I loved reading Mask of Mirrors. Full stop.

The characters are complex and three dimensional with secrets they reveal slowly both to the reader and to each other. The magic system was fascinating and I devoured every scrap of information we were given, tagging pages so I could go back and try to see how it could be used to solve problems that came up later. This book is a guaranteed purchase for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an eARC of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

This book has absolutely everything I could ask for in a fantasy! It is about a girl named Renata (Ren) Viraudax who is trying to con her way into one of the noble families of Nadezra, but from the very first moment, things do not go according to plan.

There is the long con, there is scheming and manipulating, there are betrayals and friendships that could never be broken, there are political shenanigans. The magic systems (yes, systems!) are beautiful and also integral to the plot and the world building because Nadezra is a conquered land. We have the conquered people who pull influence from Romani culture and their magic system is based on a form of tarot. Then we have the conquering people who have a magic system that reminds me of alchemy if you did it with Gallifreyan runes and threw in astrology. In addition, there is also a revolution plot and a masked vigilante known as the Rook.

I will say if you are newer to fantasy, or you prefer explanations, you might be disappointed or frustrated with this book because it throws you in and you just have to roll with it and hope for an explanation later. The magic systems are used frequently and only somewhat explained. Lots of characters are introduced and it may be difficult to keep them and their alliances straight (Which this book is not btw, LGBT characters are accepted as part of the culture).

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am dismayed that I must wait so long for the sequel.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Mask of Mirrors ultimately was not for me. I couldn’t make sense of the worldbuilding due to the multiple POVs and converging plot lines throughout, although I can appreciate how intricate said worldbuilding was.

I may give the book another chance once I’m able to purchase a physical copy!

Unfortunately I could not finish this book. This is really a me issue, but I dislike the fact that I've spent a week on this book and am 30% in and feel nothing for the characters or the plot or anything. The worldbuilding is cool because it's very detailed and clearly thought out. I might have been invested more in the characters had I finished the book, but I can't bring myself to keep reading. At this rate, it would take me a full month to read the book, and I wasn't sure if I would like enough to spend that much time on it.

I was intrigued by the whole con Ren is pulling off, but there's obviously a plot involving the magic that's supposed to come in later, so I don't understand why it isn't intertwined with the con plot line now. Also, I know I only read a third of it, but the book tries to juggle too many plot lines at once. There are multiple points-of-view, which wasn't really an issue except for the fact that it's still so heavy on Ren's PoV. I mean, yes, she's the protagonist, but I feel like bringing in whole other plot lines for two to three pages and then simply not returning to them for another hundred pages made it feel too unbalanced.

Again, these are my own opinions. I might have liked the book more if I kept reading. (A few reviews have said that the ending is really good; I just couldn't bring myself to read anymore.)

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. The Mask of Mirrors starts off in a similar manner as most political fantasy dramas. Secrets, lies, betrayals, traps, and wealth all motivate the characters in different ways. It takes about half the book for the chess pieces to be fully set up and established, and before any magic systems are actually introduced. The pace is a slow build, but the final half of the book felt very engaging. I liked the characters and I feel like there is a lot of potential for further books to be even better now that stakes feel higher, and I look forward to continuing through the series as they release.

A full review will be released on armedwithabook.com closer to the book's publication date. Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review!

It's been awhile since I've loved a (non-fairytale) Fantasy novel this much!

The Mask of Mirrors is set in a complex fantasy world, which the novel does a great job of slowly revealing important, relevant information. There was a lot of information revealed, and while I don't understand EVERY aspect of the world this novel is set in, I understood enough to enjoy the novel. Also, the character and term directories are helpful if you need a quick clarification. However, for the most part, the characters were pretty easy to distinguish from each other. Additionally, we have a cast of morally grey characters, which made the question of whose actions can we trust a difficult one to answer. There was also some banter (ESPECIALLY when a certain enigma called the Rook appears) which added some humor! (Also banter + sword fights are one of my favorite book occurrences and it happens!)

