Reviews with content warning for Gore - A Mirror Mended

I really don’t know if I can put my feelings into words for this book. The beginning of it didn’t resonate quite as much as the first one and I wasn’t as invested but the ending absolutely split me open and despite it being fairly open ended I appreciated how it ended Zinnia’s story and felt it was fairly fitting
Overall I really enjoyed reading this duology and would definitely recommend it

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mothie_girlie's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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faduma's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-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

4.75

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC of this book!

A Mirror Mended is a sequel to the earlier novella, A Spindle Splintered. Zinnia's story continues as she hops from fairy tale to fairy tale to help rescue princesses. But this time, instead of another Sleeping Beauty Story, she somehow lands in Snow White--and face to face with the Evil Queen...who might not be as evil as everyone thinks.

I liked this one even better than A Spindle Splintered! I think Zinnia's character was able to develop a lot more in this one and I loved the added elements with the queen and her friends back home. This is a super quick read but it is definitely worth it. I'm looking forward to more Fractured Fables and more about the worlds that Harrow created!

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brokenbodybitch's review

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adventurous funny reflective fast-paced

4.75

I loved this second part to the fractured fables series, the way the multiverse/fairytale take expanded into the second book was really well done. I was interested to see how this was going to continue, without it being the same book - but in a different font. In my opinion, I think this one was even better then the first, the world building and character building is incredibly detailed for the length; although, it does rely on the reader having some prior background knowledge of fairytale characters. I don't think the required background knowledge is actually a huge deterrent though, because it's all so surface level that you could just get it from movie trailers if you aren't familiar; the more unknown versions of the fairytales are explained well enough that you don't need to be a super fan to understand this book.

What I really love about the reader having some bias of fairytale characters going in the book though, is that Harrow uses that to her advantage by using that bias against the reader. Eva is a prime example of this and a great character in my opinion, the book starts with her being the villain - she is the EVIL QUEEN, solike literally a villain - and throughout the book you start to like her more and more and she ends up being referred to as Eva instead of evil queen.

[Plus Zin literally falls for her and they hook up by the end of the book [fade to black] and I love their relationship and how it developed.]

This book does a really interesting job of skewing the lines/making you analyze of who is good/evil and who actually needs saving, and I really enjoyed how they all contrasted off of each other to add to the story. The pre existing characters are also well done, I think at least, they aren't a main focus of the book necessarily but it is in the undertones influencing the plot which was cool and they come back in at just the right times. [my favourite is specifically Zellandine, but Charm/Sharm (sorry audiobook) made an appearance at a very good time as well]

I can see where some people wouldn't like Zin but, personally I enjoyed her as a character; I thought she was funny enough🤷🏼. This may turn some people off but, it also sold a few people already; there are a few pop culture references. The particular one that I am obsessed with [and I've got some people with] is a referencece to the tiktok sound/video talking about the wizard of oz where the person yells 'ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK AT ME AND TELL ME IM WRONG?' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoWE4ssR3mU - and when it came up the first time I nearly fucking pissed myself [it gets references at least 2ce]. There is also a reference to Chidi Anagonye ['the hot nerd'] from the good place at some point but it's fairly - if you know you know - so its not obnoxious.

I honestly wouldn't hate to see this series continue, although I feel like it has a high risk of getting overdone and repetitive fairly quickly. HOWEVER if done right, which based off this one I think is possible, I think it could be a very cool series. (it would be interesting to see how Alix E. Harrow gets the 'message' that ties in with fairytales to not become tired, if it were to continue; but there are so many options for characters to add)

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