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Mirrored in Evergreen
Rosemary has been cursed—and, despite being heir to a family of powerful wizards, his ambivalence towards magic renders him incapable of breaking the complex spell on his own.
One effect of his curse is particularly devastating; everyone he knows has forgotten him, including his partner, Rowan. Because Rosemary was Rowan’s introduction to the world of magic, they have also forgotten a core part of who they are—a wizard of prodigious skill.
The two of them must make a deal with a stranger named Siobhan, who shares their desire to hunt down the wizard who cast the curse. But her tactics are reckless, her motives questionable… and Rosemary has to find a way to get Rowan on his side before either Siobhan endangers them both, or the curse spirals out of his control.
“Five stars! Clearly written and carefully plotted, with some excellent gay characters.” - F. Marsh, author of Both Sides of the Moon
One effect of his curse is particularly devastating; everyone he knows has forgotten him, including his partner, Rowan. Because Rosemary was Rowan’s introduction to the world of magic, they have also forgotten a core part of who they are—a wizard of prodigious skill.
The two of them must make a deal with a stranger named Siobhan, who shares their desire to hunt down the wizard who cast the curse. But her tactics are reckless, her motives questionable… and Rosemary has to find a way to get Rowan on his side before either Siobhan endangers them both, or the curse spirals out of his control.
“Five stars! Clearly written and carefully plotted, with some excellent gay characters.” - F. Marsh, author of Both Sides of the Moon
207 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2021
5 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
About the author
B. Pigeon
8 books25 followersLGBTQ fantasy writer ~ 1/2 of Estraven Homosexual Literature Society
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 23, 2021
Great character driven gay fantasy, a fun read!
Author has a clear, almost tongue-in-cheek writing style - I was surprised at the number of times this book made me chuckle.
I love all the characters, but Rowan especially is my favorite..... And though I absolutely despise the antagonist, it's an I-love-to-hate-you sort of thing.
Highly recommend picking this one up ❤️
Author has a clear, almost tongue-in-cheek writing style - I was surprised at the number of times this book made me chuckle.
I love all the characters, but Rowan especially is my favorite..... And though I absolutely despise the antagonist, it's an I-love-to-hate-you sort of thing.
Highly recommend picking this one up ❤️
December 3, 2021
Mirrored in Evergreen is a LGBTQ+ indie novel by B. Pigeon about Rosemary, who becomes an apprentice to a mysterious wizard. The story starts the second to last week of his apprenticeship, where, after several foreshadowing dreams about the wizard, Rosemary becomes cursed in a way where everyone he ever knew, including his partner, Rowan, is also cursed to forget him. The book follows Rosemary’s strange relationships with the partner he used to know, as well as a new cast of characters who may or may not be helping Rosemary figure out his curse.
Let’s get into the review. I’m going to be real: the beginning of the book is a little slow. The first chapter helps us familiarize ourselves with what Rosemary has been doing in his apprenticeship, which is, frankly, nothing but gardening and studying in the library. Even though he’s at the wizard’s house to learn magic, the wizard has forbidden him from performing magic. So the first two chapters are of Rosemary being bored, and also fretting about his partner Rowan and why they haven’t answered any of his letters. Because I didn’t understand Rosemary or any of his motives from the beginning of the book, it was a little hard to relate to them as a character. But as the book moves on and things start happening to Rosemary, his reactions really draw you into the story and you start to want the same answers he does as he explores his relationship with the wizard and his curse.
This book has a lot of LGBT+ representation, but I love that it is not the main part of the story. The main plot of the book is the curse and the way magic works in this, as I understand it, urban fantasy world, but Pigeon also writes convincing personal relationships between all of the characters, both good and bad. Rosemary and Rowan’s romance and the gravity of their relationship become more apparent as Rosemary pines to reveal to Rowan that he knows everything about them. Additionally, the myriad of relationships we experience through Siobahn, the mediocre healer, is, frankly, a whirlwind. The girl is messy.
I also want to draw attention that this is the first book I’ve read with nonbinary representation, and I just love the continued unfolding about Rowan’s appearance and mannerisms as we get to know him for the first time. I really loved the descriptions and interactions of all the characters, and hopefully in the future I will be drawing how I interpreted them as I read.
