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Den of Shadows #3
Shattered Mirror
To the casual observer, Christopher Ravena and Sarah Vida look like normal high school students. But he’s a vampire who has sworn off human blood, and she’s a witch, a daughter of the most powerful vampire-hunting dynasty in history. Slowly, without meaning to, Sarah finds herself won over by his sensitivity, his gentleness, his kindness.
But his past and her future collide when they both get tangled up with Nikolas, one of the most reviled vampires ever.
But his past and her future collide when they both get tangled up with Nikolas, one of the most reviled vampires ever.
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 11, 2001
About the author
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
43 books3,332 followersI grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, where I matriculated through the public Concord-Carlisle school district from kindergarten until my graduation in 2001. The best part of school, from fifth grade until the year I graduated, was definitely chorus. I love music, and I love to sing, and though I never had the courage or the talent to participate in any of the high school plays as a performer, I enjoyed being involved at other levels; the music and drama community at CCHS was the highlight of my high school career. I was also on the fencing team for two years, an experience that actually inspired a couple storylines, and regret that I did not continue with that sport.
I now live in Massachusetts with several pets... as well as, of course, my family. I am a student at the University of Massachusetts, with an English/psychology double-major. I hope to work either as an English teacher at the secondary level, or in special education. I have strong opinions about literacy, education, and how our educational systems are treated- strong enough that most of my friends know not to get me started on the subject.
My non-writing hobbies are eclectic, and cover everything from rather domestic pastimes like cross-stitch and cooking to aquarium keeping, playing piano, gardening, carpentry, Harley-Davidsons, driving, and arguing- there are few things I enjoy more than a good debate with someone who knows how to argue, which might have something to do with a best friend who works in politics. I love to learn, so if I have down-time and nothing to do, it is not at all unusual to find me pouring over some book, website or video designed to teach me some new skill, from belly dancing (something I desperately want to learn but have not yet been brave enough to sign up for classes on) to JavaScript.
I now live in Massachusetts with several pets... as well as, of course, my family. I am a student at the University of Massachusetts, with an English/psychology double-major. I hope to work either as an English teacher at the secondary level, or in special education. I have strong opinions about literacy, education, and how our educational systems are treated- strong enough that most of my friends know not to get me started on the subject.
My non-writing hobbies are eclectic, and cover everything from rather domestic pastimes like cross-stitch and cooking to aquarium keeping, playing piano, gardening, carpentry, Harley-Davidsons, driving, and arguing- there are few things I enjoy more than a good debate with someone who knows how to argue, which might have something to do with a best friend who works in politics. I love to learn, so if I have down-time and nothing to do, it is not at all unusual to find me pouring over some book, website or video designed to teach me some new skill, from belly dancing (something I desperately want to learn but have not yet been brave enough to sign up for classes on) to JavaScript.
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June 14, 2018just remembered this book out of nowhere & thinking about how spooky it was reading this in middle school and how much that plot twist had me shook
i was trash for paranormal, even back then
i was trash for paranormal, even back then
January 5, 2011
My biggest problem with this book was that I thought I was getting a book about a teenaged witch in which witches hunted vampires but then this young witch learned that friendship! can! transcend! etc. And for the first third of the book, that's what I got, and so I was lured in.
Unfortunately, when the jaws of the actual book snapped shut, it turned out that I was trapped with a book that was really about the ~tragic~ ~immortal~ ~angst~ of twin vampire brothers and their desperate need -- expressed in poetry -- to have a threesome with our (un)lucky witch protagonist. She just needs to ~understand~ that they're good on the inside! And that it hurts them ~so much~ when they don't suck human blood! *cough*blueballs*cough*
...You know, I was going to give this book two stars for being moderately technically proficient, but now I don't wanna.
Unfortunately, when the jaws of the actual book snapped shut, it turned out that I was trapped with a book that was really about the ~tragic~ ~immortal~ ~angst~ of twin vampire brothers and their desperate need -- expressed in poetry -- to have a threesome with our (un)lucky witch protagonist. She just needs to ~understand~ that they're good on the inside! And that it hurts them ~so much~ when they don't suck human blood! *cough*blueballs*cough*
...You know, I was going to give this book two stars for being moderately technically proficient, but now I don't wanna.
October 27, 2012
Cold as ice; strong as stone;
She faced the darkness all alone.
A silver goddess; a reflection
A mirage; a recollection.
No return; no turning back.
The past is gone, the future, black.
Serpents gather in their nest.
And she stands above the rest.
Shadows hunt; she hunts the shadow.
The moon is risen; she stands below.
She views her world through the eyes of others.
Black and white; there are no colors,
As she looks down upon a shattered youth.
A shattered mirror shows a shattered truth.
-Nikolas, Shattered Mirror.
I forgot how much I loved this book. How I don’t know. I love Christopher or Kristopher, either way you want to spell it, though Kristopher is from his people killing days. Sarah Vida, youngest daughter of Dominique Vida the head of the witchy vampire hunters, is awesome. Her Mother moves her and her sister out of the city to a quiet town to keep them out of trouble, but of course Sarah finds trouble because that’s just who she is.
I love her character. Amelia Atwater Rhodes, author of Shattered Mirror, does an amazing job of making Sarah both a strong, prideful, determined, and brave, but at the same time she has this underlining vulnerability that I love. She isn’t perfect and that’s one of the reason’s she’s so relatable. Her Mother is constantly pushing her and in Sarah’s eyes her sister is practically perfect. There is so much to live up to in her family, so she is constantly trying to prove she’s just as good as everyone else.
We can all relate to that. Pride is so a human folly. Toss aside the family issues and throw her into school cue meeting Christopher, god I adore him. He draws her pictures and writes her poetry. I was let him bite me just for that, even though technically he doesn’t feed from people anymore. He’s like a vampire vegetarian. It’s sweet.
I never really like to give too much away with reviews on Rhodes’s books because they are always so good and I feel like you need to read them to get the full effect. It’s incredibly sad how the second I start her book despite the time of day it sucks me in so much so that I get through it in one sitting without any breaks.
It’s like I literally can’t get the pages to turn fast enough. She captures me and I find I’m powerless to resist the enticing world she’s created. I will however give you a rundown of my emotions throughout this 227 page book.