The characters and the different POVs were great! A lot of the major players had a POV chapter that really helped push the story and enhance mysteries, I also applaud the authors on hinting plot twists without revealing everything until the last second. All in all, I really enjoyed the set up of "big reveals" and "plot twists." Finding out the meaning of The Mask of Mirrors and the name of the trilogy, Rook & Rose, was super neat, as well! I love all the little details and breadcrumbs the authors incorporated into this story!

All in all, this was a great start to a trilogy and I'm looking forward to the next two installments! Thank you to NetGalley & Orbit Books for allowing me access to this ARC! I really enjoyed the opportunity to read this amazing novel!

I'd like to add that this book seemed more New Adult (ages 18-25) then Young Adult (15-18). There's a whole subplot centered on drug use and another centered on a nightmarish figure kidnaping children. There's also a lot of sexual overtones, and focus on characters who are older than 18.

This story pulls you right in and keeps you deep in its story! So much packed in this story - I am still reeling and processing. Incredible characters AND story. I made the mistake of starting this before bed. Absolutely devoured it in two sittings and am looking forward to a sequel. Wow, would recommend.

This book started out as a great fantasy of manners. I will say up front I could tell the author put in a lot of work on the world building, and I want to recognize that.So much of the language of this world is foreign, but the author doesn't dumb it down for us. She assumes we understand it and context supplies what we need. So I am happy about that, because with this much world building, it could have been a lot more heavy on expository. Most of the characters were well fleshed out, and I liked the main character quite a bit. I also liked one of the subsidiary characters a lot. I also really appreciate the very matter-of-fact approach to LBGTQ storylines and characters. They exist, and it's no big deal. That's a big plus for me with this book.

But I felt this book was confused about what kind of book it wanted to be. It started out one way and then about half way through, turned into something else. And at that halfway point, that's where I started losing interest in what kind of book this was going to be.

I also felt it was too long. There is an event at roughly the halfway point, and I think that would have been a great place to end and then the second half could have been a different book. Because of the length of the book, and the pivot that happens about halfway through, I ended up getting crisis fatigue. A lot of books tend to have a larger story arch to tell, and the characters face a number of crises along the way. But I get tired of that form in a book, esp when it feels like we barely recover from one before another comes along. By the end, it took me quite a while to finish the last couple of chapters (and I finally just ended up skimming the last several chapters).

I think some people will like that kind of one adventurous thing after another, but it's not for me.

Set in the corrupt and magical city of Nadezra, our main character returns home in order to con a rich family. However, Ren’s plans get complicated when she’s sucked into the political lives of its ruling families and the magic that runs wild in the city.

This book was a doozy. There’s a lot of great aspects to the Mask of Mirrors, such as its LGBT and gender fluidity representation. I also enjoyed the constant tension where readers are on the edge of their seats wondering if Ren’s identity and plot might be exposed.

The plot is also super complex and mysterious. Mask of Mirrors focuses more on the characters rather than the plot, which at times makes it feel really slow. The chapters are also incredibly dense and contain the POVs of many characters, which I personally didn’t like because it kept jumping from one character to the next. I felt like at some instance the plot dragged on and nothing really interesting would happen.

Another issue I had with Mask of Mirrors is that it’s just packed with too much detail. This book is 700 pages!! It’s incredibly long and the world building just seemed so convoluted even when I found the book to be very rich. There are so many made up terms that I basically had to remember them or would constantly flip back to the glossary. There are also tarot cards that are heavily involved with the world, but have different names or meanings that just completely went over my head. It’s also told through multiple points of view, which honestly got very tiring because there were just too many characters to keep track of.

I definitely recommend this book if you’re into high fantasy and are looking for a very rich and complex story. However, definitely make you sure you have the time to read this because there’s just too much to unpack in one sitting.

