Reviews

The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel

underthejunipertree's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

The capstone of this trilogy is decidedly more like a procession compared to its predecessors-- every chapter only paves further way to the book's end and makes no secret of it; only Cromwell does not know. The march is long and deathly. It is a feat to pull off suspense when history knows the ending already. 

The Mirror and the Light feels more appropriately aged. Cromwell is at the apex of his power, but he is no young man anymore. The quick machinations, the wiliness that carried him so far do not retaliate with the speeds they used to. Cromwell had seen More abandoned, Catherine neglected, Boleyn beheaded with the keen eye of a devising survivor, but when the pattern crops up once again, Cromwell fails to spot the danger. The marriages had always been the paramount issue to the king; how did he not know when the crisis of Cleves arrived right at his doorstep? He turned too slow and brought us right back to the beginning. His fate may be sealed in the tomes of the Tower, but I wish he got up once more, once again. 

bethpreston's review

informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

sblk1991's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

ellenarcher22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

kelly_may's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

crimsoncor's review

4.0

Finally finished. So this is obviously very similar to the other two in the series, but soo much longer. And a lot of the middle section drags with flashbacks or rehashes of events that are covered in the first two novels. It definitely could use a bit of tightening up. But Mantel's re-creation of Cromwell's world is still enthralling and the little extra details really make it feel alive (do we need a multi-page digression about a black leopard sent to Cromwell as a gift? Maybe not, but the book would be poorer without it). Trim 100-150 pages and it would have been a flawless finale to the series. Still very very good.

everworld2662's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

God, what a loss she is.

takumo_n's review against another edition

5.0

We see the downfall of Thomas Cromwell in this last book of a brilliant trilogy. Maybe the most meandering the the three, but incredibly fun and unbealievably well written. The incidents, that Cromwell engineered, in the first and second book bleed into this one in the sense that our protagonist believes he can manipulate the king into saving or executing anyone, or pass any policy, or married whom Cromwell pleases. As Wosley step a little too high in his pretentions, Cromwell does the same. He saves and kills who he needs, ends up with no friends and nothing but traitors, at least from his perspective. Even though the king himself tells Cromwell he knows he's being manipulated, or when the king has a second accident with his horse and Cromwell gets this deep desire to run away, or the appearance of his daughter, or the hated Norfolk who says they're just nothing more or less than tools to the king, or a queen who the king doesn't want, Cromwell still wanted his own way in the royal court and international conflict. The accumulations of frustrations left the king weak and angry, in the epilogue of the book Mantel tells us that Henry made nothing but bad decisions after Cromwell's death, not that it was going dandy while alive. But the book goes into a lot of details in the dealings of the royal court, etiquette, civil war, foreing policy, etc. It feels like a amazingly written soap opera. And again this Cromwell we like, but sometimes the real life one appears, inevitably, in these pages when he becomes a monster, a manipulator. But there's nothing but pity for this character at the end, specially with that last paragraph, my God!!

He is like a man retreating from a cliff edge: in despair he thinks he will throw himself down on the rocks, but then he feels the blue air bouncing him along to perdition, he feels the wind in his lungs, he sees the gulls flying below, he is blown like a feather to the brink, and then he digs his heels in, he grabs at the sparse bent shrubs, screws up his eyes and holds tight for his life. He says, 'You will not hear me speak against the king.'

By the way: there is a lot of descriptions with the color blue in them. I don't know if Mantel just likes that image or if there's actual symbolism. Because there is A LOT of blue in this book!

clumsyalchemist's review

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

shareen17's review

4.0

Perhaps a tad too many tangents and flashbacks, but still a memorable read. Her writing is wonderful and characterization so insightful and believable. Thomas Cromwell is of course a very compromised character. I was still so attached to him that I had a slight feeling of dread through the book, knowing what was coming for him.