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

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.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

For some reason, I just couldn’t connect with this book. It had interesting points, but it was too much early on. There were so many lines and bits to follow that I never got invested. It just set the mood for the rest.

ARC from NetGalley

This is a long, complicated book. If a novel has a glossary and a list of all the characters and their relations in the back, buckle up bitch because this is probably going to get confusing. There are far, far too many invented terms in this book which end up kind of muddying together and never actually end up understood, at least for me. There are invented names for time, directions, dates, pretty much everything.

The magic is only very lightly touched upon and not explained well, so if you were hoping to read something very magical, look elsewhere. This book is heavy on the politics of the world. If you like books with nobility and medieval-type living arrangements, you might like this one. Most of this book is focused on Ren and how she is swindling everyone and their mother into somehow gaining herself a bit of money and security. The entirety of the book is a multifaceted heist that keeps evolving and becoming more complex. The characters are all morally grey. There is barely there romance, mostly just flirting here and there, a fair whack of swearing, of which I heartily approve, and brief allusions of sex. There are enough characters with long enough names that I often found myself wondering who the hell they were talking about.

I didn't like how it ended. It was disappointing. I felt like I followed the carrot like a good donkey and I deserved at least a nibble of satisfaction. There are answers. You will find out who the Rook is, at the very, very end, but there wasn't a satisfying scene where everyone who deserves it, gets it, if you know what I mean. I never got to have that YES moment. The satisfaction was a trickle, and after 600+ pages I was hoping for a deluge.

All said, I think this book is a good bang for the buck. You're going to get many hours out of it.

I read this all the way through, but unfortunately I was bored majority of the time. I don’t really have much to say. I think I should just stick to YA books.

This book is magnificent. It drew me in pretty much instantly with the fantastic world building and intricate details. The character development of many different characters is top notch!
The main character is an orphan, Ren, who is attempting the greatest con of her life; she is trying to insert herself as a cousin to a wealthy family (or so she thinks.) She wears many different masks, literally and figuratively, acting as Ren, Renata or Arenza, whoever serves her purpose. She is wonderful at fitting in wherever she goes which makes her an absolutely wonderful con artist.
There is a masked mystery man for a lack of a better phrase, a sort of hero to the regular people, known as The Rook. It was so much fun trying to piece together who he was! I love a good masked avenger!
There were a few times where I was a little confused simply because there are a lot of names and details to remember but it got easier as it progressed and I found myself totally immersed.
The ending.....ohhhh it left me craving the next book! So many secrets revealed, so many questions need answering! I can't wait to be back in this world!

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

I have to say I was slightly disappointed by this book. The plot was extremely heavy; with a lot of info-dumping and words and phrases, I couldn’t understand. I wish there had been a glossary guide of some sort for words and phrases that I believe were Italian. There was A LOT of characters and subplots happening at once that made it hard to understand and keep up. The biggest problem I had was with names, places, and phrases. They were extremely difficult to pronounce and therefore remember, once again a guide would help immensely. There were just so many concepts thrown at you, on top of complicated names, and secondary characters that were introduced in a manner that did not flow naturally to the story or plot, so I often got confused about who was who.

In my opinion, this started off very strong! But, I was quickly lost and honestly got pretty bored with it. The characters came off very one dimensional to me, with so many POV’s happening so quickly, it was hard to form a connection with each character present. This was disappointing because I feel the characters had so much potential. Also, it lacked a presence of romance for me that always add a good, intriguing dimension to a storyline.

M.A. Carrick’s writing is very well-done, and I would definitely be interested in anything else written by her. The atmosphere she created with the Venician feeling of the late 1800s was whimsical. It gave me Ketterdam vibes and I LOVED that. The plot was enjoyable, I appreciate myself a good undercover/heist trope. The layer of political intrigue and societal expectations was very realistic and I enjoyed it. I adored the concept of this story, and I think there is a lot of potential here to become a great fantasy series.

There was incredible world-building- but once again, I felt like it wasn’t explained well enough despite the amount of detail. Unfortunately, I was quickly overwhelmed and just could not move past the utter volume of information. I will not be continuing with this series, but I wish it all the very best!