The Dickens Mirror

January 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-This follow-up to Bick's chilly, multilayered psychological horror novel White Space (Egmont USA, 2014) moves most of the action to a fog-bound and filthy Victorian London insane asylum. With food scarce and time running out, reality is chancy and remade all the time, accidentally and on purpose. The fabric of time and personhood seem to be slowly crumbling, as characters face multiple versions of themselves and their memories, desperately trying to align a multiverse of malevolent fears, dangers, and manipulators. A bold and exciting premise, but in execution this work doesn't hold up, despite a welcome infiltration by none other than a version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, complete with a talking Black Dog tattooed his right bicep. It's difficult to sustain much engagement or sympathy with the characters, especially when many of them are just facets of one another. There are some satisfactory resolutions, but where White Space used frustration and tedium to maintain tension, here the plot is so convoluted that most of the tension drains out.-Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
The world-hopping adventure begun in the previous volume (White Space, 2014) concludes in a new Now, a Victorian London crumbling right out from under the characters.In an alternate timeline, a younger Emma's experience in her guardian's basement leads her into the Dark Passages, where she ends up in the same Now as the older Emma from White Space. In this claustrophobic Now, a terrible fog slowly consumes the land, leaving survivors dealing with illness, starvation and poverty. Versions of Emma's friends from White Space are among those London inhabitants-some are disturbed by dreams connecting them to the events from the previous book. Emma is now in the body of a teenage version of Lizzie, who goes by Elizabeth and battles other character fragments in her mind; naturally, she is institutionalized in an insane asylum run by a villainous doctor. The cast must avoid the doctor's schemes and unravel the relationships among people and Nows. The large cast-returning characters, alternate versions and new characters-results in flat personalities and a lack of character development. Additionally, the flexible reality and multiples make it hard to worry about the characters' fates, detracting from the stakes and tension. Metatextual elements start off clever (such as literally faceless background characters) but devolve into self-referential cuteness. The lavishly described setting and Victorian lingo, however, are true stars. An ambitious, atmospheric, not-entirely-successful attempt at a head trip. (Fantasy/horror. 14 & up)

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February 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 In book two of Bick's Dark Passages series, Emma finds herself in Victorian England, where Kramer is now an evil doctor in charge of an asylum where he is experimenting on patients, including Emma/Elizabeth/Lizzie and Constable Arthur Conan Doyle. Others of Emma's friends find themselves in various guises here as well and gradually realize that they, too, may be characters amassed together in a strange new book. White Space (2014) was a reading challenge; this, more so. Not only must readers follow shifting time frames and characters but they must also be familiar with some of Dickens' lesser-known works and the parallels between Bick's Arthur Conan Doyle character and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Knowledgeable readers will find interesting allusions and story line adaptations; those interested in psychology will find Emma's worlds a treasure trove for speculation. The book allegory is a fascinating premise, but the challenge remains: what really is going on between the covers of these books? Strictly for fans of the first title.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)