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casstirling 's review for:
Masques
by Patricia Briggs
T;LDR: A mercenary spy with her own magic teams up with a powerful and enigmatic man who spends a lot of time in the form of a wolf. Can they stop the ae'Magi before it's too late?
What I LikedI liked the heroine. She is tough, smart, always pushing herself, and relies on her horse, and later Wolf, as her only companions. She is constantly cheerful (see my what I didn't like for more here), but also loves to tell stories.
Wolf is also a decently written character. Who is he becomes fairly obvious midway through the book, but it doesn't detract from the story. It's also not played up as much either though.
It has a dragon in it. I never thought I'd be that person, but I do like the occasional dragon in my stories. I may need to explore more books featuring them...
The world-building is interesting, but it also conveniently fits the plot as well. I'd have liked a bit more of the mythology around green magic and shapechangers, since it's alluded to, but not fleshed out. But, overall, I thought the world was interesting and different enough.
What I didn't Like
The heroine is constantly cheerful. Nothing seems to get her down, not even torture. Okay, it sort of gets to her in the form of nightmares, but she remains optimistic instead of facing the reality of just what happened to her.
She's also quick to forgive or get over anything Wolf does, including keeping information from her and trying to protect her all the time. So that's a bit...weak on her part.
Wolf is just too powerful. He can do pretty much anything. While I did like that he did magic he didn't expect to be able to do, there wasn't enough of a build to him doing it or torturing himself over it afterwards. It was quickly resolved by a conversation with Aralorn. So, he is an almost Superman character, but with very easily overcome doubts and insecurities. I'd have loved to see her torture mirrored in his story - it would've certainly made his arc more interesting.
And honestly, the ending, where she's given a clue about what she needs to do and doesn't pay attention to it was incredibly painful to read. I wanted to shout at her about it, but you know, didn't because I wasn't that invested.
To Sum Up (too late!)
Overall, this is a light read. It's obviously her first book and while she was able to polish some of it, she didn't rewrite it when it was re-released (and she mentioned it pained her). That being said, it is still an interesting story in a fairly interesting world, so I rated it 3.5 stars.
What I LikedI liked the heroine. She is tough, smart, always pushing herself, and relies on her horse, and later Wolf, as her only companions. She is constantly cheerful (see my what I didn't like for more here), but also loves to tell stories.
Wolf is also a decently written character. Who is he becomes fairly obvious midway through the book, but it doesn't detract from the story. It's also not played up as much either though.
It has a dragon in it. I never thought I'd be that person, but I do like the occasional dragon in my stories. I may need to explore more books featuring them...
The world-building is interesting, but it also conveniently fits the plot as well. I'd have liked a bit more of the mythology around green magic and shapechangers, since it's alluded to, but not fleshed out. But, overall, I thought the world was interesting and different enough.
What I didn't Like
The heroine is constantly cheerful. Nothing seems to get her down, not even torture. Okay, it sort of gets to her in the form of nightmares, but she remains optimistic instead of facing the reality of just what happened to her.
She's also quick to forgive or get over anything Wolf does, including keeping information from her and trying to protect her all the time. So that's a bit...weak on her part.
Wolf is just too powerful. He can do pretty much anything. While I did like that he did magic he didn't expect to be able to do, there wasn't enough of a build to him doing it or torturing himself over it afterwards. It was quickly resolved by a conversation with Aralorn. So, he is an almost Superman character, but with very easily overcome doubts and insecurities. I'd have loved to see her torture mirrored in his story - it would've certainly made his arc more interesting.
And honestly, the ending, where she's given a clue about what she needs to do and doesn't pay attention to it was incredibly painful to read. I wanted to shout at her about it, but you know, didn't because I wasn't that invested.
To Sum Up (too late!)
Overall, this is a light read. It's obviously her first book and while she was able to polish some of it, she didn't rewrite it when it was re-released (and she mentioned it pained her). That being said, it is still an interesting story in a fairly interesting world, so I rated it 3.5 stars.