The Bone Season books have been on my tbr for longer than I’d like to admit so when I was approved for an arc of The Dark Mirror I was a little apprehensive at needing to catch up!

I needn’t have worried, I have just raced through all five books in the space of a week and can’t believe I now need to wait for the next instalment! I’m not sure how readers who were up to date before this point have coped with the four year wait since the last book.

In the Dark Mirror Samantha Shannon continues to weave her magic and keep the readers guessing with all the twists and turns in the ongoing story of the fight against Scion. I both love the characters and find them infuriating at the same time and can’t wait to see how they and their relationships develop in the final two books.

I would highly recommend this series-

This series keeps getting better and better. This was a hell of a ride. I honestly didn't know what was gonna happen from one chapter to the next and I could not stop reading. It started surprising me in chapter one and never stopped. I loved it so much, I love Paige and the side characters and this was just too good. This series keeps going in new directions and they're all more exciting than the last. I couldn't recommend it more and I cannot wait for book 6!

Probably my favourite book of the year, and also the one that will ruin most fantasies that I’ve yet to read.

The previous books in this series have all been 4.5 or 5 stars for me (except for the song rising, solid 4). So you can imagine, my expectations were high for this one. And boy, this book made them all come true and did even so much more! The plot, the characters, the travelling, the twists and betrayal, all these layers upon layers creating a complex whole. Loved every second of it. I’ve been laughing, smiling, holding my breath, screaming, almost crying even. The writing style is superb and keeps you glued to this book. The pacing was perfect, I’ve never lost focus, nor gotten bored while reading. On top of all that, this book, and the series as a whole, is unique and original in ways I haven’t seen before.

There are 3 things that I’d like to highlight in my review:

The found family in this book is a masterpiece. I love all these characters, both as individuals and as a group. How they interact with each other, complement each other, yet are completely different. I’d sell a kidney to be part of this crew (although I’m not sure I would survive in a Scion-ruled London…)

Jaxon: I don’t know whether to hate him or love him… maybe I can love to hate him? He’s one of the most complex characters I’ve ever read, and I’m in awe. Don’t get me wrong, I still disagree with most of his actions and reasoning… But he keeps surprising me in different ways, yet none of this feels out of character for him. It just… fits…

I’m still silently daydreaming about certain scenes (plural, not just one) Samantha Shannon has written in this book. I won’t tell which but I think you’ll know when I tell you I’m a sucker for duets. How she captures all the emotions, how she phrases certain things, and leaves other things to be read between the lines, … *sigh*

While some of my questions have been answered in this book, and some fears were subdued, a lot of angst and questions remain. I honestly can’t wait to find out what the next two books will bring (even when I know that they will possibly break me). I’d do anything for an advanced reader copy, just saying…

If you’ve read my review, and you’ve already read the Mask Falling: stop stalling and go get yourself a copy of the Dark Mirror, you won’t regret it (be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions).
If you haven’t read any books of this series yet: welcome and please join us, this is one of the best fantasy/dystopian books I’ve ever read. But beware, once you’ve read the Bone Season, I won’t be held responsible for the consequences…

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

This book is everything I could have possibly wanted and more. Ever since finishing The Mask Falling, I’ve desperately wanted to know what comes next for the characters that have buried themselves in my heart and mind. I never had any doubt but somehow Samantha has taken this series to another level!

‘Everything is about to change’ so perfectly captures the fifth instalment of The Bone Season. The Dark Mirror feels like a step into the final part of this series. Many seeds have been planted early in the series and we see these come to fruition in The Dark Mirror alongside hints of what’s to come.

As the blurb suggests, Paige finds herself outside of Scion for the first time since she was a young girl. Moving the plot into the free world allows for an expansion of the series in ways that Paige doesn’t expect. There’s even more strategy, political intrigue and action in this instalment.

The emotions felt by the characters are so visceral. I felt every ounce of their anger, fear, fury, sadness and heartbreak. My emotions were all over the place for most of this book but there were particular chapters where my stress levels were through the roof (you’ll know which ones I’m talking about).

Samantha herself said this book isn’t as soul-destroying as The Mask Falling but I respectfully disagree. There were some truly heartbreaking and devastating scenes but scenes that will also mend your heart.

I felt there was a real shift and growth in Paige’s character. Her determination to get things done has often come at a cost to her own wellbeing. In The Dark Mirror, we see Paige reflect on the last year and her limits. She has endured so much and puts an incredible amount of pressure on herself. I loved to see Paige allow herself to have the things she wants in life.

I would truly urge anyone who has yet to start this series to do it. You will absolutely not regret it!