Ahhh - I'm really conflicted about this book.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for the new series, and absolutely think you should give it a read if you enjoy fantasy/historical YA fiction. I absolutely loved it and absolutely got bored at some points. The world-building, descriptions of the city, characters, political structure, and the overall descriptions between the classes was just absolutely incredible.

What got me was in between the amazing world-building were huge blocks of info that were just..hard to get through. I know there was a lot to get through for setting the stage for a series, but it was a bit much. It made me really want to stop reading at times, and caused the story to get really confusing and difficult to follow at points.

I'm intrigued and really hope to see a better second book of the series. I will most likely pick up the second book because I feel it's worth it.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing me an ARC of this book.

This book was so addictive! The beginning of the book was a bit slow but it was interesting enough to keep me going. Once I really got the hang of the world and plot, I flew through it! Each and every single character was so well built and I enjoyed all them.

THE PLOT TWISTS THOUGH... they really surprised me but i’m not complaining! The Rook... that’s all I can say.

I also got major six of crows vibe from this. I’m still not over the ending!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing me with a digital copy for review.

This was one of the best books I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The prose was beyond gorgeous, the world-building was extraordinary, and the characters were so well developed that at times I had to remind myself that they weren’t real. I was hooked right from the first page, and could not stop reading for anything, whether it was work, sleeping, or any of the other numerous tasks that occupy us throughout the day. It was a long read, but it definitely did not feel like it, and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on book 2.

I loved Ren. She was smart, feisty, and witty, and was able to slip into various personas as though they were different sets of clothes. The one thing that did drag the reading for me somewhat was the various side characters. Sometimes they were mentioned, and then you don’t see or hear from them again until chapters later, making them hard to forget. It did not detract from my experience, however, but was significant enough to point out.

All in all, a truly excellent read that I will be recommending to everyone.

The Mask of Mirrors is a complex story that chronicles Renata Viraudax’s journey of navigating the upper echelons of her society as a con artist. Accompanying Ren are other perspectives prevalent within this story from those who have diverging motivations and drives that, at times, create conflict.

I think the characters and the plot were interesting and had a lot of potential. The politics of court society, mingling with an overarching corruption narrative, and the casual and well-done inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters were pleasant and made the story interesting enough to continue to the end. However, the writing and overall structure were a little convoluted and difficult to follow. There was a lot of exposition that weighed down the pages, and the magic system, though complex and fascinating, was burdened by too many new concepts/descriptors. Social mores, hierarchies, religions - general setting descriptors are important for a well-developed world, but this story had too much information too quickly, making it hard to intake or conceptualize properly; it was difficult to become fully immersed.

I think some of the reveals and the ending, in general, created a nice set up for the following book and did make me leave with a better impression. However, there wasn’t enough to make interested or invested in the characters. I’m not sure if I will continue with this series. That said, I don’t think this was a horrible book, and I do think there will be people who like it.

This book has made it to my favorites list. The world-building was rich and detailed without any data-dumps that I could identify (pet peeve) ; instead, it was progressively revealed through character interaction (which can be a tad disorienting in the beginning until enough has been filled in to provide context for the rest of the story). The world location had a Venetian feel, with the intrigue of a noble court ruling over conquered city that seems to be in decline. There is an undercurrent of rebellion from the original inhabitants, who seem to be modeled from Gypsy Roma and Traveller clan cultures. Stir in a seedy criminal element amongst the poor and oppressed majority and you have set the stage for all kinds of drama and intrigue. Proper names are a bit of a challenge with letter decorations not often seen in English; while it helps give the story an exotic flavor, it also slows down reading quite a bit and may put some readers off (I am actually not a fan of this technique, but it was close enough that I could skim over most of it and still figure out what it was referencing). I did actually enjoy the constant word play ... with the Vigil (police force), knots (gangs - slipknots are traitors) and pattern decks (tarot). Even the magic system was well thought out and fairly diverse with derivatives of oneiromancy (not my favorite), cartomancy, astromancy and numeromancy/geomancy (eg. Feng Shui) fairly prominent within the story (and not over the top powerful in most cases). Plus 1 star just for the fantastic world that I found here.

