Trigger warnings: fatophobia, eating disorder, body shaming, anxiety

Mirror, Mirror is a YA novel set in Bangalore, India. Ananya, because of some unfortunate comments from her neighbors about her body, is on the path of loosing weight and shaping herself into the societal expectations of a ‘prefect girl’, living on salads and dry crackers. Every time she looks on the mirror, the scars of the words spoken about 5 years ago, haunted her. On her 17th birthday, she receives the strangest news- her mother was pregnant! The situation complicates when her mother calls her best friend, Aunty V, to live with them and with her comes her son and Ananya’s ex-friend, Raghu, for whom now she has complicated feelings. Moreover, her two best friends are now in relationship and she feels like a third wheel. Navigating between life, school, and her relationships, Ananya has to find her future and the courage to accept herself as she is.

How often we are told we are not enough? Or we would have been perfect if this were that. Being positive towards your body is not an easy feat but the one that is important. As Ananya struggled for losing those extra pounds, I believe everyone of us can see glimpses of ourselves not just in terms of weight loss, but for the other aspects of our bodies too.

Apart from body positivity, this book has beautiful relationships and friendships. The up and downs, understanding between friends and troubles, all have been handled well.

One thing I really want to appreciate is the bare minimum use of Hinglish