In The Dark Mirror, the fifth installment of The Bone Season series, Paige Mahoney awakens to find herself captured and far from Scion-controlled territory for the first time since childhood. Suffering from memory loss induced by the White Aster plant, Paige must fight to regain her identity and uncover the events of the past six months. Escaping captivity, she travels to Venice, where she reunites with allies who believed her dead and confronts the betrayal of Arcturus Mesarthim.

As Paige and her clairvoyant companions unravel Scion’s new plot, Operation Ventriloquist, they face a desperate struggle to prevent Scion from seizing control of Europe. Along the way, Paige must also confront the trauma of her past, her complicated bond with Arcturus, and the lingering effects of her torture and memory suppression.

Set across Italy, the novel dives deep into themes of identity, trauma, and resistance, with Paige’s journey reflecting her personal growth and unwavering determination. The story culminates in a climactic battle in Rome, as Paige and her allies confront new enemies and unearth shocking revelations about the Rephaim and Scion’s plans.

The Dark Mirror is an emotionally charged, action-packed continuation of Shannon’s groundbreaking series. It masterfully blends character development, intense relationships, and thrilling confrontations, making it the most powerful and mature installment yet.

I love The Bone Season series and was very excited to receive an ARC of The Dark Mirror. This is the fifth installment and as always Samantha created an intriguing, complex story with relatable characters. It was also interesting to see more of the outside world. Plus, Paige and Arcturus own my heart, I just love them so much! It will be very hard to wait for the next book!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy to read.

This action packed 4th installment in this series is just as enthralling and entertaining as the books that came before it.

I always love returning to a series where you already love so many of the characters and get to meet new ones. The series is brilliant in the way it builds the worlds and characters. I was hooked from the start of this book and found that I couldn't put it down. I raced through the chapters to find out where it was going to end.

I am already waiting desperately for the next installment now!

Well.. I started this series on 31st January and after finishing up The Bone Season, immediately requested this eARC as I’d fallen in love and knew I would devour this series. I swear Samantha Shannon put crack in these books or something, they’re so addictive! Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this eARC, it's an honour to read and review it.

This series wasn’t really on my radar until a couple of friends highly recommended it to me, because I’m not particularly drawn to dystopian fiction. I tend to find it quite depressing so if you’ve also been putting it off for this reason, I urge you to reconsider as yes it can be dark at times but there are so many moments of humour, hope, light, and some swoon-worthy romance.

It’s 2059 and we join plucky FMC Paige in her fight against the Republic of Scion: an oppressive campaign against ‘unnaturalness’ in Europe. We begin the series in an alternative London where Paige is a member of the criminal underworld that exists in defiance of Scion.

The series is a bit of a mash up of paranormal & urban fantasy with a complex magic system and crossed over with epic fantasy as the scope of the worldbuilding grows with each instalment. It throws you in from the jump but manages to be simultaneously action packed and character driven.

It truly takes you on such a ride, I’ve spent February on an absolute rollercoaster of emotions with these characters who are such a highlight as they feel sooo very real. Paige can be frustrating at times but I wouldn’t have her any other way! Her actions can seem irrational but that just makes her feel that much more human and so many times I’ve put myself in her shoes and thought… yeah actually that’s probably how I’d react

The Dark Mirror was fantastic and like its predecessors had me hanging on a thread. It featured some great growth for characters new and old, plot developments that had me gasping and other moments that had me absolutely CHOKED. 5 books and 2 novellas later, I am a firm Samantha Shannon stan and will join the many fans of this series as we yearn for more!

Book review: The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So grateful I was able to read the 5th book in the Bone Season series early this year!
This series has truly become something of a cosy read? Don't get me wrong.. nothing about this series is cosy fantasy🤣 It deals with heavy topics on opressions, imperialism, abuse and segregation. However, our main character and reading about her journey feels so familiar with every instalment you root for her crew and hope for the happy ending... that is still not here.

The Bone Season starts off feeling like the hunger games, an urban fantasy setting with the criminal underworld of London where our character is swept away to a different place where she must prove herself, hone her skills and be confronted with a whole new species.
Is Arcturus and angel👼, an alien👽? Who knows.
After the first book the world opens up, you learn more about other countries that are part of the Replublic of Scion, and the ones that are trying really hard to resist the opression.🔥
In the latest installment page has been kidnapped to Poland and goes on an adventure to safe Italy.
I wont spoil anything but the characters will keep surprising you and I need the last two books in this series really bad!!

If you love this series as much as I do dont forget to pick this one up on release day Tuesay February 25th!

The Dark Mirror is an excellent continuation of the series! I decided to reread book 4 to refresh my memory, and I'm so glad I did—it made the action-packed opening chapters easy to dive right into, knowing exactly what was happening.

This book is an emotional rollercoaster that answers some lingering questions while leaving you craving more. I loved seeing both familiar and new characters come together, and exploring more of the world they inhabit. There were so many moments I couldn't put it down, desperate to find out what would happen next! The tension throughout the story was palpable, and to me, that's the mark of a truly great book—when you're so invested in the characters' fates that you can't help but care deeply about their journey.

I already can't wait to see how the story unfolds in the next instalment!

Thank you to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for this eARC.

After revisiting the first four BONE SEASON books, I was finally ready to dive into THE DARK MIRROR—and what a return to the world of clairvoyance!

The cliffhanger that closed THE MASK FALLING left me desperate to know what happened next, so l was incredibly grateful to be able to continue the story almost immediately after my audiobook ended. And what an opening it was! From the very first page, we're thrown straight into the action, and I found this impossible to put down once I started reading.

Of all the books in the series so far, The Dark Mirror feels like the most steeped in political intrigue, and this shift pays off spectacularly well. the tangled web of the Rephaim's civil war, the ever-present threat of Scion, the shadowy operations of Domino, the machinations of the Unnatural Assembly, and even more factions that complicate this already intricate world. This, for me, has quickly become one of the most compelling entries in the BONE SEASON series.

One of the things I love most about this series is how linguistically layered it is, and THE DARK MIRROR continues this phenomenally. Different languages aren’t just for flavor; they shape power dynamics, secrecy, and identity, making the world feel even more alive. As someone who only recognizes a handful of words from the many languages used, I often felt just as lost as Paige as she flies across borders—one of the many ways Samantha Shannon pulls you right into her perspective.

THE DARK MIRROR is a fantastic return to the series, and I can’t wait for everyone to experience it when it releases next week!

I want to say thank you to @say_shannon for not just giving us this series but also for not finishing this book on a cliffhanger. I swear my heart wouldn't have been able to handle that!

This series keeps on getting better. Paige suffers everywhere she goes. This book is no exception. We get to visit Poland, Czechia, cross the Alps, Italy, and as we learn more about the free world, we also see some old players back. Verča was a brilliant addition, and I loved seeing more of Maria in this instalment.

This book reads like a rollercoaster, when it slows down, you know there is heartbreak coming your way around the bend. I don't want to mention Arcturus, but how to not talk about him. Just listen to this song I added, and you'll know the vibe of this book. As always, Samantha Shannon uses love to beat me with it, and my masochistic bumbum enjoyed it.
And you know when the book is amazing? When you can not stand to even read the villain... and we get several of those, absolute hate...

I’m unwell. How can Sam make me so sick with tension BOTH over the incredibly fast paced, high stakes, secret mission action scenes AND the moments when TWO IDIOTS WON’T KISS

Thrillingly plotted and audaciously executed, the character and relationship work is once again supreme. The politics and spiritual warfare is also flawless, as is the excruciating exploration of tension and trauma. Sam does not miss a beat.

Exploring new spaces both in terms of relationships and countries, a disoriented Paige finds herself on a quest to recover her mysteriously stripped memory and find out who may have betrayed her. Moreover, she must recover Arcturus and the truth of what is between them in order to face down the might of Scion and the Sargas once again. And yet she can never forget there are more players on the board, both allies and enemies.

Samantha Shannon never misses. The Dark Mirror is perfectly crafted, from the pacing of the story, to the character development, loads of questions were finally answered and the installment is woven magnificently within the wider narrative. It's obvious Samantha has painstakingly plotted every chapter, with loads of twists, turns and revelations.

Scion is threatening to spread across Europe, somehow manipulating politicians to bow to them. I loved seeing what the world outside Scion looked like, that some people are just living normal lives. In past books, news has come from abroad, so Scion never felt it existed in isolation, but now we see the contrast between these two worlds.

Paige has been through a lot. In the current political environment, you might be wary of picking up a book where the protagonist has suffered through torture and betrayal, but I felt The Dark Mirror could be the start of a more hopeful tone for the series.

After the revelations at the end of The Mask Falling, I was desperate to know what happened next. While Paige is certain Arcturus betrayed her and that the safe houses will have fallen with the knowledge he holds, everyone else around her has doubts. It was such a deeply woven deception, and those that know Arcturus, and everything he believed in, aren’t so quick to believe. As a reader, I clutched to those doubts. None of us want to believe he was working for the bad guys all along.

Much of this felt like an espionage thriller, with secret identities and missions to uncover secrets. Paige has to cross mountains and visit ancient monuments, the action unfolding like a film. I feel like having the Alps and Venice features add to that feeling since they were common locations in Bond films.

