Wow, this book is a ride. It’s a twisty political fantasy with an emphasis on found family and origins, and while it takes a bit to get there, the journey is very enjoyable.

“My grandfather—yours too, I suppose—he used to say, revenge will make you whole. The way Grey’s been behaving… I’m afraid it will break him.”
It didn’t break me, she wanted to say. But that wasn’t entirely true. Coming back to Lacewater made that all too clear.”


House Traementis – Donaia and her children Leato and Giuna – are nearing financial ruin, and the last thing they expect is the appearance of Renata Viraudax, Donaia’s previously unknown niece. Renata’s stated purpose is to reconcile the break between her mother and Donaia, but that’s not quite true. Renata is actually Ren, a Nadežran river rat who hopes to con her way into the family in order to secure financial security for herself and her sister, Tess. But she’s not prepared for the murky quagmire of Nadežran politics, inimical magic, and the echoes of her past that keep threatening to come to light.

“I have my compass, my edge, my chalk, myself. I need nothing more to know the cosmos.”


You definitely can’t accuse this book of info dumping. In fact, besides the excruciatingly slow pace, that would have to be my biggest complaint. I love the challenge of being immersed in worldbuilding and forced to figure out what’s going on, but this strained my limits. Nadežra is a conquered city, meaning there’s two separate naming styles, religions, and magic systems to contend with – the Liganti conquerors, and the Vraszenians, who still trace their heritage back to their clans. You can’t be, “OMG, Ren, that’s so Sestian!” because honestly I have no idea what a Sestian would do. There’s also a plethora of characters, all with multiple names or titles. Once I got the hang of it, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the worldbuilding and the tensions between the two different cultures. While I found the Liganti numinatria magic system interesting, my personal favorite was the Vraszenian pattern deck, loosely based on tarot cards. Ren has a special affinity for reading the deck, thanks to her mother, and it becomes an important plot point as the book goes on. No matter what she does, Ren can’t seem to escape her roots.

“Ren had limits. Vargo, it seemed, did not. It chilled her a little, but also made for an odd sense of camaraderie; they were not so different, the two of them.”


The story is told from multiple POVs, though the main characters are Ren; Grey, a Vraszenian captain in the Vigil mourning the death of his brother; and Vargo, a rich crimelord attempting to come clean. Ren and Grey were my two favorites, though Vargo provided a nice foil for Ren. Ren has two rules for her cons – she’ll go as far as it takes, but no killing and no whoring. Vargo, on the other hand… There’s also the Rook, a shadowy vigilante folk hero figure who Ren encounters soon after she arrives back in Nadežra. Ren soon finds herself trying to worm her way into the Traementis’ good graces while being distracted by the identity of the Rook, forming and discarding multiple guesses. There’s also Tess, Ren’s sworn sister, who’s absolute magic with sewing and embroidery, and is masquerading as Ren’s maid. And that’s not even counting the Traementis family! None of the characters are what they appear on the surface – or what Ren initially categorizes them as – and sometimes good-seeming characters make bad choices for all the wrong reasons. I especially felt for Grey and his attempts to navigate a corrupt police force full of nepotism and disregard for Vraszenian customs while being denigrated by the same citizens for selling out.

While the pacing is slow, it did add a sort of tension and immersion to the book. The ending was exquisite, and I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in the series in hopes of having some of my lingering questions answered. Overall, an easy 4.5 stars from me.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

What a fun fantasy read! I loved the character relationships and how they developed throughout this story. I think even though it is a slow pace at the beginning I didn't mind because all I wanted to do was watch these quiet moments where characters are interacting with each other. Once the pace does pick up then the mystery and tension takes over and I couldn't put it down. My one complain is that the character relationships took more of a back seat than I wanted in the later end of the story when the pace picked up. The magic is also really interesting. I am always a fan of dream magic which plays a large roll in this story. There are lots of things still to learn but for a first book in a series I was really intrigued and happy with where it ended and the answers I did get to all the intriguing questions that this narrative gives you. Recommend this to anyone who likes multiple point of view adventure/political fantasy.

Reader: I did not love this book.

A lot of that is on me; I knew going into this that M. A. Carrick is the pseudonym of Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms, and although I adore the premises of all Brennan’s books, something about her style has always put me to sleep. Secondly, I also knew this was a story centered around a con, and I don’t care about cons and heists and all that sort of thing. So really, I probably should have given this one a pass.

But it sounded so perfect, and all the press for it is glowing, and how often do we get 700+ pages-long fantasies anymore? From two authors who are both anthropologists? It was going to be silks and jewels in a queernorm setting, with guaranteed detailed worldbuilding, so… I risked it.

