The Mirror of Beasts - bookrastinating.com

English language

Published 2024 by Random House Children's Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-48169-1

With the dream of Avalon in ruins, Tamsin and her friends are all that stands in the way of Lord Death's plans to unleash the horrors of Anwnn on the world of the living. As the Wild Hunt carves a bloody path across continents, Tamsin is mustering allies, tracking down powerful artifacts, and traversing into new otherlands in search of a way to stop him.

Legend tells of a “Mirror of Beasts,” powerful enough to trap even Lord Death in its accursed glass, but the mirror is not all that it seems. Tamsin must confront her own darkest secrets if she hopes to tap the mirror's strength to defeat her enemies.

Arthurian legend bleeds into contemporary action, and scars of the past are torn open anew by a starcrossed love that refuses to go quietly. This riveting conclusion to the Silver in the Bone duology will hold you …

With the dream of Avalon in ruins, Tamsin and her friends are all that stands in the way of Lord Death's plans to unleash the horrors of Anwnn on the world of the living. As the Wild Hunt carves a bloody path across continents, Tamsin is mustering allies, tracking down powerful artifacts, and traversing into new otherlands in search of a way to stop him.

Legend tells of a “Mirror of Beasts,” powerful enough to trap even Lord Death in its accursed glass, but the mirror is not all that it seems. Tamsin must confront her own darkest secrets if she hopes to tap the mirror's strength to defeat her enemies.

Arthurian legend bleeds into contemporary action, and scars of the past are torn open anew by a starcrossed love that refuses to go quietly. This riveting conclusion to the Silver in the Bone duology will hold you in its thrall until the very last page.

1 edition

lastblossom reviewed The Mirror of Beasts by Alexandra Bracken (Silver in the Bone, #2)

A strong conclusion to the duology, with some neat plot twists and a dramatic romance.

No rating

This book starts right after the ending of the first book, and jumps straight back into the story without stopping for a breath (so if it's been a while since you read the last one, or you haven't read it at all, go do that first). But if you're ready for all the fast-paced action from the previous book to continue, then it's all in here. The stakes are higher, and you can feel the tension immediately as our already exhausted characters have a larger battle in front of them with enemies on even more fronts. It's a race to the finish line that doesn't let up, with players coming and going, so there are a lot of threads to keep up with. Arthurian legend again features strongly, but loosely, with some really cool twists and surprises woven in. The first person POV that worked really well in the first …

This book starts right after the ending of the first book, and jumps straight back into the story without stopping for a breath (so if it's been a while since you read the last one, or you haven't read it at all, go do that first). But if you're ready for all the fast-paced action from the previous book to continue, then it's all in here. The stakes are higher, and you can feel the tension immediately as our already exhausted characters have a larger battle in front of them with enemies on even more fronts. It's a race to the finish line that doesn't let up, with players coming and going, so there are a lot of threads to keep up with. Arthurian legend again features strongly, but loosely, with some really cool twists and surprises woven in. The first person POV that worked really well in the first book might be a bit of a detriment here, as the group splits up quite a bit, and a ton of action winds up happening off screen. The most obviously missed chance is the secondary romance, that develops largely out of sight from the MC, and it's one that I would have loved to watch unfold. That being said, readers hoping for a conclusion to the primary romance set up in the first book will be happy to see the same bittersweet mix of tender moments and traumatic backstories for our young heroes, all leading to a very hopeful ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Books for an advance copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.