I really enjoyed this book and think this book was def stronger and def dived more into the the wider world of the king aruther myth and i felt that book was really was game changer and loved seeing how this book was craftd. it is def a book and a series that i would love to read again and i also enjoyed to the romance at the heart of this read and also the varous friendships that were craftd in this read and i loved this world and hope we get more stories!!

The Mirror of Beasts is the second book in the Silver in the Bone duology.

I read this right after reading book 1, so I slid into the new book easily. Both books in the series have beautiful language and they're set in a "hidden world" within our own. The world-building is complex, with sorceresses, druids, and priestesses (all at odds with each other) set against Arthurian legends. And then we have hollowers and the cunningfolk (plus the regular humans in the background of the story).

Because of the worldbuilding, be prepared to dive deep. The pacing doesn't really get moving until after the 50% point of book one. Because of the set up, book 2 moves faster. This is a great series if you want an epic feel with high stakes in a modern setting.

Great storytelling, with daring quests (in Arthurian style), witches, curses, and lots of banter. These stories are violent and bloody and sometimes skirts across horror.

I loved the brother-sister sibling relationship. It worked for me. I loved the girl friendships that grew throughout as well. For me, I often find snarky protags annoying, but this FMC was masterfully written and I really enjoyed going on an adventure with her.

Alexandra Bracken always gives us a fantastic and magical experience with her books. I would read anything she wrote, at this point. It's not just YA, it's for everyone.

Avalon has fallen, and almost everyone is dead. As Tamsin and the few other survivors gather to patch themselves up, they know the clock is running against them. Lord Death is out there, and with none other than Tamsin’s brother Cabell as his ally. And if they want to prevent what happened to Avalon from happening to the rest of the world, they have to move quickly to find a way to stop Lord Death before he can get what he wants. But what exactly is he tearing the world apart to find?

I received an advanced reading copy of The Mirror of Beasts in exchange for an honest review.

The Mirror of Beasts is a young adult fantasy novel by Alexandra Bracken. It’s also the sequel to Silver in the Bone, which I read last year. This series first sucked me in by being inspired on Arthurian myth and legend, and this sequel trapped me with the strength of the friendship shown in these pages.

Because now that Tamsin has lost her brother, she has to turn to her friends to support her. Especially because she’s not just reeling from her brother’s betrayal, but from Emrys’s betrayal, which is even worse because she was starting to have feelings for him. But who else should show up when so many have betrayed her, but Nash, the man who adopted her in the first place. Tamsin has a lot of feelings to sort through, at the worst possible time: when the entire world is at risk.

The Mirror of Beasts has a good amount of action, especially as the plot takes off at a pretty quick pace. The characters are rushing around, trying to keep ahead of Lord Death and his growing troops, only to find themselves consistently falling behind. There are revelations happening often in this book, and with each new bit of information, the characters have to change course and continue to hurtle toward the end.

And so many revelations are some great twists! I was able to call a couple of them, but there were definitely some surprises, which were fun! Bracken is a writer who is not afraid to take risks, and she puts her characters through a lot, but they really grow because of it.

The combination of the strong relationships in this book, along with the exciting plot, make The Mirror of Beasts a great sequel to Silver in the Bone, and the duology itself a great one for those who want Arthurian myth and legend in our modern day. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and I’ll be checking out Bracken’s other books.

The Mirror of Beasts will be released on July 30. You can preorder your copy from Hachette Children’s Group here.

New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Bracken returns to a world where Arthurian legends are real in the electrifying sequel to “Silver in the Bone.”

Avalon is gone and Tamsin and her group of unlikely friends are all that stand between Lord Death and his goal to unleash the horrors of Anwnn on the world of the living. While the Wild Hunt wreaks havoc across continents, Tamsin scrambles to assemble Allie’s and to track down artifacts with the power to stop Lord Death, in particular, The Mirror of Beasts.