I urge you to get this book and read it; you’ll love it I know you will. Christopher, Nikolas, Sarah they are all spellbinding and the way Rhodes’s novels all sort of tie into each other because they’re all part of the same world is awesome. Sometimes it even gives you insights into characters from other stories. But seriously, check it out you won’t be disappointed.
February 24, 2010
Okay, so I did not finish this book. I picked it up because there were a ton of books by this author on the shelf, so I figured, okay, she must be pretty good. But I was turned off right away by the heroine as she went off to kill people and thought about how tough she was, and then right after she met Christpher he started leaving things in her locker (which I had someone do to me in college, and found it very creepy and an invasion of my personal stuff). There was no time for a relationship or feelings to develop but all the sudden Sarah really liked Christopher and was conflicted about her role as a vampire hunter.
It also bothered me that her sister had graduated from school but all the sudden showed up one day to give Sarah a message. I don't know, maybe it's different in other places but aren't most high schools closed down to outsiders just wandering in? And there was all kinds of stuff about how powerful and strong her mother was, but she was nowhere around. AND, I had a problem with Sarah being a witch. She was a vampire hunter/killer. A witch's whole credo is "harm none." So I found that I guess a bit insulting to witches or something. It bothered me. Didn't like it. Couldn't recommend it.
It also bothered me that her sister had graduated from school but all the sudden showed up one day to give Sarah a message. I don't know, maybe it's different in other places but aren't most high schools closed down to outsiders just wandering in? And there was all kinds of stuff about how powerful and strong her mother was, but she was nowhere around. AND, I had a problem with Sarah being a witch. She was a vampire hunter/killer. A witch's whole credo is "harm none." So I found that I guess a bit insulting to witches or something. It bothered me. Didn't like it. Couldn't recommend it.
September 13, 2012
Somewhat Spoiler Warning
I read Demon in my View years ago when I was in high school; I'm not entirely sure if my tastes have matured since then (most likely), or if it was just a better book, but I remember enjoying that one far more than this one. In the end, I can only say there was one redeeming quality about this book, and that is that Sarah does not immediately decide she's in love with Christopher at the end of the book, even though he seems to have taken quite a liking to her in the span of time they've known each other, which isn't even a full two weeks if my math is correct.
Honestly, I find the writing to be awful. Biased opinion aside, I know I myself have written better things than this, and it is she that gets the published series and the accolades. Heck, Stephanie Meyer's writing is far more polished than in this book. Perhaps the author just had a horrible editor, or maybe it's because she only wrote this book in her late teens, but I honestly don't find it worthy of high ratings it received.
A few other issues I have with the book:
- Everyone is apparently a Barbie or Ken doll, and the cast is incredibly whitewashed (I think Marguerite might have been briefly mentioned to have been a little tanner than others?).
- Frankly, the different spellings for the names Christopher (Kristopher) and Nicholas (Nikolas), were stupid. I'm sorry, but I found nothing interesting or cool about it. In fact, it made it confusing as the spellings got switched back and forth for their names several times throughout the book, and sometimes there was no context for it (Nikolas suddenly became Nicholas and then changed back to Nikolas in the span of a sentence and a half).
- In good writing, love needs to develop. I don't know why some authors struggle with this. In my opinion, real love does not happen in ten days, whether your a vampire, a witch, a human, or something else. The revelation at the end that Christopher loved Sarah made me want to throw the book down in frustration and call shenanigans.
- Not only does love need to develop over time, but basing it on more than just "wow, she's the most beautiful person I've ever seen (this sentence actually happens in the book), and oh yeah, she refuses to talk to me so I guess that makes her sort of interesting" is also helpful and realistic too.
Overall, the writing was awful, the plot was flat and not very gripping, the editor apparently fell asleep several times on the job, and I just didn't care about the characters. I honestly would not make the effort to recommend this book to anyone; the only reason I give it two stars is because I sort of just wanted to know how it would end.
I read Demon in my View years ago when I was in high school; I'm not entirely sure if my tastes have matured since then (most likely), or if it was just a better book, but I remember enjoying that one far more than this one. In the end, I can only say there was one redeeming quality about this book, and that is that Sarah does not immediately decide she's in love with Christopher at the end of the book, even though he seems to have taken quite a liking to her in the span of time they've known each other, which isn't even a full two weeks if my math is correct.
Honestly, I find the writing to be awful. Biased opinion aside, I know I myself have written better things than this, and it is she that gets the published series and the accolades. Heck, Stephanie Meyer's writing is far more polished than in this book. Perhaps the author just had a horrible editor, or maybe it's because she only wrote this book in her late teens, but I honestly don't find it worthy of high ratings it received.
A few other issues I have with the book:
- Everyone is apparently a Barbie or Ken doll, and the cast is incredibly whitewashed (I think Marguerite might have been briefly mentioned to have been a little tanner than others?).
- Frankly, the different spellings for the names Christopher (Kristopher) and Nicholas (Nikolas), were stupid. I'm sorry, but I found nothing interesting or cool about it. In fact, it made it confusing as the spellings got switched back and forth for their names several times throughout the book, and sometimes there was no context for it (Nikolas suddenly became Nicholas and then changed back to Nikolas in the span of a sentence and a half).
- In good writing, love needs to develop. I don't know why some authors struggle with this. In my opinion, real love does not happen in ten days, whether your a vampire, a witch, a human, or something else. The revelation at the end that Christopher loved Sarah made me want to throw the book down in frustration and call shenanigans.
- Not only does love need to develop over time, but basing it on more than just "wow, she's the most beautiful person I've ever seen (this sentence actually happens in the book), and oh yeah, she refuses to talk to me so I guess that makes her sort of interesting" is also helpful and realistic too.
Overall, the writing was awful, the plot was flat and not very gripping, the editor apparently fell asleep several times on the job, and I just didn't care about the characters. I honestly would not make the effort to recommend this book to anyone; the only reason I give it two stars is because I sort of just wanted to know how it would end.
