Kyah is an orphaned young woman who has carved out a niche in life through her work and skills. She is incredibly cunning, and has a natural gravitas that she can weaponize when she chooses to. Kyah's live has provided her with a great deal of trust issues, but also the ability to talk with people to ensure that she is insulated from needing to share with them.

Kyah is fiercely independent like Catniss, showing her ability to take on tasks necessary to survive. Catniss learned to hunt and defied the government by doing so with the sole intention of getting materials needed to take care of her family. Kyah has also learned the skills necessary to survive. While Catniss hunts, Kyah stalks prey differently. Kyah is a master of intel, finding ways to put herself in positions to be near discussion but not be visible enough to be concerned about. She portrays herself in ways that disarms people, and gives them the confidence to speak freely without fear of her hearing. Kyah also does not hesitate to break the law a little, but often does her best to keep her transgressions minimal as not to draw the attention of the law itself.

Kyah is also very guarded, much as Catniss is. Both have learned to harden themselves against the intrusion of others, as their lives have made it clear that it is necessary to keep people are arms length to protect yourself. Catniss' love of her sister provides a place where she is able to be tender and loving, but Kyah has not such outlet. In Demoran she lives alone in an apartment. Her family has all passed (as far as she knows). Her friends are more associates with whom she does work regularly. Kyah's relationships are more pragmatic, and provide her access to the things she needs to get her jobs done. The network of assets she carries provides knowledge, materials, objects, and connections that let Kyah get tasks done for the Shadow.

One book that has a similar protagonist and writing style to "The Mirror Maiden" is "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern. The book features a strong and unique protagonist named Celia Bowen, who possesses magical abilities and is trained from a young age to compete in a game of magic against a rival opponent.

Like Aurora in "The Mirror Maiden," Celia is on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth as she navigates the magical world around her. Morgenstern's writing style is often described as surreal and dreamlike, much like the descriptions of the mirror world in "The Mirror Maiden."

Both books also feature strong themes of love, hope, and the power of the human spirit. Additionally, "The Night Circus" is a gender-inclusive book, meaning that it would appeal to both male and female readers with its universal themes and relatable characters.

Overall, "The Night Circus" is a great recommendation for readers who enjoyed "The Mirror Maiden" and are looking for a similar book with a similarly strong and unique protagonist and a surreal and magical setting.

Brady bears some resemblance to the “Marsh Girl” , Kya Clark, in the bestselling novel, “Where the Crawdads Sing”. Although their circumstances are widely different, they both were abandoned as young children. Brady’s parents, although still alive and he still lived with them, emotionally they abandoned him. Kya lived totally on her own, but both Kya and Brady are both highly intelligent and self sufficient. Both are physically attractive without being aware of that, and both had a craving for knowledge. On the other hand, Kya is very stand-offish with people while Brady is comfortable interacting with others, mostly due to his nomadic life with his parents. Although alike in some ways, Kya and Brady differ in that Brady knows how to navigate the outside world while Kya is suspicious and uncertain.

Interrogation room was antiseptic and clad in stainless steel. The only furniture a vid table and four chairs. The bitter stench of ag fuel and body odor permeated the interrogation room. With a dirty shirt and a dirtier scowl, Max Devlin, security team leader of FlorCorp, sat arms folded. Myrtle could tell Max liked to fold his arms to show off his tanned biceps and sleeves of tattoos. In a 10,000 credit business suit his attorney, Liberty English was pin perfect. “9:49 am. Interview commence. Present Max Devlin, Liberty English, attorney, Det. Benjamin Hatchett, and Chief Myrtle TwoAxes,” Hatchett said. “Detective Hatchett, I must protest this harassment of my client. Our organization has—“ English said. “Shut your face, I’ll tell you when to talk, grayboy,” Max shouted. The attorney’s handsome face shut down. From his body language Myrtle could tell he was accustomed to being slapped. “Mr. Devlin what can you tell us about these suspicious fires across the Valley,” Hatchett said while a series of burnt buildings images appeared on the table,” Hatchett asked. Ignored Hatchett, Max looked down at his grease caked fingernails. Hatchett gave Max the smile that meant he wanted to smash someone in the face. “The word on the streets is that Big Flower is moving in on the indie farmers. What do have to say about that?” Hatchett asked. “Using rumors to besmirch the character of FlorCorp and its employees—“ English said. Max shoved his attorney out of his chair to the ground. Hatchett shot upright. The room’s alarm system blared. Myrtle tapped the reset alarm code on the table. “Benji,” she said softly. Myrtle hadn’t spoken Hatchett’s first name in a long time. They looked at each other for a moment and the detective sat down. “I apologize. I’m a bit clumsy. No harm done.” The attorney brushed nonexistent dust from his suit and righted his chair. He sat down not meeting his client’s eyes. “Woohoo,” Max hooted. “I heard about you chief. I like this silent tough guy shit you’re pulling right now. Very Phillip Marlow. Very sexy. Is that why you invited down here on my day off because you want a real man?” Max’s eyes looked from the Chief of Enceladus Security and her detective and back again. “You’re welcome to my ranch and I can put you through the paces.” Max looked Myrtle up and down. “You are a very small looking to be big. You started as a bully on the schoolyard. You graduated to paramilitary not out of honor but to be control other soldiers. And now your all big guns, big trucks, and vanity muscles on a great big ranch that you couldn’t possibly afford on your salary.” Hatchett tapped the table and photo of Max appeared on his new Cessna hovertract in front of his McMansion. “Mr. Devlin we invited you here so your FlorCorp attorney could wonder what’s your side hustle and whether you are worth protecting.” Hatchett tapped again the table filled with images from social media of Max and his brother and his entire team on sports cars, on vacations, on big ranches of their own. “Farewell My Lovely. 9:58 am. Interview over,” Hatchett said with a grin.

Just like Luvinus in my story, Louis from Interview with the Vampire, also struggles with his vampirism. He doesn’t want to hurt humans, yet cannot help being a predator and thirst for blood. They both feel human inside, their heads spin with a million questions, yet their makers don’t tell them much, they rather mock them for being different. As I was building Luvinus, I thought about Louis and his fights with Lestat (who ended up also having a story to tell). They also loved someone dearly and have a story to tell.

Differences… well, Luvinus is a werewolf, Louis a vampire. A werewolf killing is messy and gory, vampires are seductive and neat. Louis can’t save Claudia from death, Luvinus does save Lucia - from his alpha and himself - but he lets her go with another man. Louis can still be with humans even if just at night, Luvinus can’t. While this might ease Louis’ pain, it adds to Luvinus’.

I read Interview with the Vampire a long time ago and if I recall well, Louis agreed to be transformed (please correct me if I’m wrong), Luvinus never wanted to. But in the end he will learn to embrace both his human and werewolf sides.