A review by jbrooxd
Mask by Kate Hannigan
4.0
[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Good sequel to the first book in the series, Cape. I love several things about this series. First, there are a few sections in each book that are told in comics panels, like you would expect in a superhero comic. I didn't see the final art on those sections for this book, but I liked what they did with book one. Second, there's a great female empowerment thread to the series, both with the girls who are the heroes as well as the women who are mentoring them. Third, there are tons of true historical pieces woven into this alternate WWII history. The notes in the back matter are always terrific. The author includes real women and their real contributions to the war effort in the 1940s, which I love. And fourth, I love superhero stories.
I struggled with the pacing of this one. While the girls have a few battles with the villains, they also have several scenes where they are sitting and listening and solving codes and secret messages. There's not a lot of action there, and the middle dragged for me at times. This may also be the plight of a second book in a (likely) trilogy. There are still major plot factors to be dealt with in book 3, and this is a transition to get from the introduction of book 1 to the resolution of book 3.
There's TONS here for readers to enjoy. I feel like the books in this series need to be read in order, so if you haven't read book 1, Cape, be sure to check it out and then pick up Mask as well.
Good sequel to the first book in the series, Cape. I love several things about this series. First, there are a few sections in each book that are told in comics panels, like you would expect in a superhero comic. I didn't see the final art on those sections for this book, but I liked what they did with book one. Second, there's a great female empowerment thread to the series, both with the girls who are the heroes as well as the women who are mentoring them. Third, there are tons of true historical pieces woven into this alternate WWII history. The notes in the back matter are always terrific. The author includes real women and their real contributions to the war effort in the 1940s, which I love. And fourth, I love superhero stories.
I struggled with the pacing of this one. While the girls have a few battles with the villains, they also have several scenes where they are sitting and listening and solving codes and secret messages. There's not a lot of action there, and the middle dragged for me at times. This may also be the plight of a second book in a (likely) trilogy. There are still major plot factors to be dealt with in book 3, and this is a transition to get from the introduction of book 1 to the resolution of book 3.
There's TONS here for readers to enjoy. I feel like the books in this series need to be read in order, so if you haven't read book 1, Cape, be sure to check it out and then pick up Mask as well.