November 15, 2011
Why just two stars, you ask? This book had potential. It could have been a high-seller. Unfortunately, it simply fails to fulfill its potential. I liked the storyline: Christopher is a fascinating character, and his sensitivity is refreshing compared to the usual stereotypical vampire archetypes. Sara is..okay. As the protagonist, there should be a lot more feeling associated with her, but she was a truly dull, flat character. Yes, she falls in love with Chris, but the reader can't feel any of the romance, passion, or even internal connflict she claims to go through. The story itself was rushed: Christopher is introduced in one chapter and in the next chapter they are madly in love. I think that if the author had put more time and effort into the story, it would have been wonderful. She incorparates good dialogue--perhaps a superfluous amount sometimes-- and describes the action scenes adequately...now all we need is some character development and detail detail detail!!
November 24, 2008
Shattered Mirror was an excellent and thrilling book. It was about a girl named Sarah Vida who was from a long line of witches. These witches also hunted and killed vampires. Things start to change when Sarah meets a charming new guy at school named Christopher who happens to be a vampire. She struggles with this problem very much through out the book, because it is against her families "laws" to befriend a vampire. She also struggles with trying to hunt a very ancient and dangerous vampire named Nikolas. Read this book to find out about all the crazy twist and turns.
January 27, 2021
This was rubbish, pure and simple. Did not care about the characters at all. Story was flat.
August 4, 2019
4 Stars
Shattered Mirror is the third book in The Den of Shadows series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.
This is a great YA, paranormal fantasy series with vampires, witches, shapeshifters, supernatural elements, mystery, suspense, danger, action, drama, and a little angst.
Christopher and Sarah seem like typical teenagers, but they are anything but. Christopher is a vampire, and Sarah is a witch from a powerful vampire hunting family. What happens when feelings become involved, because these two really shouldn't have anything to do with each other...
An original story- with fully developed and interesting characters. It’s well crafted and is a credit to Ms. Atwater-Rhodes!
A fun read!
Thank you, Ms. Atwater-Rhodes!
Shattered Mirror is the third book in The Den of Shadows series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.
This is a great YA, paranormal fantasy series with vampires, witches, shapeshifters, supernatural elements, mystery, suspense, danger, action, drama, and a little angst.
Christopher and Sarah seem like typical teenagers, but they are anything but. Christopher is a vampire, and Sarah is a witch from a powerful vampire hunting family. What happens when feelings become involved, because these two really shouldn't have anything to do with each other...
An original story- with fully developed and interesting characters. It’s well crafted and is a credit to Ms. Atwater-Rhodes!
A fun read!
Thank you, Ms. Atwater-Rhodes!
August 12, 2010
"Haven't you ever once wanted someone you could talk to about something besides killing? Someone who has no idea about your power and is simply a friend?" pg. 45
Vampire-hunting witch Sarah Vida is starting a new school, and struggling to deal with the myriad of complications her paranormal life throws at her. She can only have certain types of friends and forget about being friends with vampires. It's against the rules, which are some of the strictest ones I have heard of before. Sarah's life is nothing but discipline, training and hunting and killing of vampires. And then she meets one of the sweetest vampires ever, Christopher.
Christopher and his just as sweet sister Nissa, are passive vamps in that they do not feed from humans. A choice they made a long time ago. Sound familiar? Anyway, becoming friends with these two causes Sarah to think and question what her life has become. Yes, she has an allegiance to her family, but as the quote above demonstrates, her family does not fill all of her needs, especially her need for friends and possibly a "normal" life that doesn't involve hunting. Events happen and Sarah must soon make a choice between her friends and family. A mistake she makes actually cause her path to be chosen for her, but I think in the long run it is for the best.
This was a super fast read. I could have finished this in a day, but I have to work so it took me 2 days to finish. The story is 240 pages, but the book is so small that it's a quick 240. The story made me want to find out what happened next and now. Some of the characters may not be as developed as some would like, but it's a YA book. To me this is not unexpected. Now that I think about it, some are developed more than others, like Nissa. How she becomes a vampire is told in the story, and I have to admit, she is one tough cookie. Family is everything to her. Interesting theme there. And the twins...Christopher and Nikolas well all of their issues would make for an interesting book.
Another interesting theme here, is how similar some of the scenes are to another infamous teen vampire story. For example, Sarah enters one of her classes and instantly recognizes a vampire there, and oh yeah, he is hot. Then she has to sit next to him because it's the only open seat available. He stares at her, and makes small conversation. She flounces out of the room, tries to avoid him, but then meets his super sweet sister. Look, all I'm saying is that I felt as though I read some of these scenes before. I looked up the publishing date of Twilight. It's 2005. Shattered Mirror is 2001. Not saying that someone plagiarized, however I just find it odd that they are so similar. Sorry but I have to put it out there.
Oh yes, and Sarah is kissing cousins with the Buffy story, but it's differnet enough to not have the same coincidences.
The author Amelia Atwater-Rhoads received quite a bit of fan fare when this story was published. She has two other books as well, and I will definitely be looking out for those. Not sure if this story is picked up again, but Miss Amelia might want to consider continuing Sarah's story. With today's thirst for all things paranormal, she may do well.
Vampire-hunting witch Sarah Vida is starting a new school, and struggling to deal with the myriad of complications her paranormal life throws at her. She can only have certain types of friends and forget about being friends with vampires. It's against the rules, which are some of the strictest ones I have heard of before. Sarah's life is nothing but discipline, training and hunting and killing of vampires. And then she meets one of the sweetest vampires ever, Christopher.
Christopher and his just as sweet sister Nissa, are passive vamps in that they do not feed from humans. A choice they made a long time ago. Sound familiar? Anyway, becoming friends with these two causes Sarah to think and question what her life has become. Yes, she has an allegiance to her family, but as the quote above demonstrates, her family does not fill all of her needs, especially her need for friends and possibly a "normal" life that doesn't involve hunting. Events happen and Sarah must soon make a choice between her friends and family. A mistake she makes actually cause her path to be chosen for her, but I think in the long run it is for the best.
This was a super fast read. I could have finished this in a day, but I have to work so it took me 2 days to finish. The story is 240 pages, but the book is so small that it's a quick 240. The story made me want to find out what happened next and now. Some of the characters may not be as developed as some would like, but it's a YA book. To me this is not unexpected. Now that I think about it, some are developed more than others, like Nissa. How she becomes a vampire is told in the story, and I have to admit, she is one tough cookie. Family is everything to her. Interesting theme there. And the twins...Christopher and Nikolas well all of their issues would make for an interesting book.
Another interesting theme here, is how similar some of the scenes are to another infamous teen vampire story. For example, Sarah enters one of her classes and instantly recognizes a vampire there, and oh yeah, he is hot. Then she has to sit next to him because it's the only open seat available. He stares at her, and makes small conversation. She flounces out of the room, tries to avoid him, but then meets his super sweet sister. Look, all I'm saying is that I felt as though I read some of these scenes before. I looked up the publishing date of Twilight. It's 2005. Shattered Mirror is 2001. Not saying that someone plagiarized, however I just find it odd that they are so similar. Sorry but I have to put it out there.
Oh yes, and Sarah is kissing cousins with the Buffy story, but it's differnet enough to not have the same coincidences.
The author Amelia Atwater-Rhoads received quite a bit of fan fare when this story was published. She has two other books as well, and I will definitely be looking out for those. Not sure if this story is picked up again, but Miss Amelia might want to consider continuing Sarah's story. With today's thirst for all things paranormal, she may do well.
April 17, 2008
I don't necessarily find vampires sexy, and this book seems to have been written for people who do. (Assuming those people think 2 vampires feeding on one girl is sexy, that is.) I expected a Buffy-type adventure with some romance thrown in, and in that I was disappointed. There is no romance, surprisingly enough; more of a friendly acquaintance - and the initial fun bits of vampire butt-kicking quickly degraded into the heroine doing lots of soul-searching and wondering if she was going to be someone's lunch by turns.
I found the latter half of the story dark and at times disturbing. I appreciate that the author didn't resort to graphic imagery, but all the talk of "willing prey" and "feeding" was unsettling, to the point that I would not recommend it for anyone under 16 or so.
I think the story would have been better if it were longer and more developed. The characters felt like cardboard cutouts, there was at least one noticeable plot hole, and the background of the witches needed a lot more exploring. I don't know if there is a sequel, but if there is I think the storyline would get a lot more interesting in that - though I won't say why for fear of spoiling the ending.
The Hawksong series, also by Atwater-Rhodes, is I think a better example of two people from hostile cultures falling in love, and all the trials they must overcome to be together.
I found the latter half of the story dark and at times disturbing. I appreciate that the author didn't resort to graphic imagery, but all the talk of "willing prey" and "feeding" was unsettling, to the point that I would not recommend it for anyone under 16 or so.
I think the story would have been better if it were longer and more developed. The characters felt like cardboard cutouts, there was at least one noticeable plot hole, and the background of the witches needed a lot more exploring. I don't know if there is a sequel, but if there is I think the storyline would get a lot more interesting in that - though I won't say why for fear of spoiling the ending.
The Hawksong series, also by Atwater-Rhodes, is I think a better example of two people from hostile cultures falling in love, and all the trials they must overcome to be together.
July 21, 2009
Shattered Glass is about a girl named Sarah Vida who is a vampire hunter and Witch. The setting takes place in Massachussetts. Her Family, The Vidas, are one of the most famous witch families known to kill Vampires. She moves to a new town and falls in love with a vampire named Christopher. Christopher is harmless but his twin, Nikolas, is not. The vidas has been chasing him ever since he killed one of their family members. Sarahs mother, Dominique, would be furious if she found out Sarah has been interacting with a Vampire.
While reading this book, I made a text to self connection. Me and Sarah are alike because she does stupid things without thinking and so do I. For example, Sarah went to hunt for Nikolas alone without any back up and she new that Nikolas can kill her in a second.
I would give this book 5 stars. This book would lead you thinking one thing but suddenly create twist and turns that are unexpected. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of this series, a fan of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes or just likes the supernatural.
While reading this book, I made a text to self connection. Me and Sarah are alike because she does stupid things without thinking and so do I. For example, Sarah went to hunt for Nikolas alone without any back up and she new that Nikolas can kill her in a second.
I would give this book 5 stars. This book would lead you thinking one thing but suddenly create twist and turns that are unexpected. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of this series, a fan of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes or just likes the supernatural.
March 3, 2012
I don't know why I keep trying to read this author's old books. They always seem to disappoint me. There's no world-building, no attachment to the characters, and the plot is usually inconsistent. I admit, I couldn't make it through all of this one. I got bored and just wanted Sarah to get killed already. The writing style is crass and it's very obvious that a younger person wrote this. Not to mention there pages are tiny and the words are huge. I don't recommend this book to anyone.
May 22, 2011
I found myself trying to identify with the characters, but failing miserably. Rhodes gives us tons of backstory and everything, but the characters still feel incredibly flat. Plus the whole, "mad awesome strength" "not human" Mary-Sueness of Sarah just got to me after awhile.
Not to mention, the whole story felt rather rushed. Before I could even try and get into the story, it was over. Overall, I thought this book was incredibly forgettable.
Not to mention, the whole story felt rather rushed. Before I could even try and get into the story, it was over. Overall, I thought this book was incredibly forgettable.
July 19, 2011
So far, this was my least favorite story out of the bunch.
I don't think it's due to the fact that the main character isn't a vampire, i just didn't really care for any of the characters in this story.
I do enjoy the poems before each story though, and i really enjoyed Christopher's poetry in the beginning/middle of the story.
I just wasn't drawn in to these characters as much as i was with the characters from the first two...
I don't think it's due to the fact that the main character isn't a vampire, i just didn't really care for any of the characters in this story.
I do enjoy the poems before each story though, and i really enjoyed Christopher's poetry in the beginning/middle of the story.
I just wasn't drawn in to these characters as much as i was with the characters from the first two...
June 4, 2007
My world was black and white for months after I read this novel. It's short and bitter-sweet. Plus, if you have a fancy for twins, then this is your thing. The poems scattered here and there are a bit corny I must admit, but they add to the story line nicely.
August 17, 2011
I have grown to enjoy Amelia Atwater-Rhodes writing style. Her characters are a sort of guilty pleasure and her novels continue to exceed my expectations. I did enjoy this book and will continue reading her work; I do recommend this to the young adult community.
September 29, 2015
This is a pretty good series. Is it the best out there? No. But I'm still enjoying reading them, especially in between more intense books. These are ones that are very easy to read and so I can read them pretty quickly.
March 8, 2008
This was my favorite book out of all of the ones she has written that i've read. It was that good! I highly recommend it.
May 19, 2009
I hated this book. It was hard to believe and the climax was false and sickeningly bloody.
March 8, 2016
This book went way too fast! I really wanted more in this story! What was there was awesome, but definitely needed more!
October 18, 2017
“I'm standing in a slaughterhouse where the cattle are begging to become hamburgers. I have a right to be jumpy.”
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December 18, 2019Shattered mirrors was a pretty good book it's about a girl named Sarah whos a which who hunts vampires and nicolaus who is a vampire, Sarah wants to hunt nicolaus down to kill him for turning so many humans into vampires/his followers. Sarah is a typical high school student who tries to socialize with her peers but she's told not to by her sister, because her sister said if word gets out about you being a vampire hunter you will end up being killed and the people around you will suffer. So she had to cut off a lot of relationships with her human friends and end up being alone with her sister but in the end her sister leaves her after sarah was turned into a vampire after losing a battle to nicols. Her sister left because she could not stand seeing her sister suffer as a vampire. And then after sarah relizes she's a vampire now she falls inlove with christoper ( nickouls brother) which i thought was really stupid because i would of killed myself other than live as a vanpire . sarah's sister really did things she would kill herself and I thought she would too but she didn't and now she's living as a vampire. One thing I thought was crazy in school when she was socializing she meet christopher in her school which christopher was a vampire and she fell in love with him but her sister forbid it so she had to cut christoper off but after she cut christoph off he kept trying to be her friend but then at the end once she was turned into a vampire she falls in love with christopher and married him
I recommend this book to anyone who loves romance and vampires because it's mentioned they were vampires almost every other page.
My favorite charter was christopher because he kept trying to get sarah after he was friend zoned so many times. He really loved sarah too bad he was not able to save her but at least he can be with her forever. He will be a really good boyfriend to sarah
The writing style is very dark. She doesn't have much humor in this she is not funny at all in this book
I recommend this book to anyone who loves romance and vampires because it's mentioned they were vampires almost every other page.
My favorite charter was christopher because he kept trying to get sarah after he was friend zoned so many times. He really loved sarah too bad he was not able to save her but at least he can be with her forever. He will be a really good boyfriend to sarah
The writing style is very dark. She doesn't have much humor in this she is not funny at all in this book
October 4, 2018
The plot of Shattered Mirror follows Sarah. Sarah meets Brother and Sister who are vampires. The plot takes a mysterious turn as Sarah is trying to figure how vampires can survive the sunlight. One of the primary questions is : " Who is Christopher and Nissa's missing brother and what does he want?". One thing that burned my blood is how these Vampires can walk around in the day time. My first thought was " Amelia better make the Vampires actually act like Vampires." I personally feel like Shattered Mirrors succeded in the eyes of fans of Vampire lore. One plot point that i did not enjoy was how Amelia chose to treat Sarah at the end of the book. Throughout Shattered Mirror's, Sarah was this powerful female lead. In, the end it felt like she forgot what she was trying to prevent. The ending of shattered mirrors wasn't really needed. So, Sarah got turned into a Vampire by one of her vampire friends. One thing that really got to me was why make the main character so foolish? What i mean by this is at one point in the book, she gets a message letting her know where a bash(Vampire party) will be. And, she decides to go by herself with no backup. The pros of this book are: 1. Strong female lead, 2. Fight sequences, 3. accurate vampire actions, 4. weird, an but interesting relationship. Cons: 1. Foolish actions done by characters( especially Sarah), 2. weird subplots that i feel went nowhere, 3. incorrect lore sometimes for the Vampires, 4. the book had too much humor for me, 5. not enough time to establish Sarah's mom, 6. at one point it felt more like a murder mystery than a horror book, 7. the author should have expanded more on the idea of what a bash is. As, for the horror parts, i felt Amelia hit the mark. The book is well written for the most part. Some parts are confusing to why she chose the type of dialouge.
June 29, 2013
My only real problem with all of Amelia Atwater Rhodes' books - not just this one - is that I always wish she had taken the time to make them a little longer, a little more in depth. Because they are Just. So. Damn. Good. That being said, Shattered Mirror was not quite as enjoyable as it's two predecessors, perhaps because *cough* *cough* it didn't have Aubrey in it *cough*, or perhaps because there generally seemed to be less of a vampire vibe, but in any case it was still amazingly enjoyable. Even if a little more detail would have been wonderful - I just want to dive deeper into this world, every time I read Den of Shadows.
It was interesting to finally see the amazing vampire world that Amelia Atwater Rhodes has created through the eyes of a witch. Unfortunately, that witch is Sarah Vida; meaning that she has a totally cold-hearted bitch of a mother. Dominique Vida’s husband died when Sarah was young. He was slowly tortured by vampires and then his body dumped on the Vida’s doorstep. Sarah loses it with grief, and smashes her hand repeatedly into a window until it breaks. You would think that Dominique would comfort her, cry over her husband’s death with her daughter, and help her daughter heal. Oh no. Dominique Vida stays completely cold and dry-eyed at her husbands’ death, and takes her daughters witchy-powers away for a week in punishment for reacting so strongly to the death of her father. Dominique remains a shadow over Sarah’s life throughout the book.
Sarah Vida is a wonderful character – totally bad ass, barely afraid of anything, really tough. But on the other hand, she is nothing like Dominique. She has a warmth in her; she’s nice, and able to accept that the views of the Daughters of Macht (the witches) can’t be right all the time. One of the best things about Shattered Mirror is Sarah’s internal conflict between loyalty to her family and knowing within her heart that not all vampires deserve Dominique’s treatment of them.
The vampires that make Sarah question her beliefs are Christopher and Nissa Ravena. I’m going to have to take a moment here to commend Miss Atwater Rhodes for her brilliant names – not only in this book, but all of them. Risika, Rachel and Alexander Weatere, Aubrey, Ather, Fala, Jager, Christopher and Nissa Ravena, Dominique Vida, Sarah Vida… don’t they all just sound so cool?! Anyway, moving back to Christopher and Nissa.
