The Blood Mirror
Ratings145
Average rating4.2
This is a really good book. I know a lot of people said its main purpose was to set up the next and presumably final book. It does that and more. I am completely happy with the pace and length of this book and it added a lot of flavor to the characters and fleshed them out really well for me. Loved it and cant wait for the next one!
I still really like the world Weeks has built, but I had several issues with this book:
The most glaring is that there was no real overarching plot – it's just a book to, presumably, get you from book three to the final conflict in book five. A lot of stuff happened, but as a book on its own it had no real arc. I don't hate just spending some time in this world, but when it was all over, I was left feeling a bit disappointed.
The other thing that bugged me was the overwhelming horniness of the first two thirds. You'd get a chapter of plot and then a chapter of male desire. I understand that some of this stuff served the plot to a limited extent, but the amount of breasts discussed, and the volume of women throwing themselves at men just became tiresome. It made me think of that meme about “men writing female characters” (Google it). And it was disappointing because much of the rest of the book was really fun and interesting.
The plot has still got me hooked, though, and there's one book left. I'll definitely pick it up when it drops.
yo brent weeks if ur reading this fuck u for telling me this was gonna be a trilogy, then double fuck u for making this into 5 books without warning anyone. Luckily i knew half way through because literally nothing happened in this book. I like how that dude transformed into a 3 headed PROPER MONSTER under purifying light but then everyone forgot about it.
Question: Does Gavin have Daddy issues?
Answer: YOU WROTE 4 BOOKS ABOUT THEM.
Question: DID YOU STEAL THE NAME ANDROSS FROM STARFOX?
Answer: YES
I've read all of your books, and I think this one was your weakest. However I'm looking forward to finally finishing the god damn trilogy ???? when you release book 5.
I love this series. It's not very heavy. The magic system is clever and interesting. The world-building is intriguing without being completely mystifying. The characters have serious conflicts but aren't dour and (too) self-absorbed; they remain fun and likable. Sure, I'd probably call it a “beach reach,” but I really like beach reads. So, there you go.
I really liked the first couple books in this series. But this needed a lot of editing, and it really seems like Weeks has lost control of his story.
Over too soon
Somehow, despite such a large cast and various plots, it ended too quickly. A worthy addition to the series. Worth the wait.
Executive Summary: I enjoyed this one more than [b:The Broken Eye 12652457 The Broken Eye (Lightbringer, #3) Brent Weeks https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1376583941s/12652457.jpg 17766175], despite a slow start. Not quite as good as [b:The Blinding Knife 12499290 The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer, #2) Brent Weeks https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1338432693s/12499290.jpg 17484647] though. Still, I can't wait for the final book.Audiobook: Simon Vance is fantastic as always, though he can be quiet/hard to hear at times. He does a variety of voices that make the audio a must for me though, and I'm always more inclined to listen to any book he reads.Full ReviewI've often struggled with Brent Week's work. I like his ideas, but his execution at times can come across as juvenile to me. I've enjoyed a few of his books, and downright loathed a few others. The start of this book felt that way to me, and made it feel slow and had me concerned I wasn't going to like it.Thankfully things picked up pretty quickly and I was sucked back into it. One of my main issues with the first few books was Kip. He still has his moments, but thankfully his character has grown to a point where I enjoy his parts of the story apart from the initial bit. I think all four of the main POVs were interesting though, and there was never a feeling of disappointment when the POV would switch to someone else. Tia continues to be a favorite of mine, and Karis seems a lot more cunning than she has in previous books.We get a lot of great world building, both in terms of history and with regards to the excellent magic system that kept my interest despite my misgivings at time. The political intrigue is also quite well done. None of the antagonists feel like cartoon characters anymore and that makes for much better story telling in my opinion.As a side note the book came with a 15 minute recap of the first three books which I really appreciated. There were also some good refresher moments throughout that all helped to jog my memory and enjoy the book more.Overall I'd say this is probably the second best book of the series so far, and really set things up nicely for what will hopefully be the final book. I'm looking forward to seeing how things get wrapped up.