A review by noranne
The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

3.0

Very interesting start to a series. Unfortunately I found it somewhat enamored of its own cleverness (guess what--behavior that is boorish in men is no less boorish when you give it to women instead) and I had a very hard time with a key aspect of the worldbuilding that kept me from fully engaging with it. Also most of the characters are awful people. Intentionally, I think, but that doesn't make me find them any less awful. And while I like having some gray characters and people to root against, it becomes tiring when every single person seems to have few to no redeemable qualities. Much of the plot relied heavily on coincidences that made me roll my eyes, so that was a little disappointing.

With all that said, it is definitely different and most of the worldbuilding is fascinating. It took me a while to understand the plot, but once I did it was entertaining. And it is well-written for sure.

A good book, looking forward to the rest of the series, but not quite all I had hoped it to be.