The brother and sister vampires at the school are actually quite sweet – as far as vampires go, you know. Christopher has an easy manner, and a talent for drawing and poetry that would certainly make my knees go weak. Nissa has a beautiful talent for sculpture, and the way she helps Sarah with her own sculpture is, again, sweet. You can certainly see that Christopher is falling in love with Sarah, and I couldn’t help my heart breaking for him as I realized how difficult Dominique would make it for Sarah to even associate with Christopher – let alone be with him in any romantic capacity. His sensitivity is refreshing for a vampire, as is Sarah’s struggle to not fall in love with him, because she knows how difficult that would make things. But despite everything you can still see her fall for him, which is beautiful to watch.
Aside from the love story, I liked the idea that there was a line of wonderfully artistic vampires, weird as that sounds. And, again aside from the love story, I liked the main plot line of this vampire Nikolas that Sarah was hunting. The fact that Nikolas carved his name into his victims’ skin like they were some kind of trophy… that made me shiver. And it was strange that he did it so carefully, but coming from a line of artistic vampires... well, at least he cares about his work. Nikolas didn't have quite as much class as a villain as Aubrey had, but he does well enough. And the vampire "bashes" (parties) were a really interesting addition to the series as well.
After a lot of creepy stuff in the middle , the story ends as you would expect. But for its predictability it was no less sweet, and I was very happy with it. If only because Dominique Cold-Bitch Vida was so completely and utterly thwarted. Teehee.
I just have to say I also love the titles that Amelia Atwater Rhodes comes up with for these books. In the Forests of the Night was a brilliant, beautiful title for obvious reasons, but the title Shattered Mirror... I loved coming to finally understand why the title suited the book. And this was because - in my opinion - the two twin vampires were supposed to be mirror images of each other, but something went wrong and their relationship shattered - and so did the mirror image. And Nikolas was the one who clearly showed the shattering of the mirror, because his brother was no longer there to support him. Shattered Mirror was a beautiful, clever, fitting title, and I loved even that.
Amelia Atwater Rhodes’ beautiful writing and the world she has created never cease to impress me. For the short length of her books her characters are very well developed, and it always amazes me that you can empathise with all of them… even the worst ones. Well done, Amelia – you have managed to make me fall in love with yet another of your brilliant works.
For anyone interested in discussing the Den of Shadows series with other people, or in role-playing the Den of Shadows world, here's the link to my group: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
Feel free to join! All welcome. :)
It was interesting to finally see the amazing vampire world that Amelia Atwater Rhodes has created through the eyes of a witch. Unfortunately, that witch is Sarah Vida; meaning that she has a totally cold-hearted bitch of a mother. Dominique Vida’s husband died when Sarah was young. He was slowly tortured by vampires and then his body dumped on the Vida’s doorstep. Sarah loses it with grief, and smashes her hand repeatedly into a window until it breaks. You would think that Dominique would comfort her, cry over her husband’s death with her daughter, and help her daughter heal. Oh no. Dominique Vida stays completely cold and dry-eyed at her husbands’ death, and takes her daughters witchy-powers away for a week in punishment for reacting so strongly to the death of her father. Dominique remains a shadow over Sarah’s life throughout the book.
Sarah Vida is a wonderful character – totally bad ass, barely afraid of anything, really tough. But on the other hand, she is nothing like Dominique. She has a warmth in her; she’s nice, and able to accept that the views of the Daughters of Macht (the witches) can’t be right all the time. One of the best things about Shattered Mirror is Sarah’s internal conflict between loyalty to her family and knowing within her heart that not all vampires deserve Dominique’s treatment of them.
The vampires that make Sarah question her beliefs are Christopher and Nissa Ravena. I’m going to have to take a moment here to commend Miss Atwater Rhodes for her brilliant names – not only in this book, but all of them. Risika, Rachel and Alexander Weatere, Aubrey, Ather, Fala, Jager, Christopher and Nissa Ravena, Dominique Vida, Sarah Vida… don’t they all just sound so cool?! Anyway, moving back to Christopher and Nissa.
The brother and sister vampires at the school are actually quite sweet – as far as vampires go, you know. Christopher has an easy manner, and a talent for drawing and poetry that would certainly make my knees go weak. Nissa has a beautiful talent for sculpture, and the way she helps Sarah with her own sculpture is, again, sweet. You can certainly see that Christopher is falling in love with Sarah, and I couldn’t help my heart breaking for him as I realized how difficult Dominique would make it for Sarah to even associate with Christopher – let alone be with him in any romantic capacity. His sensitivity is refreshing for a vampire, as is Sarah’s struggle to not fall in love with him, because she knows how difficult that would make things. But despite everything you can still see her fall for him, which is beautiful to watch.
Aside from the love story, I liked the idea that there was a line of wonderfully artistic vampires, weird as that sounds. And, again aside from the love story, I liked the main plot line of this vampire Nikolas that Sarah was hunting. The fact that Nikolas carved his name into his victims’ skin like they were some kind of trophy… that made me shiver. And it was strange that he did it so carefully, but coming from a line of artistic vampires... well, at least he cares about his work. Nikolas didn't have quite as much class as a villain as Aubrey had, but he does well enough. And the vampire "bashes" (parties) were a really interesting addition to the series as well.
After a lot of creepy stuff in the middle , the story ends as you would expect. But for its predictability it was no less sweet, and I was very happy with it. If only because Dominique Cold-Bitch Vida was so completely and utterly thwarted. Teehee.
I just have to say I also love the titles that Amelia Atwater Rhodes comes up with for these books. In the Forests of the Night was a brilliant, beautiful title for obvious reasons, but the title Shattered Mirror... I loved coming to finally understand why the title suited the book. And this was because - in my opinion - the two twin vampires were supposed to be mirror images of each other, but something went wrong and their relationship shattered - and so did the mirror image. And Nikolas was the one who clearly showed the shattering of the mirror, because his brother was no longer there to support him. Shattered Mirror was a beautiful, clever, fitting title, and I loved even that.
Amelia Atwater Rhodes’ beautiful writing and the world she has created never cease to impress me. For the short length of her books her characters are very well developed, and it always amazes me that you can empathise with all of them… even the worst ones. Well done, Amelia – you have managed to make me fall in love with yet another of your brilliant works.
For anyone interested in discussing the Den of Shadows series with other people, or in role-playing the Den of Shadows world, here's the link to my group: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
Feel free to join! All welcome. :)
June 7, 2013
major plot spoilers
I didn’t really connect with the story, but I resigned myself to being open. It was when she was attacked by the vampire at the party, and they just got bored and let her go, that I couldn’t buy it. A household of vampires decided to let a hunter of their kind walk free out the doors to kill more of their kind and try to kill them in the future because they “got bored.” That sounds like lazy writing on the author’s part. It would have been more plausible that she escaped.
