Mische is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. That's been one of the more disappointing things about the Shadowborn duet and what's making me struggle so much with getting through Fallen.
It's like all of her good qualities kind of went out the window and got reduced to "chatty sunshine," with sporadic moments of plot-fueled, alleged "brilliance."
Yes, Raihn's a bit dumb, but he has more bite to back it up. More grit. We know where his moments of stupidity come from and why they come.
When Mische talks, half the time I just badly want her to shut up. It's such an unpleasant surprise given how much I enjoyed her in the Nightborn duet, but I think she's better suited to being a side character than a leading lady.
The underworld storyline doesn't suit her at all. The rage towards Malach and the Shadowborn—and the entirety of the Shadowborn themselves—has been completely sidelined for some Clash of the Titans bs and I'll be honest: I hate it. The underworld plotlines just make it feel like every other war of the gods book, drama, or film ever written.
By far one of Mische's more interesting and promising moments was unleashing on Malach, and then we just...never really mentioned it or talked about it again. We were supposed to care about this "bigger" trauma with Atroxus, but it didn't land. The gods, too, are more interesting when they're sidelined. They felt like real threats: powerful and looming.
I'm pretty unimpressed with Mische in general. She's certainly the least sympathetic character from CB (in my opinion). I'm a bit baffled by both hers and Asar's arrogance in this.
I don't hate her. I've just come to the conclusion she can't lead this duology, and that's partly because it no longer feels like it's even her story.
Oraya's story was always 100% Oraya's.
Raihn's story was always 100% Raihn's.
Lilith's and Vale's? That was still entirely their own story despite being technically "in" other characters' duologies.
Mische is just there for things to happen to until she gets a random burst of plot armor and luck.