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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
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: Please know there might be some ~slight~ spoilers in this setup because this is the second book in the series.
Picking up moments after the harrowing escape from Sheol I, Paige Mahoney, Pale Dreamer, returns to Scion London, only to find herself a fugitive in both the mortal world and the clairvoyant underworld. Branded a traitor, she navigates the fracturing Syndicate - the crime-laced network of voyants ruled by the enigmatic mime-lords - and finds herself drawn into the power vacuum that continued as she was held in Oxford in The Bone Season.
Amid rival gangs, secretive Rephaim factions, and her increasingly unstable relationship with Warden, Paige realizes she must win a competition to become Underqueen, not just to survive, but to shift the balance of power and expose the true villains in Scion.
As the novel barrels toward its shocking, game-changing finale, Paige must face the paradox of leadership: to change Scion, she may have to become something she once despised.
What I Loved: I continued to ride the trope train around the costs of power - who gets to wield it, how they hold it, and what happens when you try to take it. Shannon deepened the worldbuilding by showcasing how systems of control (Scion, the Syndicate, and the Rephaim) are interwoven and indistinguishable in their cruelty. Paige's struggle became symbolic of revolutionary energy, yet troublesome.
I also continued to like the magic system. Shannon grew it in complexity, particularly through Paige's dreamwalking interactions with spirits in the aether. Additionally, overall, we got a more metaphysical turn in this volume, alluding to a deeper spiritual mythology underlying the Seven Orders.
I wanted to review this one slightly above The Bone Season, hence the 4.25 stars, which I rarely give. I did so because I think Shannon revised the pacing in this novel, and Paige's moral development was sharply drawn here - she's no longer surviving, she's strategizing a bit more.
I would love more perspective on this, but I did enjoy (continued to enjoy) Shannon's real-world rebellion movements with thoughtful nuance, highlighting the gray areas between resistance and manipulation. This novel also showed the dark side of rebellion and the complicated emotional ties and challenges associated with making decisions about rebellion.
Lastly, while I wasn't surprised by parts of this ending, I was SHOCKED by the implication at the end. No spoilers here, but I did not guess the whole ending, only parts of it. I jumped RIGHT into The Song Rising (the third book in the series) to confirm what I thought it was implying, and it was a doozy.
Why Not Even 4.5 Stars? Yes, yes, the heavy worldbuilding persists, likely with some minor holes as it's only the second book out of (I think) eventually seven (or so). We still had somewhat underdeveloped secondary characters and many questions about the Rephaim, Emite, and the mysterious Rackham. I think all of this will come in due time, but Shannon does like to drag a lot out. I also was less thrilled about the romantic arc in this one - don't get me wrong, I am still quite curious and honestly thinking about it more than I should - but there was a romantic tension in The Bone Season, and it felt only minimally reignited here. It isn't a big deal, but it felt slightly choppy.
My biggest qualm of all of this, though (besides Paige only being 19 STILL, but I promised myself I can't let that rule the entire rating), was that Paige's magic is still unstable to me. And I don't mean literally - if it were literally, that would be fine! I mean writing-wise. I mean that Paige's magic seems to help her out when needed, or it doesn't, and leads to other plot points. It is used as a writing tool as opposed to an actual magic system that Paige has and controls (or doesn't). I don't know if that makes a lot of sense, but dreamwalking continues to be super interesting for me. Shannon, however, continued to write it as a device to move the story along, rather than helping Paige grow. It bothers me slightly, and I hope it evens out more in the future books.
Overall, though, I enjoyed this book. I am invested and look forward to continuing the series. The Mime Order continues to serve as a rich text for discussions on authoritarianism, subversion, and oppression. Paige's dual role as both truth-teller and political actor embodies the burden of being both witness and instigator. I think it's worth a read!
**
Picking up moments after the harrowing escape from Sheol I, Paige Mahoney, Pale Dreamer, returns to Scion London, only to find herself a fugitive in both the mortal world and the clairvoyant underworld. Branded a traitor, she navigates the fracturing Syndicate - the crime-laced network of voyants ruled by the enigmatic mime-lords - and finds herself drawn into the power vacuum that continued as she was held in Oxford in The Bone Season.
Amid rival gangs, secretive Rephaim factions, and her increasingly unstable relationship with Warden, Paige realizes she must win a competition to become Underqueen, not just to survive, but to shift the balance of power and expose the true villains in Scion.
As the novel barrels toward its shocking, game-changing finale, Paige must face the paradox of leadership: to change Scion, she may have to become something she once despised.
What I Loved: I continued to ride the trope train around the costs of power - who gets to wield it, how they hold it, and what happens when you try to take it. Shannon deepened the worldbuilding by showcasing how systems of control (Scion, the Syndicate, and the Rephaim) are interwoven and indistinguishable in their cruelty. Paige's struggle became symbolic of revolutionary energy, yet troublesome.