Sarah’s personality immediately chafed. Her hated of vampires and inability to see the good in uniting vampires, hunters, humans and all that was really annoying. I knew it was going to be a problem further down the road, and it was going to cause problems between her and Caryn.
I did like Christopher, and I liked when he drew a sketch of her leaning over her desk writing notes on the first day of class and slipped it into her locker. And then another day he put a vase full of roses into her locker, wrote a poem about her, and drew a picture of her hand, which was a little weird, but I just overlooked that.
I really liked this poem the best:
Skin like ivory, perfect; A goddess, she
must be.
Slender fingers, unadorned; beautiful
simplicity.
A single teardrop; when did it fall?
Could this goddess be mortal, after all?
It was beautifully written, and really deep.
When Christopher gave her yet another poem I started getting a little bored with it. I mean how many poems and drawings can you have him make? If you keep doing the same things, it’s gonna lose impact until the readers just don’t care for it anymore. It would’ve been better had he known Sarah a little better before he just started doing all of this.
The plot was based on this secret, that Sarah is a witch and hunts vampires, and so to keep the plot going the secret is just dragged out continuously, even when it makes no sense to do so. She knows she needs to tell them what she is, and at first she wanted to just so they would stop hanging out with her, but she kept putting it off. She finally decides to do it, and knows she needs to do it privately, so she goes to their home, to find they’re having a vampire bash. She sees Nissa feeding off a human, and they end up telling Sarah their story, and Sarah says she can’t tell them because it would betray their trust in her.
Well what do you think it’s gonna do to them when they find out you’re a witch after all this time has gone by? That’s gonna be even more of a betrayal. I hate when authors use these flimsy reasons why characters can’t do something.
The book did start getting a little better when Christopher started getting hurt and frosty that Sarah rejected him. I actually wanted to pick the book up and read it without it feeling like a chore. The plot started picking up when Sarah found out that Robert was acting to mean because he thought she was a vampire, and it turned out that his sister had been hurt by one.
The author had this strange habit of switching the names back and forth. Christopher's name used to be spelled like Kristopher, and Nikolas used to be spelled like Nicholas, and they changed it for some obscure reason, like after they killed the witch they wanted new identities or something like that, and so changed a couple letters. That in itself wouldn't have been that bad, but the author just switched it up and had the characters address each other with both of those spellings. Initially I thought the author had made a spelling error and forgot how she was spelling the name. Really confusing.
I absolutely hated that Christopher liked someone else. He had “adored” Christine, this girl from his human life, and dressed nice to impress her, and asked her to dance, but was rejected. I wondered what girl had rejected him, because when Sarah broke off their dance at the Halloween dance, he said it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been rejected. I really hate hearing about guys liking someone else.
I was even more pissed off when Sarah noticed that this girl had the marks of Kristopher and a tear drop on her skin, meaning Christopher had marked her as his and they had shared a blood bond.
The book was pretty enjoyable, especially when it came to trying to kill Nikolas, and the conflict that choice gave Sarah. It got even better when Christopher faced the choice whether to feed from her or not. He ended up feeding from her, and forcing her to feed from him, which I didn’t like, but it led to the decision to make her a vampire. I liked all of the conflict that everyone faced. When Christopher said he loved her though, it was definitely premature for that. They hadn’t even spent any time together, and didn’t really even know each other.
The ending was completely messed up. Adianna hoped she wouldn’t ever see Sarah, just because she was a vampire. Previously, she didn’t mind Sarah getting disowned, because it meant that she would be alive. But what was more upsetting was that Sarah never loved Christopher, and never even had one ounce of attraction to him. Wtf?
And at the end they kiss, and she said it was expertly done. And that was it. There were no feelings on her part, no comments about his looks, what the kiss meant to her, nothing, like the option of love for her was just not possible. She said she couldn’t stay with them, because she wanted to learn things on her own. And then there was some crap about SingleEarth helping her. Wth kind of ending is that? Who wants to read a freakin book where the characters don’t even end up together? That’s what I call a waste of time. A bad ending ruins the entire book. Hello.
Who sets up love, and then does nothing with it? That’s dumb, pointless, disappointing, and it’s a big let-down once we’ve read the entire book. Everyone wants love in a book, and we sure as heck want the characters to get together at the end, or else we feel like we’ve wasted our time with a piece of crap. There’s something about this author that she just cannot do a good love story.
I didn’t really connect with the story, but I resigned myself to being open. It was when she was attacked by the vampire at the party, and they just got bored and let her go, that I couldn’t buy it. A household of vampires decided to let a hunter of their kind walk free out the doors to kill more of their kind and try to kill them in the future because they “got bored.” That sounds like lazy writing on the author’s part. It would have been more plausible that she escaped.
Sarah’s personality immediately chafed. Her hated of vampires and inability to see the good in uniting vampires, hunters, humans and all that was really annoying. I knew it was going to be a problem further down the road, and it was going to cause problems between her and Caryn.
I did like Christopher, and I liked when he drew a sketch of her leaning over her desk writing notes on the first day of class and slipped it into her locker. And then another day he put a vase full of roses into her locker, wrote a poem about her, and drew a picture of her hand, which was a little weird, but I just overlooked that.
I really liked this poem the best:
Skin like ivory, perfect; A goddess, she
must be.
Slender fingers, unadorned; beautiful
simplicity.
A single teardrop; when did it fall?
Could this goddess be mortal, after all?
It was beautifully written, and really deep.
When Christopher gave her yet another poem I started getting a little bored with it. I mean how many poems and drawings can you have him make? If you keep doing the same things, it’s gonna lose impact until the readers just don’t care for it anymore. It would’ve been better had he known Sarah a little better before he just started doing all of this.
The plot was based on this secret, that Sarah is a witch and hunts vampires, and so to keep the plot going the secret is just dragged out continuously, even when it makes no sense to do so. She knows she needs to tell them what she is, and at first she wanted to just so they would stop hanging out with her, but she kept putting it off. She finally decides to do it, and knows she needs to do it privately, so she goes to their home, to find they’re having a vampire bash. She sees Nissa feeding off a human, and they end up telling Sarah their story, and Sarah says she can’t tell them because it would betray their trust in her.
