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A review by missrenn
Masquerade by Kylie Fornasier
4.0
~4.5~
Okay, let me start off by saying that I adored this book. It was beautifully written, the character development was fantastic, and I'm still quite surprised by how much I liked it.
The author paints a vivid image of 18th century Venice, one that draws the reader in with the secrets of its citizens. Honestly the writing was one of the best things about the book. It really did paint a picture of the city that was both beautiful and dark, wondrous and dangerous. It made the perfect backdrop for the characters who star in this wonderful tale of love and loss along with self discovery and uncovering dark secrets, and honestly as cheesy as that sounds those things play a big part in Fornasier's story.
We're first introduced to Orelia, possibly the main character in this story, just as she arrives in Venice to meet an uncle she never knew she had. Her story is a bleak one, as the reader soon learns, but despite that she's soon dragged into a massive lie. Lying is something that all of the characters have in common in one form or another, but, as in a Shakespearean tragedy, lies always come to bite them in the butt. Anyway, these characters that the author's created seem very relatable with wants and dreams that most could understand and that's just at the start of the story. As it progresses they undergo these wonderful developmental arcs that I haven't seen in a long time. This is honestly what impressed me the most, that this whole story was seamlessly driven by the characters.
In the end, Masquerade left me almost completely satisfied. It's sort of like the ending of a good television show, it answers most of your questions, ties up the loose ends, but it somehow still leaves you wondering what happens afterwards. I'd recommend this to just about anyone who enjoys court intrigue, time periods, and purely character driven plots.
Okay, let me start off by saying that I adored this book. It was beautifully written, the character development was fantastic, and I'm still quite surprised by how much I liked it.
The author paints a vivid image of 18th century Venice, one that draws the reader in with the secrets of its citizens. Honestly the writing was one of the best things about the book. It really did paint a picture of the city that was both beautiful and dark, wondrous and dangerous. It made the perfect backdrop for the characters who star in this wonderful tale of love and loss along with self discovery and uncovering dark secrets, and honestly as cheesy as that sounds those things play a big part in Fornasier's story.
We're first introduced to Orelia, possibly the main character in this story, just as she arrives in Venice to meet an uncle she never knew she had. Her story is a bleak one, as the reader soon learns, but despite that she's soon dragged into a massive lie. Lying is something that all of the characters have in common in one form or another, but, as in a Shakespearean tragedy, lies always come to bite them in the butt. Anyway, these characters that the author's created seem very relatable with wants and dreams that most could understand and that's just at the start of the story. As it progresses they undergo these wonderful developmental arcs that I haven't seen in a long time. This is honestly what impressed me the most, that this whole story was seamlessly driven by the characters.
In the end, Masquerade left me almost completely satisfied. It's sort of like the ending of a good television show, it answers most of your questions, ties up the loose ends, but it somehow still leaves you wondering what happens afterwards. I'd recommend this to just about anyone who enjoys court intrigue, time periods, and purely character driven plots.