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valpuri's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Child abuse, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Child death, Police brutality, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, and Medical content
Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, Slavery, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Addiction, and Drug abuse
astraeal's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sixth reread: no you don't understand. i'm love this book.
[second read, march 17th: upgrade to 5★ bc i am absolutely 100% completely obsessed with this book, constantly thinking about it and rereading it barely a month after first finishing it. my negative points still stand tho.]
Listen. I was quite conflicted when I started this book because my mind just didn’t want to read it. Sure, when I was actually reading it I was quite invested, but as soon as the book was closed I was “uuuuh nope don’t want to pick it up”. That’s one of the reason I took more than a month to read only the first 20% of the story.
The other reasons are, well, it is a long book, almost 700 pages. And while the magic system, the fantasy world and all is quite interesting, I was just confused for most parts of it. Even now that I have read the entire book I am still unsure about things, so imagine when I was just only at the beginning. Thankfully we have a glossary at the end that helped me A LOT but not always. I couldn’t understand the world the story was happening and that’s why it took me so long to really get into the story.
And there are so many characters!! We also have a dramatis personae at the end but sometimes I just couldn’t be bothered to check who was who. So!! Many!! People!!! And some have different names/titles so sometimes I didn’t even notice that person was the same as that one. Phew. With times I could remember about all the main characters and some secondary ones, but there are so many more than can be really minor. So, that was a little bit of brain work.
I’m done with the negative points of this book, now let’s talk about the POSITIVE ones. Ok so first, it took me more than a month to read the first 20%, but then I read more than the last 50% in just one afternoon. I was that invested in the story. It took me some times to really get into it but it’s really around the halfway point that the story took a turn I was expecting and then I just couldn’t stop reading.
[second read, march 17th: upgrade to 5★ bc i am absolutely 100% completely obsessed with this book, constantly thinking about it and rereading it barely a month after first finishing it. my negative points still stand tho.]
Listen. I was quite conflicted when I started this book because my mind just didn’t want to read it. Sure, when I was actually reading it I was quite invested, but as soon as the book was closed I was “uuuuh nope don’t want to pick it up”. That’s one of the reason I took more than a month to read only the first 20% of the story.
The other reasons are, well, it is a long book, almost 700 pages. And while the magic system, the fantasy world and all is quite interesting, I was just confused for most parts of it. Even now that I have read the entire book I am still unsure about things, so imagine when I was just only at the beginning. Thankfully we have a glossary at the end that helped me A LOT but not always. I couldn’t understand the world the story was happening and that’s why it took me so long to really get into the story.
And there are so many characters!! We also have a dramatis personae at the end but sometimes I just couldn’t be bothered to check who was who. So!! Many!! People!!! And some have different names/titles so sometimes I didn’t even notice that person was the same as that one. Phew. With times I could remember about all the main characters and some secondary ones, but there are so many more than can be really minor. So, that was a little bit of brain work.
I’m done with the negative points of this book, now let’s talk about the POSITIVE ones. Ok so first, it took me more than a month to read the first 20%, but then I read more than the last 50% in just one afternoon. I was that invested in the story. It took me some times to really get into it but it’s really around the halfway point that the story took a turn I was expecting and then I just couldn’t stop reading.
A con was a confidence game: not just the mark’s confidence in the sharper, but the sharper’s confidence in herself.
The book is divided in four parts, and I think the first one is the harder to read, since we’re thrown into a world we don’t know anything about and not a lot of explanation, and the story is a little slow. But in the second part, that’s where everything becomes way more interesting and just!!! so full of mysteries.
And then the third and fourth parts… I already said I read it all in one sitting because I just couldn’t stop. I was captivated by the story and some of its characters and all the secrets. I’m still thinking about it. I cannot stop thinking about it, truly.
Then you get to one final twist at the end and I dropped my book on the floor and had to take a walk. That’s how much it got me, and all the implications!! I just. Cannot wait for book two to see how everything will go and I just have so many ideas I may be writing fanfictions in my head you know.
“We don’t kill,” the Rook whispered to the oblivious city. “But we can destroy.”
Ok now I think I should give you more concrete reasons to read this book. So, read the Mask of Mirrors for:
➞ a con girl with an even sharper mind tricking her way into a noble family
➞ (she also has a knife strapped to her thigh and that’s just sexy excuse me)
➞ normalized queer world!! homophobia doesn’t exist!!
➞ different cultures/religions that see (and use) the world and its magic differently
➞ deception everywhere. seriously, don’t trust people
➞ secret identities!!
➞ morally grey characters everywhere
➞ important blood (and not blood) family ties!!
I hope this made you want to read it because I desperately need people to talk about it with!!!
I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
you can also find this review on my blog!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence, Death, Police brutality, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, and Grief
manicpixl's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, and Child death
maryellen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
tachyondecay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
You all know how much I love me a good confidence story, as much as I love a good heist story. Throughout the years, fantasy has handed us many such wonderful stories and lovable rogues—some of which I have read, some of which I haven’t. The Mask of Mirrors will doubtless be compared to the most popular and celebrated of these, with merit and good reason. I’ll eschew such comparisons as de rigeur then, and get right into why this book is my first 5-star read of 2021. Under the pen name M.A. Carrick, authors Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms have created a stunning work of storytelling, characterization, and world-building.
After losing her mother at an early age, Ren grows up as a member of a gang of street thieves overseen by a ruthless crime boss. The novel opens with a whirlwind flashback to this life, in which Ren poisons the crime boss to allow her and her chosen sister, Tess, to flee the city of Nadežra for a better life. Fast forward to the present day: Ren has returned to her home city as Renata, playing the role of the daughter of an estranged branch of House Traementis. She plans to get into the good graces of Donaia, the head of the house, and in this way, scam and take the nobility of Nadežra for all she and Tess (who takes on the role of her long-suffering but seamstressly-gifted maid) possibly can. However, Ren/Renata is not the only one with plans upon plans for this city. Soon, magic and mischief collide to result in twists, turns, and tragedies that I didn’t see coming.
The Mask of Mirrors is what I can only describe as a sumptuous book. If it were a room, it would be decorated lavishly, extravagantly, yet it would contain cozy nooks and comfortable furniture. As every chapter unfolds, Carrick adds new layers—to the mysteries at the heart of the plot, and to the city of Nadežra. Like any good fantasy novel, Nadežra takes on a kind of character of its own—although, lest I get too far drawn into fantasy review tropes, let me emphasize that this is mostly about the cultures that clash within this metropolis.
Though some of the language reminds me of Venice, Nadežra itself feels like Istanbul/Constantinople. Ren belongs to an ethnic group known as the Vrazenians, who view Nadežra as a holy city, even though it was conquered centuries ago. Now the Vrazenians are a minority, oppressed by the ruling Liganti, mostly shunned to live in the most impoverished areas of the city. Ren’s heritage is at the forefront of the story: she conceals it as Renata; brings it to the fore when playing Arenza, a card-reading fortune-teller; and her connections to her people and her birthright influence how magic interacts with her. From the beginning, it’s clear that Ren might indeed be able to get into the good graces of House Traementis, but she can never be one of them. This is an anti-assimilationist narrative, one that Carrick leaves tantalizingly unresolved at the end of the book, and I am so intrigued to see what happens next. Similarly, I appreciate that while Carrick has been influenced by various real-world cultures in creating the Vrazenians, Liganti, and others, they are also careful not to create cookiecutter fantasy countercultures as seen in the works of, say, Jacqueline Carey. In so avoiding that, Carrick can explore ideas of ethnic strife and oppression without inadvertently making inappropriate comparisons to what has happened in actual history. The result is a complex tapestry of society that feels a bit like ours yet has a rich and complex history all its own.
