I am so unbelievably honoured to have received an ARC of this, surely one of 2025's most anticipated releases, and it didn't disappoint. "Everything is about to change"? You're damn right it does!

This book was sooooo good. The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon is one of the best books I've ever read. This was soooo soooo good.

Absolutely stellar tome of fantasy delight. Just when I think Samantha is done torturing poor Paige, she finds something new to put her through. This girl needs a holiday. The Dark Mirror is full of action, twists and turns and builds even further on the rich, magical world of The Bone Season. Also, it is absolutely wonderful that the author provides such an in-depth glossary to help remind readers of all that has gone on so far as there has been a lot. Cannot believe there are only two books left but I can’t wait to see how explosive the ending is going to be.

You can tell I had not read all the details fully as I did not realise this was actually the fifth book in a series, meaning I had to read the first four books before I could even pick this up.

I don't know why I have not picked this series up before now, but in a way I'm glad I just read it now as I got to read the new editions with the updated text.

The Dark Mirror is a masterpiece and for other readers who have been anxiously anticipating this, especially after the ending of The Mask Falling, it is well worth the wait.

Readers will not be disappointed.

The tagline for The Dark Mirror is:

“Everything is about to change"

This could not be more apt.

Samantha has truly set the bar with The Dark Mirror, from the storyline, the setting, the characters, and lastly the many plot twists which are STILL coming even after five books.

I'm now anxiously waiting for the next two books in the series.

I am beyond grateful to have received an ARC of The Dark Mirror, the latest instalment in the Bone Season series. Thank you so much to Bloomsbury for the copy! It releases at the end of February, and I just reread all the previous books in the series in preparation.

It has been 4 years since I read an ARC of The Mask Falling at the end of 2020, and I remember a lot of crazy stuff happening, but not many details. I am so glad I reread right before diving into The Dark Mirror, especially because Samantha Shannon loves giving us cliffhangers.

This is not a spoiler review, but there will probably be spoilers for previous books in the series. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to mention much at all, given how much changes throughout the series.

The Dark Mirror picks up 6 months after the events of The Mask Falling, when Paige wakes up, miraculously, outside of Scion. However, she can’t remember how she got to the free world. Now, she has to navigate unfamiliar locations and people, as well as work to overthrow even more sinister plots. And then there is Arcturus to consider…

The beginning of this book had a great tone because I felt just as confused as Paige. Given the presence of Scion in all the previous books, albeit in different locations, it was fascinating to see the free world. This makes the world building feel even more rich because of the stark comparisons between countries.

I must admit, I missed the French setting, as I really loved that in The Mask Falling. Still, I really enjoyed seeing some new places, and Venice fit really well as a place of mystery. I thought it was interesting to see Paige in the free world as it was a big adjustment. Samantha Shannon’s writing is so eloquent, and the setting descriptions were detailed and beautiful. I really liked all the classical references and explanations, and seeing Paige get used to things not available in Scion!

The plot developments here really established a new arc, and emphasised the transition that began in the previous book. Yet again we see the Domino Programme and meet new characters involved. I won’t say too much here because I think it’s best to go in knowing nothing at all, but the political elements included a lot of twists and turns and information reveals. In addition to Domino, there were even more mysterious organisations that I’m sure we’ll see more of in the futures.

There is a big theme of betrayal, including Paige reflecting on events that may not have been betrayals after all, and double agents that surface in the story. My heart was literally pounding throughout so much of the story because I was stressed and second guessing everything. Every time I went to stop reading, something happened that compelled me to start the next chapter. It was such an immersive reading experience!

I love Paige as a main character. Yes, she is impulsive and self sacrificing and makes crazy decisions, but that only makes me love her so much more. She feels her emotions so strongly, especially for those she cares so much about.

Why is it impossible for Paige and Arcturus to be together without one of them being captured or something?! Ugh the tension is crazy and I just want them to be happy. Even though many characters were apart, we also saw the return of some past favourite characters of mine, as well as some unexpected connections between people. Shoutout to some of my favourite side characters who came back and provided some needed heartwarming and funny moments.

Samantha Shannon is so clever because past plot threads and mysteries resurfaced once again, and wow I could not have predicted some of them. It was an absolute emotional rollercoaster. This book is pretty chunky, but I read it in a few sittings because I found it impossible to put down.

The ending has made me very excited for the next book in the series. The scope of the world building is expanding even more, both in terms of locations and plot details. I’m really intrigued to learn more about some of these organisations, although I’m very suspicious now that there has been so many betrayals.

