Reviews

The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick

hey_itsme's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 It's been a long time since I've been obsessed with a book like this. Usually I will switch to audio if I'm tired or it's just not really keeping my focus but not this one! I know it's long and people complain about the pacing but the characters and the writing are just so well done I could read (and have) for hours and hours without a break- just immersing myself in the world

Like it's such a testament to these writers that I found myself sobbing over the death of a character that was honestly pretty low down on my ranking and also feeling smug thinking I knew all these twists/turns/reveals when I was just playing into what they wanted us to think

I'm so so excited to continue and I hope the best for all my faves (which is becoming a concerning number) and for more schemes and plots!! 

aidanc22's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

midnight_lit_'s review against another edition

4.0

I liked this book. I went into it knowing nothing about it and without any expectations and this blew my mind. It was so enjoyable and yes, the pronunciations and the magic system was a bit hard to understand but still, an amazing adult fantasy. My bar for adult fantasies has definitely risen with this book and I can't wait to read book 2

bookishplantmom's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

halleyesmith's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

chaithra's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

4.0

I needed some time to gather my thoughts into a solid enough review for my own personal memory of this reading experience. My main gripe with this book was the pacing. I had a physical to follow along, and I am quite confident to say: This would have been a solid DNF without the help of the audiobook narrator. I liked the characters enough to continue and curious to learn more about the world and its magic, but the pacing would have prevented me to keep picking it up. Nicki Massoud helped my brain to distinguish who was who and where I was in the story.

There was a lot of information on the world and magic that felt a little overwhelming. Having a multi-POV story with a book this long can somewhat excuse the length, but I truly wish the pacing sped up events a little more in Part I and II. Part III and Part IV kicked up for me after a disaster in end of Part II. The characters were mostly solid. I wanted more from certain characters but I think the amount of secrets in between several characters in various points in the story kinda made sense so that the reader could not figure out certain secrets until the ending. Personally, I don't like authors doing that (withholding information from a reader), but I let it mostly slide, for now. I hope I don't experience that in the sequel (fingers crossed).

For a long time, I wasn't sure where this story was going that warranted an extension with two more books. While I am looking forward to seeing where Ren, Grey, and Vargo are going in The Liar's Knot, I am not sure if I am feeling a dulled excitement or slight dread in one day reading it. Nonetheless, I will continue on with this series with the audiobook as my guide.

oddman's review

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

kbanks's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

meahwilson's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense

5.0