Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse
Posted Tue May 13 2025
The interwoven destinies of the people of Meridian will finally be determined in this stunning conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky trilogy. Even the sea cannot stay calm before the storm. —Teek saying Serapio, avatar of the Crow God Reborn and the newly crowned Carrion King, rules Tova. But his enemies gather both on distant shores and within his own city as the matrons of the clans scheme to destroy him. And deep in the alleys of the Maw, a new prophecy is whispered, this one from the Coyote God. It promises Serapio certain doom if its terrible dictates are not fulfilled. Meanwhile, Xiala is thrust back amongst her people as war comes first to the island of Teek. With their way of life and their magic under threat, she is their last best hope. But the sea won’t talk to her the way it used to, and doubts riddle her mind. She will have to sacrifice the things that matter most to unleash her powers and become the queen they were promised. And in the far northern wastelands, Naranpa, avatar of the Sun God, seeks a way to save Tova from the visions of fire that engulf her dreams. But another presence has begun stalking her nightmares, and the Jaguar God is on the hunt.
I'm disappointed with how Mirrored Heavens concluded the Between Earth and Sky trilogy. Coming into the finale, there were many open plotlines, including the invasion of Tova, Balam's dreamwalking, Naranpa's training, and more. However, in Mirrored Heavens these plotlines didn't unfold well, and the characters felt artificial.
Naranpa was irrelevant in this book. Throughout the entire novel, she lives in an isolated village undergoing a training arc to learn dreamwalking, yet she never uses these powers to make a meaningful impact on the story. She barely interacts with other characters and makes no impact on the plot except during the climax when she burns Tova, which came out of nowhere and she could've done without any training. This was such a waste of a character with so much potential.
Another character I was disappointed with was Serapio. He was still intriguing to follow and plot-relevant, but I didn't appreciate how the book tried to make us feel sympathy for him after he lost his humanity. At the beginning of Mirrored Heavens, he massacres a clan, killing countless innocent civilians and burning a district. However, other characters like Okoa and Xiala seem to ignore this action and still see him as a friend and lover, respectively. Serapio never apologizes or atones for his acts, but his peers still give him undeserved forgiveness.
Like Black Sun, I thought the love between Xiala and Serapio felt contrived. They're still madly in love despite barely knowing and not seeing each other since the first book. It doesn't make sense for Xiala to love Serapio when she knows that Serapio slaughtered so many people and manipulated his friend into getting imprisoned. It also infuriated me that reuniting with Xiala instantly made Serapio regret his evil deeds. He never truly regretted killing the scions or getting Okoa tortured, but after Xiala arrived, he suddenly became a good person. His character development felt unrealistic in how he became a monster and rushed to make him a better person.
In the face of all the negatives, I still enjoyed aspects of the book. Xiala's POV of becoming a leader of the Teek and Balam manipulating those around him were fun to follow. The world-building was intriguing, with the novel revealing knowledge about Balam's past, the history of dreamwalking, god-touched humans, and Teek civilization.
I still enjoyed reading Mirrored Heavens because of the world-building and action, but the story and characters fell flat. I was awaiting an epic climax where all the characters' stories intertwine, but I was severely disappointed. Unfortunately, I don't recommend reading the Between Earth and Sky trilogy because of the weaker last two books.