And now I’ve finished it, it all seems so forgettable. I have no strong feelings about it at all. I certainly don’t hate it, but I can’t think of anyone I’d recommend it to, either. I have no urge to gush; I’m not struggling to turn my flaily delight into something legible. I’m equally not torturing my keyboard in hammering out frustration or upset. I’m just…

Meh.

I want to say that there’s nothing actually wrong with this book; these are not bad writers by any stretch. But turning the final page this morning, I realised that I didn’t care about a single one of the characters. The enormous reveal that takes place on the second-last page, which should have been jaw-dropping… I felt nothing. I’m confused as to how this isn’t a standalone, because Mask of Mirrors wraps up just about every question it asks and every plotline it starts, which makes the dramatic final line – which is literally something like “This is your game? Then let’s play. ” – a wet fizzle when it was clearly meant as a mic-drop, a drawn sword, a let’s play.

To which my only response is: play what? No, don’t answer, I don’t actually care.

And I can’t tell you why. The characters all have their backstories, their unique motivations, people and things they care about. Some are sweet and some are not; some are out for family and some are out for blood; some are criminals-with-hearts-of-gold and some of them are criminals-but-you-love-it; there’s a whole mixed bag here, is what I’m saying, and almost all of them – appropriately, given the book’s title – wear multiple masks, appearing very different from different angles, in different contexts. Sometimes that’s literal, as in the case of the Rook, a mysterious vigilante who defends the poor from the nobility from within an enchanted cowl; sometimes it’s a bit more metaphorical, like Ren, who uses make-up and mannerisms to pass for a noble or a fortune-teller as the situation requires.

But the cast is so varied that it must be nearly impossible, statistically, to not care about any of them. And I don’t. I found a few mildly more interesting than the rest…but not nearly interesting enough that I would have finished reading the book if it hadn’t been an arc (which I do feel obliged to finish, unless one is actually abysmally bad). And given that Mask of Mirrors is over 700 pages long (nearly 800 on my kindle)…I mean, you had twice as much space as most books to make me care. And yet, you failed. That’s not great.

That said, it’s clear from other early reviews that I’m the exception. I don’t think this is an objectively bad book; I think it’s a case of book + reader not meshing well, for whatever reason. But I do have one legitimate critique.

I think there’s an almost mathematical rule that the faster the pace of the story, the ‘blunter’ your prose can be. You don’t need a lot of three-syllable adjectives for an action story (although of course, you’re free to use them if you want). But the flipside of that is that when your story moves slowly, your prose needs to become…dreamier, lovelier, more poetic. A slower story needs beautiful prose to both justify the languid pace, and also to give your reader something to enjoy which is not the story itself (because the story itself is not moving forward very quickly). And I think Mask of Mirrors fails to justify its pacing that way. The prose is not beautiful enough to make me want to linger over every page, to make me appreciate and even enjoy that slower pace. I wouldn’t call it bad, but the best I can describe it as is ‘pleasant’. A meal that didn’t give you food poisoning, but that you won’t have again.

Moving onto the worldbuilding, which I expected to be spectacular… Maybe I went in with my expectations too high, because I wasn’t impressed. The setting didn’t feel different enough from things I’ve seen before to stand out as impressive. A lot of attention has been paid to detail; the various parts of this world fit together perfectly, I won’t deny that. If the worldbuilding rule is that authors must know every detail down to how the plumbing works, well, Brennan and Helms know how the plumbing works. And yet, the setting still feels generically European; not Medieval, but vaguely Regency, maybe, only queerer and with magic, drawing on Venice instead of England or France. Renaming the months of a year doesn’t impress me, nor does creating your own stand-in for tarot. I was looking for a setting that felt truly different, and I didn’t get it.

Ultimately, I just never felt invested, and I won’t be picking up the sequel. But since I seem to be very much the exception, I do still think you should give it a try if the blurb appeals to you.

I expect I’m going we’re going to be seeing a great deal of chatter about The Mask of Mirrors in the next few weeks and months, and for good reason. This was excellent. The main character is pulling a con that Locke Lamora would be proud of. We’ve got underworld kingpins, a Zorro like figure, traumatic childhoods, tarot readings, flirtations, and talented dressmakers. It’s all a delight.


The book is set in the city of Nadežra, which has a great deal of both Venice and New Orleans in its blood. It is the holy city of a people that remind me a great deal of the Roma, but long since conquered by foreigners, and subsequently liberated - sort of. In the centuries since, those descended from the conquerors have maintained their position as the ruling aristocracy, but tension with the original people has been ever present.


Enter Ren: an orphan who fled the city as a child, returned as “Alta Renata Viraudax,” supposedly from an estranged branch of one of the city’s noble houses. In the name of family rapprochement, “Alta Renata” is trying to charm her way into the good graces (and, incidentally, pocketbooks) of her supposed family. But, naturally, things don’t go entirely according to plan.