Along with writing excellent relationships and LGBTQ+ representation, I really love how Pigeon writes the individual characters themselves. They’re complex in a way where their emotions are human and their motives are constantly unclear and I loved it. Again, I want to point out Siobahn, who never did what I expected or wanted her to. My initial impression is that possibly, she would be a mother figure to Rosemary, or, eventually she would soften and start to care for both Rowan and Rosemary, and they would become friends. This did not happen, and to be honest? I’m really glad that didn’t happen. It made for a more interesting relationship and constantly kept me guessing about what Siobahn wanted and how she was helping or hindering Rosemary.
Speaking of things going a way that you don’t expect them to, a lot of questions Rosemary has about the wizard go unanswered. This may be unsatisfying for some readers who like when every loose end gets wrapped up, and sometimes I’m on that boat. But actually I really liked that some questions went unanswered in this story, because now I have room to create theories about what’s going on, and boy do I have several.
First of all - everyone tells Rosemary, and Rosemary tells himself all throughout the book that he’s a shit wizard. However, I think they’re all gaslighting him, to the point where it’s ingrained in him to gaslight themselves about their own magic capabilities. In the couple of instances where he does do magic, it seems like he scares everyone, and I just get the feeling that he and Rowan both have an immense amount of power that nobody expected. I think the wizard prevents him from doing magic for that reason, aside from the possible theory Rowan comes up with. I also think that Rosemary’s power is why Rowan doesn't think he’s a shit wizard, and that it's bullshit. Even when they’ve forgotten Rosemary, they can sense a lot about him, and I really think that Rosemary and Rowan could become super powerful magicians together.
Second, after reading the entire book and weaving in and out of Rosemary’s dreams, memories, and real-life fears, I’m going to make a leap at this point and say that Celestin, the wizard, and Rosemary’s nightmares about being trapped by him are a parallel and direct metaphor of his issues with his father and what his father thinks is best for him. It becomes apparent that Rosemary’s father has been an antagonist in Rosemary’s life for a while, and that Rosemary wishes very much to be in control of his own life, whether that means practicing magic or not. What’s stopping him is the fear of returning to his father with his apprenticeship unfinished, actually proving that he’s incompetent at magic, and therefore not receiving the aid he needs in order to be his own person. And, y’know, it doesn’t help that his dad is friends with an asshole who just randomly traumatizes and curses his students. Actually, an interesting fact is that Rowan had a theory that Celestin abuses students into reaching their full, magical potential, but actually it may be the opposite, and that anything he deems unworthy of magic he traumatizes into never practicing again.
Though not large enough to be their own theories, Celestin’s past students and the potential with Siobahn’s relationships and her intentions throughout the entire book have so many different ways they could have gone or could continue to go. I’m just constantly thinking about what could have happened between Siobahn and Alexis, Caspian, and Mariela, or what more we could’ve found out about why Siobahn wants revenge on Celestin, or more details about what happened to his former students and their curses. Overall, Siobahn was such a wildcard that I think about what if she had done things differently, as there’s just a myriad of decisions she could’ve made and so many outcomes she could have landed on.
Overall, this book had the perfect amount of imagery, interesting and realistic character interactions, and emotion for me. I did really enjoy my read and all the different theories about Rosemary’s curse made me want to figure it out with them. And I really felt satisfied with the rekindling of the romance and the heady climax of this book. Everything just came together really well, and I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of Pigeon’s books. My one question at the end of the book is - does Rosemary get the money he’s owed from his father somehow in the end? Not by confrontation but maybe just like, accessing the will through the law? I would have loved an epilogue about Rosemary and Rowan having run away, dealing with the aftermath of their experience together, while still traumatized and puzzling over the curse and Celestin’s house. I think they would be continuously watching for signs of Celestin or even Siobahn coming back to curse them, and it would be interesting to see if Rosemary would choose to do magic, and continue to get stronger with Rowan, studying with each other and teaching each other, or if Rosemary would decide to abandon magic altogether.
If you liked this review, please check B. Pigeon out! I was able to buy a paperback of this book from Amazon, but it is also available on Kindle.
Let’s get into the review. I’m going to be real: the beginning of the book is a little slow. The first chapter helps us familiarize ourselves with what Rosemary has been doing in his apprenticeship, which is, frankly, nothing but gardening and studying in the library. Even though he’s at the wizard’s house to learn magic, the wizard has forbidden him from performing magic. So the first two chapters are of Rosemary being bored, and also fretting about his partner Rowan and why they haven’t answered any of his letters. Because I didn’t understand Rosemary or any of his motives from the beginning of the book, it was a little hard to relate to them as a character. But as the book moves on and things start happening to Rosemary, his reactions really draw you into the story and you start to want the same answers he does as he explores his relationship with the wizard and his curse.
