Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Liar's Knot by M.A. Carrick

1 review

maggieslibrarycard's review

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dark 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

 The Liar’s Knot (Rook & Rose 2) by M. A. Carrick

5 stars

Content Warnings (may contain minor spoilers): Gore, Violence, Body Horror, Drug Use, Abuse, Death, Sexual Content

This was an amazing sequel, and it in my opinion was just as good, if not better, than the first book in this adult fantasy series, The Mask of Mirrors. I am so excited for book three!

The series mainly takes place in the city of Nadežra, and follows the same cast of characters from the first book, Ren, a con artist, Vargo, a crime lord, and Grey, a “hawk” (constable), along with a truly wonderful and dynamic cast of secondary characters.

One of my favourite aspects of this series is the world-building. M. A Carrick has truly done a masterful job at creating this dynamic series, and the  Vraszenians, Liganti, and interwoven cultures are so interesting to discover more about. There is always more information to know, that is always superbly woven into the story in a way that manages to avoid info dumps. There was even more expansion done in this book, and I was truly engrossed. While these books are fairly low magic, the two magic systems are also both so interesting and fun to read and discover more about. I especially enjoyed how - despite one being a so-called “hard” magic system and the other being a so-called “soft” magic system - both magic systems were shown to be both powerful and dangerous, with massive potential costs to users. 

Carrick also really succeeds in creating a dark, enthralling atmosphere, and I think this is partially done through the world-building, but also their exquisite prose. I’m not always the biggest prose person, but they managed to create prose for this book which is simultaneously both lush and descriptive, AND efficient and easy to read. It truly enhanced the dark, crime-ridden atmosphere of this series which is something I find prose rarely succeeds fully in doing.

The plot was also so entertaining and fun to follow. While DEFINITELY convoluted at times, I loved reading about all the cons that were being pulled off and they seemed remarkably well thought through. That being said, if you’re someone who does not like your plots to contain A LOT of information to remember, this might not be as enjoyable for you. You’re balancing an enormous cast of characters - many of whom have one or more secret identities - as well as what each character knows about the other characters and their elements of the plot. As I said, I truly think this was masterfully thought through, but I can see how this type of plot would be less appealing to some readers.

Another huge highlight of this series is the characters. In the first book, we are mostly focused on Ren, but I found the POV split in this book to be a lot more even. I truly love all three of the main “protagonists” after finishing this book. Firstly, Ren is such a badass. She plans for every outcome and has mastered the fine art of “girlbossing”. However, despite her industrious endeavours, she has a heart of gold and still cares so much and has so much compassion for those around her. Vargo and I definitely went on a roller coaster ride this book, but at the end of the day he’s iconic in kind of the opposite way to how Ren is. He appears to be very ruthless and cold, but deep down he also (maybe??) has a heart of gold and in this book we began to uncover even more undiscovered facets of his personality, which was very interesting (especially the one with the certain spider). To be short, he is my Kaz Brekker. However, the standout of the three main characters in this book was definitely Grey. I was very lukewarm about him in the first book, but I grew to love him so much over the course of the sequel. (I’m not going to say much more at the risk of spoilers, but he is really great in this book and the additional perspectives really help flesh him out).

The secondary characters are also so well written, in that they all have clear motivations and personalities, even with less page time. Some of my favourites include Arkady Bones (WHAT AN ICON), Tess, Giuna, Donaia, Tanaquis, and basically everyone in Vargo’s crime syndicate. 

Also, the romance in this book was SO GOOD but SO UNEXPECTED! I usually hate it in second books when two characters that didn’t seem to be at all interested in each other prior suddenly are, but I was so sold here and I was shipping it so hard. (I should also add that, while the relationship occurs over the book, it is pretty slow-burn, they don’t just “suddenly” become interested in each other as the last sentence may have implied.) This plot element also allowed for some really sweet quieter moments which really make books enjoyable for me to read. I should add that, while this city is very queer-normative, which I loved (and there are many characters in queer relationships), the main couple I’m discussing here is m/f!

In conclusion, this is an excellent sequel, a great winter-y read, and a perfect way to end off my literary 2021! If you loved The Mask of Mirrors, its sequel does not disappoint!

Thank you to Orbit Books and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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