Samantha Shannon

The Mime Order (The Bone Season)

The Mime Order

Lily

2.75
it really just got interesting in the end, the first half of the book was just so boring and slowwww. anyway i dont think im gonna continue with the series

I think the first book was 100% better. This book was quite slow, I don't think I was really excited whilst reading the first 3/4 I wasn't overcome with intense excitment, and I felt like it took wayyy too long to involve Warden, like god how much I love that man. 

But it's always going to be a four, because Paige has finally found her strength, her worth, her power and her overwhelming talent to 

 when that ending started to draw near, and we saw all them fight scenes like just WOW. I'm not going to lie, when Paige did what she did I really did think she was one stupid naive person, but once I shut the book, I realised she is incredibly smart. 

As a dreamwalker,she's obviously high up in the 7 orders, but everyone still underestimated her, especially because she hid her true capabilities from everyone, and that just makes everything so much better. 

That ending. That finale, god I cannot believe it. Totally going to finish this series with the last book. Cannot wait.

surtified™

I think the first book was 100% better. This book was quite slow, I don't think I was really excited whilst reading the first 3/4 I wasn't overcome with intense excitment, and I felt like it took wayyy too long to involve Warden, like god how much I love that man. 

But it's always going to be a four, because Paige has finally found her strength, her worth, her power and her overwhelming talent to lead.So when that ending started to draw near, and we saw all them fight scenes like just WOW. I'm not going to lie, when Paige did what she did I really did think she was one stupid naive person, but once I shut the book, I realised she is incredibly smart. 

As a dreamwalker,she's obviously high up in the 7 orders, but everyone still underestimated her, especially because she hid her true capabilities from everyone, and that just makes everything so much better. 

That ending. That finale, god I cannot believe it. Totally going to finish this series with the last book. Cannot wait.

Raphaëlle

Can’t believed it took me five bloody years to read this book, really. But I’ve done it people! I finished it! I knew I’d love it (hello: clairvoyance + the mob), I don’t know why I gave up 4 times before I wised up. 
Anyway, it was stellar work from Samantha Shannon, as per usual. The world-building is incredible and quite unparalleled as far as YA goes.
I’m also enjoying the fact that there was minimal romance and was really action packed. I like Warden well-enough (& I really lived for the romance elements when I read The Bone Season some wee 6 years ago) but I’m really into this book for Paige’s journey as a clairvoyant. She’s not defined by her romantic life & I really respect that.
In any cases: I really loved Paige, JAX (such a terrible but flamboyant fucker - I love to hate him), Ognena Maria (I hope to read more about her in subsequent novels) & Nick. 
Also the untanglement of Scion, the Rephaim & The Unnatural Assembly is very much so intriguing. Really looking forward to finding out more about this Rag And Bone Man character - he looks like someone whose motivations I’ll thoroughly enjoy reading about. And whose comeuppance I’ll enjoy even more. 
I’ll now likely move on to On The Merits Of Unnaturalness, it’s bound to be a fun read.

** spoiler alert **
           Wow so uh I don’t really know what to say, my mind is still reeling from that ending. It did not see it coming whatsoever. I loved this book but did find parts of it incredibly difficult to read, this book contained a lot of intentional anti-Irish sentiment and it ripped a little piece from my soul every time Paige spoke about how she had to anglicise her life(including her name) and how she had to change her accent, the descriptions of the Molly riots as well as the profiling of Irish people in Scion. I think had i been better prepared for this content I would of been less hurt but there was no warning whatsoever.
However overall I loved the book and this series

Sandra Tammaru

Ben Bastow

Raquel Silva

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS OF THE FIRST BOOK The Bone Season

I use CAWPILE to rate my books so here is a break down of my rating:
Characters: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Writing: 9
Plot: 10
Intrigue: 9
Logic: 8
Enjoyment: 10

This book picks up right where the last one ended. So we follow Paige as she continues to live her life back in London after being rescued from the penal colony Sheol I.

Just like in the first book, I love the characters! The plot was amazing. The beginning was a bit slower, Paige was still coming to terms with what happened to her at Sheol I and still recovering, and also really determined to do something about the Rephaim, which I really appreciated. After the half way point, it really picked up and I couldn't put the book down. It was full of new revelations and plot twists and was really interesting. I enjoyed it a lot, just like the first book! Can't wait to read the next one!

Keep in mind that this book, just like the first one contains some trigger warnings:
Alcoholism
Chronic illness
Drug addiction
Gangs
Human trafficking
Incarceration
PTSD
Self-harm
Slavery (mentioned)

Madelynn snobl

Grace O'Callaghan

Where to start with this review? Just like the first book I have mixed feelings.

