Reviews & Press

REVIEWS

Click here to read about independent bookseller support for The Mirror Thief.

American Booksellers Association “Indies Introduce” pick: “Martin Seay proves he is a talent to watch with this smart, ambitious debut.” – Rebekah Hendrian

Publishers Weekly: “A splendid masterpiece, to be loved like a long-lost friend, an epic with near-universal appeal.”

The New York Times Book Review: “How this book got published is a complete mystery to me. Not because it is not good enough, but rather because it is too good.” – Scarlett Thomas

Chicago Review of Books: “Martin Seay’s debut novel is the weirdest, most ambitious thing I’ve read this year. It shouldn’t work, but it does.” – Adam Morgan

Los Angeles Review of Books: “The Mirror Thief […] is a shape-shifting colossus: it’s a crime novel, a piece of intellectual origami, a historical swashbuckler, and a rumination on identity, illusion, and mimesis.” – Leslie Parry

Electric Literature: “The Mirror Thief takes the city as its subject — the city as it exists on the ground and in the characters’ minds and memories; the city as it is reflected in other cities.” – Marshall Yarbrough

NPR: “A startling, beautiful gem of a book that at times approaches a masterpiece.” – Michael Schaub

The Wall Street Journal: “A sophisticated thriller that keeps the pages turning even as it teases the mind.” – Sam Sacks

The Guardian: “The prose is stethoscopically alert to rhythm. […] Seay is clearly a writer of exceptional and eclectic intelligence.” – Mark Lawson

Booklist: “Shimmering with intimations of Hermann Hesse, Umberto Eco, and David Mitchell, Seay’s house-of-mirrors novel is spectacularly accomplished and exciting.” – Donna Seaman

BookPage: “A 600-page thrill ride across three centuries and two continents […] Part crime thriller and part meditation on poetry […] An impressive feat of imagination.” – Michael Magras

The Chicago Tribune: “Whether searching for the face of God or just the ultimate con, everyone in The Mirror Thief is striving to see beyond the glass to some deeper place where their questions will be answered.” – Dmitry Samarov

Chicago Center for Literature and Photography: “A great example of big concepts being bandied about through plain language, a thought-provoking yet easy-to-read epic.” – Jason Pettus

Flavorwire: “Compared recently to the work of David Mitchell, Seay’s big, genre-ish The Mirror Thief is actually better than most novels by that author.” – Jonathon Sturgeon

Buzzfeed: “There’s intrigue, alchemy, mayhem, and con men aplenty, in addition to some of the most lush, intelligent prose you’re likely to encounter this year.” – Lincoln Thompson

Buzzfeed: “Establishes Martin Seay as an impressive new voice to watch.” – Jarry Lee

The Daily Mail: “A lushly detailed hybrid that is part cat-and-mouse conspiracy thriller, part historical adventure, part supernatural mystery, and chock-full of uneasy alliances and sinister situations.” – Eithne Farry

B&N Reads: “The depth of these stories and the straightforward artistry of Seay’s writing will woo those looking for a true literary experience.” – Nicole Hill

BookBrowse: “Substantial and richly imagined […] A transporting and original novel.” – Kate Braithwaite

Minnesota Public Radio: “A big, complicated and strange book, in the best ways possible.” – Tracy Mumford

Las Vegas Weekly: “Masterful and mysterious […] Seay splendidly evokes Venice and its two reflections.” – Chuck Twardy

Crain’s Chicago Business: “A poetic page-turner […] I was hooked by the tone and language, which dazzles.” – Anne Moore

Doing Dewey: “The plot, the writing, the attention to detail, and the pacing would have blown me away even coming for a more experienced author.”

The New Dork Review of Books: “[…] epic, lengthy, intricately detailed, awe-inspiring […] The nested stories allow Seay to explore myriad themes from myriad angles.” – Greg Zimmerman

Food In Books: “I was hooked from the first sentence […] honestly, this is the most engrossing book I’ve read in years.” – Vanessa Baca

Bustle: “An intriguing original mystery that you won’t be able to put down until you’ve reached its stunning conclusion.” – Sadie L. Trombetta

Meduza: “A large […] baroque novel with three artfully tied story lines, with a range of themes from medieval alchemy to beatnik poetry, with the subtlest play of meanings and reflections, and with secrets, murders and witchcraft.” – Galina Yuzefovich (review of Russian translation)

Newsday: “You get Venice served three ways in this dizzying debut novel with a trio of linked stories and echoes of Cloud Atlas, The Name of the Rose and The Goldfinch.” – Tom Beer (review of audio version)

AudioFile Magazine: “Ballerini dazzlingly produces flesh-and-blood characters and beautifully realizes the gorgeous writing, challenging ideas, unanswered questions, and illusory images.” (review of audio version)

INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

Chicago Review of Books (Adam Morgan)

Electric Literature (Timothy Moore)

Arts + Literature Laboratory (Rita Mae Reese)

Tortoise Books (Gerald Brennan)

Midwestern Gothic (Lauren Stachew)

The American Booksellers Association’s Bookselling This Week (Gen de Botton)

NewCity Lit (Jac Jemc)

Dead Darlings (Melanie DeCarolis)

American Booksellers Association (Anmiryam Budner) (video)

Unbound Book Festival (via C-SPAN) (discussion with Phong Nguyen, Christina Baker Kline & Therese Anne Fowler) (video)

Ink & Paper Blog (Russell Gray) (video)