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4.61 AVERAGE
4.61 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
wow! i was really impressed by the nuance the emotionally challenging parts of this book had, the lore revelations that have been there from the beginning, and some wild fucking action set pieces! now begins the short wait for book 6 and the very long wait for book 7
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Setup: Samantha Shannon's The Dark Mirror, the fifth installment of The Bone Season series, arrives with the weight of expectation and the sharpened precision of the author's "preferred text." After updating all the previous installments, we have a new book that carries the expanded scope and reaffirms Shannon's ability to balance high-stakes rebellion with deeply personal storytelling.
The novel opens with Paige Mahoney waking in the free world with no memory of the past six months - an unsettling blank that mirrors her fractured dreamscape. As she slowly recovers pieces of her past, she learns about Operation Ventriloquist, a chilling Rephaim/Sargas scheme that threatens to infiltrate her into the dangerous labyrinth of Venetian politics, betrayal, and espionage.
As Paige balances political intrigue and personal trauma, she also confronts the possibility that Arcturus holds not only her memories but also the key to the rebellion's success, all while navigating her evolving identity as a resistance leader and dreamwalker.
What I Loved: I think this may be slightly controversial, but I think this novel shifted from a fantasy novel to a political thriller. Some folks may not like that, and I get it. Below, I do note a gripe, which seems to be why I can't seem to rate most of the books in this series about 4.25, but I do think that Shannon played this switch-up well here. We had many moving political pieces - multiple Syndicates, the Rephaim who are fractured into their own political sects, country governments, Scion vs. the free world, and the inception of new councils and espionage groups. You would think that it would be hard to follow, but I think Shannon organized and wrote about them very well, and it mimics what I would assume would be real-life players at the start of war. I truly was about this political scheming, and watching a 20-year-old human try to navigate it.
While I will always dislike the very young woman protagonist trope in fantasy, I will say that Shannon does a good job at having her main characters feel authentic. I've been reading about Paige for the last couple of months, and she really is, well, Paige. While she can sometimes be frustrating - something I am feeling less and less of, thankfully - she emerged in this novel as more vulnerable and therefore, compelling. The days of reckless impulsivity softened (to a degree). Instead, we saw her learn the difficult art of leadership, opening herself to allies, and carrying the weight of trauma with hard-won resilience. I truly believe it is with Paige, and Arcturus, that Shannon's prose - taut and lyrical - shines most brightly.
A few other tidbits I loved in this book: this book felt less like Paige going through the absolute worst-case scenario at every single turn. Don't get me wrong, she was still struggling, but it felt more action-packed instead of constantly oozing with trauma every single second. Also, the books somewhat follow the tarot cards that were read to Paige in the first novel, and I think that's super fun and a nice little touch. Additionally, I love that each book is set in a different city, and we get to really feel what the city is like through Paige's eyes. In this book, we saw Poland, briefly, and Italy, and they were both rendered with an atmospheric precision that mirrors their historical role as both a jewel of culture and a site of intrigue. Lastly, I can't help but simply just love the dash of romance in these books. Paige and Arcturus are truly lovely to read about, and I can't help but continue to constantly root for them. I thought the romance was done well here and look forward to seeing where it goes.
Will one of these books ever be a 5? I don't know! I sure hope so because at the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoy reading them. I am immersed and engrossed. I want to find out what happens next! However - and this may go against what I said above, so I'm likely a little hypocritical - the novel's political machinations meant that the fantasy part - the magical system - faltered. I still have too many questions about dreamwalking, clairvoyance, the golden cord, and the Rephaim and Netherworld. I understand that this is a relatively long series, and I do not expect to have the answers to all these questions in each of the books. But, I have been reading about the politicking and plot for five books now, and I was hoping for a little bit more about the overall world with the magic. I think we have received small doses throughout the novels, specifically the Emin, but other than that, I am still a little baffled.
I'm going to throw this out one more time because, at the end of the day, this is personal preference, but because of all the politicking and plot movement, the writing can feel dense and occasionally over-explained. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but Shannon is a heavy-handed writer. I think for me it works because I still feel pretty invested in the characters, but I do believe what happens with heavy-handed writers like Shannon is that things do feel told instead of shown, and it can mean that some of the secondary characters can fall flat because they feel more like plot devices and movement for the story, instead of being people. I continued to feel that slightly in this book. I think for readers like myself, at times, the material's density is part of the charm. For others, it likely risks blunting the narrative momentum. Regardless, I do take this into account when rating and reviewing because it was still noticeable here for me, likely discouraging me from rating it higher.
With all that said, this novel's pieces are tense and cinematic, the relationships textured with real vulnerability, and the stakes feel appropriately escalated for a series related to war. Shannon's commitment to thematic depth - particularly in this exploration of memory, identity, and freedom - elevated The Dark Mirror and kept me utterly immersed. I likely have to wait a while for the next one, and for right now, I'm a little sad to depart Scion (well, not Scion itself, of course), but I look forward to keeping up with the series.''
**
The novel opens with Paige Mahoney waking in the free world with no memory of the past six months - an unsettling blank that mirrors her fractured dreamscape. As she slowly recovers pieces of her past, she learns about Operation Ventriloquist, a chilling Rephaim/Sargas scheme that threatens to infiltrate her into the dangerous labyrinth of Venetian politics, betrayal, and espionage.
As Paige balances political intrigue and personal trauma, she also confronts the possibility that Arcturus holds not only her memories but also the key to the rebellion's success, all while navigating her evolving identity as a resistance leader and dreamwalker.