Ren herself is such a great protagonist. She’s clever, but she isn’t a Mary Sue. Carrick deals her plenty of setbacks—some that I thought would surely sink her con—and much of the fun of this story is watching Ren and Tess adapt to the cards they get dealt. There are several intense climaxes to the early and middle acts of the book that result in sharp turns for the plot. (As I transition, I now better appreciate the pleasures of more than one climax!) Ren must pivot her con, somehow preserving its central purpose while also adapting to the new threat posed by House Indestor’s machinations. Along the way, she makes mistakes that ultimately contribute to people losing their lives, and this is something she is going to have to live with.
Some other great tropes here—“unlikely/reluctant allies” abound, from Ren’s interactions with the Rook to Renata’s flirtatious partnership with Derossi Vargo. (As an aside, figuring out the Rook’s secret identity is pretty much the only thing in this book I saw coming—although I like that Carrick implies there is some supernatural force powering the Rook’s crusade.) As the book winds down towards its resolution, Carrick sets up the board for the next chess game. I love the ambiguity of certain relationships and the calculated coldness of others. (I am being deliberately vague here to avoid spoilers.) Let’s just say that while flirtation and romance exist in The Mask of Mirrors, it was not particularly important to the story. Also, lots of normative queerness going on, which I appreciate!
As far as magic and worldbuilding goes, Carrick’s approach is refreshing. (I like this word better than “original,” because I agree that originality is a fraught concept in fantasy literature—but “refreshing” indicates that the approach, if not novel, is a welcome departure from the ideas and tropes currently in vogue.) Light on exposition, we’re left to fill in a lot of the blanks or understand that anything mentioned merely hints at a richer history and collection of cultures and nations, which I love. They don’t even really care to explain much of the rules of numinatria either—we get some really basic concepts, but so much is left to be guessed or inferred. In particular, the nature of Vargo’s relationship with Alsius is so intriguing yet never quite made explicit, and I adore this ambiguity.
The Mask of Mirrors is a book that lives up to its title. The story itself feels like many layers of masks reflected in the mirrors that are the characters Carrick creates. Everyone in this book has an agenda, is out for themselves, has a goal, and the conflicts are so compelling right from page one. If you like refreshing fantasy, if you like confidence games, if you like stories of tough-as-nails women rising above inequities created by class and ethnicity, then do yourself a favour and pick up this book. Reading this over a weekend made me feel so energized, and the fact that the book is thicc reminded me of my youth spent reading doorstopper fantasy.
Finally, Carrick manage the difficult feat of wrapping up the loose ends of this book’s plot while setting up for the sequel in a way that leaves me both satisfied and wanting more.
Finally, Carrick manage the difficult feat of wrapping up the loose ends of this book’s plot while setting up for the sequel in a way that leaves me both satisfied and wanting more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death of parent
azrah786's review against another edition
4.0
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I was gifted a copy by Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, death, death of a parent, grief, poverty, child abuse, kidnapping, substance abuse, xenophobia
Don’t you just love when a book that was not even on your radar absolutely blows you away!
The Mask of Mirrors welcomes us to Nadezra, the City of Dreams – a place laced with magic and full of manipulative nobles, crime lords and vigilantes – through the perspective of Ren, a con artist and her sister. They have returned to the city of their childhood to trick the elite members of society and secure a fortune for themselves. However, it’s not long before they get caught in the web of the family feuds, political power play, dangerous magic and machinations of the city.
First things first this book is slow paced and when I say slow I mean s l o w… but personally I loved it. The world-building and magic within this story are impressively extensive and rich. From the awe-inspiring outfit descriptions and entangled character relationships, to the excursions to the various nooks and crannies within the city, the pacing delicately immerses you into the setting and story.
We’re introduced to a vast number of characters, two intriguing magic system and their accompanying terminology, which to begin with are a tad overwhelming, but they painstakingly shape the discordant communities that form Nadezra. An annexed land rooted in xenophobia, we get a glimpse of how history and culture have pieced it together.
