A review by stwriter92
The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I hate Jaxon Hall. I mean, I already knew I hated Jaxon Hall, but I hate him even more now, which I did not think was actually possible.  

The general set up of The Mime Order was the aftermath of what took place during The Bone Season. Paige Mahoney, newly escaped from the penal colony of Sheol I, must now try and convince her fellow voyants of the threat that looms  over them all, casting a shadow far larger, darker, and more lethal than Scion’s. However, Paige is faced with disbelief and disrespect at every turn. When the Underlord turns up brutally murdered along with his lackeys, the mime-lords and mime-queens of London must choose a new leader. In the Archon of Westminster, Nashira (or Nashita, as I typo-ed her and now call her) pulls the threads of her spider’s web to make her little flies dance. When the Rephaim come back, Paige must strike a bargain to fight for the safety and the freedom of every voyant in London.  

I’ll start off with what I liked about this book. I loved the fact that it started off exactly where The Bone Season ended: on the train back to London. Getting a better look at the politics of the syndicate was also fascinating to me. Meeting the different mime-lords and mime-queens gave me a better understanding of why the syndicate was the way that it was.  

However, I did feel like the book had a lot of unnecessary fluff. It was very slow at the beginning, though granted it did pick up later on. I do think that about a quarter of the beginning could have been cut and it would have made no real difference. I also felt like the chemistry between Paige and the Warden was just…not there? I already felt like it was a bit forced in The Bone Season, but it felt virtually non-existent (at least to me) during The Mime Order. The only time I saw a semblance of chemistry between them was any time the golden thread was brought into the scene. Apart from that, there really was nothing there. If anything, I feel like it’s more of a Stockholm Syndrome sort of thing than anything else.  

However, that ending. I do not envy the people who read this book as soon as it came out, only to realize they would need to wait to have that cliffhanger resolved.  

I’d give this four stars and I, thankfully, don’t need to wait two years like some of the previous readers have had to for the third book. I have it right next to me and will be starting on it after a short nap. 
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