For starters, Ren is no cheerfully amoral Locke Lamora. She’s been well trained to be a con artist, but she’s much more concerned about the safety and security of her sister and herself than tweaking the noses of the rich. Years of feuding with other noble houses have left her targets distinctly short of cousins, and when they welcome Renata warmly into their hearts it’s pretty obvious Ren isn’t going to be able to rob them and go on her way.


And so Ren has to navigate her way through the city’s nobility with nothing but her wits, charm, and her sister’s talents as a dressmaker. She becomes another piece in the city’s politics, used and manipulated by the various noble houses and other, even less savory, players like slum-lord-gone-”respectable”-landlord who happens to own the townhouse Alta Renata is renting. Throw in the long-simmering tensions between the nobility and the repressed ethnic minority and a few encounters with the Rook - a dashing, Zorro like figure, champion of the downtrodden and thorn in the heel of the nobility - and you’ve got a hell of a story.


I’ve mostly talked about Ren, and she’s certainly the star, but this is an ensemble book with a variety of POV characters. Her supposed cousins from the noble Traemantis family; her sister Tess; an officer of the city Watch, risen high for one of the repressed minority; and her charming underworld kingpin landlord are all prominent, with assorted others providing other perspectives as needed.


I’ve never read anything by Alyc Helms, so I really don’t have a basis of comparison for her. Marie Brennan, though, I know. I was kind of “meh” on A Natural History of Dragons, but thought Driftwood was a masterpiece. This has more of the feel of Driftwood than the Lady Trent books, I’m happy to say. I’ve seen comparisons to The Goblin Emperor as well, which fits. There’s also a very strong colonialist element to the story. And the cover is beautiful, which never hurts.


Big thanks to Orbit for the ARC of this. It comes out on Tuesday.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the arc copy in return for my honest review.

First and foremost, I must say that it was the blurb and the cover that drew me into The Mask of Mirrors. I enjoy stories with multiple POVs, and the blurb made it clear that I could expect a few intertwining stories. It did not disappoint in that sense.

While there are multiple POVs, Renata Viraudax is at the center of this story. She’s a con artist who’s trying to find her way into a noble house and secure her future. Renata is charming and uses her charm and wit to the upper classes of Nadezra. I really liked the portrayal of Renata as the morally grayed character. She’s not quite your typical heroine, but she isn’t the full-fledged villain as well. Renata’s path crosses with multiple characters like the Crime lords, a vigilante, and a soldier – all of whom add value to the plot.

One of the aspects of this book I really enjoyed was its political intrigue and the magical system. The worldbuilding is immaculate. I could visualize the city of Nadezra with all of its elements. There is an extensive list of characters. It was at times difficult to keep up with each set of characters, and I found myself going back and re-reading some chapters to figure where each character came from or belonged. I found the beginning of the story a little dragging, and I had to force myself to keep at it in the first few chapters. The plot picks up mid-way, and the intrigue builds up, so I recommend continuing reading even if the story does not captivate you in the beginning few chapters.

This is the first of a trilogy, and I think the authors have created a fantastic beginning. It is a very long book with multiple Houses, multiple types of magic, multiple characters, and POVs. This means this is one of those books where you take the time to read and then re-read chapters to understand the different sub-plots used and why they are necessary.

If you enjoyed books like The City of Brass's political system, the magical system of The Darker Shade of Magic, or the character-driven plot of The Six of Crows, you’d enjoy this book. Overall, I give it 4/5 stars and am looking forward to book 2.

Firstly, I would like to thank the publishers, authors, and Netgalley for gifting me this free E-arc in return for an honest review!

This story was slow and entrancing. With many plot lines intertwining throughout, and dozens of secondary characters being mentioned, I often found myself confused trying to keep it all straight. On top of that there was 6 pages of vocabulary being used uniquely to this story, that was accessible in the back of the book, but as I read an e-arc it was quite difficult to keep up with.
The plot did drag quite a few times, making it difficult to keep my interest at times, which was disappointing because at other times I was enthralled with the direction of the story.
I did also find the world building to be lacking, and found myself wondering a few times in the beginning of the book, if this was a companion novel to another story set it this world, simply because there was so much going on and not a lot of time or explanation put into it to help center us into the story.
Overall I still enjoyed it, and I think reader with a better memory for details will really be able to appreciate this book, as the story itself is very good!

In The Mask of Mirrors, prepare yourself for some deep world-building and an expansive cast of characters. It's an intricate plot full of intrigue, magic, and struggle.

