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A review by phyllica_reads
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
* Audio with a physical companion book review *
Narrator: (Nicky Massoud- listened via Spotify) 5 stars
Story: 3-3.5 stars
Overall: 4 stars
Another book that has been sitting on my shelf for ages is finally ticked off the list.
Mask of Mirrors is book one in the Rook & Rose trilogy which features a variety of characters, a political/social hierarchy, its own magic/religion system, and a fair amount of mystery.
I will not sugarcoat that I wanted to give up on this book within the first 100-150 pages. Why? Because it is exceptionally dense. Between the rapid introduction of characters, pages of long-winded info dumping, and a lack of solid physical world-building, I found myself very eager to close the book and move on.
What saved me was the audiobook. After putting this down for a day or two, I decided to give it another chance. If I hadn't been listening to it, I probably would have DNF'd it and donated the trilogy to my local library, but the uniqueness and variation of characters from the narrator convinced me to try again.
Starting from where I left off, I decided to mentally step back and try to focus on the story rather than reading as critically as I normally would with an epic fantasy such as this. This allowed me to come up for air since the authors writing remains heavy throughout.
I don't enjoy when other people tell me to "push through" or "it gets better after this page" but I am going to do just that and tell you that this story does get much better after pages 250-300. At least for me. If you don't want to physically read it, the audiobook is worth a try.
Once the story allowed the plot to shine and wasn't bogged down with unnecessary information, I liked the book much more. By the end, I was convinced enough that I will continue to read the next two books in the trilogy.
Highlights/Tropes:
LGBTQIA+ (mild underlying details)
magic system
religious system
social/political hierarchy
3rd person/multi pov
mystery
Narrator: (Nicky Massoud- listened via Spotify) 5 stars
Story: 3-3.5 stars
Overall: 4 stars
Another book that has been sitting on my shelf for ages is finally ticked off the list.
Mask of Mirrors is book one in the Rook & Rose trilogy which features a variety of characters, a political/social hierarchy, its own magic/religion system, and a fair amount of mystery.
I will not sugarcoat that I wanted to give up on this book within the first 100-150 pages. Why? Because it is exceptionally dense. Between the rapid introduction of characters, pages of long-winded info dumping, and a lack of solid physical world-building, I found myself very eager to close the book and move on.
What saved me was the audiobook. After putting this down for a day or two, I decided to give it another chance. If I hadn't been listening to it, I probably would have DNF'd it and donated the trilogy to my local library, but the uniqueness and variation of characters from the narrator convinced me to try again.
Starting from where I left off, I decided to mentally step back and try to focus on the story rather than reading as critically as I normally would with an epic fantasy such as this. This allowed me to come up for air since the authors writing remains heavy throughout.
I don't enjoy when other people tell me to "push through" or "it gets better after this page" but I am going to do just that and tell you that this story does get much better after pages 250-300. At least for me. If you don't want to physically read it, the audiobook is worth a try.
Once the story allowed the plot to shine and wasn't bogged down with unnecessary information, I liked the book much more. By the end, I was convinced enough that I will continue to read the next two books in the trilogy.
Highlights/Tropes:
LGBTQIA+ (mild underlying details)
magic system
religious system
social/political hierarchy
3rd person/multi pov
mystery