Reviews - Mirrored Heavens

1.84k reviews for:

Mirrored Heavens

Rebecca Roanhorse

4.27 AVERAGE

nightowlnikk's review

5.0

adventurous dark emotional 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

I’m still REELING from this experience, but I wanted to write a review in the moments directly after finishing. I have never been so satisfied with an ending to a series in my life. I am awed, heartbroken, baffled, obsessed, and so much more.

This was the finale I needed. There was still somehow loads of character development and insight, political maneuvering and intrigue, and plenty of action beats while bringing the story to its conclusion. There were so many moments that absolutely ripped my heart open in both positive and negative ways. I started to care for characters I never anticipated giving a damn about in the first two books.

Xiala has risen to the top as one of my all time favorite female characters. But honestly, I’m walking away from this having so many positive feelings about a lot of characters, and even the antagonists were exciting to read about. Everything was so wrapped up in each other, and there were no clear lines on who we as readers are supposed to root for

The prose is gorgeous. It’s not too flowery or hard to follow, but there are some BANGER quotes in here I want tattooed on my body. Honestly, it’s just going to take me a while to move on from this high.

loppnow's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

sallysimply's review against another edition

5.0

A satisfying ending to a beautiful trilogy.

abbajane's review

4.0

WOW. Everything I loved about the first two books was there, and the romance was absolute god-tier (pun intended bitch!). It was a little over-long for my taste, especially compared to the last two books. And the ending was only, like, half-way satisfying to me (Iktan, beloved!!! OKOA BELOVED!!! - I'm just saying that there was great potential for a thruple and I'm a little annoyed I didn't get it BUT). Still one of the greatest fantasy series from the past decade. Still HIGHLY recommend.

esmayrosalyne's review

4.0

3.5 stars

Full of complicated characters, even more complicated relationships, devastating prophecies, and incredibly high stakes, Mirrored Heavens is an impressive yet very messy finale to the Between Earth and Sky series.

For me, this series unfortunately peaked in book 1, but it is a testament to Roanhorse's incredible storytelling skills that I was still absolutely glued to the page throughout the entire series. You see, some of these characters just captured my heart on the very first page, and they never let me go.

Especially Xiala will be an all-time favourite for me from now on, and I loved her journey in this finale. To be fair, I could have done without her undying obsession with Serapio, but by the end I loved how their dynamic developed and played out. And oh my boy Serapio... his entire storyline is just drenched in melancholy, and I love how Roanhorse played around with fate, divinity, and destiny through his character.

Moreover, I was completely blown away by how much I came to enjoy Balam's perspective in this story, especially with the flashbacks. Naranpa, on the other hand, felt more like an afterthought in this finale to me, which I found very unfortunate. However, we did finally get an Iktan POV, so I guess I will take that win. Xe is honestly the MVP of this series, and I still want a spin-off series about xir!

All that said, I feel like this finale just did not deliver on what was promised. There is such a sense of anticipatory dread being built up all the way through, only for it to conclude with the most anti-climax to have ever anti-climaxed. Look, I am all for subverting expectations and taking risks in storytelling, but I feel like so many of the incredibly cool concepts of this story just did not live up to their potential in the end. All the talk about the prophecy just resulted in nothing, and I honestly think the increasing romantic elements of the story started to negatively impact the other aspects of this story.

Though, I do still absolutely adore this world, and I am incredibly grateful that such a diverse and refreshing fantasy story exists. Ultimately, I think the series is well worth the read, but be aware that you are going to be in for a messy and wild ride!