Legends say the Mirror of Beasts is powerful enough to even trap Lord Death in its cursed glass, but Tamsin soon learns there is more to the mirror than the legends revealed. If she hopes to tap into the mirror’s strength, she must first face her own dark secrets and difficult truths.

“Mirror of Beasts” was touted as a “riveting conclusion” to the Silver in the Bone duology and it definitely delivers. The book picked up where “Silver in the Bone” left on and jumped us right back into the action-packed world where Arthurian legends are real.

Without risking giving anything away, the character development in the book is fantastic. Tamsin grows exponentially as does Cabell and my favorite character, Emrys. Some of the primary side characters also get more development, and we learn more about their backgrounds. We also learn more about Nash, who turned out to be a very fascinating character.

The book’s plot is basically a fetch quest, but Bracken wrote it well. She balanced the research-focused scenes well with action scenes and sprinkled plenty of emotionally driven scenes through the story.

In “Mirror of Beasts,” the theme of love and betrayal run through the entire story, just as they did in “Silver in the Bone.” Bracken did a fabulous job of balancing those themes and giving adequate page time to them. Love and betrayal are often two sides of the same coin, which Bracken masterfully illustrated in her latest book.

“Mirror of Beasts” truly is the riveting conclusion to the “Silver in the Bone” duology. It’s filled with nail biting action sequences, heartwarming and tear jerking emotional scenes, and spooky and intriguing mythology. It serves as a definitive conclusion to the duology, but the world seems open for a spin-off of Bracken wanted to return to that well. I personally vote for more “Silver in the Bone” books!

Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book. While I loved the first book, I found that some of the small problems from the first were greatly exacerbated in this installment. The descriptive nature of the book was beautiful at first, but quickly made it difficult for me to gain any traction. I think that people who enjoy that style of writing will really enjoy this, but for me, it ended up being a disappointing way to wrap up the duology. In the future I would like to return to this, but for the time being it will be shelved.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to review this ARC.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5 stars
First I want to thank @netgalley and @randomhousechildrens for the chance to read this for review that being said my thoughts are my own. I loved this book! It was a great ending to the duology. I love how Tamsin grows through the book into her own all while trying to save her friends and everything she has known. I have been loving learning more about Arthurian tales through out the last year with all the different authors I have read. @alexbracken while being in the same genre gave her own twists with the tales and gave it a current world lift which is one of my favorite things about her writing. It is YA so close door but there is a romance subplot. I highly recommend grabbing this for preorder! Release day is right around the corner on July 30th!

This is the second book in the series and it was such a drag, I’m sorry to say. Way too long, too descriptive, but it didn’t remind the reader about what happened in the first (I hadn’t re-read it before going for this one). It was disjointed and not fun to read.

This was such a wonderful conclusion to the duology. It was action-packed with Arthurian lore, hilarious dialogue that had me laughing out loud, and heartfelt moments that made me tear up. I only wish there had been better pacing with the romantic development. I loved all the profound character arcs, the wholesome found family, and the mysteries unraveling into a crescendo of villainy, ultimately leading to a satisfying end.

This book will be reviewed and featured on my instagram account : @emily_reads_everything. In addition, my goodreads account will have a starred rating, as well as one here. My GR account is linked in the profile of my instagram.

This was a really solid conclusion to the duology! There were a lot of surprising moments, definitely some heartbreaking ones, and plenty of great ones to make up for it. I loved how the female friendships grew even more in this book and I especially loved the addition of a few new characters like the Bonecutter and Rosydd.

Emrys, my love. I was so happy to see more of him. The romance wasn’t super intense or anything but I loved it nonetheless, he & Tamsin have both been through so much and are perfect together.

It could have just been my lack of motivation to read, but the book was on the longer side and did seem a little draggy at times. Overall I’m really happy with how everything turned out and if Alexandra decides to write more in this world I would definitely read it!

Thank you to Random House for the ARC!

4.5 stars

I really loved this! I think it was even better than the first book.

