Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton || Magic Meets New Orleans

Shattered Midnight (The Mirror, #2)

The Mirror: Shattered Midnight is the second novel in the innovative four-book fairy-tale series written by Julie C. Dao, Dhonielle Clayton, J.C. Cervantes, and L. L. McKinney, following one family over several generations, and the curse that plagues it.

Zora Broussard has arrived in New Orleans with not much more than a bag of clothes, a beautiful voice, and a pair of enchanted red shoes. Running from a tragic accident caused by her magic, Zora wants nothing more than to blend in, as well as to avoid her overbearing aunt and mean-spirited cousins. Music becomes Zora’s only means of escape, yet she wonders if she should give it all up to remove the powers that make her a target, especially as a Black woman in the South.

But when Zora gets the chance to perform in a prominent jazz club, she meets a sweet white pianist named Phillip with magic of his own, including a strange mirror that foretells their future together. Falling into a forbidden love, Zora and Phillip must keep their relationship a secret. And soon the two discover the complicated connection between their respective families, a connection that could lead to catastrophe for them both. In the era of segregation and speakeasies, Zora must change her destiny and fight for the one she loves . . . or risk losing everything.

Rating:

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• A fraught, illegal interracial romance.
• Historical fiction with commentary about race relations and racism.
• A continuation of a series about broken promises and cursed families.
• Lots of music and magic and mayhem.

Many thanks to Disney-Hyperion and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Broken Wish, so I immediately wanted to jump on this book! Plus, I think the idea of this series is so interesting. Four books, four authors. Each author picks up where the last one left off, skips a couple generations, and continues the story. The books are interwoven to some extent, but they each further the story of these two families and the way their destinies seem tied together for reasons no one remembers anymore. So yeah, I was more than eager to dive into this book!

Shattered Mirror picks up where Broken Wish left off, generations later, in New Orleans. With a plot fraught with magic, music, racism, family secrets, and tragedy, it’s easy to get swept in the fairy tale. But not all fairy tales have happy endings!

In the end, I enjoyed this book, though I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. Readers who enjoy historical fiction and romantic drama will fare better with this one, and neither is something I particularly like on its own (or even together). I just wanted something more from the story of these characters, which felt wildly incomplete by the ending and like it was simply setting the stage for something greater. Which it might be, but it left me wanting. Despite that, this was a solid book in the series and has its own charms that make it a solid story that was fun to get lost in for a while.

Shattered Midnight works fine as a standalone, though it does continue the story from Broken Wish, albeit a few generations later with a whole new cast (unaware of their backgrounds, of course), and I loved/appreciated all the little tie-ins from the first book!

When I originally read the premise of this series (having four different authors write about a family over time), it really piqued my interest, and I wondered how it would work. It seems like each will be more or less a standalone, but will feature continued themes from the previous book. I absolutely love how this turned out. Shattered Midnight was able to be its own thing, totally separate in tone and plot from the first book, while still building on the foundation built in Broken Wish. The two just tied together really well.

Even though Shattered Midnight probably could be a standalone, I highly recommend reading the first book . . . well, first! The Easter eggs are absolutely delicious, and it’s so satisfying when they two plots finally cross paths again.

It isn’t entirely obvious, when this book begins, how it fits in with the first one. Little by little, though, the connections arise. I love the slow reveal and the build-up. It’s so well done and fits perfectly with the theme of broken promises creating ripples.

Shattered Midnight gave me a lot of The Princess and the Frog vibes, except it doesn’t hold its punches when it comes to race relations, racism, and the way it impacts the characters’ lives.

The book definitely has that fairy tale, wishes come true sort of feel to it (even though not all wishes do, in fact, come true, because it’s not that kind of fairy tale). However, Clayton doesn’t shy away from the reality of life as a Black woman in New Orleans in the early 1900s. It’s not always pretty, so consider this a blanket trigger warning if racism is a sticking point for you. Clayton handled this well, presenting the reality of it but also not letting it stop the characters. There are moments in this book that will boil your blood, guaranteed, but it’s such an important conversation to have and read about, and I applaud Clayton for adding it.

There’s a very sweet, flirty romance in this that romance readers will likely appreciate and enjoy. Even if it’s technically illegal and entirely fraught with drama. Or maybe because of that?

Zora isn’t exactly a damsel in distress, though that doesn’t stop Phillip from trying to save her all the same. The real problems arise, though, because Zora is Black and Phillip is white, which is extremely illegal at this point in time, of course. Which makes the romance all the more dramatic.

By now, I’m sure a lot of you know that this isn’t at all my type of romance. I mean, no one even threatens the other’s life. What sort of nonsense is that?! However, for fans of romantic books, I think this couple will have a lot to offer. They’re both strong characters on their own, and it’s hard not to root for things to work out for them. Plus, a little flirty banter is always fun, right?

Fans of music will love the way Clayton weaves it into the novel, making it a core theme and bringing New Orleans to life all at the same time.

I’ve never been to New Orleans, so I can’t speak to the authenticity of Clayton’s descriptions, of course, but they do jump right off the page. I definitely felt like I was there, with good music and good food. More importantly, music itself is everything for Zora, including the way she expresses her magic. It’s in her blood and soul.

I’m not a huge music buff, but I do appreciate a good passionate character. It’s hard not to get swept up in Zora’s love for music. Since it’s a big part of New Orleans culture, it fits the setting perfectly, too. If music is your thing, though, you’ll likely love the sort of role it plays in this book.

I think I had a similar complaint for the first book, but Shattered Midnight didn’t feel quite complete. It felt like it was setting things up for the next book, which it is in a way, except that Zora’s story is done now and it definitely didn’t feel done to me.

You know that feeling when you’re waiting for the other shoe to fall, for the climax to really take effect and then the denouement and then everything fades to black? Well, this book basically ends on the climax, which is a very unsatisfying feeling. There’s an attempt for a little falling action afterward, but it’s so short and nothing is really wrapped up, and I was really unsatisfied with that. I wanted something more concrete! Especially since it felt like it took so long for things to actually start happening in this book, other than hints about Zora’s disastrous past. It seemed like everything ended right as it was really beginning.

I’m really looking forward to the next installment in this series, but it makes me sad that it won’t include Zora, and I really wanted more closure for her portion of the story!

About Dhonielle Clayton

Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times Bestselling author of The Belles series, the coauthor of the Tiny Pretty Things duology which debuts as a Netflix original series soon, and the author of the forthcoming MG fantasy series The Marvellers. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books, and co-founder of CAKE Literary, a creative kitchen whipping up decadent—and decidedly diverse—literary confections for middle grade, young adult, and women’s fiction readers. She’s an avid traveler, and always on the hunt for magic and mischief. 

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3 winners will receive a finished copy of SHATTERED MIDNIGHT, US Only.

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