The limits of first person narrative are starting to show though. There’s only so much of the continental threat that Paige can experience for herself, so a lot of information is recounted through dialogue. This isn’t the first series I’ve read, where the world grows outside the confines of its writing style. I’d love to read more first hand accounts of what’s going on, rather than so much being relayed.

Samantha Shannon does not pull her punches. This book kept me stressing the entire time, with so much action and emotion. I am continually impressed by Shannon’s mind, and the level of depth and creativity that each book has.

*spoilers for the previous books here*

The Dark Mirror is another step up from the intensity of the previous books. With Paige now being in the free world, suddenly the action takes place on a larger scale, with a greater understanding of the danger that our characters face. I feel like this book is setting up the beginning of the end, with a lot of groundwork being laid. You can really feel the narrative start to shift.

Paige continues to be an outstanding main character. I’d always felt drawn to her grit and determination, but in this book you clearly see her compassion and love for people. I appreciate that Shannon never hides the darker parts of Paige’s character, including her trauma.

In a world of toxic relationships, I’m so glad to have the healthy representation in Paige and Arcturus. The gentle giant returns, with his emotional intelligence and maturity. This book really was the most romantic yet; it’s well written and fits into the larger narrative perfectly too.

This series continues to be one of the best fantasy dystopian out there. Deeply layered and beautifully crafted, I really enjoyed this instalment.

Thank you to the publisher for this arc.

I am a huge fan of The Bone Season series and was super excited to receive an ARC of The Dark Mirror in exchange for an honest review.
This is the fifth installment of the series and it just keeps getting better. I absolutely loved it and cannot wait for the next book.

This review is for The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon which will be released in the UK on the 25th February! Thanks so much to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for giving me an eArc copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Bone Season series has been one of my favourites since it first came out, and has now cemented itself as one of my top 5 series after the authors preferred texts was published. It’s fantasy in a modern world with a supernatural twist. As soon as I saw Dark Mirror was available for request, I knew I had to jump at the chance, and I’m so glad I did.

It has lived up to and exceeded every expectation I had of it and I couldn’t have asked for anything more (except maybe more Arcturus but I digress). Paige’s character development throughout this series has been so good, and in this one it was even better. You see her struggle with her mental health after surviving torture, as well as then having to deal with being kidnapped and not remembering anything for 6 months, AND THEN having to save the world again cause she’s a badass. You see her outside of the Scion controlled world, and learning how to re-acclimate to the ‘free world’ around her.
You see her start to heal after all of this as well, starting to conquer the new fear of water. And her relationship with Arcturus is so sweet, he is literally perfect in every way and you cannot change my mind.

It’s pretty fast paced, especially towards the end and some of the twists were so unexpected! I cannot wait for the next one, but know it’s going to be a long time 🥲 It was filled with action, mystery and badass women. I couldn’t put it down and binged most of it in one day. Would highly recommend this series to any fantasy readers out there!!

The Dark mirror
By Samantha Shannon
Release date 25th February 2025
Rating 5 stars [9.5 Cawpile]

This book all I can say is wow. I love when Samantha Shannon delves back into the bone season world because it really is like coming home to a place of should I say ease no probably not with what happens in this book and this world but it does.

I adored this book so much I cannot put into words how much when all I needed was to come back into the world to find out what happened after the last book and this one did not disappoint I burst into tears during a certain chapter if you know you know and texted a friend and was like you need to read this book because I was crying. Now I will sit rocking waiting for the next one again.

I don’t want to give too much away because we are into book five now but know that if you have not picked up the bone season where have you been because this series will always pull me back no matter what and it is still as stunning as ever. The description of the spaces always feels my heart with joy. I am patiently waiting for the next one…

It’s romantic, heartbreaking, breathtaking, breathstealing and high action what more would you want.

Instagram post up 16/02

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review
If I could give more than 5 stars I would easily do it.
Every time I think Samantha has written her best book yet, she goes and outdoes herself again. The Dark Mirror is the beautifully crafted fifth book in the Bone Season series, and it is more than worth the wait.
The plot is masterfully crafted, it kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. The way Samantha brings this world and the characters to life is insane, I will never cease to be amazed by the way she writes, her mastership of intricate plotlines and beautiful prose is impressive.
My heart was so full after reuniting with the characters. There were tender moments and heart-wrenching moments and I sobbed quite a few times, but through the laughter and the tears I enjoyed every moment I spent in this book.
I can’t wait for the 6th book, I will be rereading The Dark Mirror and coming up with theories as I wait for the next one.