Book reviews from Topcho

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This book.. got me completely by surprise. By far, it was definitely not what I expected when I picked it for reading. It left me with feelings so mixed, that now I am unsure where to start the review, so I better do it first things first.Pre-thought, on title and cover.I always pay attention to them. In this case, the cover was... blah. Even after reading it, I see no connection to the novel, nor I find it pleasent to the eye. This doesn't change my opinion of the book, but if I was to see it in the bookshop. chances are I wouldn't go near. The title on the other hand... is love! Really love the title. It gave some kind of cool quirky feeling and made me want to read the book.Story:In the future, the teleportation is not only possible, but rules almost every aspect of the human life. In this world, the smart chemist Jenus accepts to run tests on a weird soil sample. And after this, the whole Hell goes loose. Nero is a self-forced hermit on a lonely planet, with only Cheshires to keep him company - weird but undoubtedly inteligent energy beings. Kebe is a rebel who wants to bring down the Tower and ConSent - powerful monopoles and instituitions. One diary adn many dirty secretsAfter thoughts:As I said, this book was not what I thought it would be, but still it got me fascinated. The story and the plot are truly unique and I think this book will stand out in my wrap up in the end of the reading year. Every part of the storyline was believable, to the point it gets somewhat scary to thing what would you do if you were one of the characters. All of our heros - Nero, Kebe, Jenus and all the other that came and went, felt real with all their goods and bads, and it was so easy to feel for them - and this made it so much harder to get over to what happened to them.The novel captured me in the beginning with the two storylines. Both of them was inetersting enough for me not to feel bad when I had to leave Jenus and read about Nero and vice versa. The plot for the bigger part of the book revolved around the journal, and this bored me a little, because thrillers abour conspiracy and politics and power are not much my choice of read. By the middle of the book, the pace really slowed down and so did my reading. Things got back in tracks when the main characters finally got together on Virgil and the final stages began.Then, the very last chapters, were really full of events.The language of the book was beautiful and rich. It kept me going on even when I was getting bit bored with the story. Apart form these points, I really enjoyed the storyline. I liked how one small accident from the begining of the book became so important to the end. It was a bit weird to me how the accent of the plot went from the journal to the plague and everything related to it, but actually this way it got my interest back.I am reader of the type that loves happy endings. The kind where everyone lives and is happy. I didn't got this here, but I don't say it as a flaw of the plot. It was just darker and more real than I thought it to be, and I really mourned for the loss of some characters. The last chapters where almost brutal. Very strong impact. So thank goodnes for that little Hope in the end.Overall, Behold a dark mirror, was a unique, strong and beautiful read.