Town with No Mirrors

By: Christina Collins

Narrated by: Merissa Czyz

Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

In a modern-day utopian community where mirrors, photos, and even words like beautiful and ugly are forbidden, a girl who has never seen her own face harbors a guilty curiosity about the outside world. A thoughtful exploration of self-image in a world familiar to listeners of The Giver and The List.

Zailey has never seen her own face. She's never seen her reflection, or a photo of herself, or even a drawing. In the special community of Gladder Hill, cameras and mirrors are forbidden: it's why everyone's happier here. Nobody talks about anyone else's appearance. You're not supposed to even think about what other people look like, or what you look like.
But Zailey does.

She knows her superficial thoughts are wrong, and her sketchbook, filled with secret portraits of her classmates and neighbors, could get her in trouble. Yet she can't help but think those thoughts, and be curious about the outside world where she once lived, years ago. Most of all, she wonders what it's like to see herself—her own face.

When Zailey suddenly finds herself beyond the gates of her town, she has a chance to see if what she's been taught about the outside world is true and search for the mother she barely remembers. Only then will she find out the real story about Gladder Hill. But is she prepared for the truth?

©2023 Christina Collins (P)2023 Recorded Books

Cute but felt flat

I think I was expecting a little more layers to the story and characters than there was. I can see the story being read in a high school & see my self enjoying it more than I did now. I think going more in depth about familial relationship and the intricacies of friendships would’ve made the theme of “hiding from one thing causes a closed perspective on a lot more than just self” more full circle.

Could have been better

‼️I will probably mention some spoilers‼️
When I first started this book I thought it was so interesting and fascinating. The concept of the town was very new and a breath of fresh air but I feel the direction it went in was unsatisfying all the way around. I just felt that it could have been done in a better way.


Starting with some good: When Zailey ran away from the hospital I was so excited and intrigued by this book and the direction it was going in. It was fun and I was on edge for like half of the book waiting for her to escape and when she did it was still exciting with a lot on the line! Also I found that her grandmas motivations for moving to gladder hill was so incredibly touching and understandable! ED's are rarely tackled in a book made for middle schoolers! It really showed how much her grandma truly cared about her family.

As for the bad: I felt after Zailey talked to the principal the story fell a little flat. First, the principal was taking to a 12 year old kid about closing her town!! Why wouldn't she talk to an adult instead?!? It makes no sense! And second, her principal's reasons for creating the town were although good, the follow through was kind of stupid (Like of course kids are going to look at faces it's human nature! ). I feel the idea of the town needed to be fleshed out more ( ie: how it could take away from individual, the fact that they have no idea what reflections are or how in uneducated they will be also, trying to control someone's thoughts). Maybe I'm just nitpicking but I HATED the fact that she wanted to go back to the oppressive town she lives in🤦‍♀️. It just got so boring I skipped through the last parts

This could have easily been a 10/10 but it just fell flat, maybe with a more sinister intentions from the principal or any of the characters it could have been more interesting but overall the book was engaging with an interesting premise!