This review is spoiler-free!
The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks
Series: Lightbringer #4
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Release Date: November 16th 2015
Format: Hardcover, 704 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Find it here: Goodreads
Okay, so. bad news on this penultimate book here. I really struggled getting through it. It took me much longer to finish this fourth book than it did any of the others, and that in turn knocked back my reading goal for the year. Not the first time that’s happened (and definitely not the last), but a little discouraging, especially when the last book is literally HUGE. Like, it’s almost a thousand pages. I know it’s pretty much impossible for there to be only slow moments in a book that not only is that large, but also has a line of predecessors in its series that were awesome, but I still worry. I’m obviously going to read it anyway, but, y’know.
The Blood Mirror really read like a bridge book for me, which was kind of strange, considering it’s the fourth book. Maybe it was because it was the last before the final book? I don’t often read series this long, honestly, so I’m not sure if this is the usual “second book slump” deal but for larger series, or if it was a fluke. Either way, it felt very “we need to get a few things out of the way before we go for the finale” kind of deal. Very bridge book.
Now, I don’t always dislike bridge books. I read and write fanfic, bridge book things with little to add to the plot are kind of what I stand for even when it’s a published series, but when it’s boring? That’s when I don’t particularly like it. And, as much as I’m loving the characters in this series, yeah. I was bored. I was so bored. And I hadn’t thought that would be possible before getting here!
I was so bored I had to restart the audiobook twice, which was unheard of, because GrpahicAudio books are literally amazing. However, that doesn’t deter me even slightly from diving into the last book. (What does deter me, though, is that size. Oof. I’m reading a break book before I dive into that monster, that’s for sure.)
I’m not entirely sure how to explain why I was so bored without giving away plot points, so I won’t bother doing that, but let’s just say not even Liv saved me from wanting to put my head down and ignore the words going into my ears. I didn’t care about what was happening with Gavin, didn’t care about Teia (gasp!), didn’t care about Karris. I did get a little shocked at one of the plot twists, and then subsequently disappointed because it was one of the things I had actually wanted to stay the way it was, but it didn’t last. Kip, if anything, only annoyed me all over again. His personality takes a bit of a dive back into his early stages in this one, and while I applaud the way he handles some things despite his age, good lord, dude. Just shut up. Go eat some bread and calm down.
Okay, sorry. Vague as hell, but what can you do. We’re spoiler-free around here! (Well, most of the time.)
Anyway, I guess I’ll stop here before something slips. I’m still super excited to see how this all wraps up, and the series as a whole has been an absolute blast to go through. This one book didn’t dampen that much at all.
Onto the next!
Thanks for reading!
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