The story treats you to many points of view, but the central role is held by Ren, who is pulling off a long con to infiltrate a noble family as an estranged cousin. With her own wits and charm and her sister's talent for imbued tailoring, she will take the upper classes by storm. She will cross paths with a crime lord seeking legitimacy, a captain in the guard caught between his own downtrodden people and the will of his superiors, and a masked vigilante strongly resembling Dread Pirate Roberts in terms of banter and mystery.

This was a long book, clocking in at almost 700 pages. I think the complexity of the world and the story merited its length, and I was swept up in it all. I'm always a sucker for an intricate fantasy world and characters beating the wealthy at their own games. I also enjoyed the normalized queer identities and relationships in the story. What really took it home for me was the characters; their victories filled me with triumph, their losses left me in tears, and their secrets had me racing forward to untangle them. I look forward to see what the trilogy has in store for us next.

Nadezra is the city of dreams, a marvelous city where anything can happen. At least, that's the sales pitch, and Renata Viraudax is quite familiar with things that sound too good to be true. She's a con artist by trade, and when you're in that business, every person is a potential mark, another sucker who will buy the veneer of grandeur before seeing the goods. Renata is making her home in Nadezra to make her own dream come true. She will become part of a noble house, make a comfortable life, and ensure that her sister partakes in the good fortune. She chooses House Traementis as her prey, only realizing too late that she is not the only con artist in Nadezra, and while the nobles conspire against one another, the poor and downtrodden murmur and scheme to find a foothold, a taste, of the city of dreams. What at first seemed a fulfillment of a dream may have ensnared Renata in a fight for the soul of Nadezra itself.

Moral ambiguity! Dark forces arise to do the right thing! Con artists and crime lords unite! I knew I had to read this book when I saw that Marie Brennan is a co-author for The Mask of Mirrors, for she is also the author of The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, which I love! Renata is a flawed protagonist, not quite a heroine, and not quite a devil, as it's really difficult to feel sorry for people with more money than sense being conned. I enjoyed watching her cons play out, and the different ways she disguised herself and stepped into roles in order to swindle others. I also liked Vargo, who is part of Nadezra's criminal underworld, and it is the juxtaposition between society's normal perspective of characters like these, and how they act for the greater good at odds with those expectations, that makes these characters compelling. The Mask of Mirrors is the first in a new trilogy, and I'm excited already for the next installment. Visit Nadezra as soon as you are able, but keep your wits about you, lest you fall prey to someone else's dream!

I have long been pining for a story that came even close to The Lies of Locke Lamora and while this wasn’t quite on that same level it’s the closest a book has come in sooo long. I live for clever con-artist stories and The Mask of Mirrors is exactly that. I feel like it was also one very elaborate set up for future books, but more on that later. 

Ren and her sister (adoptive sister) have just moved back to Nadežra after many years away and they are planning quite the con. Ren is pretending to be Renata Viraudax, daughter of the estranged Letilia Traementis so that she may worm her way into the Traementis household. Her motives aren’t what I’d call evil by any stretch - Ren just wants the name and hopefully enough money to provide for herself and Tess. The con is helped by the fact that Ren and Tess were actually servants of Letilia’s so they knew much of her history and even swiped some family jewels on the way out. Little does Ren know that House Traementis might have a respected name, but that’s about all that's left since Donaia’s deceased husband racked up gambling debts. 

Ren’s attempt to become part of this household leads to many unforeseen circumstances as she is drawn into the political, criminal and even magical side of Nadežra. Derossi Vargo, crime lord,  becomes quite central to matters. He’s an interesting character with a mysterious air about him and unusual skill in the arcane. On the opposite side of things is Grey Serrado, a captain in the Vigil (police) who is also a family friend of the Traementis. His investigations into Ren almost ruin her plans and he continues to throw a wrench into things from time to time. The cast of characters is honestly quite large, though I will briefly mention Leato and Giuna, son and daughter of Donaia Traementis. Leato is a handsome man who isn’t quite as superficial as he first appears. Giuna is the sheltered younger sister who I took quite a liking to as the story progressed - more than meets the eye there as well!

In addition to Ren’s con, the political intrigue is executed so well and is just as (if not more) fascinating than all the action bits. And then you throw in Vargo, with his dark looks and his weird spider and things really start heating up! OH, AND THE ROOK!!! The mysterious Robin Hood type figure that shows up to humiliate assholes from time to time. It’s a mystery as to who may be lurking under that hood, but trust me when you find out… WOW! 

Overall, this book really swept me away. I love the world building, the different types of magic mentioned, the characters… so much! And this whole book seemed to be the set up for the Rook and the Rose actually being a duo and I am so here for that! I loved it and it was a fantastic way to wrap up 2020.

It's like the authors took every one of my favorite things and combined them into this novel.

