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A review by pagesplotsandpints
The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon
4.0
Read Completed 3/20/25 | 4 stars | Read #36 of 2025
I have a complicated relationship with these books! I always enjoy them, hence the 4 star rating, and yet, five books later, I STILL feel like I'm on the outside of something I'm never quite understanding. I think I'm finally pin-pointing my reasons why I'm not fully into this series, though!
1. I actually think I would have liked this whole series better with either A) third person POV or B) a second POV. I love Paige and I think she's a great lead character, but there are just some things I don't want from her POV. I wish we got more politics and world-building from a third person perspective or from some other POV that is outside of Paige's experience. I don't know if I'd want that POV to be Arcturus... probably not, actually, but maybe Nick or Jaxon or someone close to Paige but who provides a balanced feel to the book. Even Paige admits she's a lot of action, she's young, she's on the move and doesn't want to stay in one place. But I feel like for the political aspect and the world-building aspect, we kind of NEED someone in one place because I cannot keep any of these smaller characters straight.
2. Granted, I read this series in a binge up until this book, but I still don't know who most of these minor characters are, and that's taking away from my enjoyment of the book. The Wiki for this book isn't always great for characters, so I have a hard time remember who they are or their histories or why they're important. Especially when some flit in and out, especially when we're moving from country to country every book. I wish we had more character development for some of them across multiple books so I could care about them more. When I first read THE BONE SEASON, I was excited for maybe a found family trope (which ended up being a really toxic found family in a lot of ways haha) but I just wanted to CONNECT with people. I'm not doing that aside from Paige & Arcturus.
Okay, at least I've figured out what I'm not enjoying. BUT I still do really enjoy being inside these stories!! I like the world, I love Paige, I'm actually loving the romance now which I was totally opposed to when I first read THE BONE SEASON (though not when I re-read it as the revised version). I'm happy we're moving forward with the romance subplot and I'm really liking the character development, watching them grow individually and how they support each other growing together.
The politics are intriguing, but I also wish I connected to it more. I feel like we could dig into something a little deeper and I kind of feel like we're just rehashing the same political concept over and over again. SCION is bad. They have a new faction in this country. Fight here. Repeat. I need this to go somewhere new.
I feel like this could have been a five book series instead of seven, with some of these middle books being condensed down. Now I'm afraid of getting into book 6 when it finally comes because I'm not rereading these and I'm going to forget so much.
Anyway, this was a lot of constructive feedback, but I really did still enjoy it. It's hard via audiobook sometimes because my brain just does not focus on these books so I really, really have to pay attention. When the action is high or the character arc is deep, it's easy to lock in. It's the slower moments sometimes where I zone out so I really have to work to focus!
I have a complicated relationship with these books! I always enjoy them, hence the 4 star rating, and yet, five books later, I STILL feel like I'm on the outside of something I'm never quite understanding. I think I'm finally pin-pointing my reasons why I'm not fully into this series, though!
1. I actually think I would have liked this whole series better with either A) third person POV or B) a second POV. I love Paige and I think she's a great lead character, but there are just some things I don't want from her POV. I wish we got more politics and world-building from a third person perspective or from some other POV that is outside of Paige's experience. I don't know if I'd want that POV to be Arcturus... probably not, actually, but maybe Nick or Jaxon or someone close to Paige but who provides a balanced feel to the book. Even Paige admits she's a lot of action, she's young, she's on the move and doesn't want to stay in one place. But I feel like for the political aspect and the world-building aspect, we kind of NEED someone in one place because I cannot keep any of these smaller characters straight.
2. Granted, I read this series in a binge up until this book, but I still don't know who most of these minor characters are, and that's taking away from my enjoyment of the book. The Wiki for this book isn't always great for characters, so I have a hard time remember who they are or their histories or why they're important. Especially when some flit in and out, especially when we're moving from country to country every book. I wish we had more character development for some of them across multiple books so I could care about them more. When I first read THE BONE SEASON, I was excited for maybe a found family trope (which ended up being a really toxic found family in a lot of ways haha) but I just wanted to CONNECT with people. I'm not doing that aside from Paige & Arcturus.
Okay, at least I've figured out what I'm not enjoying. BUT I still do really enjoy being inside these stories!! I like the world, I love Paige, I'm actually loving the romance now which I was totally opposed to when I first read THE BONE SEASON (though not when I re-read it as the revised version). I'm happy we're moving forward with the romance subplot and I'm really liking the character development, watching them grow individually and how they support each other growing together.
The politics are intriguing, but I also wish I connected to it more. I feel like we could dig into something a little deeper and I kind of feel like we're just rehashing the same political concept over and over again. SCION is bad. They have a new faction in this country. Fight here. Repeat. I need this to go somewhere new.
I feel like this could have been a five book series instead of seven, with some of these middle books being condensed down. Now I'm afraid of getting into book 6 when it finally comes because I'm not rereading these and I'm going to forget so much.
Anyway, this was a lot of constructive feedback, but I really did still enjoy it. It's hard via audiobook sometimes because my brain just does not focus on these books so I really, really have to pay attention. When the action is high or the character arc is deep, it's easy to lock in. It's the slower moments sometimes where I zone out so I really have to work to focus!