This book has a lot of LGBT+ representation, but I love that it is not the main part of the story. The main plot of the book is the curse and the way magic works in this, as I understand it, urban fantasy world, but Pigeon also writes convincing personal relationships between all of the characters, both good and bad. Rosemary and Rowan’s romance and the gravity of their relationship become more apparent as Rosemary pines to reveal to Rowan that he knows everything about them. Additionally, the myriad of relationships we experience through Siobahn, the mediocre healer, is, frankly, a whirlwind. The girl is messy.
I also want to draw attention that this is the first book I’ve read with nonbinary representation, and I just love the continued unfolding about Rowan’s appearance and mannerisms as we get to know him for the first time. I really loved the descriptions and interactions of all the characters, and hopefully in the future I will be drawing how I interpreted them as I read.
Along with writing excellent relationships and LGBTQ+ representation, I really love how Pigeon writes the individual characters themselves. They’re complex in a way where their emotions are human and their motives are constantly unclear and I loved it. Again, I want to point out Siobahn, who never did what I expected or wanted her to. My initial impression is that possibly, she would be a mother figure to Rosemary, or, eventually she would soften and start to care for both Rowan and Rosemary, and they would become friends. This did not happen, and to be honest? I’m really glad that didn’t happen. It made for a more interesting relationship and constantly kept me guessing about what Siobahn wanted and how she was helping or hindering Rosemary.
Speaking of things going a way that you don’t expect them to, a lot of questions Rosemary has about the wizard go unanswered. This may be unsatisfying for some readers who like when every loose end gets wrapped up, and sometimes I’m on that boat. But actually I really liked that some questions went unanswered in this story, because now I have room to create theories about what’s going on, and boy do I have several.
First of all - everyone tells Rosemary, and Rosemary tells himself all throughout the book that he’s a shit wizard. However, I think they’re all gaslighting him, to the point where it’s ingrained in him to gaslight themselves about their own magic capabilities. In the couple of instances where he does do magic, it seems like he scares everyone, and I just get the feeling that he and Rowan both have an immense amount of power that nobody expected. I think the wizard prevents him from doing magic for that reason, aside from the possible theory Rowan comes up with. I also think that Rosemary’s power is why Rowan doesn't think he’s a shit wizard, and that it's bullshit. Even when they’ve forgotten Rosemary, they can sense a lot about him, and I really think that Rosemary and Rowan could become super powerful magicians together.
Second, after reading the entire book and weaving in and out of Rosemary’s dreams, memories, and real-life fears, I’m going to make a leap at this point and say that Celestin, the wizard, and Rosemary’s nightmares about being trapped by him are a parallel and direct metaphor of his issues with his father and what his father thinks is best for him. It becomes apparent that Rosemary’s father has been an antagonist in Rosemary’s life for a while, and that Rosemary wishes very much to be in control of his own life, whether that means practicing magic or not. What’s stopping him is the fear of returning to his father with his apprenticeship unfinished, actually proving that he’s incompetent at magic, and therefore not receiving the aid he needs in order to be his own person. And, y’know, it doesn’t help that his dad is friends with an asshole who just randomly traumatizes and curses his students. Actually, an interesting fact is that Rowan had a theory that Celestin abuses students into reaching their full, magical potential, but actually it may be the opposite, and that anything he deems unworthy of magic he traumatizes into never practicing again.
Though not large enough to be their own theories, Celestin’s past students and the potential with Siobahn’s relationships and her intentions throughout the entire book have so many different ways they could have gone or could continue to go. I’m just constantly thinking about what could have happened between Siobahn and Alexis, Caspian, and Mariela, or what more we could’ve found out about why Siobahn wants revenge on Celestin, or more details about what happened to his former students and their curses. Overall, Siobahn was such a wildcard that I think about what if she had done things differently, as there’s just a myriad of decisions she could’ve made and so many outcomes she could have landed on.
Overall, this book had the perfect amount of imagery, interesting and realistic character interactions, and emotion for me. I did really enjoy my read and all the different theories about Rosemary’s curse made me want to figure it out with them. And I really felt satisfied with the rekindling of the romance and the heady climax of this book. Everything just came together really well, and I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of Pigeon’s books. My one question at the end of the book is - does Rosemary get the money he’s owed from his father somehow in the end? Not by confrontation but maybe just like, accessing the will through the law? I would have loved an epilogue about Rosemary and Rowan having run away, dealing with the aftermath of their experience together, while still traumatized and puzzling over the curse and Celestin’s house. I think they would be continuously watching for signs of Celestin or even Siobahn coming back to curse them, and it would be interesting to see if Rosemary would choose to do magic, and continue to get stronger with Rowan, studying with each other and teaching each other, or if Rosemary would decide to abandon magic altogether.