A brave heroine who never gives up, even when it seems like events are spinning out of control? Check.
A tightly-plotted story with lots of intrigue, cons, and politics? Check.
A plucky found family of misfits? Check.
A mysterious masked vigilante? Check.
A fascinating and original magic system? Check. (I want a side novella on how to draw numinatria. And another one on how to read pattern decks.)
A charming rogue who could be a flawed hero or a sympathetic villain, or maybe both. Check. (Vargo is a great character.)

The authors put a lot of detail into character development and worldbuilding, and they didn't give it all away in the first book of the series. (Example: They developed a calendar for this world that is hinted at in the section headings. I haven't quite figured out the names or the order of the months, how many days in a month, or how many months in a year, but it's in there.)

The blurb comparisons to GGK are overblown, but then they always are -- the man is in an absolute class by himself. Otherwise, this was a hugely entertaining adventure that made me stay up way too late reading because I just had to find out what happened next. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Ren and her sister are back in the city they grew up in before they fled to pull the biggest con of their lives. Both grew up on a crew that thrived on thievery and cons. Now Ren is attempting to con the elite of the city by being one of them and eventually be accepted by one of the noble houses. But there is a dark magic swirling around the city, and it seems that Ren is right in the middle of it. I really enjoyed the characters in this one. The plot was also solid. How can you go wrong with cons, political intrigue and an unknown backer? The only miss for me was the magic – I just wish it was explained a bit more. But I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan to pick up the next book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I requested The Mask of Mirrors on the strength of the premise alone (the pretty cover helped!), but was intrigued to find out M.A. Carrick is actually a writing team, consisting of established fantasy authors Marie Brennan (her Natural History of Dragons has been on my TBR forever!) and Alyc Helms. And while I had a lot of issues with this book, I can still see a lot to like here.

This book is slow…and dense. And coming off another slow-burn read (I blame myself, I somewhat planned my reading this way, with ARCs and whatnot), I just was not in the mood for another book where I had to really work to feel invested, especially when this one comparatively did not feel as worth it. I’m used to fantasy being a bit of slower build, but I didn’t even feel like that was the reasoning for it? The world building was complex, but not in a way that felt understandable…there’s a character guide at the end, but I felt like I needed more to really understand what all these political factions meant.

I did like some of the characters somewhat. Ren was all right as a lead, although she does fall into the trap of feeling a bit too perfect to the point where the conflict becomes nonexistent. Some other characters did have some potential and feel more multifaceted, even if they weren’t really given their due, such as Grey, who is really underused.

I think this book has a lot of potential, and am cautiously optimistic to see where the series can go from here, with most of the setup (flawed as it is) under its belt. And it has attracted a diverse array of opinions, many leaning more toward the favorable, so it’s possible others might enjoy it more than I did.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Mask of Mirrors is a rich and diversive fantasy novel with expansive world building and magical elements. It centers on the main character, Ren, a con artist who attempts to pull off what seems to be an impossibly intricate heist- conning a noble family into surrendering to her their fortune. Except, she never thought she would come to care for them, instead, complicating matters.

It has some serious Six of Crows vibes going on, but this is not a Young Adult novel, it touches on some darker elements that really help to breath life and believability into the cast. This is one of the few books I've read lately where "grey" characters have been pulled off so wonderfully, you sit there and think, I can't really be upset with them right, that decision does make sense!

Not to mention, although it was written by a writer duo, you couldn't really tell! Everything flowed together wonderfully.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for giving me an ARC of Mask of Mirrors in return for an honest review.

This book is wildly fascinating!

It felt a little like A Darker Shade of Magic and Six of Crows but I absolutely loved those books so I immediately loved this one. It is a fantasy novel but the magic comes in about halfway through and I promise it’s worth the wait. The first half of the novel is very much invested in setting the plot and character development. You get a lot of depth of Ren and Tess and who they are behind the masks they use to con House Traementis, and honestly I love Renata, Arenza and Renyi all equally.

I read this book so slowly, there are a lot of households to learn and a lot of knowledge you require to understand how the magic in this world works. Think of this book as a fine wine, you definitely can’t sit down and chug this, it needs to be savoured to be properly enjoyed. And if you read it this way you will not be disappointed, this story carries you to another world that is just so good. I wish the Mask of Mirrors was 2000 more pages, I looked forward to reading this every day. I’m definitely sad it’s over, especially with so much happening at the end. I promise no spoilers but come on Vargo!?! You’re killing me! Ugh, I just really loved everything about this story and I can’t wait for the sequel!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This book has a great worldbuilding, a lot of political intrigues and a character driven story. A great mix that usually is a good match with me. Why then couldn’t I love this book more?

At first, I found the plot to be intriguing and right up my alley. Ren is a young girl and a con artist, she came to the city to weave her way in a noble house and secure a fortune and her sister’s future. But she soon discovers that her mask is not the only one within the elite of this city. There is also corrupt magic that is suppose to make its way in the city. That seems nice isn’t it? Unfortunately, this book was not for me.

