Holy. Smokes.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
Oh, when is book three ready? How is anyone else reading this and not having a nervous breakdown? ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A fast paced addition to the series that I enjoyed more than the previous one.

Opening Sentence: When I feel soft, breathy pressure on my lips, I open my eyes and grab the guy’s throat.

The Review:

Spoilers for book one! Rosie is still trapped in the vault of dreamers, her own personal hell, having her creativity and parts of herself mined in order for The Forge School (reality TV series crossed with an arts academy) to have shady undertakings. And another part of Rosie is awakening in the body of a coma patient across the globe, a girl called Althea who has different circumstances and who is very pregnant. Rosie will attempt to escape and gain revenge. Althea-Rosie will attempt to make sense of her new surroundings and decide on her future. Pasts will be exposed. Secrets will come to light. Vengeance will be sought.

Last year I read The Vault of Dreamers. I thought it was a decent read, but nothing I was completely lost in or something I felt was exceptional. The reality show premise was a nice twist that added interest to the story and laid the groundwork for Rosie’s adventuring and discovery, so I enjoyed it. For this novel, I wasn’t quite sure what was going to be happening, now that Rosie’s consciousness had fled and Rosie herself was trapped in the vault. When I read the synopsis, I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Rosie’s consciousness lives on – in another body! And not just any body, but a pregnant one, a body with a loving and wealthy family, a girl in entirely different circumstances.

To my horror, the love triangle was not completely decimated yet, although I don’t know how it could have been left resolved in book one. I thought it was unfortunate how Rosie used both guys to her advantage and as an asset, but in Rosie’s defense, she was in a tricky situation. Rosie (nor Thea) didn’t really fully trust anyone in this novel, which is understandable. Dean Berg used relationships and twisted them to manipulate the characters in his sick little game, so it was difficult to really know whose presence was going to be your undoing, whether or not the boys realized it. The love triangle is still unresolved to my eyes, but I don’t fault O’Brien too much for that – the plotline, action, and suspense was still a formidable section of this novel and what I chose to focus on.

Speaking of Dean Berg, he definitely grew as a villain in this novel for me. Knowing some of his backstory helped to explain his motivation and the reasons he was doing what he did. It made sense that he would be driven to such actions by an unfortunate past, and a glance at his life gave a clue to his share of issues. Nevertheless, there was nothing about his past that made his present ethically justified, and his failure to realize that was probably what caused him to go so far and spiral away from his original goals. I still feel that book three will need to address more of Dean Berg and his family, and come full circle in order to explain his point of view. A villain without a backstory is not nearly as frightening as an antagonist with a purpose and a goal, in my opinion.

Altogether, this novel was a good one, and in my opinion better than the first. Again, I didn’t feel fully connected to the story, but that could be partly my fault – I’ve been in a reading block lately and not many of the books I’ve opened I’ve finished, so this novel gets props for my actually reading it. Rosie and Althea were a lot of fun and it was cool seeing how different parts of Rosie differed, and how they both grew as the story progressed. The ending had a couple pretty big twists and I’m unsure how the next novel will continue – there is a lot of the story left open ended, after all! If you enjoyed the first book, however, be sure to grab this one.

Notable Scene:

“I know what’s real,” I whisper.

“Do you? What about me?”

My heart leaps in terror.

Ian’s face shimmers for a second and comes back into focus, nearer and harshly clear. “Desperate people invest desperate solutions. It’s not my fault if they do,” he says, in the voice of Dean Berg.

FTC Advisory: Fierce Reads/Roaring Book Press/Macmillan provided me with a copy of The Rule of Mirrors. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )