Fallen from Grace: A Bonus Dark Mirror Story

Told from the POV of Allarde, it tells exactly how he ended up at Lackland Academy and covers the time period up to meeting Tory. If you've read and enjoyed the Dark Mirror trilogy, you'll enjoy the snippets of backplot contained in this story. ( )

This Dark Mirror bonus short story shares the character Allarde's story as told through diary entries. It was interesting to learn more about him and get some insight into his character. This story can be read by anyone - you don't need to read Dark Mirror first. Following the story are the first two chapters of Dark Mirror. ( )

Tells the story of how Allarde comes to be at Lackland Abbey. It was okay, but no where near as good as Dark Mirror. ( )

Goodreads Says: Fallen From Grace A Bonus Dark Mirror Short StoryAllarde, a gorgeous, wealthy noble has hidden his true nature. Discover his diary and witness his sudden fall from grace.I think this was more of a 3.5 for me. This is a short story where we meet Allarde, a young aristocrat who will inherit his father's land and title one day until he finds out he has already inherited magical genes. To be of status and have magic is taboo in the in 1800 England. Any person found out will have to either go through a specialized purging of magical sense or become an outcast. Allarde's story is written as a diary. Even though this story was short I felt the author did a great job in giving us enough information that we didn't have to read the first book and served as a great intro to the series. ( )

This review is also on my blog at: http://abnormallyparanormal.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-fallen-from-grace-by-mj-...

In this short story prequel to the Dark Mirror novel series, we read the diary of Allarde, an English aristocrat with secret magical abilities. At first, he is attending England's finest boarding school, but he reveals his abilities in order to save a fellow student from harm. Because he is an aristocrat with magic, not just a commoner, he is considered evil and has to be ousted from all good society.

His father sends him to a reform school for aristocrats where he learns how to suppress his magic in order to regain some privileges of his former life. But, he meets some other young people there who don't want to pretend to be something they're not, and finds himself considering their philosophy. Also, he meets the protagonist of the novels, Lady Victoria Mansfield, as she arrives at the reform school toward the end of the short story. It ends with hints at his immediate romantic interest in her.

I haven't read any of these novels, yet, but I doubt it's necessary to do so prior to reading this short story. I was a bit disoriented at first, but I found my feet after a while. Allarde is a really likable character, even if we don't get to know him all that well in such a short reading time, but he's an interesting character to follow further. I purchased Dark Mirror (the first novel) prior to reading this, and I'm so glad I did. I want to learn more about this intriguing world of magic users, and why the wealthiest practitioners are ostracized. ( )