We first have a glance at the poor noble house which is the target of Ren. We discover that there are in fact becoming poorer. So I rapidly found myself wondering why but why and how could Ren try to integrate this family and make them live in an illusion. How could she live with herself everyday knowing that she is not who she is and befriend the whole family in her lies?

So first, the characters.
I couldn’t like any of them. I could not root for any of them and I didn’t much care of what happened to them. They were all just stabbing each other in the back and lying and playing games. I could not like it. Ren began to annoy me very much at 50%. She always seemed to be right where she needed too. Always spying on people, always knowing what to say or do and always doing the right thing for her advantage. Like, it all seems too convenient for her. But she is also supposed to have a thigh schedule; trying to establish her reputation, dining with people, doing her business and she is also supposed to be spying and have the time to scheme like that. It was a bit much for me. I also feel for Tess who has to work all night to do Ren’s costume and dress and can not imagine how she manages to do it.

There were frankly too many POV and most of the time that didn’t seems to bring that many information. Actually, there were a bit too many side stories and I even lost track of what the real plot was. And what was it again? There is also supposed to be a corrupt magic making its way but there was not much description of this before half the book. It was intriguing and I liked it but I wished there were more (maybe sadly there is more on the other half).

The worldbuilding was sincerely great and well done. Too much «well done». The characters all know this world, how it works and how it is. There is nobody there who is just info dumping us with things known by the people they talk to. And that’s the problem. We, the reader, do not know all of this world. And every thing in this world has a special name ! There is even something for what I assume is left and right called earthwise and sunwise but I have no idea which is which (I assumed sunwise was right). Usually, there is a character who is new to this and we have the chance to learn with this character. Here it’s not exactly the case. While Ren does not know everything, she still knows enough to left me completely confuse sometime on the world.

So, I’m very sad to say that this was not for me. I’m sure there is a lot of people out there who will love it and love all this worldbuilding and political intrigue and even find it nice if the characters are not likeable. But for me, it was not my book.

Truly haven't a clue why so many are saying it's a slow start. I was hooked from page 1. I low key feel like this is the book I've been waiting for my whole fantasy-loving life. A no homophobia or transphobia world? Check. A blatant critique of capitalism and wealth? Check. High, dark fantasy with a touch of horror? Check. Here are the keys to my heart, you earned them.

Rich in detail, this is a slow burn, good for those who like complexity in their books. The prologue for this book was fascinating. A young Ren does the unthinkable to save her sister and herself from a dangerous life on the streets, a life that would have led to an early death. However, after that big bang of a start, this book slowed down…a lot.

Normally, I like a slower buildup, as long as it builds up to something that makes it worth the wait. Unfortunately, I feel like The Mask of Mirrors didn’t live up to its full potential. There was a lot of setup- the authors obviously put a ton of thought and effort into making their world as large and detailed as possible. It was incredibly impressive. However, I kept waiting for that setup to contribute to the storyline and, at times, I felt that some of it was unnecessary.

Ren is a con woman. I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book about a con where the main character is female. It was pretty stinking cool to see a female taking point on a con. While she wasn’t my favorite character in the book, I appreciated how different her techniques were. I did think that her part of the plot sort of meandered.

My favorite part of the book was trying to guess who the Rook was. He was a bit of vigilante. I found both the idea and the execution utterly fascinating. I really struggled to become invested; the Rook is what kept me reading.

There were many, many names to remember. Each person had a title, family tree, and random important facts thrown in. Again, that speaks of the richness of the authors’ world. It was utterly confusing, though. The characters themselves were all original and unique; it was just difficult to remember so many of them.

Much of this book relied on cleverness and the ability to play the game, so to speak. There are problems of knowing how to dress to distract or divert from a person’s true nature. Being able to afford the trappings to pull off the façade of fitting into high society was an obstacle that had to be overcome. This isn’t quite the sort of story that I usually get into, making me think that this is a situation of “it’s not you, it’s me”.

The final bit of the book really picked up and the ending made me curious about the second book of the series. I am interested to see what happens next, but it won’t be a priority for me. I think The Mask of Mirrors will probably be more appreciated by readers who like a “fantasy of manners” flare.

Decent story, easy enough to follow. I would read more books by this author. Overall, I liked the characters, the plot, the dialogue, and the wrap up.

3/5 Stars

As a child, the city betrayed Ren in many ways, and now she’s back to exact revenge: by conning her way into the nobility, only to find out there’s a deeper game afoot and she somehow plays a role.

