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A review by elenajohansen
The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier
2.0
This is too long, too unfocused, and some of the characters are far too similar to those in Marillier's other works.
Physically, Tuala is basically a copy of Sorcha from Daughter of the Forest, except that she actually is of the Fair Folk, whereas Sorcha merely seemed to be with her wildness. All the descriptors are actually the same, small, slim, barely eats enough to stay alive, constant comparisons to birds, big-eyed, dark hair, otherworldly. I'd be more willing to forgive this if Tuala had any personality to speak of, but she doesn't. She's young and lonely (also like Sorcha, though for different reasons) and that's about it.
Bridei is slightly better off, being serious and studious and in the end, incredibly stubborn, but for good reason. He's not quite as clearly matched to another Marillier character as Tuala is, but in some ways he does remind me strongly of Johnny, the golden child of the original Sevenwaters trilogy. But even if he's more his own man, he's still not really interesting enough to carry the story on his shoulders, because the major failing of the story is that our nominal protagonists are explicitly pawns in someone else's grand scheme of kingship. Everything about Bridei's life is bent toward making him the perfect candidate for king in the next election, and none of it by his own design, but by that of his foster father. That still might have had the potential to be an interesting story, if Bridei did more to test the limits of the constraints placed on him, but for most of the book he does exactly as he's told, only breaking out of that narrow role at the very, very end. (And even that was unsatisfying, as romances go, which are always the backbone of this author's work--this has an incredibly weak conclusion, more of a "to be continued," because there are two more books about these idiots.)
The worst part, though, is the constant scene cuts to the schemers. Whether it's the five "wise" men and women who formed the secret pact to make Bridei king, or the two Fair Folk who are meddling with Tuala and trying to tempt her away from the human world, every time the story is gaining some momentum, we have to stop and check in with the people in charge, and most of the time they aren't even saying anything we don't already know. Yes, Bridei is still mostly doing great. Yes, Tuala isn't a part of the plan and we need to get her out of the way. Yes, time is running out because the old king is dying. STOP MAKING ME READ SCENES OF NOTHING BUT TALKING ABOUT INFORMATION I'VE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN FIVE TIMES.
This book could have been at least fifty pages shorter, just cutting repeated information, and probably more like a hundred pages shorter if all of the unnecessary scheming scenes were cut. I would have liked that book better, because it wouldn't have dragged, though I still would have wanted a more engaging story that wasn't two bland characters doing what they're told for eighty percent of the book.
Physically, Tuala is basically a copy of Sorcha from Daughter of the Forest, except that she actually is of the Fair Folk, whereas Sorcha merely seemed to be with her wildness. All the descriptors are actually the same, small, slim, barely eats enough to stay alive, constant comparisons to birds, big-eyed, dark hair, otherworldly. I'd be more willing to forgive this if Tuala had any personality to speak of, but she doesn't. She's young and lonely (also like Sorcha, though for different reasons) and that's about it.
Bridei is slightly better off, being serious and studious and in the end, incredibly stubborn, but for good reason. He's not quite as clearly matched to another Marillier character as Tuala is, but in some ways he does remind me strongly of Johnny, the golden child of the original Sevenwaters trilogy. But even if he's more his own man, he's still not really interesting enough to carry the story on his shoulders, because the major failing of the story is that our nominal protagonists are explicitly pawns in someone else's grand scheme of kingship. Everything about Bridei's life is bent toward making him the perfect candidate for king in the next election, and none of it by his own design, but by that of his foster father. That still might have had the potential to be an interesting story, if Bridei did more to test the limits of the constraints placed on him, but for most of the book he does exactly as he's told, only breaking out of that narrow role at the very, very end. (And even that was unsatisfying, as romances go, which are always the backbone of this author's work--this has an incredibly weak conclusion, more of a "to be continued," because there are two more books about these idiots.)
The worst part, though, is the constant scene cuts to the schemers. Whether it's the five "wise" men and women who formed the secret pact to make Bridei king, or the two Fair Folk who are meddling with Tuala and trying to tempt her away from the human world, every time the story is gaining some momentum, we have to stop and check in with the people in charge, and most of the time they aren't even saying anything we don't already know. Yes, Bridei is still mostly doing great. Yes, Tuala isn't a part of the plan and we need to get her out of the way. Yes, time is running out because the old king is dying. STOP MAKING ME READ SCENES OF NOTHING BUT TALKING ABOUT INFORMATION I'VE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN FIVE TIMES.
This book could have been at least fifty pages shorter, just cutting repeated information, and probably more like a hundred pages shorter if all of the unnecessary scheming scenes were cut. I would have liked that book better, because it wouldn't have dragged, though I still would have wanted a more engaging story that wasn't two bland characters doing what they're told for eighty percent of the book.