If you are a fan of the Bone Season series, I think you will love this new release! Now I’m just going to suffer waiting for the series to continue. Thank you once again to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Samantha Shannon could write a shopping list and I would be first in line to buy it, she's my favourite author and I was absolutely beside myself with excitement to be approved for an ARC of this book. I was just a tiny bit worried going in that it wouldn't live up to the long long wait following The Mask Falling but I didn't need to be, this book was everything that I hoped for and more. I finished it a week ago and I'm still thinking about it all the time.

Her writing style sits in that phenomenally difficult to achieve space where it's both engaging and easy to read but also beautiful and lyrical and literary. The world building is immaculate and stunningly detailed. I felt like I lived every moment of this book along with the characters, and I laughed and I cried and I gasped aloud.

I don't want to share any spoilers but I already know I will be reading this whole series again and again, and I think this was the best installment yet.

I was at odds with how to rate this book. I started The Bone Season in 2014, and almost four years have passed since the last book, so my expectations were high. And I’m sad to say I’m not entirely satisfied with The Dark Mirror. It was still a great book, but it’s not my favorite in the series.
My main problem was the Domino Programme. I felt it was an unnecessary detour. It took away the focus on the important things. Paige lost her agency. She was constantly at others' mercy, and she had to do what was told. I missed the clairvoyant underworld, the unnaturalness. Luckily, the last 30% of the book made up for it.
My favorite part of the novel was Paige and Arcturus. The romance was top-tier. The angst! The longing! The tenderness! I loved it. Paige and Arcturus are still one of my favorite ships. Nothing has changed.
The ending was not a cruel cliffhanger, so the waiting will be more manageable. There were a few bitter pills that Paige and I had to swallow, and because of that, I’m full of doubts about the next two books. I really, really hope that we will get answers in Book 6. I want to know the big secrets. I guess we will see. It was great to see some of the characters again. I especially loved Maria. As I mentioned, the last 30% were great. It was epic. I already feel a reading slump forming.

The Bone Season series is one of my favourite on-going series'. I'm so grateful to have read this advance readers copy after 4 years of waiting for the fifth installment. Unsurprisingly, I have given it five stars, my second of the year!

I can't say too much without giving away spoilers, so I will keep this review short. In The Dark Mirror Paige visits non-Scion controlled countries for the first time, with Italy being the main setting. From her time there you get a real sense of just how much control Scion has over the countries it rules, as Paige experiences mundane things for the first time such as drinking a latte or wearing jeans. I don't read urban fantasy but the fantasy elements in this series combined with the dystopian elements blend together nicely to create an unique and fascinating world. Shannon paints such a vivid and beautiful vision of the countries Paige visits, it makes you feel fully immersed, as if you're really there.

I would say that this is the most romantic book in the series so far. Warden and Paige have a complex relationship, and while usually at this point, five books into the series, I would loose interest that most definitely isn't the case here.

Paige is as resilient as ever, and the cast of secondary character from Nick and Maria to Maria's girlfriend Verča made a wonderful team. I also like that we see more of the Ranthen, we start to get to know them and their personalities better, and I hope their presence continues to grow in the next book.

With a high stakes and cleverly woven plot The Dark Mirror made me feel a roller coaster of emotions. I can't believe we're nearing the end of this series, with two more books to go, hopefully the wait for the next installment isn't long!

An excellent next installment in the series. After a time skip, Paige wakes up outside of Scion with no memories of the past half year. The Domino programme finds her, and she ends up working for them in Italy, to prevent Italy falling to Scion.

I liked how the world keeps expanding in this series. The first book takes place almost entirely in Oxford with some glimpses of London, book 2 expands upon the syndicate in London, and from there it keeps building, to now European countries outside of Scion.

Paige teams up with some old character, Nick and Maria especially feature more in this book, and I really liked them both, and we're also introduced to some new characters. And of course, Jaxon is back with some plans of his own, and I love how complex a character Jaxon is, even if I also hate him.

I can't wait for the next book, would recommend this book to anyone who read the previous ones, and would recommend the series for fans of dystopian full of action, a chaotic but determined female main character who gets stuff done, and an intriguing manipulator you sometimes can't help but root for.

I honestly feel so lucky that I didn't have as long of a wait between book 4 and 5 like a lot of people since I only started the series in June this year!

Continuing off from THE MASK FALLING, there's no hesitation in jumping straight in to the story. It had me enraptured from the beginning, as did the previous books.

To the surprise of no-one, it's action packed and a rollercoaster of emotions combined with plot twists.

And now I'm going to sit and twiddle my thumbs until the next instalment...

