Series: Impostors #3
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Released: April 6^th, 2021
Received: Own

It’s time. Mirror’s Edge is the third novel in Scott Westerfeld’s Imposters series, and for a little bit there, I naively thought that it was also the conclusion to the series. Not going to lie; that is the reason why I’m so late on actually reading the book. I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye. Not again.

Frey spent her whole life feeling like her face wasn’t her own. She’s the double of her sister, Rafi, and was always treated as the spare. Now, Frey has a life of her own, but those feelings haven’t entirely gone away.

There’s no time to sit and process everything she’s going through, as her city still needs to be saved from the rule of her father. With the help of a bunch of rebels and some hopefuls on the inside, Frey might just be able to pull this off.

“If any of us die tonight, it won’t be from cold or suffocation – it’ll be from hitting the ground too fast. Have I mentioned that we aren’t wearing parachutes?”

I can’t believe I took so long to finally sit down and read Mirror’s Edge. In a way, I’m almost thankful for waiting to read it, as they wait for the next novel in the series might just do me in. Consider yourself warned.

I have always loved Scott Westerfeld’s writing and his Uglies/Impostors world, particularly how well he balances tension with action. The whole world always seems to be at stake, and it is entirely believable. At the same time, our leading characters always find a way to participate in some truly death-defying stunts. (See my chosen quote above for an excellent example).

There’s so much going on within these pages; it is challenging to keep it straight at times. Okay, I’m exaggerating there; Westerfeld always keeps his plots nice and clean, so that doesn’t actually happen. But the whole Frey/Rafi tension and confusion is a lot, even all on its own.

Throw in treason/rebellion, romance, and dozens of other interpersonal plots? Yeah, there’s a lot to work through here. I’ll be honest; I don’t envy Frey one bit. I wouldn’t want to deal with that mess, not for all the books in the world.

Overall, I really enjoyed this latest installment of Impostors. Admittedly I did struggle to get back into the story at first (probably my fault for not rereading the first two beforehand), but once I was in, I was hooked. And that ending! The last sentence of this novel is a masterpiece. Or evidence that Westerfeld likes to torture his readers. I haven’t quite decided which.