The amount of detail and thought behind everything in this story is truly remarkable. One thing, as someone not familiar with anything tarot or spirit related, that I did have some difficulty with though was fully understanding the magic system. However, as the seeds of plot and political intrigue started to trickle in I found myself not too bothered about that and I became totally engrossed with everything to do with this world.
Just as intricate as the world are the protagonists. Along with Ren there are two other leading narrators – Grey Serrado, a captain of the city’s police force following a lead of missing children and then Derossi Vargo, a notorious crime lord and businessman determined to climb into the ranks of the nobility. Other than it seeming a little too farfetched that Rin was able to uphold her array of identities under her circumstances for as long as she did, I thoroughly enjoyed all three storylines. Along with a handful of other subplots, they are continually entwining and it gets more and more interesting with each page!
Now I don’t know what more to say without giving stuff away but honestly if you are able to be patient with it, this book reaps the rewards. I’m just mad now that book 2 is nowhere in sight because I was nowhere near ready to leave these characters and be thrown out of this world after being so absorbed into it, particularly after THAT ending… I have a mighty need!!!
All in all I really enjoyed this book and I guarantee if you love intricate fantasy stories and misfits getting tangled into more than what they bargained for, then you will too!!
Final Rating - 4/5 Stars
**I was gifted a copy by Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, death, death of a parent, grief, poverty, child abuse, kidnapping, substance abuse, xenophobia
Don’t you just love when a book that was not even on your radar absolutely blows you away!
The Mask of Mirrors welcomes us to Nadezra, the City of Dreams – a place laced with magic and full of manipulative nobles, crime lords and vigilantes – through the perspective of Ren, a con artist and her sister. They have returned to the city of their childhood to trick the elite members of society and secure a fortune for themselves. However, it’s not long before they get caught in the web of the family feuds, political power play, dangerous magic and machinations of the city.
First things first this book is slow paced and when I say slow I mean s l o w… but personally I loved it. The world-building and magic within this story are impressively extensive and rich. From the awe-inspiring outfit descriptions and entangled character relationships, to the excursions to the various nooks and crannies within the city, the pacing delicately immerses you into the setting and story.
We’re introduced to a vast number of characters, two intriguing magic system and their accompanying terminology, which to begin with are a tad overwhelming, but they painstakingly shape the discordant communities that form Nadezra. An annexed land rooted in xenophobia, we get a glimpse of how history and culture have pieced it together.
The amount of detail and thought behind everything in this story is truly remarkable. One thing, as someone not familiar with anything tarot or spirit related, that I did have some difficulty with though was fully understanding the magic system. However, as the seeds of plot and political intrigue started to trickle in I found myself not too bothered about that and I became totally engrossed with everything to do with this world.
Just as intricate as the world are the protagonists. Along with Ren there are two other leading narrators – Grey Serrado, a captain of the city’s police force following a lead of missing children and then Derossi Vargo, a notorious crime lord and businessman determined to climb into the ranks of the nobility. Other than it seeming a little too farfetched that Rin was able to uphold her array of identities under her circumstances for as long as she did, I thoroughly enjoyed all three storylines. Along with a handful of other subplots, they are continually entwining and it gets more and more interesting with each page!
Now I don’t know what more to say without giving stuff away but honestly if you are able to be patient with it, this book reaps the rewards. I’m just mad now that book 2 is nowhere in sight because I was nowhere near ready to leave these characters and be thrown out of this world after being so absorbed into it, particularly after THAT ending… I have a mighty need!!!
All in all I really enjoyed this book and I guarantee if you love intricate fantasy stories and misfits getting tangled into more than what they bargained for, then you will too!!
Final Rating - 4/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Drug abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Xenophobia
erin_lovell's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Police brutality, Incest, and Sexual content
Minor: Rape and Slavery
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