A review by ramunepocky
The Mirror of Beasts by Alexandra Bracken

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

“Deep down, the part of me I couldn’t kill – that little girl. She was in pain all the time, and I’d never let her wounds heal. To survive, I’d had to be strong. I’d had to build a tower within myself.” 

This review is not spoiler free 

This was another one of my most anticipated reads for the year, and I was NOT at all anticipated. I started reading this book after barely sleeping due to the heat and a night of work so my brain was already melting, and yet I still managed to devour 45% of the book before I KO’d because I was just so excited to finally start it and loving every second, despite how insanely stressful it was. This book picks up where Silver in the Bone left off with Nash at Tamsin’s door after her world has just been combined with Avalon and they’re at a loss at what to do. It gets immediately stressful after Nash runs off again after a vague interaction and a group of sorcerors kidnap them, intent on torturing them to get information about what Lord Death is looking for, all of them completely unaware that what he is searching for is, in fact, Tamsin as her soul is the reborn soul of his “lost love” who had only wanted to escape him. 

“You’ve never wanted to believe this, but you do have a beautiful heart.” 

I really, really love Tamsin and, whilst I’m not the biggest fan of first person books, particularly within the fantasy genre, I do enjoy being inside of her head. She did, however, frustrate me with the way that she kept treating Emrys for the first half of the book, I know, of course, that she felt so betrayed by him, especially after she’d finally opened herself up to someone to have them abandon her, but I know for a fact she would have done the exact same thing for Cabell had she been in the same situation (which I’m pretty sure I also put in my Silver in the Bone review), and she just needed time to realise that. She did start to understand more though when she realised the full extent to what Emrys’ father put him through, which turned out to be more than even I’d expected given that he’d killed him before the events of either story had even begun. I did feel for Tamsin too as she warred with her own emotions and the way that she still felt hurt, but her own body betrayed her in wanting to be close to Emrys, and I’m glad she finally got over herself and realised he was in the right, because those two are extremely sweet together and I love their dynamic so much. I also kept getting frustrated with her in the way that she refused to believe that Cabell was doing everything of his own volition and she was still intent on saving him even though he didn’t actually need or want saving. Of course, it is extremely sad in the end when Cabell finally does come back to them and helps them in their final fight against Lord Death before taking the place that Tamsin had been intent on taking, and becoming the new King of Anwnn. But overall, I really do love Tamsin, she’s a strong and badass character, she makes me laugh with her comments and the way she thinks of things, she’s so good hearted and kind and caring, even though she tried to close that part of herself off, I loved the bonds she’d made with her friends and how much she loved them, and how much they loved her. She truly deserved to be surrounded by people who made her happy, who help the scared little girl inside of her heal and feel safe, so she’s not constantly waiting to be abandoned. After taking care of herself and her brother her whole life, she deserves to feel safe and be taken care of. She’s always done what it takes to survive, and she did, she survived, now she deserves to have her peace. 

Neve remains to be my favourite character, I love her so much and I really feel for her because she’s always just wanted to know who she is, who her parents are and the magic that she has – she’s always wanted to learn and be tied to something, and that’s why she’s so insistent on trusting the Sorceress’ and becoming one of them because she feels like that’s the best tie she has. Obviously, it doesn’t work out well for her in this book as the Sorceress’ are selfish and Madrigal uses all of the information that Neve uses against her, but at least Neve finds out part of who she is, and learns that the familiar watching her came from her mother, and I do think it’s super sweet that both her and Cait are now on an adventure looking for Neve’s mother. Neve being a descendant of the Lady of the Lake took me by pleasant surprise as I’d convinced myself that it was Tamsin that had some connection to the Lady of the Lake, so I was really interested by that storyline and seeing how it manifested when Neve touched Excabilbur and the effect it had on her. I loved that she wielded the sword during the final confrontation too. Again, I absolutely adore Neve for her good and kind heart, she always sees the best in people and whilst that doesn’t always fall in her favour, especially where people like Madrigal are concerned, it allows her to create the most genuine friendships and I love her connection with her friends so much. Most of all, I loved seeing her relationship with Cait develop in this book. I’ve shipped the two of them since their second interaction in Silver in the Bone so seeing them both obviously have feelings for each other, and Neve confessing to Caitriona towards the end, had me absolutely jumping for joy. I love everything about the two of them, and I love that even when they argue and scrap, they still make up and genuinely care about each other more than anything else. 

“I love you and I don’t want to be apart from you. Not just because you are noble and beautiful and so many other wonderful things, but because you make me brave, and you make me want to be stronger, so I can fight alongside with you.” 

Caitriona swiftly follows her beloved in my favourite character ranking and my heart broke for her so much in this book. It was heart-wrenching to see her give up on being a Priestess, to struggle with the loss of everyone she held dear in Avalon, to see her so hell-bent on revenge against Lord Death. She tries to shoulder all the burden herself and it hurt me watching her break under all that pressure she put on herself – when she takes Excalibur and leaves, intent on getting her revenge, after so many bad things had already happened and Olwen had been captured and Neve was unconscious, it actually broke me. And her trying to face off against him BY HERSELF like dayum bro. She’s such a strong and formidable warrior and I never doubted her for a second when Neve thought she might turn on Cabell, I knew she’d never do that – even if he hadn’t let her and Olwen go – she’d said they were in it together and she wouldn’t have ever done anything to hurt anyone. I loved seeing her use her magic again too and reconnect with her Priestess roots. She is everything to me. I just love her so, so, SO MUCH!!! 

“You have to stay alive to keep hating me, Lark.” 

Lastly, Emrys, my boy, broke everything in me this book. Learning that his father had killed him, that Madrigal had remade his heart and used him, learning all the hardships he’d been through and the way he feels about himself, the way he hates himself, the way he will still follow Tamsin anywhere, even if she hates him, even if she never forgives him, because he wanted her to hate him because he thought it would be easier, but he loves her and cannot bear anything happening to her. And when he died again. OH MY GOD. That had me absolutely sobbing my heart out. It was so heartbreaking. Espexcailly after he’d finally gotten his freedom from his father, to see him so lightened from that burden knowing his father could never hurt him again to immediately have Madrigal kill him. It was soul destroying. And then to not even know if the coin had worked until the epilogue?!?!?! THAT WAS SO PAINFUL. I was waiting every page to see him again, needing him to come back, needing him to be saved. But it was worth the wait to see him alive and happy, to have his own heart, to have a body free from the scars his father left him – for him to finally be free and not tied down or burdened by his father or Madrigal. He deserves all the happiness in the world. 

“Forgiveness isn’t meant to be easy. It’s got to be earned.” 

Speaking of deaths that destroyed me, I didn’t expect Nash’s death to make me cry so much. After Silver in the Bone, I was intent on not liking him when he appeared, as, like Tamsin, I thought he’d abandoned them, but, like Tamsin, as the story moved on, I grew fond of him and saw the father figure that he was to Tamsin so him dying, to save Cabell, to keep both his kids save regardless of the choices of one, it BROKE ME. 

I have sm more I could save, but DAYUUUUM. Just know that I loved this book with my whole heart and I love the characters with everything I have to give, and this is my favourite Aurthuriana story/retelling. 

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