If you liked this review, please check B. Pigeon out! I was able to buy a paperback of this book from Amazon, but it is also available on Kindle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2022
3 *
This book started off so strong!! I picked it up because the blurb sounded perfect for me (I'm a sucker for curses that make people forget their loved ones).
But unfortunately, I found myself really struggling with it by the mid point. The middle was pretty slow and a bit dull (even the characters were complaining about being bored). I don't mind a slow book, if there's something else to make up for it, but in this case it just felt like I was going back and forth between the same two buildings in the desert. It's a shame because I really loved the opening setting, but most of the book was set in one house in the desert.
I was hopeful for the last third of the book, as things picked up, and it felt like there was going to be a satisfying pay-off to the mystery, but to be honest there wasn't. And I felt like if less time was devoted to describing Rowan's smoking habits, and more time devoted to Celestin's general existence, then the ending could have been a whole lot more rewarding. It really made me feel like I was missing some important lore around his character.
I did enjoy the characters though (some solid NB rep!) and I really don't want to give it a bad review because my criticisms are more to do with what wasn't there than what was.
This book started off so strong!! I picked it up because the blurb sounded perfect for me (I'm a sucker for curses that make people forget their loved ones).
But unfortunately, I found myself really struggling with it by the mid point. The middle was pretty slow and a bit dull (even the characters were complaining about being bored). I don't mind a slow book, if there's something else to make up for it, but in this case it just felt like I was going back and forth between the same two buildings in the desert. It's a shame because I really loved the opening setting, but most of the book was set in one house in the desert.
I was hopeful for the last third of the book, as things picked up, and it felt like there was going to be a satisfying pay-off to the mystery, but to be honest there wasn't. And I felt like if less time was devoted to describing Rowan's smoking habits, and more time devoted to Celestin's general existence, then the ending could have been a whole lot more rewarding. It really made me feel like I was missing some important lore around his character.
I did enjoy the characters though (some solid NB rep!) and I really don't want to give it a bad review because my criticisms are more to do with what wasn't there than what was.
June 11, 2021
There are a number of words that come to mind about this book: thoughtful, artistic, contemplative. But I think most of all, atmospheric. This is a story about a young man who is cursed to be forgotten, and he has to work alongside his romantic partner who no longer has any idea who he is—as well as a grouchy witch of questionable skill—in order to figure out how to break the curse.
There's a distinctly poetic feel to this story, with a number of reoccurring motifs and a surreal quality to the dream sequences. It's very character focused, and while it isn't the fast-paced action-packed style of fantasy, the author's colorful yet focused prose brings the world and characters to life, and there were plenty of moments throughout the plot that made me go "whoa".
If you're looking for a fix of magical realism with plenty of interpersonal drama then you should definitely check this one out!
There's a distinctly poetic feel to this story, with a number of reoccurring motifs and a surreal quality to the dream sequences. It's very character focused, and while it isn't the fast-paced action-packed style of fantasy, the author's colorful yet focused prose brings the world and characters to life, and there were plenty of moments throughout the plot that made me go "whoa".
If you're looking for a fix of magical realism with plenty of interpersonal drama then you should definitely check this one out!
April 13, 2023
Storygraph lied to me. I found this so boring. I disliked the characters, I kind of hated Rowan and thought Rosemary was quite dumb. I found the story progression lacked some logic and common sense. And I was very disturbed by the fact that almost all paragraphs are either one or two sentences long. The only thing that I can give this book is that I did want to know how it ended, however, that was mostly because I was so confused that I couldn't think of any alternative that made sense.
August 10, 2022
This was a cute and quick read! I immediately fell in love with the cover. It was nice that I could never really anticipate whatever was coming next, I hate it when I guess the plot before it actually happens. I would absolutely recommend to a friend!
August 17, 2023
This was fine. For a short book, it felt long. There was a lot of ambiguity throughout and not all questions were answered.
February 15, 2021
A book about trans characters that doesn't center around them being trans? AND those characters are not white? AND they're adults? AND there's magic curses, enchanted plants, and gay pining? We need more books like Mirrored in Evergreen. I def recommend checking it out.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews