The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon (Review)

Title: The Mime Order
Author: Samantha Shannon
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Date published: May 14, 2024

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review.

Note: This is the second book in a series. Beware of spoilers for the first book in the synopsis below.

Paige Mahoney has escaped the clandestine prison city of Oxford. Now a fugitive in London, she nurtures a new taste for revolution.

Oxford may be behind her, but the Republic of Scion is undefeated. As it turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, she is forced to return to Jaxon Hall, her charismatic and brutal employer, to keep her foothold in the underworld.

But Paige will bow to one now, and not even Jaxon will stop her exposing the corruption in the syndicate. As she plots to win the fabled Rose Crown, both sides of an ancient conflict seek her talents for themselves.

⤖ My Review ⬻

I absolutely loved The Bone Season. It reminded me why I loved reading so much (especially fantasy). The magic and world-building were complex but easier to digest because it’s an urban fantasy, so one has the real world to lean on as an anchor. That being said, it’s an alternate “present” of our current world…but a lot of the same locations exist. I’ll stop there and turn to The Mime Order, but you’re welcome to read my review for The Bone Season first if you’re curious!

The Mime Order picks up right where the previous book left off, which I was grateful for since I spent some months this year waiting for the sequel to be re-released (from January to May) so I could see what happens next. For those of you who don’t know, the author has re-released the first four books in The Bone Season series (and I believe some novellas as well) as revised versions titled the “author’s preferred text.” While all four books have been out for a while, since I read and reviewed the preferred version of The Bone Season, it was recommended that I continue with the other books as preferred text versions too.

The vibes of The Mime Order were definitely a little different from the first book, and it took me a bit to get into the swing of things. I didn’t like the plot of this book as much as I did The Bone Season, but I kept going, telling myself that the events that unfolded had to happen to move the larger, overarching plot forward. There were definitely some slower moments, but the stakes were still high, and there was a lot of new intrigue to keep me hooked.

I was happy to spend more time with some of the characters from the first book and loved learning more about the world of The Bone Season through a slightly different lens. I will definitely be continuing on with the series and hope to pick up The Song Rising very, very soon, followed by The Mask Falling, as the fifth book (The Dark Mirror) comes out in February 2025!