** Shadeborn Volume 3 is the next full length novel in the series after The Book Of Shade. You can read this book without reading Volume 2, but you may find yourself missing some background details, especially regarding Salem and Baptiste's story-lines in this novel. ** When humans break a mirror, the idea of seven years of bad luck is little more than superstition. When it happens to a magical being like a shade, however, that quaint old saying takes on a terrifying new reality. As Lily Coltrane looks down at the smashed remains of Lemarick Novel's mirror, she can already feel that her luck's about to run dry, even though her illusionist boyfriend is certain that he can protect her. With a suicidal Salem Cross on red alert and newly-disabled best friend Jazzy to look after, Lily's not so sure that Novel is right. Lily's suspicions will be confirmed in this, her second year of university, as the quiet English town of Piketon is graced by the arrival of new supernatural beings like Jeronomie Parnell, a gifted potioneer who seems to have solutions for Salem and Jazzy's conditions. Suspicion fills the air at the old Theatre Imaginique, as Lily uncovers yet more secrets about the people she thought she knew. The question of who to really trust will bombard Lily's mind, especially after she is introduced to the horror that is the House of Novel, and is forced to question the bloodline that her new true love comes from. It seems like having a soul mate isn't quite the ideal that Lily dreamed it would be, and she can only hope that The Book Of Shade will give her the power to get through the trials that she's about to face. And as for the even greater darkness, slowly rising in the depths of that ruined mirror? Well, that's a whole new story for Lily to unfold.