I also continued to like the magic system. Shannon grew it in complexity, particularly through Paige's dreamwalking interactions with spirits in the aether. Additionally, overall, we got a more metaphysical turn in this volume, alluding to a deeper spiritual mythology underlying the Seven Orders.
I wanted to review this one slightly above The Bone Season, hence the 4.25 stars, which I rarely give. I did so because I think Shannon revised the pacing in this novel, and Paige's moral development was sharply drawn here - she's no longer surviving, she's strategizing a bit more.
I would love more perspective on this, but I did enjoy (continued to enjoy) Shannon's real-world rebellion movements with thoughtful nuance, highlighting the gray areas between resistance and manipulation. This novel also showed the dark side of rebellion and the complicated emotional ties and challenges associated with making decisions about rebellion.
Lastly, while I wasn't surprised by parts of this ending, I was SHOCKED by the implication at the end. No spoilers here, but I did not guess the whole ending, only parts of it. I jumped RIGHT into The Song Rising (the third book in the series) to confirm what I thought it was implying, and it was a doozy.
Why Not Even 4.5 Stars? Yes, yes, the heavy worldbuilding persists, likely with some minor holes as it's only the second book out of (I think) eventually seven (or so). We still had somewhat underdeveloped secondary characters and many questions about the Rephaim, Emite, and the mysterious Rackham. I think all of this will come in due time, but Shannon does like to drag a lot out. I also was less thrilled about the romantic arc in this one - don't get me wrong, I am still quite curious and honestly thinking about it more than I should - but there was a romantic tension in The Bone Season, and it felt only minimally reignited here. It isn't a big deal, but it felt slightly choppy.
My biggest qualm of all of this, though (besides Paige only being 19 STILL, but I promised myself I can't let that rule the entire rating), was that Paige's magic is still unstable to me. And I don't mean literally - if it were literally, that would be fine! I mean writing-wise. I mean that Paige's magic seems to help her out when needed, or it doesn't, and leads to other plot points. It is used as a writing tool as opposed to an actual magic system that Paige has and controls (or doesn't). I don't know if that makes a lot of sense, but dreamwalking continues to be super interesting for me. Shannon, however, continued to write it as a device to move the story along, rather than helping Paige grow. It bothers me slightly, and I hope it evens out more in the future books.
Overall, though, I enjoyed this book. I am invested and look forward to continuing the series. The Mime Order continues to serve as a rich text for discussions on authoritarianism, subversion, and oppression. Paige's dual role as both truth-teller and political actor embodies the burden of being both witness and instigator. I think it's worth a read!
**
I had seen things in Jaxon I couldn't unsee. I had spent three years craving his approval, forgetting I was anything but his creature, the Pale Dreamer. In Oxford, I had started to discover who I was without him. To him, you are nothing more than a quick flesh grafted to a ghost; a priceless gift in human wrapping.
"Ah yes. Our Underlord is not the most peaceful of men. Why we voyants fight each other so passionately, yet do nothing to fight the Inquisitor, I shall never know."
"We need his voice. Literature is our most powerful tool, one Scion has never mastered."
The Old Lyre had once been a popular music hall. Now it was rotting away, waiting for Scion to work out what to do with its carcass. Inquisitor Mayfield had shut down many such establishments, believing that art propagated dissent. Give them paint, and they will paint over the anchor. Give them a stage, and they will shout out treason. Give them a pen, and they will rewrite the natural order.
The medium wheezed with laughter. "We're all puppets, mollisher," he rasped. "Make sure you know...who's holding your strings."
"Not all secrets are kept out of shame. Some are kept to guard a truth, or to protect a life," he said. "Others are kept for selfish reasons, for those who know them fear that sunlight will burn them away." He came to join me. "And some secrets are kept for their sanctity."
"You can never want too much. That's how they silence us," I said. "They told us we were lucky to be in a prison instead of the aether. Lucky to be murdered with nitrogen and not the noose. Luck to be alive, even if we weren't free. They told us to stop wanting more than what they gave us, because what they gave us was more than we deserved." I picked up my coat. "You're not a prisoner any more, Arcturus."
"Is hope enough?" "Hope is the lifeblood of revolution. Without it, we are nothing but ash, waiting for the wind to take us."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, Classism
Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Slavery, Medical content
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
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
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
I am invested. There’s certainly something that leaves me wanting in the main character, and a lot of times the many different words and inner workings of this clairvoyant world have me struggling to engage. But the many conflicts of the story, interpersonal and otherwise, keep me locked in.
Alors comment décrire mon amour pour ce livre ! Je suis tellement contente d'avoir enfin lu la suite après 5 ans d'attente de la traduction.et comme je n'ai pas du tout été déçue. Ce fut magistrale ! L'univers toujours aussi riche, les personnage toujours plus complexes et l'intingue toujours plus difficile à cerner. Ce tome tombe dans la limite du thriller fantastique sombre et glauque. J'ai aimé encore plus cette suite et le dénouement finale annonce une suite des plus intriguante.
adventurous
challenging
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:
No
adventurous
tense
medium-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:
N/A