The Mime Order picks up exactly where the last book left off. Now Paige is back in London, she is Scion’s most wanted. She must play her cards carefully and warn the syndicate of the Scion’s corruption before they take over. She also has to play loyal mollisher at her mimelord’s side if she is to survive for long. We learn of the underworld of London and how far the Rephiam have sunk their claws into it.

Considering where the last book left off you’d think this would be more engaging. But to me, everything in this book was dragged out to the point that you can’t discern the key information amongst the waffle. This book seriously needed an editor. It would have been so much more interesting if the author just got to the point.

My favourite thing about this book was learning about the criminal world of London. It’s incredibly fascinating to see the amount of corruption and what has lead to this amount of crime. We were introduced to the Seven Seals gang in book one but we only get to know them in book two. Their dynamic is good. I also love to hate Jaxon Hall.

I still really enjoy Paige’s character. I love her drive and determination to change things. She’s by no means perfect but you can see her reasoning and why she does what she does. 

While Warden only shows up at 40% of the way through, I still loved the romance. It’s just so angsty and forbidden that I just eat it up. Also found Warden to be more likeable.

It might just be me and my apparently bad memory, but I found quite a lot of the side characters to be forgettable. The main group I can remember but when some people turn up at the end I completely forgot who they were. This may just be something that’s going to happen when you have a large cast, but it doesn’t may it any less annoying.

I will give credit where credit is due and while I’m not completely on board with Shannon’s writing, it did get better. There was a lot less info dumps and more showing instead of telling. I still think the world is a bit confusing. I get it for the most part but there are so many words it’s hard to remember it all.

Just like the first book the ending was the best part, and that cliffhanger was everything. I wouldn’t usually continue with a three star series but Shannon’s ideas are so unique and the ending has me hooked that I can’t help it.

While the plot and writing can be meandering, the main characters and the world make this book so exciting.

Mircea Tara

Exquisite. Amazing. Wonderful. Enticing. I could go on and on. Great plot. Great twists. Great imagery. Fascinating London even in its all decrepitude/glamour. Depends if you're a busker or scientist working in the glass buildings of Scion. 
Beautifully written. It becomes obvious that Samantha has a passion for words. She can't help herself from time to time and slips a words so unexpected but so perfect in its place that suddenly the scene described becomes clear, becomes somehow complete.
I only gave it 4 starts because of a weak plot device she used. But nothing of great importance. The book is amazing. Can't wait to get my hands on the Song Rising.

Kaitee Tredway

A sequel to The Bone Season finds fugitive Paige Mahoney fleeing Scion while Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare for a rare assembly of the clairvoyant community that is clouded by dark secrets, the emergence of the Rephaim and an elusive Warden.

Nickie Mohler

I received this book from NetGalley. Another amazing book from Samantha Shannon! Just as good, if not better than the first in this series. I love the world building in this book. This series is quite different from others I've read and I can't wait for the next book. I have to know what happens with The Black Moth and the rest of the syndicate. I highly recommend this book! Thank you NetGalley!

Jurassic Jones

Alors comment décrire mon amour pour ce livre ! Je suis tellement contente d'avoir enfin lu la suite après 5 ans d'attente de la traduction.et comme je n'ai pas du tout été déçue. Ce fut magistrale ! L'univers toujours aussi riche, les personnage toujours plus complexes et l'intingue toujours plus difficile à cerner. Ce tome tombe dans la limite du thriller fantastique sombre et glauque. J'ai aimé encore plus cette suite et le dénouement finale annonce une suite des plus intriguante.

Anastaciya

2021 upd - okay. I still like this. I still think this is one hell of a cliff-hanger. But it could be shorter, honest 🙈

2017 - upd: for some reason took me ages to reread this. wasn't as exciting as the first time, but then I knew how it ended. now I'm finally ready to continue with the third book.

2015 - Whaaat?! Well, I think it makes sense...
Waiting for the movie. And for the next book!..

Kat Kooiman

Meagan Fowler

b.andherbooks

So, while I'm scared as hell that The Bone Season series is slated for SEVEN BOOKS, I'm loving this series and I'm happy to be an early champion. Can't binge read everything people, and this series will be worth the ride. No spoilers in this review, but if you haven't read Book 1, The Bone Season, you may want to stop here.

Paige Mahoney, aided by Warden and a rag tag assortment of "Harlies," has escaped from the voyant penal colony Sheol I and the clutches of Nashira. Hoping to spread the word about the Emim and the Rephaim, Paige is foiled by her Mime Lord Jaxon Hall and forced to reenter the underground crime syndicate she was a part of prior to her imprisonment. The story flows for Paige's desire to warn the syndicate about the connection between SCION and the Rephaim and her need to stay protected from her own people, which means continuing to be Jaxon's mollisher and doing his bidding. Some gruesome murders, lots of training, and lots of beating up of poor Paige keep the story moving and super thrilling.

