I liked what this book had to say about agency and not running away from your own story, but overall it felt a bit lackluster compared to 'A Spindle Splintered'. I'm glad I read it though, and I'm genuinely curious as to whether this series is going to continue or not.

Thank you to Tordotcom for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved A Spindle Splintered so I was really excited to get an ARC of the sequel, and I was not disappointed. I really liked that even though Zinnia went through a lot of character development in the first book, it was very clear that she had further to go, and we got that in A Mirror Mended. I also loved the gritty, much darker exploration and subversion of the Snow White story!

this novella did not disappoint, especially as a sequel to a spindle splintered. i just love fairytale retellings.

this novella follows zinnia gray, who is now a pro at rescuing people from her previous adventures. when she finds herself looking in the mirror, she falls into snow white's fairytale, and is faced with dueling with the evil queen herself. it's nonstop excitement, with a very insane ending. and as an avid once upon a time and regina mills lover, digging into the layers within snow white's story and the evil queen was so much fun, and quite rewarding. 3.5/5 stars, rounded up!

thank you to both netgalley and macmillan-tor/forge for an e-arc. all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow is a retelling of Snow White. It follows the protagonist from A Spindle Splintered, the first book of the Fractured Fables series. From the world of Sleeping Beauty that she has learned to frequent, Zinnia Gray is summoned to another world by the evil stepmother of Snow White. However, this storyline clashes with all her cliched assumptions about the characters. This short, quirky, yet powerful tale implores us to forgo preconceived notions and take a deeper look at everything. With unique twists and a distinctly sapphic bend, it is an inclusive book that will be a perfect read for anyone who loves fairy tale retellings.

An enjoyable queer twist on a classic fairytale. Bringing it into the modern age. Very clever and well thought out. Very well executed job

Alternate titles for this book include "So There's Something Fucky Happening to the Multiverse: Ten Implausible Theories" and "So You're a Little Bit Hot for the Villain: We've All Been There but This Isn't the Time, Babe." And this trademark humor is one of the novella's best attributes. It's meta, it's (literally) philosophical, and it pairs jokes with severe situations. In that vein, I give The Good Place reference 10/10. It's one of many excellent pop culture mentions that co-exist with high-brow literary or life musings for an intentionally choppy but clever delivery.

A Mirror Mended is a follow-up to the Sleeping Beauty retelling, A Spindle Splintered. As the title hints, this story takes a stab at Snow White elements. We get a sapphic romance for the Evil Queen, a cannibal Snow White, and a poly Snow White/dwarf situation in different versions of the fairy tale crossing the multiverse. Aka it's very gay and very fun when it's not dark and alarming (re:cannibalism).

My main complaint here is pacing. I can see how novella-length keeps things punchy and puts more on the reader to think for herself and make her own interpretations. However, emotional arcs, relationships, and character growth felt too abrupt for me to care about. So while I had a lot of laughs reading this and was called on to think, it didn't hit me in the feels even when moments seemed to call for it. For that reason, I liked this read but didn't love it. More time with the characters and a gradual build of the plot would have suited me better, but I had a good time with this one and found it a smooth, engaging read from start to finish. Thanks to Tordotcom for my copy to read and review!

3 stars (I think). I'm on the fence on whether this is a solid 3 star or lower. This is a sequel and a novella. I didn't like the first hour of the audiobook which is not promising for something already so short. Eventually the story found its pacing and I became more invested, but the beginning was such a slog. I am not sure how I feel about it. It's been over a week since I finished it and I'm still unsure of the rating. I am sure that it pales in comparison to its predecessor.

Alix E Harrow is a fantastic storyteller and a creator of beautiful prose. I love her take on the fairy tale genre. The pov character for this one is a fabulously snarky, snappy and sarcastic person who has absolutely refused to let life conquer her. This was brilliant and funny.

The second book in the Fractured Fables series. Zinnia can travel between Sleeping Beauty stories. She does this while trying to forget she will probably still die. This time after the wedding at her most recent Sleeping Beauty while staring in the mirror someone else stares back. And then she’s in another story, but not one that she expected. Zin has slipped into a different fable, Snow White’s. But she ends up with the Queen, who is asking for help. Zin is conflicted as she’s usually fighting the evil queens not helping them. Then they start jumping through her magic mirror. An unexpected friend shows up with a warning for Zin. Zin and Eva (as the name the Queen is given) have to get out of a dungeon and Zin has to decide if she’s going to keep inter-universe traveling or stop. The books in the Fractured Fables series may make you want to read all the versions of the stories you can, even the horror ones. Short and quick, this is a great weekend read.

Enjoyed this sequel! Felt like an end to the series but not sure if it will be. I always enjoy a good fairy tale retelling, especially with the villains.

Lesbians, fairytales, a snappy mc who will tell you like it is, dark themes with bright backgrounds, and a return to the Grimm tales we know and love. A Mirror Mended, much like the first in the series - A Spindle Splintered- brought a fresh look to fairytale retellings as we know them today and broke down barriers by making them sapphic. I am a sucker for a good retelling and picking up this sequel was like a breath of fresh air.
It was dark, it was witty, it was fast-paced, it was different, there wasn't much to dislike in this book. Zinnia Gray is the type of protagonist you want in a book, she makes it all so gritty and real.
I don't want to say too much because half the fun is how spontaneous this book is, just know you're in for a ride. If you like twisted fairytales with a hint of nostalgia and some sapphic romance, this novella is for you.

I love the multiverse that Alix E. Harrow created in A Spindle Splintered and I loved being back in it in this book, I just didn't connect with the characters as much this time around.