Well what do you think it’s gonna do to them when they find out you’re a witch after all this time has gone by? That’s gonna be even more of a betrayal. I hate when authors use these flimsy reasons why characters can’t do something.
The book did start getting a little better when Christopher started getting hurt and frosty that Sarah rejected him. I actually wanted to pick the book up and read it without it feeling like a chore. The plot started picking up when Sarah found out that Robert was acting to mean because he thought she was a vampire, and it turned out that his sister had been hurt by one.
The author had this strange habit of switching the names back and forth. Christopher's name used to be spelled like Kristopher, and Nikolas used to be spelled like Nicholas, and they changed it for some obscure reason, like after they killed the witch they wanted new identities or something like that, and so changed a couple letters. That in itself wouldn't have been that bad, but the author just switched it up and had the characters address each other with both of those spellings. Initially I thought the author had made a spelling error and forgot how she was spelling the name. Really confusing.
I absolutely hated that Christopher liked someone else. He had “adored” Christine, this girl from his human life, and dressed nice to impress her, and asked her to dance, but was rejected. I wondered what girl had rejected him, because when Sarah broke off their dance at the Halloween dance, he said it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been rejected. I really hate hearing about guys liking someone else.
I was even more pissed off when Sarah noticed that this girl had the marks of Kristopher and a tear drop on her skin, meaning Christopher had marked her as his and they had shared a blood bond.
The book was pretty enjoyable, especially when it came to trying to kill Nikolas, and the conflict that choice gave Sarah. It got even better when Christopher faced the choice whether to feed from her or not. He ended up feeding from her, and forcing her to feed from him, which I didn’t like, but it led to the decision to make her a vampire. I liked all of the conflict that everyone faced. When Christopher said he loved her though, it was definitely premature for that. They hadn’t even spent any time together, and didn’t really even know each other.
The ending was completely messed up. Adianna hoped she wouldn’t ever see Sarah, just because she was a vampire. Previously, she didn’t mind Sarah getting disowned, because it meant that she would be alive. But what was more upsetting was that Sarah never loved Christopher, and never even had one ounce of attraction to him. Wtf?
And at the end they kiss, and she said it was expertly done. And that was it. There were no feelings on her part, no comments about his looks, what the kiss meant to her, nothing, like the option of love for her was just not possible. She said she couldn’t stay with them, because she wanted to learn things on her own. And then there was some crap about SingleEarth helping her. Wth kind of ending is that? Who wants to read a freakin book where the characters don’t even end up together? That’s what I call a waste of time. A bad ending ruins the entire book. Hello.
Who sets up love, and then does nothing with it? That’s dumb, pointless, disappointing, and it’s a big let-down once we’ve read the entire book. Everyone wants love in a book, and we sure as heck want the characters to get together at the end, or else we feel like we’ve wasted our time with a piece of crap. There’s something about this author that she just cannot do a good love story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2017
This book is everything wrong with vampire-related fiction. Many others have gone more in depth than I will about their problems so instead of repeating those points I will point out a nitpick.
Book description says Sarah is won over slowly. Slowly? It takes like two days of him creepily obsessing over her and writing her love notes before she's like "Yeah? you know what? This is definitely worth throwing away everything I know for." Slowly would be I dunno...giving them time to develop an actual friendship before jumping into the "He's obsessed with her" idea. This reads like bad (though I don't know how it's possible to be worse than) Twilight fanfiction. Which is odd considering the publishing timeframe. It's like Stephanie Meyer read this and said, "Yeah, I could do that a little bit better."
There is nothing to tie the reader to any of these characters or their struggles. Do not read. Not worth the couple of hours it would take to read it.
Book description says Sarah is won over slowly. Slowly? It takes like two days of him creepily obsessing over her and writing her love notes before she's like "Yeah? you know what? This is definitely worth throwing away everything I know for." Slowly would be I dunno...giving them time to develop an actual friendship before jumping into the "He's obsessed with her" idea. This reads like bad (though I don't know how it's possible to be worse than) Twilight fanfiction. Which is odd considering the publishing timeframe. It's like Stephanie Meyer read this and said, "Yeah, I could do that a little bit better."
There is nothing to tie the reader to any of these characters or their struggles. Do not read. Not worth the couple of hours it would take to read it.
July 21, 2018
Honestly, I think this one is more like 2.5 stars. As I read through this series, I become more and more aware of the extreme angst all of these characters have. It’s also pretty draining to know that at the end, the main character chooses vampirism.
I did like that we got to learn more about the witches in this book. Each coven seems to have their own rules and unusual way of handling vampires, but I think the Vida coven is clearly the most brutal. I have to say, I didn’t really love it. It was almost cultlike. When your morality is that black and white, it bothers me.
This is safe to read out of order, though there are mentions of characters from other books and scenes with others, such as Caryn.
I did like that we got to learn more about the witches in this book. Each coven seems to have their own rules and unusual way of handling vampires, but I think the Vida coven is clearly the most brutal. I have to say, I didn’t really love it. It was almost cultlike. When your morality is that black and white, it bothers me.
This is safe to read out of order, though there are mentions of characters from other books and scenes with others, such as Caryn.
March 5, 2021
I actually enjoyed this story. The development of the main character (Sarah) through this short book is quite striking and rather relatable.
At the start, Sarah views her world as very clear-cut. There is right, there is wrong. There is black, there is white. Her morals are organized, and the lines between good and evil are drawn neatly.
Throughout the story, she not only learns to see the gray, but begins to question the rules she was taught to adhere to. She wrestles with a reality much more complex than she was led to see.
Struggling against love and hate, determining the importance of friends, family, and foes, Sarah finds herself in a position that goes against all the orders she was taught to obey.
At the start, Sarah views her world as very clear-cut. There is right, there is wrong. There is black, there is white. Her morals are organized, and the lines between good and evil are drawn neatly.
Throughout the story, she not only learns to see the gray, but begins to question the rules she was taught to adhere to. She wrestles with a reality much more complex than she was led to see.
Struggling against love and hate, determining the importance of friends, family, and foes, Sarah finds herself in a position that goes against all the orders she was taught to obey.
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