The Water Mirror by Kai Meyer

The Water Mirror by Kai Meyer
Publisher: McElderry Books
Release Date: August 22, 2006
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis:

"Fourteen-Year-Old Merle lives in Enchanted Venice, where beautiful mermaids swim in the canals and majestic stone lions come to life. But for every wondrous sight, there is a dark and dangerous secret: The mermaids have deadly, razor-sharp teeth and the lions are servants to arrogant soldiers. The corruption lies deep, but Merle and her friends - Juipa, a mysterious blond with mirrors for eyes, and Serefin, a rakish master thief who Merle finds disconcertingly appealing - are about to realize the true extent of the threat.
The Venetians have been living under Egyptian occupation for more than thirty years. But now the pharaoh is upping the ante, and Merle is swept into a wild, dangerous mission that will take her to the ends of the earth... and beyond. Joined by a band of mythical creatures, including a flying stone lion and the mysterious sphinx, Merle and her friends will face their destiny. But in the world of Dark Reflections, everyone's motives and loyalties are to be questioned, and the final battle will be one none of them could have expected."

Review:
This is a YA fantasy novel and I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading it. The first couple of chapters were a little confusing but then it all started making sense and I really enjoyed reading this book.

I loved the world that this was taken place in. It was like a ancient Venice crossed with Narnia crossed with the modern world. Does that make sense? The one thing I really liked was that I could vision what Venice looked like because I have been there a few times so it was cool reading and reading about somewhere you've been.

The characters were awesome. Merle is an orphan and one day has to leave for a new house which is actually the house of a mirror maker and that was where she meets Junipa, who is/was blind. The mirror makers actually put pieces of mirror in her eyes, which I thought was pretty cool but also really weird. And she started seeing things again.

A lot of things happen in this book, there's action and adventure and a hint of a love story. Just a hint. The ending was really cool and I loved imagining everything going on because it was nicely detailed so I was able to get that perfect vision!

I haven't read many fantasy books but I really liked this and would recommend this if your wanted something new and different or even if you like this genre, make sure to check this out!

*this is the synopsis from the bind-up version. It was also originally written in German and then later translated into English which is cool!