I was worried I wouldn't be able to provide a proper review for this book because I had Henstra as a professor in university for a Gothic horror class; I didn't want to be too critical or too easy on her but it looks like I didn't need to worry since she clearly knows her stuff and was able to communicate it well in her novel.

One thing I had a problem with was hearing her voice narrate the story which isn't exactly ideal since this is YA but I think around the middle I started to lose that and "hear" Leo's voice instead. Some of the narration felt a bit awkward, like it tried to get across high class and the Victorian feel through sentence structure and word choice, but it was only a few times here and there and I must admit my lack of knowledge of how people spoke back in the 1800s (I only mention it because it felt awkward to me).

I feel guilty for describing books in the past as enjoyable because I've rediscovered with this novel what enjoyment in reading really is. I was really into this novel and struggled with trying to read it all at once or leaving some for another day just so that the experience could last longer. Again, Henstra really knows her stuff about both YA and Gothic horror and it's communicated well.

The way the story is weaved is also well done. The main plot and the subplots are interconnected so well and it mimics real life perfectly. There were a few chapters here and there that didn't end well - they were too abrupt for my liking - but the story did have a nice flow and the build up to the action scene near the end was perfect. Much of the plot was predictable, but not in the annoying way; if you're familiar with both genres, certain things should be expected and the author delivered.

I felt Christa's final spat with Leo might've been a bit too exaggerated to be believed (especially since up until that point she was at least somewhat helpful in regards to finding a suitor) but at least it had a reason behind it and it was something mentioned before, not something that was hidden from us before that point.

Henstra also does a good job of making the characters distinct (those dialects!) and the maturity of the young adults was captured well, too. I believed that they were all the ages they were supposed to be and their reactions and thoughts fit them so well.

Mimic was interesting. It was amusing to see when she'd pop out and who she'd imitate. As convenient as her outbursts were, I didn't feel like it wasn't believable. Everything was explained properly beforehand by Leo so that when it came time to push the plot along with Mimic it wasn't just for convenience - it was part of who Leo was.

I was worried about the fate of the stutter towards the end, though. I'm sure some people would be upset about how it turned out since it would devalue her struggle with the stutter, make the stutter useful only for the plot, and cheapen the story of the flawed heroine who loses that disability rather "easily" instead of living with it like so many other people do in real life. If the story were about her stutter, which it wasn't really, then it would make sense for her to either overcome it or [ideally] come to terms with it. Because the story merely featured the stutter and Mimic, it isn't too far-fetched an idea to have her gain control of both of them however I would've preferred it if she kept it since it wasn't an obstacle with Tom or her new independent life (although maybe it would've been with her stage life which in itself came out of nowhere for me).

I'll liken this to Toph from Avatar: the Last Airbender series. She was blind and it was part of who she was yet it didn't get in her way of becoming a great earth bender. When the series ended, she was still left without her sight and no one felt cheated because of it since to take that away would be to take away who she is and I feel like with Mad Miss Mimic the ending took away a part of Leo even if she did gain control of Mimic.

Another thing I noticed in regards to losing the stutter was also when it was mentioned that she hadn't stuttered at all in that conversation with Archie yet she did at least once in it so I wonder if that was intentional, as in she was still working out the kinks, or an oversight. Either way, how she took control of Mimic to "mimic" her own voice was still fascinating and I liked how it worked out even if I still feel a bit let down by the miracle. I'm curious to know why the author chose to have it happen that way but in the end I was still satisfied with how the novel ended.

The dynamics between the characters was wonderfully done, though. In fact, my favourite scene would have to be when Thornfax was abusing Tom because it showed all their characters really well and the writing in it was well done. The scenes following it were great reaction scenes and it helped build all the characters up to where they needed to be and it made everything else prior to that fall into place. I wasn't surprised by Thornfax's dishonesty towards Leo but it wasn't a glaringly obvious fault in the writing, and this is how many of the plot points were, so everything, from the characters to the plot, was so well done that I didn't mind the typical flow of things (even the love triangle wasn't an annoyance).

For anyone who likes YA, I don't think the Gothic aspect would deter them at all. To those who enjoy Gothic horror, having it mixed with YA actually fits pretty well and if you can put aside the flaws of the genre then it can be quite enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this novel to fans of either genre because Henstra's background and knowledge is well used here and it's worth seeing how she uses what she knows to craft a well written novel. I really did enjoy myself while reading this and I'm glad I didn't let my prior student relationship with her, whether I would've been too critical or too praising, get in the way of appreciating this great novel.