The central character (Ren) is a former pick pocket/gang member just trying to survive along with her sister; and after betraying her capo, her best bet seems to to be a long con targeting the weakest of the noble houses. Now a creature of both worlds (noble and peasant), she proves to be ideally suited for the complex world building the authors do so well. With the gentry, you have the expected power politics. With common, folk, you get tribal/social politics. Within each, Ren finds unexpected friends and allies, as she juggles identities like a secret agent. Throw in a mysterious Zorro-like figure and my mind was spinning after each new reveal trying to figure it all out (several time I though I had it ... but I was wrong). With all of the complex plots running through the story, it is amazing that most of them all pulled together in a satisfying finish ... bad guys foiled, good guys live to fight another day (and this is important ... there are a few things left unresolved, but there is not a cliff in sight ... and I still want to read the next book).

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheMaskOfMirrors #NetGalley

The novel started strong; Ren and Tess’s introduction and their histories were exciting and to the point. The developing story is quick-paced and easy to be sweep away in. The issue I had was once the con was in full swing, many secondary and tertiary characters darted in and out of the story, some with similar names, that I was never sure who was linked to who and who to remember for later.

In Part One, getting glimpses into Ren and Tess’s history with the city and how they integrated themselves seamlessly into the Traementis family with their forged past was a nice quick jump into the book. The introduction of the main characters in this section was done beautifully. Part Two and going into Part Three is where the book felt like it dragged on. The revolving door of characters that were conned or merely mentioned for the development of said con was almost overwhelming. I wasn’t sure which characters were crucial for further developing the plot and which ones were tertiary characters. Also, many of the names of the noble families were similar, and it was hard to differentiate between them and who had connections to who.

In Part Four of the novel, I found that everything picked up again, with Ren falling victim to the nightmare plaguing street children, causing them to be unable to sleep. This section picks the pace up, with more action and some questions being answered; it brings the novel to a swift conclusion.

The Mask of Mirrors has a strong start and conclusion, but the middle felt long and drawn out, with a lot of easily forgettable information. I liked that there were no specific gender roles and that same-sex relationships were normalized.

E-ARC provided through the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

*3.5 stars*

The Mask of Mirrors (out Jan 19, 2021) is a the start of a new trilogy from authors Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms. It is a multi perspective novel following mainly the attempts of Renata Viraudax, a con woman attempting to ingratiate herself with the cities elite and secure a large fortune. She soon discovers that she is not the only person with something to hide and finds herself embroiled with court politics. All the while a corrupt magic is seeping through the city and Renata's two worlds start to collide.

While I liked the world in premise, the world building definitely could have used some work. I really liked the casual queerness and court politics threaded throughout. Ren's journey navigating through the crooked political elite was one of the high points of the story. However, there were one too many concepts regarding the magic and none of them really got the time to be fully fleshed out ideas. Dream magic, scribing, astrology based magic/science-it was a lot at times. I personally didn't feel like I had a grasp on everything until about 80% of the way through.

I liked a lot of our characters as well, especially when their storylines began to intersect. At the beginning, everything was a bit random and scattered but as story beats were connected I found myself enjoying the novel more and more. I specifically really appreciated how the characters all had separate motivations and how that resulted in conflict/tension. It also speaks to the greater plot/story. At the forefront, no one can really be trusted. Everyone is out to further their own goals and it's up to our characters to choose how to navigate it.

The writing could be a little convoluted. The story is significantly slowed down by certain writing choices-specifically tons and tons of exposition. I swear every person had multiple names/titles and their entire family history described. Even every building had a proper name attached to it. It was all kind of thrown at you and you are never given the chance to adjust and parse out what is what. And it is consistent through the narrative.

The ending really had me sold on the novel. I liked a lot of the reveals and what it means for the future of all the characters. It also gave additional context to who the characters are currently and further complicates everyone's situation.