I’ll be honest and say the cover was a big reason why I wanted to read this book. The masks had me dreaming of Carnevale in Italy, but, after reading the book, I’m pretty sure I read somewhere one time that there were Slavic influences woven through the world, and I kept getting an Eastern European feel to it with tarot cards thrown in for good measure. It was kind of a dizzying world and something of a slog to get into, what with being thrown into a completely foreign world and having to wade through almost incomprehensible titles, families, places, and terms. It was confusing and I just gave up on trying to keep everything straight, hoping it would become clearer the longer I read on, which it did as the story picked up and took quite a few terms to become one of my favorite reads.

The Plot: Where Games Come to be Played
Ren was orphaned as a young child when her mother was killed and robbed. She ended up being raised alongside Tess and Sledge by their knot leader Ondrakja, but the city once again betrays her as Ondrakja kills Sledge as punishment to Ren. So Ren poisons Ondrakja, committing an unforgivable betrayal of her knot, and runs from Nadezra with Tess.

Years later, Ren and Tess are back. Aiming to take revenge on a city that has stolen everything from her by conning her way into the noble Traementis family, Ren poses as Renata Viraudax, the daughter of a woman struck from the Traementis register, with Tess as her maid. She makes waves as she ensures everyone in the city knows her name so the remaining Traementis family can’t ignore her. She also draws the attention of a masked vigilante known as the Rook and reformed criminal named Vargo who has eyes on joining the nobility himself.

Ren is drawn into a web, a dizzying game being played around her without her being aware of it while she plays her own, that has her reaching into her Vraszenian roots and playing both sides of the city, the Nadezran half and the Vraszenian half as the two clash in a class war around her.

The Mask of Mirrors is, as I’ve mentioned, dizzying. The reader is tossed whole body into a completely foreign world where nobles aren’t even lords and ladies, but altans and altas. There’s a handy cast of characters and a glossary that I found myself referencing throughout the book, but I found it easier to figure out by simply shrugging it off and hoping it would make sense and the pieces would fall into place as I read along. But it was often confusing and slow going as story and world building wound so tightly around each other. It was difficult trying to understand one piece without the other. So, the beginning was kind of a dizzy mess and will likely merit some re-reading. But I did like getting to know Ren as both Ren and Renata and the history that drove her to doing what she was doing. It was fascinating to read about how she worked to con the nobility of Nadezra.

The middle both disappointed and thrilled me. At its start, I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at a too common device used in fantasy. It felt like an easy way out to transition from the story of Ren conning her way into the Traementis family to the story of a disgruntled woman from Ren’s past and the story of a larger con game afoot throughout the city. Really, it’s quite a lot packed into this book, and I’m a little surprised it, more or less, flowed. But that middle part, as much as it had me rolling my eyes and feeling a little letdown, really did come through and add a little more to the story. Though it also bloated the story to near bursting.

The second half of the book was kind of a roller coaster. I found it impossible to put down. There was so much going on, so many events, so many different disparate parts coming together into a whole. I loved that control slipped from Ren and an entirely more sinister plot brewed to throw the city into chaos, chaos that maybe only Ren could help temper. It was an incredible ride and, at the end, I was mad that it ended and I would have to wait for the next book to be published because, by then, I’d gotten a good grasp on the world and was so pulled into the games being played that I wanted to read more. I don’t think I’ve ever been so indignantly angry at a book before.

The Characters: Focused on a Core Group
Like most fantasies, The Mask of Mirrors comes with a large cast of characters, but not so large as the dramatis personae list would have you believing. There are quite a few minor characters that do carry some importance, but the reader doesn’t really get to meet or interact much with them. Instead, the story is focused on a handful or so people, making it much easier to keep track of them and where in the world and the story they belonged.

There’s Ren and Tess who are sisters and have spent years together. Ren is the con artist while Tess plays her role as a lady’s maid and is quite a wizard with a needle. They’re a lovely pair that balance each other and I adore the close, sisterly bond they share. Tess is more of a shrinking violet, always unsure of herself when not playing Ren’s maid. Ren was, essentially, three faced as she portrayed herself, Renata the noblewoman, and Arenza the Vraszenian pattern reader. It was a lot of fun reading how she managed to pull them all off and keep them all separate. I thought Ren was much more boring than Renata, though, and Arenza didn’t do much but dutifully play her role. I liked that she was able to pull off all three, but I find I don’t really know Ren herself.

Then there’s Vargo and the Traementis family and the Rook. Each portrays a different part of Nadezran society. Vargo is the reformed crime lord trying to edge his way into the nobility, and he will play anyone and every game to do so. But there’s something suave about him, something that’s both oily and alluring. The Traementis family is rapidly diminishing, both in size and wealth. With the arrival of Renata, they number four. The matriarch is, of course, suspicious, but her children, Leato and Giuna welcome her as a long-lost cousin. There’s both distrust and desperation in the once prominent noble family. The Rook is a symbol for the Vraszens. A shadowy, unknown figure that has endured for 200 hundred years, the Rook exacts revenge for the lower classes, but seems to have a separate vendetta of it’s own.

