This is a lush, well written fantasy. I became engaged in this world quickly. The characters were interesting and relateable.

However, it took me some time to sort out and distinguish the secondary characters. I don't know if that's the fault of the author or my memory.

Also the pacing of the plot was problematic. There were times where it plodded along and others where the action was non-stop.

Overall, I liked this fantasy. It could use some polishing but I await the next book.

I was given a free ARC by Netgalley. This is my honest review.

Very promising plot. It sort of delivers but because I was drawn to the plot, it was the only thing keeping me going. The characters were alright but they weren’t totally memorable. I feel that with some more drafts and edits this could become a solid read.

This story presented itself with so much promise. But it was interesting at best. The plot and characters felt like they were in the stages of an early draft, not a finished, polished story.

Magic, a con artist, a vigilante, deceptions, a little flirting, revenge and so much adventure in this book! This is the first book in the Rook & Rose trilogy and introduces us to our protagonists: Ren, a con artist trying to make a place for herself and her family while running from her past, Grey, a Hawk Captain (guard) who is trying to find his brother’s murderer and hiding a secret, Vargo, a manipulative and extremely charming crime lord who is willing to do anything to get what he wants and is also hiding a very dark secret, and of course, Rook, the legendary vigilante who keeps running into Ren and going on capers with her, but who is he really? Ren has taken a new identity to try and con her way into a wealthy home all the while magic runs loose and children go missing and she finds herself in constant danger of being discovered or manipulated for someone else’s game. I really had so much fun reading this book and can’t wait to see where the story goes. The book is very visual and creates such a mood, theres music, magic, culture, and the entire book just emulates courtly Venice. This was such an experience and I really loved Ren as a protagonist. She has to be constantly on her feet and use her wit to get out of tricky situations while donning various disguises and identities. And I swoon for vigilante + con artist capers and flirting, they just work for me. I can’t wait to see where Rook and Ren go and how they both deal with all their secrets and plots. This book has so much, seriously, GO READ IT!

*Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed the concept of this story and the overall character building that happened. I loved the variety of influences that were apparent in this story and the setting of the book. The writing was enjoyable and engaging. But man, the pacing of this book was rough. The first 100 or so pages felt really slow and drawn out and it took me a while to power my way through them. A lot of information felt like it was being dumped on me without necessarily adding to the plot in the moment and felt like I was just wading through information at that point. The second half of the book was definitely stronger, but if you're a reader who really struggles through slow beginnings, this might not be the best fit for you.

The cover... Gorgeous. This is super important because a cheap or ugly looking cover could be the difference between a reader picking it up or moving over it.

I read this quickly! It was just too good to put down. Well written.

Interesting concept for the book. It would have read smoothly with more sound names. Overall all the book is predictable with unique names and a old story in a new setting.

You know those books you read in one sitting because the IDEA of putting it down would be similar to removing your heart from your chest??

This book hands down saved 2020 for me and I’m so sorry to everyone who has to wait till 2021 to read it. It was beautiful and so well written that from basically the first chapter I decided I was HAPPILY along for the ride.

I’m desperately unhappy I have to wait for more but so content I stumbled onto this book! Highly suggest it !

If I had to describe the recipe for Mask of Mirrors, it would look something like this:
- Take Six of Crows (+ grishaverse) as the basis, and add...
- The police and street force of Beka Cooper
- The vaguely-Romani influences + child-napping of His Dark Materials
- The Blue Spirit from Avatar
- A dash of courtly Venice

Overall, this was a strong first book in the new Rook & Rose series, and I am definitely planning on reading the second one. The aesthetics of the city and the magical clothing Ren wears, combined with the political aspects of the story, made me keep turning the pages.

However, the overabundance of terminology, magic semantics, and politics without much backstory that we get--particularly in the first chapters--made me almost DNF the book. It was just so many terms, some of which aren't explained until over 50% of the way through the book. Some of which aren't explained, period.

Like City of Brass, the story focuses on one city's ethnic divides based on subjugated vs. colonizers, but the different ethnic groups are a bit murky. At first, it seems the three classes of citizens are divided strictly on racial lines, with distinctions being drawn between those of mixed races, and two other groups. But later on, this seems to not be the case. It also doesn't help that 2/3 main groups have quite similar-looking names. The terminology for each group within the city also seems to want to be heavily influenced by "real" societies, namely Italian and Romanian(?). But, there's a lot that's hard to pronounce in one's head and hard to figure out. I'm hoping the map that final readers will have will help with this, as trying to sort out the city is hard enough, let alone sort out the 2-3 other countries/regions that are mentioned (I think one seems to be Francophone-inspired, and another, Welsh).

I think this shows promise, for sure, and the political aspects of the story really caught my attention, but I would love to see the different magic systems (particularly the "numinatria"--which is numbers, but also gods, but also shapes) fleshed out and explained a bit more in future installments.

Other things of note:
- lgbt+ themes throughout, with one sub-culture having what appears to be trans characters
- No real romance to focus on, but hints at some to come
- A bit of a dark academia feel, for those who enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
- If you want Nina from grishaverse but sweet, this is the niche book for you