BOOK REVIEW: The Dark Mirror by @say_shannon @bloomsburypublishing

5 Stars!!

This is a tough book to review without giving anything away and yet doing this INCREDIBLE book justice. I won't be going into the storyline of the series so...just READ IT! That's an order!

Somehow Samantha Shannon gets better and better with every book. Although I have given every book in this series 5 stars! These characters and this storyline has me in a chokehold. I could not put it down! Samantha, you owe me sleep!

The intrigue and politics in this book is on a WHOLE new level. It utterly astounded me and the amount of detail that went into it was simply incredible. I was completely hooked and was desperate to find out more about all the new organisations and people involved. I couldn't guess anything about how this story would go and it had me both anxious and LOVING it.
The book involved a lot of action, confrontations and tense moments which had me on the edge of my seat. There was also beautiful intimacy, reconciliations, friendships and growth of relationships. Basically it made me happy, stressed and incredibly obsessed!
I loved how we knew more than Paige for some of this book. And also how Samantha Shannon sprinkled clues in for Paige to try to remember. It added a real sense of urgency for the reader.
The humour in this book is really brilliant. Its a VERY full on story with a lot of hardship so these moments of humour meant a lot and had me laughing and smiling along. A certain pyromancer in particular was an absolute gem!

The writing is Samantha Shannon at her very best. Which is PERFECTION. I was hooked from the first word to the last and that is due to the characters and the storyline but also how engaging the writing is. It really shows off the work Samantha puts into research and also just how incredibly intelligent she is. It really blew me away.

I genuinely cannot recommend The Bone Season series more. It is in my top 3 series of all time and I just want MORE people to be as obsessed as I am. Now to wait for the next book...

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

I couldn’t have been more excited to read a book. Reading this book felt like coming home, being reunited with characters and finally continuing from where The Mask Falling left off was a whirlwind of emotions and action that simultaneously made me want to speed read this book but also take my time and savour every second.

Samantha Shannon just seems to be giving us better and better instalments of this series, the wait for the sixth book is going to be dreadful but I can not wait to see where things go next.

Another excellent installment of the bone season series, these keep getting better and better! Shannon has incredible storytelling powers, creating underground and backalley worlds with sumptuous richness that feels utterly believable

I have loved this series for so long and it was so excellent to be back in this world. My favourite thing here was spending more time on the relationship. There's a bit of a wait for it, but when it arrives, it's beautiful and heart wrenching and so perfect. All in all this was a fantastic continuation of the series and only served to remind me how brilliantly done this whole series is - the politics, the magic, the love story - it's epic in the best way and reduced me to tears multiple times. Highly highly recommend,

Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing an advanced review copy.

Avoiding providing spoilers while reviewing The Dark Mirror is incredibly difficult: I will try my best here. Just know that if you love the first four volumes, the Dark Mirror won’t disappoint: it is an excellent continuation of the series, expanding the universe, characters and stakes and showing them in a different light. The rest of this review is just a few points that standout for me about this book and series.

Goodbye Paris, welcome to the free world. From the Czech Republic to Italy, the focus is to a world without Scion or On the Merits. The rules are changing and become uncertain under freedom and secrecy. It feels like the ground can fall under each of your steps and everyone you meet could be a new enemy while Scion is still looming, hungry for more control. But watching people living freely shows that a world without Scion is possible. Hope is there.

New locations were carefully selected by Samatha Shannon. One of the elements that got me hooked to the series is the choice of real locations. I kept checking Google maps to find and mark them: I can get a view of the building but also follow the Paige steps on the map. That is one thing that is remarkable: the way the characters move, is incredibly accurate and you can almost use the novels as a tour guide. I did it for Oxford, London and Paris and will probably plan a trip to Italy in the near future.

Usually I lose interest in romance quite quickly. I was rooting for Nick and Zeke at the beginning but since Paige is the narrator, this storyline got put on the side. This leaves us with Paige and Arcturus and if you know them, you know that their relationship status is “it’s complicated”. I really want to slap them but Samantha Shannon got me with one sentence: I had to stop reading because I didn’t know if I should clap or cry (and reading the rest of the chapter, I opted for the second option). Kudos for getting me there.

As for the story, while previous volumes contained elements of spy thriller, it really feels like one here. Organizations are working with or against each other, everybody must choose a side, identities change or are uncovered. I was on my toes all the time and felt that not a moment was wasted: the pacing is well executed between action scenes and quiet moments. Like Paige, I also need to recover and catch my breath before the next roller coaster moment. Samantha Shannon’s craft is here at its best.

At last one last question remains, is everything really about to change? The answer is “yes” but you will need to read it to find what and how.

I was over the moon when I got the chance to read one of my MOST anticipated book of 2025, the fifth installment of The bone season by the brilliant Samantha Shannon.
Paige, my poor Paige, went and is still going through a lot, having lost six month to amnesia, Arcturus and being suddendly in the free world. When a new Scion threat comes up with the Operation Ventriloquist, threatening to invade Italy, she and her allies will do anything to save Arcturus and stop Scion.

I loved reading this book. If the first four book were set in the Scion world, The dark mirror bring Paige and us with her in Prague, the Alps and finally in Italy where the book is mainly set. Seeing Prague, Venice and Rome, letting Paige in a free world, letting discover her things normal for us, like latte, jeans, music and banned in Scion is was incredible and surreal.
Like the previous book Paige can't catch a breath. This book is filled with surprises, shocking revelations, secrets and it was such an emotional rollercoaster my heart couldn't take it. Not only the book is filled with action, but also emotional moments.
It was such a pleasure meeting Nick and Maria and having the relationship between Paige and Arcturus deepen and becoming more and more intense and serious. They are my favorites!
I love how the world Paige knows expands including new and old new allies and enemies and organizations.

I truly loved everything in this book. I cried, I laughed and now I'm even more eager for the next book.

Well, I won't go into too much detail on the plot to avoid giving spoilers, but The Dark Mirror continues on from where we left Paige in The Mask Falling.

As always, I love Samantha Shannon and I do think she just gets better and better. This is excellent.

this book was brilliant. I think it's my favourite book in the Bone Season so far.

My heart - this was such a rollercoaster. As with all things Paige, it was emotive, witty, clever, urgent. But we can also see how Paige is growing.

Speaking of growth: This book felt slightly different to the other bone seasons books. There was even more maturity and power in Samantha Shannon's writing. It's amazing to see how far her writing has come, and how that continues to evolve and improve this series.

The structure felt a little different, though not too different, from the other books. It was refreshing, not disjointed or out of place, it slotted in so well with the plot and narrative. It was still packed full of events, but there's even more political intrigue in this book, and SS does a great job of making it all make sense, fit with the story, and take you through it.

SS's ability to take the story to new places, literally and figuratively, is brilliant! I can feel the chest pieces being moved to set up for the final books, and this read has got me even more pumped for them! I recommend this series to anyone who wants something, action packed and addictive: it's a fantasy, urban dystopia, thriller.

What a ride.

Thank you Bloomsbury and Net Gally for the ARC(turus) (pun intended).

I've been committed and in love with this series since The Bone Season was published back in 2013.

It's been 12 years and 5 books and I can confirm that The Dark Mirror has secured my deep obsession with this world and these characters.

It's been a long wait (and not just for the book if you catch my drift 😉) but completely worth it.

The main highlights for me (without spoilers because you all need to experience this yourself)

Paige's growth. It may have been 11 years since book one was published but Paige is still 20. But after everything we have accompanied her through in the first four instalments, the fifth really shines a light on her self awareness. Is she still reckless? Well, she wouldn't be the Paige we all know and love if she wasn't.

The friendships - old and new, that's all I can say.

The romance - yup.

I will confirm I did cry, had my heart in my throat numerous times and as always with this series, the last 20% is NON STOP.

I will admit I was rather missing Scion at first (weird, right?) but Paige experiencing the free world was an absolute treat. Lattes? Champagne? Drones?!?

I also really loved that we got a bit more snark in this book, and not just from our favourite dreamer.

One piece of advice: as with all parts of this series, there are A LOT of moving parts. This is very political and the world building is deep (and solid) but would highly recommend a reread of the first four. I had just done that and it was a lot easier for me to digest it all.

Finally, that one hit hard Samantha. Harder than I thought it would. You know what you did.

The Dark Mirror, book 5 in The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon releases 25 February 2025 and if you've been on this journey too, you are in for a fantastic adventure.

This is, without a doubt, one of the easiest 5 stars I’ve given.

I am astounded by this book. I’ve always hyped up the complexity of Samantha Shannon’s worlds, but this book truly just amps it up to another level, if such a thing is possible. Never before have I found myself almost sobbing because of how CLEVER a book is, but the absolute riot of emotions this book wrought from me was almost overwhelming. Samantha just knows how to write the most manipulative, scheming, heart wrenching, intimate, and tense moments that ring true to their core. Half the time I don’t know whether to love or hate the entire cast of characters. It’s just…a perpetual limbo, not knowing who or what to trust. And my god did I eat it up.

This is one I’ll be thinking about for years to come. I barely feel like this review even touches upon the overwhelming love I have for this book, but trust that if you’ve read this far into the series, you’re about to experience an absolute ride with this one.