A review by bookstosoothethesoul
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi

dark sad tense

3.0

Okay this was darker than I expected and I have conflicted feelings about it. Masquerade is an interesting portrayal of a 19 year old trying to survive in a patriarchal society. She's a complex MC who makes decisions that serve her own interests which was difficult to see when it involved decisions that hurt other women to get ahead. I wish the author had chosen a more clear direction with their take on the Hades and Persephone myth. Many takes romanticize the relationship (a choice I've enjoyed many times before). Other takes subvert the story and point out the problems with that dynamic. The author confused me because she did both - she had our main character deeply in love with this guy while also showing us how toxic their relationship was. It was very uncomfortable to read. Many parts of this book were difficult to get through. I was waiting for a reason for the grittiness, for the suffering. I really wanted to see our MC triumph in the end or learn something as a result of everything that had happened to her. The ending felt a bit rushed and didn’t give me as much closure as I would have liked about where our MC is now and who she will be going forward. I'm struggling with my feelings with the book because I want female MCs to have the room to make decisions that are self-serving/be more morally gray but for some reason I found myself struggling with her more controversial choices. I still had a good time with the story and really loved how rich the world felt. I was very immersed in the story and I think that's part of what made the difficult subject matter hard to read about. This book is like nothing I've ever read before and I'm very glad I picked it up. It was an unusual reading experience but definitely worth the read.

Oh my gosh this narrator was incredible. I felt transported listening to their portrayal of all the characters. I would love to listen to more of their books. If you can get this book on audio, definitely go for it because it was a fantastic listening experience!

Thanks to NetGalley, Forge, and Macmillan for the ARC!