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A review by thebooknerdscorner
The Mirror of Beasts by Alexandra Bracken
5.0
An exhilarating dark fantasy featuring four young women fighting against Lord Death himself that draws from Arthurian legend and Welsh folklore.
After accidentally bringing the Kingdom of Avalon back to the modern world, Tamsin and her companions must fight Lord Death before he releases his dark plans across all of the Earth. Tamsin has heard of a legendary Mirror of Beasts that is rumored to be able to contain anything within it's glass. With little to go on and a tight deadline, Tamsin sets off in search of the Mirror of Beasts in the hopes that she can stop Lord Death before it's too late. Unfortunately, she'll have to confront many aspects of her dark and mysterious past along the way.
I have to start out this review by saying that I haven't been this emotionally destroyed by a book in a very long time. It had me sobbing over all the tragic events, laughing out loud over Tamsin and Emrys' banter, gasping in surprise due to all the twists and turns, swooning over Emrys' charm, and completely heartbroken due to all the torment that Tamsin and her companions undergo throughout these two books. These books really touched me and my heart couldn't help but go out to all the characters and all of the suffering that they underwent.
I really enjoyed reading Tamsin and Emrys' journey to romance in this one. Some serious stuff went down at the end of "Silver in the Bone" and it totally makes sense that Tamsin has severe trust issues. I felt that their journey to get back together was very realistic, especially due to the things they had to go through and admit to one another for their relationship to have any time to grow. I literally love Emrys so much, and I think I have to add him to my list of favorite book boyfriends. He has went through so much pain and suffering throughout his life, and yet he still manages to be charismatic, funny, and optimistic. Tamsin has also went through hell, so it was very touching to see them support each other through all the things they were currently going through, as well as helping each other with the demons of their past. The moments that mirrored the stepping stones of their relationship in the first book were also super cute, especially when they ended up staying the night alone together in an abandoned house much similar to the cave incident in the first one.
The lore in this book was extremely complicated, yet Bracken left us so many clues in book one. I was shocked to learn what many of them meant, including Nash's coin, Tamsin's curse, and Neve's mysterious light magic. I didn't see much of the magical events coming, yet they all made one hundred percent sense with the lore that Bracken laid down earlier in the first book. King Arthur's tales are full of magical women that live in lakes, mystical swords, unconquerable creatures, and the likes, so it was really awesome to see many of these things reflected in this series in Bracken's own unique way.
Before I wrap this up, I really want to comment on how much I love all the characters in this story. They are all complex people with their own motives, ideals, and personal demons. They all seemed very realistic and Bracken managed to make me care about every one of them by humanizing them. Almost the entire cast of characters make mistakes and do things that can be seen as negative, which just adds to their authenticity. My heart especially goes out to Tamsin, Emrys, Cabell, Olwen, Cait, Neve, and Nash. They are such a strong main cast of characters and I feel that my thoughts will return to these characters time and time again for the foreseeable future. The themes of sisterhood and siblingly struggles were also so beautiful and I owe most of this to the wonderful way that these characters were crafted.
Overall, I was blown away by "The Mirror of Beasts" and managed to eat up this massive tome in just two days. I love the characters, the magical world, and the intensity of the writing. I am so glad that Bracken never seems to disappoint when it comes to her work and that with every book of hers that I read, I manage to walk away with a ton of new friends. The "Silver in the Bone" series is by far one of my best reads of the year and I won't soon be forgetting about them. I am seriously stoked to see what Ms. Bracken writes next; you can bet that I'll be reading it no matter what it is!
After accidentally bringing the Kingdom of Avalon back to the modern world, Tamsin and her companions must fight Lord Death before he releases his dark plans across all of the Earth. Tamsin has heard of a legendary Mirror of Beasts that is rumored to be able to contain anything within it's glass. With little to go on and a tight deadline, Tamsin sets off in search of the Mirror of Beasts in the hopes that she can stop Lord Death before it's too late. Unfortunately, she'll have to confront many aspects of her dark and mysterious past along the way.
I have to start out this review by saying that I haven't been this emotionally destroyed by a book in a very long time. It had me sobbing over all the tragic events, laughing out loud over Tamsin and Emrys' banter, gasping in surprise due to all the twists and turns, swooning over Emrys' charm, and completely heartbroken due to all the torment that Tamsin and her companions undergo throughout these two books. These books really touched me and my heart couldn't help but go out to all the characters and all of the suffering that they underwent.
I really enjoyed reading Tamsin and Emrys' journey to romance in this one. Some serious stuff went down at the end of "Silver in the Bone" and it totally makes sense that Tamsin has severe trust issues. I felt that their journey to get back together was very realistic, especially due to the things they had to go through and admit to one another for their relationship to have any time to grow. I literally love Emrys so much, and I think I have to add him to my list of favorite book boyfriends. He has went through so much pain and suffering throughout his life, and yet he still manages to be charismatic, funny, and optimistic. Tamsin has also went through hell, so it was very touching to see them support each other through all the things they were currently going through, as well as helping each other with the demons of their past. The moments that mirrored the stepping stones of their relationship in the first book were also super cute, especially when they ended up staying the night alone together in an abandoned house much similar to the cave incident in the first one.
The lore in this book was extremely complicated, yet Bracken left us so many clues in book one. I was shocked to learn what many of them meant, including Nash's coin, Tamsin's curse, and Neve's mysterious light magic. I didn't see much of the magical events coming, yet they all made one hundred percent sense with the lore that Bracken laid down earlier in the first book. King Arthur's tales are full of magical women that live in lakes, mystical swords, unconquerable creatures, and the likes, so it was really awesome to see many of these things reflected in this series in Bracken's own unique way.
Before I wrap this up, I really want to comment on how much I love all the characters in this story. They are all complex people with their own motives, ideals, and personal demons. They all seemed very realistic and Bracken managed to make me care about every one of them by humanizing them. Almost the entire cast of characters make mistakes and do things that can be seen as negative, which just adds to their authenticity. My heart especially goes out to Tamsin, Emrys, Cabell, Olwen, Cait, Neve, and Nash. They are such a strong main cast of characters and I feel that my thoughts will return to these characters time and time again for the foreseeable future. The themes of sisterhood and siblingly struggles were also so beautiful and I owe most of this to the wonderful way that these characters were crafted.
Overall, I was blown away by "The Mirror of Beasts" and managed to eat up this massive tome in just two days. I love the characters, the magical world, and the intensity of the writing. I am so glad that Bracken never seems to disappoint when it comes to her work and that with every book of hers that I read, I manage to walk away with a ton of new friends. The "Silver in the Bone" series is by far one of my best reads of the year and I won't soon be forgetting about them. I am seriously stoked to see what Ms. Bracken writes next; you can bet that I'll be reading it no matter what it is!