Focused more on the awesome Victorian-esque society of the syndicate and less on the ethereal world of the Rephaim, this is an exciting, bloody, and mystical installment. Warden does make appearances (never enough for me) but the scenes that include him sparkle. The climax is like whoa, and I can't wait (although I'll have to) to read more.

Thankfully, Mime Order includes beautiful maps of SCION London and a handy glossary of terms that help you sink right back into Shannon's world without too much problem. I did re-read Book 1 prior to starting this, and it definitely helped.

Sarah

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

 tw: violence, blood 

Favourite quote 

“Hope is the lifeblood of revolution. Without it, we are nothing but ash, waiting for the wind to take us.”

I recommend this for 

people who read the bone season obviously, even if you didn’t like it, try this one! If you like dystopian and fantasy this is the perfect series for you.

What I liked 

I loved this book so much and my little review definitely doesn’t give it justice.
The Mime Order made me fall in love with the series. I liked The Bone Season, but I had a few issues with it, mostly the pacing. This one though is on a whole other level. The action, the pacing, the character development, the world building got so much better and I was in awe and absolutely gripped from page one. I just love everything that happened in this book and I couldn’t stop reading. It made me feel everything that I want to feel when I read. And I swear I love Paige Mahoney so much, she’s such a badass and I just want to protect her!
Just make sure you have the third book available because you’ll definitely want to start the other one immediately.

What I didn’t like 

It ends. I didn’t like that, but at least I have more books!

Final thoughts 

Wonderful, underrated series that after this became one of my favourite series of all time. Really cannot recommend this enough!

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London. As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided.

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY. That ending. I’m so glad I waited to read this because if I didn’t have the next book ready I would be FUMING 😂😂😂

Again, this audiobook was A++ - the story is amazing, the narrator is fantastic, the tension, the plot, the characters, I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR.

Sarah 

Wow! I loved this book! A fantastic sequel to The Bone Season, Shannons writing has improved immensely that even with all the big words I never felt confused and I fell into the world so easily.

Cristina Cicivelli 

The Mime Order is nothing but an almost perfect continuation to a series that is slowly gaining his way deep into my heart. I admit that there is not so much happening (with just the little events and plot twists leading to the main one towards the end of the book) and yet it flows without any problem, mostly thanks to the fact that the biggest part of the worldbuilding has been done already in book one so all the new information given in this second installment are easily assimilated. As usual, the writing style is absolutely delightful, and I really loved how all the characters and their relationships have been developed. 

Related to this, my favorite thing is probably that what happened between Paige and Warden is not sugar-coated: he used her to lead his revolution, like the shitty Jax used her power for his own gain, and even if he did it for good reasons (as Paige perfectly understand) Warden itself told Paige that he doesn’t expect her to either forgive him or forget what happened (“As an oneiromancer, I have infinite respect for memory. I would not expect you to forget”). I loved this moment of clarity between them SO MUCH, because it made possible to build their relationship on mutual respect and understanding, not on fear and resentment: all of their interactions are so soft and tender, from the scenes when they train together (the way Warden helped Paige to understand and to test the limit of her powers!!! we stan a supportive boyfriend) to the ones where they just sit down to talk and be cute, I adored how even in the worst moment they stopped just to touch and look at each other.

I was already totally in love with Paige, but when I finished this book it was as if the space in my heart reserved just for her had grown at least a thousand time: she has evolved so much, from an unknown outcast frightened of her power to a true leader ready to lead not only a war but also a revolution… and all of this just because she realized that if she went back to her old life no one else would have taken her place, no one else would have tried to change things. I really loved that she decided to embrace her role as ‘the chosen one’ not thanks to some divine calling, but as a consequence of what she has seen in the colony. 
One of my favorite elements is in fact that the characters’ traumas and experiences are not erased and instead taken into account in a way that is by no means superficial: they get to influence who they are, how they think and act, and I really do think that is something necessary to build characters that are realistic and make sense. 

I’m not going to talk about that final plot twist because I still have to recover from it, but I can’t wait to read The Song Rising and let Samantha Shannon play with my feelings all over again.

(All hail Queen Paige and Prince Consort Warden)

From the International Bestselling author of The Bone Season Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...

Lisa Beasley

Well bloody hell Samantha Shannon loves to end on a cliffhanger. I really enjoyed this book and I loved the setting. Paige grew as a character and we got to know some of the supporting cast a little better. I'm so glad I'm in this world now and looking forward to the next book.

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London . . . As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take center stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided.

Kate

3.7* So reading this whilst in a huge reading slump wasn't the best idea. HOWEVER, despite not enjoying it as much as I know I would have had I not been in a slump, every time I did pick it up, I found myself sucked into this world again. It kept my attention and I didn't forget what was happening, despite the long gaps between my reading it (which is a big deal for me...) I'm definitely looking forward to continuing with the series and super intrigued to see where the story is going.

The Mime Order (The Bone Season)

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