statement felt to me like the curse of an evil fairy."(page 3) "I had a couple of morning...more
I swore that I wasn't going to read dark books for a while. I was only going to read funny books that made me laugh and were light and enjoyable. And then I realized that there was one book by Werlin that I hadn't read. How could that be, I wondered. So I began Black Mirror. It is dark. Or at least it begins with a tragic event. And as the novel unfolds the reader learns that everything they think (and Frances, the protagonist) thinks about Pettengill School, her classmates, and her brother are...more
This book was in deed suspenseful. Francis, a young teenage girl going through things that most teenagers do feel like she is never noticed. Who wouldn't when you live with a bad father and your mother left in order to find her inner self- not caring much for her children at all- but for herself and her hopeful future. Francis' brother Daniel commits suicide and Frances blames the guilt on herself. It isn't till long that she begins a journey to solve the mystery of her dead brother and what cou...more
I really enjoyed reading this book because it had a good mystery to solve. It starts off as Frances being insecure about herself because all her life her grandmother told her that she was never gonna be as pretty and secure like her, from then on she promised herself that she was never gonna look in a mirror again. The only friend Frances had was her brother who unfortunately died from an overdose, but Frances thinks it very suspicious because her brother hand't done drugs for a very long time....more
I like Werlin's characters and her stories. There is a coming-of-age-ness to this book. Frances was basically abandoned by both parents - her mother left to join a Buddhist monastery and her father is plainly depressed - and as the book opens, she is coping with the death of her brother. He was, she says, her best friend. Her only friend. She is different - not all Asian, not all Jewish, not all anything. Just in between and being in between is tough, lonely. But sometimes the alone is good. I l...more
I had to read this for school recently. I hated it so much! Frances was all depressed about loosing her pothead brother Daniel, so she goes in his room and smokes Pot and cries about it. She is such a frickin' dope, and she was very unlikable to me. She also had a cliché romance with a drug dealer. The setting was unknown to me, but in a very cloudy, snowy, depressing area. I didn't learn any lesson or gather any entertainment from this book. If you are a bi-polar, whiney pot head, go ahead and...more
Black mirror was alright but not necessarily amazing. Although it only took a few hours to read those hours seemed to last quite some time since it was not very fast paced at all. The climax was also rather disappointing as I kept reading in the hopes that there would be a big dramatic mystery revealed but it fell quite short. I guess to sum up my experience, I read forty pages then put it down to finish my other books before forcing myself to finish. I'm very easily pleased so that, in and of i...more
2.5 Rating.
This book was very mild. It wasn't bad, I did enjoy it, it just wasn't nearly as thrilling or exciting as I anticipated. I enjoyed the characterization and overall plot. I also liked how Werlin writes her character's interactions. It was just a little too dull. It wasn't dull enough for me to put it down, I'm glad I finished it, I was just expecting something a little bit more.
Normally I can drone on and on about a book, but this one...sadly, I just don't have that much to say about i...more
This book was very mild. It wasn't bad, I did enjoy it, it just wasn't nearly as thrilling or exciting as I anticipated. I enjoyed the characterization and overall plot. I also liked how Werlin writes her character's interactions. It was just a little too dull. It wasn't dull enough for me to put it down, I'm glad I finished it, I was just expecting something a little bit more.
Normally I can drone on and on about a book, but this one...sadly, I just don't have that much to say about i...more
I have of history of loving/being totally frustrated by Nancy Werlin books, so I'm excited for this one!
It's not my favorite of Nancy Werlin's books, but it was still good. In tone, it was pretty similar to The Killer's Cousin, but I enjoyed the mystery and the conclusion more in that book. Still there were aspects of this book that really surprised me (in a good way), and I read it all in only about two days, because I really wanted to find out what happened.
It's not my favorite of Nancy Werlin's books, but it was still good. In tone, it was pretty similar to The Killer's Cousin, but I enjoyed the mystery and the conclusion more in that book. Still there were aspects of this book that really surprised me (in a good way), and I read it all in only about two days, because I really wanted to find out what happened.
While it took a bit to get into the full story here, there wasn't any point in the book where I wanted to stop reading it. At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like it - it was one of those stories that starts after a huge event, and you don't fully understand until the end. I'm not too fond of those types of plot but this one I hugely enjoyed. It was totally not what I expected but I loved it. Towards the end especially it became very hard for me to put it down.
May 17, 2011
Charity
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Charity by:
My friend Daly
I completely despised the ending, it made me angry just like the ending in Extraordinary. Also, I guessed who James was after his encounter in the woods so I kept reading to see why he was there, that was about the only part I liked. Saskia was not a believable character nor her name, I don’t even know if I pronounce her name correctly. I can’t imagine a person not showing any remorse for what she did to Daniel.