Put together, the characters alone, with how diverse they are, hints at a huge story. Each is a different cog in a plot the reader only starts to learn of in the latter half of the book. There’s much at stake for each of them, but bonds also grow that will likely be tested over and over before the story is concluded.

The Setting: Focused on a City, but Complex
The Mask of Mirrors presents a fascinating, yet confusing world. As the reader is simply dropped into it and the authors don’t take a moment to introduce anything, it feels like a crazy mass of made up words that only slowly spin into a cohesive world. Instead, all the explaining is left to the glossary, requiring much flipping back and forth.

But I do have to admit that, as ambitious as it is, it somehow works. Once I was as fully oriented as I could be, or could at least keep altas and altans separate. I kept expecting Venice to pop up, especially with the prevalence of masks and all the canals, but Poland kept invading my thoughts. I definitely got more of an Eastern European feel than Italian, which just made things more muddled in my mind.

As I read on, though, I adjusted to the world unfolding before me to the point where I was fully drawn into it. I loved how it depicted a city full of the people native to Nadezra, the Vraszenians, and the descendants of the invaders. It’s a classic class story of the conquerors shoving down the people who were there first. But now things are becoming heated as cogs begin to turn, creating a city of unrest and distrust.

On another level, there’s a more mystical component at play. The magic is in the form of numinatria, designs that, when drawn a certain way, induce different kinds of behavior in the people caught up in it. But there’s also pattern magic, accessible only to Vraszenian pattern readers who take what are, essentially, tarot cards, and tell someone’s fortune and misfortune and that which is neither. The magic is subtle, but strong, and I get the feeling there’s more yet to be unraveled about how, exactly, it all works considering how strong the pattern magic of the Vraszenians are and how predominant the numinatria of the Nadezrens are.

Overall: Amazing After a Shaky Start
While The Mask of Mirrors started on shaking footing for me, I’m glad I stuck with it. It was absolutely slow going, but, by going as slowly as I needed to, I was better able to absorb the story and the world to the point where I really didn’t want it to end. As confused as I was at first, I found myself angry that I would have to wait for the next book to be published to find out what was going to happen next. I was not ready to stop reading, especially since the real story of the series was just starting to gear up. I wasn’t a fan of how the story seemed to evolve from one thing to another, but it all made sense and, thinking back, I can see wisps of the overarching story reaching all the way back to the first pages. Overall, an almost too bloated and ambitious story, but fascinating enough for me to eagerly anticipate the next book.

Thank you to Angela Man and Orbit for electronic and physical ARC copies. All opinions expressed are my own.
Link to post: https://thelilycafe.com/book-review-the-mask-of-mirrors-by-m-a-carrick/

2.5 stars

Con artists, nobility, and crime lords are the main factions in this novel, delivering a collectively intricate plot reminiscent of a fantastical Venetian opera. With ten houses of the nobility and their main characters raging political intrigue - over 20 additional characters will mix into this multifaceted, dynamic plot and keep the reader on their toes.

Arenza Lenskaya, aka Ren, aka Renata Viraudax, was raised in the slums of Nadezra and is learning to gain acceptance into the House Traementis as their long-lost kin hoping for all the wealth and social benefits it will bring. The truth however is, she is a con artist and willing to form beneficial alliances in her alias to achieve what she seeks. What she does not know is that other forces are tugging from every side.

While we follow Ren and her thoughts, she interchanges her name, depending on who she deals with and what she can benefit from the most. With changing garments, going to balls, and going as far as to change her skin color, we follow her upturning and plotting against and for nobility, while being partially open to rather shady business.

In an ever-changing plot and povs, some of the other elements of the novel are introduced. While we meet Oskana Ryvcek, a legendary swordswoman, we are also learning of The Rook, a feared and charming outlaw.

As Ren is thrown into the dangers of the different houses, magical forces sweep her off her feet and she has to sort out friends from foe.

In this story that sounds absolutely intriguing and fabulous, I found myself lost at times for a lack of explanations or connections. A swift change between chapters, characters, and an upending conspiracy, was beyond my ability to fully follow. The parts that worked for me, which were moments that I actually understood the circumstantial connections (keep in mind, there were 52 characters – so listed in the back of the book plus a glossary guide of terms) that were quite enjoyable. I loved some of the darker magic in there and the feistiness of the characters. At a page count of almost 700 pages, and from what I gather took over 2 years to plot-out in regards to the regal houses, alliances, and characters, it was just a bit beyond my complete comfort or delight but certainly commendable.
I am sure there are other readers that will absolutely love this book. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as well for me.