Book Review of The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick

 Name of Book: The Mask of Mirrors 

Author: M.A. Carrick 

ISBN: 978-0-316-53967-8

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: Rook And Rose (THE LIARS KNOT and LABYRINTH'S HEART are sequels) 

Type of book: Romani people based? Venice based? Fantasy, determination and grit, politics, intrigue, images, lost family, found family, mysteries, secrets, Robin hood character, double dealing, magic, numbers, fortune telling, betrayal, LGBtQIA+ characters and budding romance 

Year it was published: 2021 

Summary:

Fortune favors the bold. Magic favors the liars.

Ren is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadežra with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house, securing her fortune and her sister's future.

But as she's drawn into the elite world of House Traementis, she realizes her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as nightmare magic begins to weave its way through the City of Dreams, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled…with Ren at their heart.

The Mask of Mirrors is the unmissable start to the Rook & Rose trilogy, a dazzling and darkly magical fantasy adventure by Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms, writing together as M. A. Carrick.

Characters:

There are a whole ton of characters that become important to the story, but the three most important are Ren/Renata/Arenza as well as Grey Serrado and Derossi Vargo. Ren/Renata/Arenza comes from a subjugated people but is without a clan. She is also an orphan and doesn't know who her father is. She has had a horrible childhood and is determined to up the stakes to become wealthy. She is manipulative,  controlling, methodical and extremely loyal to her found family as well as her friends. She also understands the big picture a lot and is very daring. Grey Serrado also comes from a subjugated people and works as a police officer who is determined to do favours for wealthy people who have shown him a lot of kindness. He is also loyal but he doesn't strike me as extremely intelligent and he doesn't see the big picture as much., Derossi Vargo would definitely be a favorite of mine because he's manipulative, morally grey and is highly mysterious. He also seems to have his finger stuck in every pie hole in the city. 

Theme:

Even best plans can become wary

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from many character's points of views, primarily Ren/Renata/Arenza as well as Grey Serrado's and Derossi Vargo's. There are few other characters and while they play important parts I wouldn't really classify them as main characters. The novel is very detail oriented that focuses a lot on current moments with some action here and there but a lot is political manipulation. At times I also got lost with what is going on and who is who in the novel, although I'm pretty sure I remember the main events. I also found the numinata (number combinations) to be quite confusing and am hoping in future installements they might mention how number combinations work. I also did find Ren/Renata to be a tad bit unbelievable, almost, a little too perfect to believe in. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

M.A. Carrick is the joint pen name of Marie Brennan(author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent) and Alyc Helms (author of the Adventures of Mr. Mystic). The two met in 2000 on an archaeological dig in Wales and Ireland — including a stint in the town of Carrickmacross — and have built their friendship through two decades of anthropology, writing, and gaming. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Opinion:

I really do want to give this book five stars mainly because the plotting and the level of detail is highly reminiscent of S.C. Emmett's HOSTAGE OF EMPIRE trilogy. But I definitely feel as if the novel is way too over detailed in some parts and the mixture of numbers was pretty complex for me to understand will take the star away. There is a lot I loved about THE MASK OF MIRRORS such as the world as I could best understand it; I also loved the attention to holidays and various characters. One thing I'm not quite certain about is whether or not the clans are similar to Romani people or Eastern Europeans? (I am definitely going for Romani people though...) because I didn't recognize any of the mentioned traditions that the clans have followed. What I did find a bit frustrating were the numinata/astrology elements in the story mainly because of what happens when they mix and how they mix. I definitely think of the story as taking place in Venice type world. There are helpful maps and list of characters as well as glossary explaining various terms. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)