Mar 29, 2010
Kimathy
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
no one
Recommended to Kimathy by:
no one
Shelves:
never-going-to-re-read
im sorry i just only got to page 5 and could not like it, it wasn't me. i mean people in the supermarket trying to figure out your ethnicity in front of you? i dont like it, its not really realistic, i dont know any people who would do that and i definitely can't picture the character in my head, is she Asian? is she African? i dont freaking know! lol...my opinion? it might be good but if i dislike to beginning that much it's probably not.
I enjoyed this read. The character's voice is what truly kept me engaged the most. I loved this shy, quiet, lonely girl who unknowingly started to pursue her brother's killer and found herself. The villian was someone I didn't expect and it kept me guessing during several tense moments. This is a good read for someone that loves an even paced mystery with thrilling suspenseful moments and surprises.
A middle school book. As such, the characters are pretty well-developed, and the story line is interesting. The book starts after Frances' brother has died. Frances can't believe that he has killed himself with a dose of heroin. she tries to join the club that he was in and is not welcomed. She persists and learns that something is peculiar about the club.
I just finished this book and was not all that impressed. The begining and some what of the middle dragged on for me. I feel as though, that the reason for this was to try to make the ending a little more interesting then it actually was. I did like the mysteriousness of this story, although i don't really like mystery at all. I would recommend this book if you like drugs, murdre and mystery, but if you like books that get to the point and don't drag on, I would look beyond t his one and keep lo...more
Mar 18, 2010
Makenzee
added it
black mirror was a fantastic book i recomend it to anyone who likes twists with a little bit of mystery.this has a great deal of lessons behind it i found this book very compelling its about a girl who must figure out the reasoning of her brothers heroin enduced suicide it is very interesting she ends up uncoveing a lot of ongoing secrets within her school
Great mystery. Very surprising twists and turns that you don't see coming. One was obvious but it didn't ruin the book. The book is slow and in detail but I think readers will hang in there because the "mystery" is a carrot... you just have to keep reading to find out what is going on. Drove me crazy that book went slow but it was good.
I give this book a 5 because I fell in love with it many years ago. Of I were to read it now I'm almost positive I would not like it as much, but from what I can remember it had quite an impression on me in 6th grade. The premise had me captivated when I was younger, but still today i love the book and the memories tied to it.
This is a mystery novel and you won't be able to stop reading. It talks about a girl name Frances and her brother has committed suicide. Her brother had been deeply involved in this charitable group on campus, the Unity service. But something's are not quite right about Unity and soon Frances finds herself in the middle of a puzzle to big to ignore....
Oh it was so good, almost perfect! I really wish I could choose four and a half stars, because the one thing that bothered me was France's name. She's Asian and her name is Frances, to me it just didn't stick. But everything else was wonderful.
I really liked Werlins other books that I have read but this one just didnt have the same excitement. It took forever for me to get into the book and I felt like I was near the end and nothing had happened. I disliked most, if not all, of the characters and really was unimpressed.
amazing book, wonderfully written. This is one of the most interesting novels I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters of France and James (but I felt bad that they couldn't be together, for obvious reasons).
i literally could not read this book. i have read soooo many books and usually find myself liking the narrator or at least pitying them, but sorry Nancy Werlin. i just couldnt even relate to her at all.
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![Nothing But the Truth [and a few white lies] by Justina Chen](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344267491m/332807.jpg "Nothing But the Truth [and a few white lies] by Justina Chen")
Nancy Werlin writes young adult fiction: New York Times–bestselling fantasy, Edgar-award winning suspense, and National Book Award-honored realistic novels.
Nancy's fantasy, UNTHINKABLE, the sequel to IMPOSSIBLE, is out on Sept 12, 2013. Visit www.nancywerlin.com and click on CONTACT to find out how to get an early copy of UNTHINKABLE to read!
More about Nancy Werlin...
Nancy's fantasy, UNTHINKABLE, the sequel to IMPOSSIBLE, is out on Sept 12, 2013. Visit www.nancywerlin.com and click on CONTACT to find out how to get an early copy of UNTHINKABLE to read!
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“Jews put black over mirrors during times os mourning so they wouldn't think about themselves. But I never did look in mirrors anyway, because I disliked myself. No, wait. I disliked my appearance.”
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4 people liked it
“I walked out. I left. Andy Jankowski had taught me how.”
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3 people liked it
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