Mirror Sight by Kristen Britain

Karigan G’ladheon is a Green Rider—a seasoned member of the elite messenger corps of King Zachary of Sacoridia. King Zachary sends Karigan and a contingent of Sacoridians beyond the edges of his nation, into the mysterious Blackveil Forest, which has been tainted with dark magic by a twisted immortal spirit named Mornhavon the Black. At the end of Blackveil, in a magical confrontation against Mornhavon, Karigan is jolted out of Blackveil Forest and wakes in darkness. She’s lying on smooth, cold stone, but as she reaches out, she realizes that the stone is not just beneath her, but above and around her as well. She’s landed in a sealed stone sarcophagus, some unknown tomb, and the air is becoming thin. Is this to be her end? If she escapes, where will she find herself? Is she still in the world she remembers, or has the magical explosion transported her somewhere completely different? To find out, she must first win free of her prison— before it becomes her grave. And should she succeed, will she be walking straight into a trap created by Mornhavon himself? Mirror Sight is the highly-anticipated fifth installment of the Green Rider series.

So, when I sat down to write this review, I realized it was quite hard to do without some level of spoiler for the cliffhanger book 4 left you with. I have done my best, but you have now been forewarned that if you want to go into Mirror Sight completely blind (at the point of that cliffhanger), well, probably best to not read this review. Possibly not any reviews, before hand.

So, onwards to my review. Before reading Mirror Sight, I have to admit to being in a bit of a reading slump. I picked up several books, would get to between 10 – 20% of each one and put it back down because I just wasn’t in the mood for it (not because I didn’t like the story or the writing). There were 3 sequels released May 6^th that I have been waiting for, but of all of them I knew reading about Karigan was what would be most likely to keep my interest past that first 10 – 20% of the book. And I was right.

I was immediately into the story (where it left off from book 5), and never lost interest. Which is really good, because this book is long! I’m used to that with the epic fantasies that I read, but somehow, I just don’t tend to expect this length with a young adult book. I can’t help but think that the story likely could have been shorter, but at the same time, there was nothing that I read that I wish wasn’t in there, so I have no complaints.

I’d like to say I find the Green Rider series to be good comfort reads, but I don’t want that to come across as insulting to the book. There is just something comforting (enjoyable) about going back and reading about Karigan. I like that she is always standing on her own and eschews the idea that she has any limits on her because of her gender.

Mirror Sight did a wonderful job of giving me all the elements that I have always enjoyed in the Green Rider series. Karigan faces many challenges in the book and uses her strength of character and resources to get through them as best she can. But she doesn’t do it alone. One thing I did not expect in this book is we are introduced to an entirely new cast of characters. For anyone looking forward to progression with Karigan and her existing relationships, sorry to say, you’re going to have to wait for Book 6. We got a few short glimpses of King Zachary, Captain Mapstone, Alton and the other characters we have grown to know over the first 4 books, but not much.

I don’t want to say too much about the new characters, because I really don’t want to give away any information about where Karigan winds up. But, I enjoyed them. The setting was also a different than any of the other books. It was enjoyable, but I have to admit, I am really looking forward to getting back to the Green Rider characters and setting I have been used to.

So, yes, if you enjoyed the first Green Rider books, definitely read on, I really enjoyed this one quite a bit. If you haven’t read them, or only read the first one, I want to mention the series gets better as you read. Karigan has gone through a good amount of growth as a person, so some of the annoying aspects of her personality early on have gone away. Her experiences have allowed her to grow and become a stonger, more confident and independent person. Now I just need to wait for book 6 to read more.