This picks up right where we ended the last book. And it's almost non-stop action for the whole thing. Our characters are constantly having to evade Lord Death, while also trying to figure out a way to stop him, and deal with so many twists and reveals along the way. Tamsin is dealing with so much, but she has some great character development along the way. I won't spoil anything, but the reconciliations throughout the book are SO moving, and I absolutely had tears in my eyes several times.

I never thought the plot or pace dragged at any point, and I was certainly surprised by several of the reveals. The ending was the perfect mix of sweet and bittersweet, and I had a big grin for the last page.
I definitely recommend the duology!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and PHR Audio for the preview. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love Alexandra Bracken and I was sooo unbelievably excited when I received this ARC. The Mirror of Beasts picks up where Silver in the Bone left off… Tamsin has been abandoned again this time by Emrys who has disappeared with the Ring of Disapel and her brother Cabell who has aligned himself with Lord Death, who it turns out was pretending to be Bedivere. With Avalon in ruins, Tamsin, Neve, Cait, and Olwen have to recover from the horrors Lord Death unleashed in the mortal world. Before they can so much as rest, Nash shows up (not dead) and reveals that it is Tamsin not Cabell who needs the Ring because she is cursed. Okay, now that that is out of the way let’s get on to my thoughts…
I really really enjoyed this book, but I didn’t love it. This book felt slower than the first one, like it just kept draagging on. I had a really hard time finishing it, it took me ages even though I was actually invested in the story. I think part of the problem was that the characters kept getting separated, and then we were stuck waiting for all of them to get together so the story could go on. I think it would have been better if this book had POVs from the other characters as opposed to keeping the story limited to Tamsin. Despite the slow pace for most of the book, the ending was almost rushed, like a bunch of revelations and plot twists happen in like twenty pages. All this complaining aside, I did really like the book.
I loved Tamsin and Emrys (though I would have liked it even better if they had more time together). I loved the side characters (particularly the Bonecutter) and I loved the plot twists (even the ones I totally saw coming). But the best thing about the book was how it all wrapped up in the end, all the characters got a perfect conclusion, there is a possibility for a spin-off series and the ending scene was absolutely adorable. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, I just wanted it to be slightly better.

This book had so many twists and turns! Alex Bracken's craft with words was absolutely wonderful as usual. I loved Tamsin even more in this one. Neve was my second favourite character. I didn't feel the romance, probably because it wasn't for me. The resolution did feel a bit rushed. Overall, it was a great book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 4.5 stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review!
The Mirror of Beasts is the sequel to Silver in the Bone, the Arthurian inspired story in which the group has broken the tether keeping Avalon from the real world and having unleashed Lord Death.

“To remind uss that no death, no man, no darkness can break us.”

I absolutely devoured the first book, absolutely loving the world created and the intriguing quest and characters. That ending left me with many questions which will finally be tackled with this sequel!
The story really picks up just where the previous was left. From the very first chapter, you are right in the thick of it and immediately I was sucked back into this amazing world. I loved seeing the different POV, told from Cabell’s point of view and giving a bit of insight into Lord Death and his own thoughts. It added another interesting layer to the story.
I loved the mystery aspect a lot of this book, having to figure out how to stop Lord Death, but on a time limit since the Winter Solstice is fast approaching! The added pressure and tension are noticeable in the writing and the weight heavy on the characters shoulders!
Tamsin did regress a bit compared to the character growth she went through in the first book. I did think this was very understandable after everything that had happened. She reforged her armor quite strongly, but at the same time didn’t want to do it all along as well. Still, that armor couldn’t keep up until the end and I think she bloomed beautifully in the end. I also loved how she remained her sarcastic self!
I really adore found family aspect in this duology. It was beautiful to see the friendship bloom and how strongly they relied and needed each other. Their little line of “Together to the end. Beyond that" sums that up perfectly. It is also the love and friendship that saves them in the end!
While the twists weren’t as shocking, I still had a hard time putting this book down! Once I passed the halfway mark, I just HAD to finish reading it! i also found the ending, while very heartbreaking, so very satisfying to the overall duology, really doing the story and its characters justice. I do believe there might be an opening to revisit this world, following along different characters and I wouldn’t be opposed to that at all!
Overall, The Mirror of Beasts is an amazing conclusion to a strong and intriguing duology drowsed in a lot of lore and legends!