A Mirror Mended is clever and entertaining sequel in this creative series. Alix E. Harrow presents a strong follow up to her “modern” fairy tale, which reminds her audience how much these tales have continued to impact all of us. The author reintroduces us to her characters from "A Spindle Splintered," and continues their story in the sequel, "A Mirror Mended," so that her audience can experience who is living out their “Happily Ever After.” "Fractured Fables" is another example as to why adults continue to create such tales. Harrow reminds us that we’re never too old to desire (new) fairy tales.

A revisit of the Snow White myth told from the perspective of someone who has revisited their fairy stories over and over again, and knows all too well the power of interpretation.

I hadn't read A Spindle Splintered before reading this (and still haven't), but now I really want to! My enjoyment of the plot didn't suffer, but references to earlier parts of Zinnia's story clearly showed me I'd missed out on a lot. Initially, I thought Zinnia's voice, and the first-person perspective would annoy me, but I think that's because I'm used to a certain tone or style of fairy-tale narration, her world-weary perspective and modern voice grew on me, as I realised it was the perfect way to dismantle some of the more tired tropes, or even just to view them through a different lens, while still including the fairy tale feel, and fantasy peril that is required from every classic tale.

The 'misunderstood', or ''maybe-not-all-that-bad' stepmother is becoming a bit of a theme in itself, to the point that it's not the most original way to twist a tale, but loved that as well as being on the receiving end of the stepmother's wickedness, our heroine is also drawn to her, loved how the queer romance element of the story plays out, after all aren't all villains kind of hot in a way? Like this if you agree so I know it's not just me!

I will go back and read A Spindle Splintered, especially knowing that these are such short quick reads, which, in some ways feels unsatisfying because it tries to pack a lot into such a short novella, but looking at it another way, wow it packs a lot into such a short novella! Love Alix E. Harrow's writing in general, she has a great turn of phrase, this part was quoted by a fellow reviewer called Britt, but I laughed out loud at this while reading it, so I'm going to quote it too, and it sums up the tone of the novella perfectly:

"I would tell you what kind of animal it was, but I have no idea, and looking at it made my brain cramp. So I'll just say it was bad. Like, if a snake fucked a tarantula and their babies died in a tar pit, only to be reanimated by a necromancer who graduated at the absolute bottom of his class."

The review of A Mirror Mended by Alix E Harrow is in the September 2022 issue of SFRevu and is exclusive to them until October 1st. You may read the review using this link:
<http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=19854>

Hmmm. I am really grateful for the chance to read this ARC (belatedly!) but I don't think this series is for me. I often struggle with novellas because, for example, this one took me less than 30 minutes - so I don't have time to care, and I don't get invested.

This one was also a little bit confusing, multiverse things often go WAY over my head.

I do like the wit of Zinnia, our protagonist, and of course the sapphic vibes slap!

A Mirror Mended is the continuation of the Fractured Fables series. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Both books are available now.

A Mirror Mended continues the story started in A Spindle Splintered, with Zinnia traveling into various versions of the Sleeping Beauty tale to save the princess from her own story. It’s obvious that Zinnia is creating as many happy endings as possible because she feels she has no control over her own fate. She knows that her illness will catch up to her (sooner rather than later) and she will die. As far as avoidance techniques go, it’s a pretty creative one. It’s also alienated her from her best friend, Charm.

After one night of a particularly zesty victory celebration, Zinnia finds herself traveling into another fairytale- except for the first time ever, it’s not another version of Sleeping Beauty. Instead, she comes face to face with the Evil Queen from Snow White.

I’ve never been a big fan of Snow White (especially the Disney version) and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it dumped on its head. Since Zinnia meets the Evil Queen first instead of Snow White, she’s treated to an opposing view of what really happens in the story. Doubly interesting is that this villain knows she’s the bad guy and even knows her own fate (which is really rather grisly).

Just like Zinnia, Eva (short for “Evil Queen”) is looking for a way to escape her story. The book focuses mainly on their changing relationship and how they learn from each other. Now, before you think “boring” and write the book off- there’s also a fair amount of fairy tale shenanigans, including battles, magical witches, and romance. At the end of the day, though, the relationships and character growth were what kept me interested.

I was a little concerned at first because Charm is in very little of this book. I was worried that it wouldn’t give Zinnia the chance to continue to grow as a character without having someone who understood the entire situation. Fortunately, Eva is a quick study and more than made up for the missing Charm (weak pun intended).

Zinnia was in fine form, her snarkiness shining through, but Eva stole the show. Her mix of naivety and condescension made her a blast to read! She was always a force to be reckoned with, and it didn’t go well when people forgot that.

Author Alix E. Harrow packed a ton into such a short book. Every now and again I wished that more time could have been spent on a particular part (especially when a certain character helps raid a castle), but such is the nature of shorter books. I just enjoy Harrow’s writing so much that I’m always eager for more.

Is A Mirror Mended my favorite Alix E. Harrow book? No. But’s it’s well written, added a new facet to the Fractured Fables storyline, and kept me highly entertained.

I really liked the fantasy retelling and it being queer. It’s a fast read and I needed to know how this story would progress. Well done.

A great continuation if the first in the series, in that it allows itself to address and critique the shortcomings of the first. As a whole, it makes me very excited to see what's next. On a meta level, it's doing what the protagonist is: rewriting stories and making them more powerful. While this one wasn't the most phenomenal read, it was better than the last and still very enjoyable. And if this trajectory continues, then this series will become one of the greats.

This felt both like a filler episode and way too rushed. She tried to do a full novel's length of development in 130 pages. But I'll still continue to read this series if it continues.

Videos where I talk about this book -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJLGi33rt1k&t=4s - Mid Month Wrap Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM5PgM25k44 - Attempting to read 33 books in 31 days