What I Loved: I think this may be slightly controversial, but I think this novel shifted from a fantasy novel to a political thriller. Some folks may not like that, and I get it. Below, I do note a gripe, which seems to be why I can't seem to rate most of the books in this series about 4.25, but I do think that Shannon played this switch-up well here. We had many moving political pieces - multiple Syndicates, the Rephaim who are fractured into their own political sects, country governments, Scion vs. the free world, and the inception of new councils and espionage groups. You would think that it would be hard to follow, but I think Shannon organized and wrote about them very well, and it mimics what I would assume would be real-life players at the start of war. I truly was about this political scheming, and watching a 20-year-old human try to navigate it.
While I will always dislike the very young woman protagonist trope in fantasy, I will say that Shannon does a good job at having her main characters feel authentic. I've been reading about Paige for the last couple of months, and she really is, well, Paige. While she can sometimes be frustrating - something I am feeling less and less of, thankfully - she emerged in this novel as more vulnerable and therefore, compelling. The days of reckless impulsivity softened (to a degree). Instead, we saw her learn the difficult art of leadership, opening herself to allies, and carrying the weight of trauma with hard-won resilience. I truly believe it is with Paige, and Arcturus, that Shannon's prose - taut and lyrical - shines most brightly.
A few other tidbits I loved in this book: this book felt less like Paige going through the absolute worst-case scenario at every single turn. Don't get me wrong, she was still struggling, but it felt more action-packed instead of constantly oozing with trauma every single second. Also, the books somewhat follow the tarot cards that were read to Paige in the first novel, and I think that's super fun and a nice little touch. Additionally, I love that each book is set in a different city, and we get to really feel what the city is like through Paige's eyes. In this book, we saw Poland, briefly, and Italy, and they were both rendered with an atmospheric precision that mirrors their historical role as both a jewel of culture and a site of intrigue. Lastly, I can't help but simply just love the dash of romance in these books. Paige and Arcturus are truly lovely to read about, and I can't help but continue to constantly root for them. I thought the romance was done well here and look forward to seeing where it goes.
Will one of these books ever be a 5? I don't know! I sure hope so because at the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoy reading them. I am immersed and engrossed. I want to find out what happens next! However - and this may go against what I said above, so I'm likely a little hypocritical - the novel's political machinations meant that the fantasy part - the magical system - faltered. I still have too many questions about dreamwalking, clairvoyance, the golden cord, and the Rephaim and Netherworld. I understand that this is a relatively long series, and I do not expect to have the answers to all these questions in each of the books. But, I have been reading about the politicking and plot for five books now, and I was hoping for a little bit more about the overall world with the magic. I think we have received small doses throughout the novels, specifically the Emin, but other than that, I am still a little baffled.
I'm going to throw this out one more time because, at the end of the day, this is personal preference, but because of all the politicking and plot movement, the writing can feel dense and occasionally over-explained. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but Shannon is a heavy-handed writer. I think for me it works because I still feel pretty invested in the characters, but I do believe what happens with heavy-handed writers like Shannon is that things do feel told instead of shown, and it can mean that some of the secondary characters can fall flat because they feel more like plot devices and movement for the story, instead of being people. I continued to feel that slightly in this book. I think for readers like myself, at times, the material's density is part of the charm. For others, it likely risks blunting the narrative momentum. Regardless, I do take this into account when rating and reviewing because it was still noticeable here for me, likely discouraging me from rating it higher.
With all that said, this novel's pieces are tense and cinematic, the relationships textured with real vulnerability, and the stakes feel appropriately escalated for a series related to war. Shannon's commitment to thematic depth - particularly in this exploration of memory, identity, and freedom - elevated The Dark Mirror and kept me utterly immersed. I likely have to wait a while for the next one, and for right now, I'm a little sad to depart Scion (well, not Scion itself, of course), but I look forward to keeping up with the series.''
**
I've often wondered if my choices shaped my life, or if it was drawn before I existed, spun out for me like thread from a spindle. I've wondered if any of us have a fate; if the pattern and flow of time is ordained, or if we can force it to carve a new path. All voyants reckon with the idea. Some among us glimpse the future, and we like to believe that means we can stop it, but I suspect that degree of control is an illusion, and we have no more power than amaurotics. All we can hope for is a warning. A glimpse of time before it comes.
"I've heard it called the Golden City," Maria said. "It's like something out of a fairy tale." "You could let yourself think Scion didn't exist here." "That's what I find so disturbing. I understand now why the free world has done so little to help us. If I close my eyes for long enough, I feel I could forget Scion was even real."
"No," I said. "When they arrived here, the Sargas chose not to reveal themselves, because they didn't want humans to govern or subjugate them. They created Scion to ensure they could determine their own futures." "The fear is understandable, to a degree. We humans can scarcely get along with one other, let alone a different species."
"We've always saved each other. I can't keep flying without you." "I believe you could. I told you. You are a force of nature, Paige Mahoney." He covered my hand. "I have rid myself of my poison. Are you ready to ascend?" I craned my neck to look up the shaft, to the sky above. "That word you used. The descent into the underworld," I said. "What's the opposite?" "An anabasis. The journey back to the surface, made by those who are not yet ready for death."
"The night you left Oxford, I watched my prison burn," he said softly, eyes locked on mine. "You were in that fire - your wrath, your strength, your refusal to be tamed. And when it finally went out, the world lay absolutely still, just as it did before you came. For some, there is safety in stillness, in certainty. But you have ruined me for stillness, Paige Mahoney."
I was so lost in us that I forgot a fundamental truth. The world did not take kindly to mortals who thought themselves worthy of gods.
"Whatever part of my existence you have touched," Arcturus said, "is the best of me, Paige Mahoney." He leaned down to kiss my forehead. "Rest, Underqueen. You are still needed."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Minor: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Religious bigotry