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lcasswrites's Reviews (793)
Wow. I'm not sure how to describe this book. Schwab has described it as the most personal book she's ever written, and that is evident as you turn the pages. As with all her writing, it's lyrical and beautiful and functions as character in and of itself. Schwab doesn't write the same kind of story twice and Bones is different again to any other books of hers, yet this one is probably most similar to Addie LaRue (and Schwab has hinted that it exists in the same world as Addie). This story is not full of action and adventure and pace, and there isn't a huge amount of plot. Instead it is slow and steady, the story unfolding in layer after layer. It's a very raw and character-driven book, so if that's not your cup of tea, then you might not want to pick this one up. I loved it though, and I would highly recommend giving it go.
I've written about how much I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Bone Season, before. The Dark Mirror is Book 5 in the series, and only just came out, so it has been a few months since I read through the previous books in one go. By the time I'd gotten to the end of book 4, as much as I'd enjoyed the series overall, I was feeling a little tired by the relentlessness of what Paige goes through, and the ending of book 4 didn't leave me hopeful. But The Dark Mirror sucked me all the way back in! I'm not sure that there was anything particularly special about it, but it was great to be back with Paige as a character, and the way the story developed throughout the book was a lot more positive than what I'd been expecting. It also moved the characters to new locations, which was cool. This is a great series that doesn't get bogged down despite being so long (I think there are supposed to be 7 books total). I highly recommend it if you like a dark (but not grimdark) dystopian fantasy.
The premise of this book grabbed me straight away, but I did find the start a bit slow going. The first of the two main protagonists, Sylah, is not an easy character to like, and her choices (while understandable) were frustrating. But once Sylah's story began interacting with the story of the second protagonist, Anoor, (a more likeable but much weaker character, at least in the beginning), the story really kicked into gear for me.
Both Sylah and Anoor grow in really interesting ways, and the tug of war between them and their different values and backgrounds I found really compelling. Parts of the story felt a little too YA for me when they first popped up, but if you stick with it, even those elements develop in satisfying ways. Overall, a great read, and I'd like to keep reading the series.
Both Sylah and Anoor grow in really interesting ways, and the tug of war between them and their different values and backgrounds I found really compelling. Parts of the story felt a little too YA for me when they first popped up, but if you stick with it, even those elements develop in satisfying ways. Overall, a great read, and I'd like to keep reading the series.
None of the characters were particularly interesting, and the deliberate keeping secrets trope annoyed me.