I did overall enjoy the story. I look forward to further entries into this world. Thanks to Orbit for providing me a copy of the e-arc.

This is a... it's not you, it's me situation I think.

I wanted to love this book from the moment I saw it. I mean, just look at that absolutely STUNNING cover! The summary sounded interesting and unique, and I was ready to dive into a diverse fantasy story. Unfortunately, it was a diverse fantasy story that just didn't work for me. I spent most of my time confused, bored, or somewhere in between. It's extremely disappointing for me since I was ready to fall in love with this book. I think some people will love this story, and maybe once I clear out some of my TBR shelf, I will pick this up and give it a second shot. There have been plenty of series I haven't been able to get into before, and then I try again later and fall in love with it (A Darker Shade of Magic, Throne of Glass, and even some TV shows).

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing me with an excerpt in exchange of my honest review.

(i am on my phone so please excuse any grammar issues)

this book was tough, least to say. sometimes with books ill start reading them and a 1/3 way through i realize i dont know what's going on so i will start over and usually im good. this happened with this book but i think my issue was mainly the fact that i was not in a mood to read fantasy and had no motivation to read any so please take any/all criticisms with a grain of salt cause of this.

the characters seemed good, although this was one of those books where even towards the end, i didn't have much opinion on any character. although, the sister/family bond seemed incredibly strong and has the potential to go even further into the next book which is a great selling point.

the plot i felt the same, i didn't have a 100% grasp on what the plot was due to above but it wasn't overly bad, the writing was well done. the author touch on astrology multiple times in the book and if you're into astrology as a concept or something used semi-regularly in a book, you'll love it (for me, i don't understand astrology so i didn't pay much attention to the parts with astrology)

the only firm criticism i have is the worldbuilding. i didn't have a full grasp on it, it could be because of above but i couldn't fully understand how this world worked or what it was like. another one i have that i can't tell if it was because of a error in the file or it's intentional but there was moments where a sentence would have :: :: around it and i couldn't tell if it was 1. intentional or a file error 2. if it was thoughts or a character actually speaking.

aside from all of that, i can't say for sure if i will be reading the next book but i'm sure this book will have a good bunch of people falling in love with the writing, the plot and the characters.

What a wild ride! The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick is a book full of twists and turns. There is plenty of plot and subplot and sideplots and… characters galore! With 672 pages, there is a lot of ground this novel is able to cover. Just when I thought I knew where things were going, there was a new twist that took me by surprise.

The Mask of Mirrors is about con artist Ren who is trying to trick her way into the noble house of Treamentis. Unfortunately, she had no idea just what she was getting herself into. Being a noble in a crumbling noble house ends up being more dangerous than she expected. In her journey, she makes allies, friends, and lots of enemies. This book has everything… it has magic, a crime lord shrouded in mystery, a city full of scheming nobles and even a hooded vigilante.

The world building in this book was extraordinary! The world feels unique and new. I felt like I was stepping into a whole new universe. The characters were dynamic and engaging. I couldn’t help but continually guess who the hooded vigilante was and whether Ren would be discovered as the con artist she was.

Now for the negative… I did find the first half of the book slow. The action doesn’t really start to take off until the middle of the book and it just gets better and better from there. Occasionally characters would drop the f-bomb in the dialogue and I couldn’t help but feel like it didn’t fit the rest of the dialogue. It was kind of jarring to read the characters in such a different universe using modern day curse words. The cast of characters was so expansive and the names were so foreign, that it was sometimes hard to keep track of who was who (silly me, I found the character index in the back of the book when I was finished).

This is the first book in the new series and I look forward to seeing where the story takes us next. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of fantasy or stories with beautiful world building and lots of twists and turns.

I really wanted to love this book. It has a very unique magic system, but it’s very difficult to learn. It took me a really long time to understand what was going on. There is so much going on the world-building and character introduction that it’s hard to keep track of the story.