I forgot that I wasn't super impressed with the first book in this series. I have forgotten most of what happened in the first book, but I remember that I didn't want to continue the story.

The Mirror of Beasts is a satisfying and emotional sequel to Silver in the Bone, the cliff-hanger for which I simply wrote, "I'm annoyed" as my review. But I'm often annoyed with cliffhangers, so don't mind me. What I was hoping was that the character arc I thought was being undone at the end of Silver in the Bone would be redone in The Mirror of Beasts, and thankfully it was. Amazingly, I was able to read Mirror without having to re-read Silver, even though I thought the story's mythology was a little difficult to fully understand in first book. It's a unique take on the Arthurian legend, so even if you had a familiarity with the very old tale, Bracken changes things up to the extent that you are really starting from scratch. In other words--you need not know anything about King Arthur and his Knights to enjoy this duology.

We pick up right as we left off in Silver, with Tamsin, our main protagonist, picking up the pieces from the destruction in the first book, only to be thrown a loop when someone she thought long gone shows up to surprise her with a revelation about her whole existence. With her is Neve and former priestesses Cait and Olwen. Not with her is Emrys, the spoiled son of the head Hallower and one of the reasons "I'm annoyed" became my review for the first book. Thankfully, it doesn't take long for Tamsin and Emrys to reunite--for whatever that is worth to Tamsin--so for those of us who were "annoyed" at the way things ended for them in the first book, we get most of the second to make up for it.

Mirror is more emotional and heart-wrenching than Silver. The stakes are even higher, and considering how Silver ended, that's saying something. The chemistry between Tamsin and Emrys picks right back up, and the fish-out-of-water experiences of Cait and Olwen in the real world provides a light respite from the story's emotional toil. Mirror eschews a lot of the tropes often found in young adult fantasy, and even the rivals-to-lovers storyline didn't push forward in a straight line. Because of this, and the unique world that Bracken built, I didn't guess the twists along the way. I was too engrossed to even really try. That, to me, is the mark of a great ending.

**Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

Oh... I didn’t realize this would be a duology. I was thinking I would have at least one other book to process these feelings.

This is a hefty book, and I found the pacing to be off at times. And often perspectives would switch with no warning. It would be nice if the chapter headers let us know who was telling the storyline.

However, the storyline packs a punch and it fills you with the feels and no place to put them. I love this found family and am not ready to let them go.

This was such a great conclusion to this duology!

No matter how much or how little I sat down to read, I was always immersed in the story. Tamsin Lark also takes you on a journey—and it’s not just about the high-stakes adventure trying to stop Lord Death. The emotional intensity was up to par with the dynamic plot.

I really love how the group that was left dealt with the effects of the last book. It felt realistic and unique to each of their characters, and it was so nice to see them come together despite their differences and spread love.

Two things I had wished, however…

I felt like Emrys should’ve groveled more. Though don’t get me wrong, when he dove in front of Tamsin in that one scene, I was screaming at the book. It was so intense! But I definitely would have loved to see him work to make amends with Tamsin and the group.

Secondly, I wish we could’ve seen Cabell’s arc better. I felt like we mostly just saw him obey his master throughout the whole book, and then at the end is when we see some change. I think he needed more space on the page to develop his arc and show why he changed at the end after believing in his master for practically the whole book.

Overall, this was a great reading experience. Bracken always knows how to pace stories, so you’re always engaged no matter what. It is most definitely a new favorite!

(Also… never gonna be over Cait and Neve!!!! I was SCREAMING the entire time 😍)

This doesn’t happen often, but I think I liked book two even more than the first! This was very fast paced with tons of emotional trauma. I love this group of characters so much and the way they have grown into a such a strong unit. The ending had me in tears but it was all wrapped up very nicely.