It felt like a day but all of a sudden I hadn’t blogged in a month, so hey! I’m alive, I’m back, it’s been a stressful few months but I’m back on the wagon and dedicated to continue creating content. Sometimes you need a smol break and it’s okay 🙂 I’ll be doing an update post soon!
After what feels like forever; In April, I finally got to reading The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon! This has been a journey since I began the series in 2017 and I’m pleased to say that I’m so glad I committed and that I am in for the long haul!
Before we get into my review – although this is a spoiler-free review for The Mask Falling, please be aware that there will be spoilers for essentially the first three books in the series since it’s a long awaiting 3rd sequel to The Bone Season (even in the blurb below). If you’re interested in this book, I’d recommend you pick up the series from the first book and let me know what you think! I don’t know enough people in my online book community circle that loves The Bone Season like I do – and boy this one did not disappoint.
Goodreads Blurb:
Dreamwalker Paige Mahoney has eluded death again. Snatched from the jaws of captivity and consigned to a safe house in the Scion Citadel of Paris, she finds herself caught between those factions that seek Scion’s downfall and those who would kill to protect the Rephaim’s puppet empire.
The mysterious Domino Program has plans for Paige, but she has ambitions of her own in this new citadel. With Arcturus Mesarthim-her former enemy-at her side, she embarks on an adventure that will lead her from the catacombs of Paris to the glittering hallways of Versailles. Her risks promise high reward: the Parisian underworld could yield the means to escalate her rebellion to outright war.
As Scion widens its bounds and the free world trembles in its shadow, Paige must fight her own memories after her ordeal at the hands of Scion. Meanwhile, she strives to understand her bond with Arcturus, which grows stronger by the day. But there are those who know the revolution began with them-and could end with them…
Rating: (5/5)
It’s taken me so long to write this review, partly because I’m just in awe at this series. This sequel just took everything to another level and I can’t emphasise enough how worth the wait this book was!
I guess to begin; we start off with Paige who endured so much in the last book – literally being tortured for months and has arrived in Paris with Warden. Note: I’d highly recommend reading the novella, The Dawn Chorus, before getting into this book because it really went more into Paige and Warden’s relationship and her process of recovering from escaping the torture chamber she was in. Anyway, her character development and just overall strength as a character and a leader was so evident in this sequel. Things got so much more intense for her but she maintained her vision and her goal and she has become one of my favourite characters in this series cause honestly, her total lack of self-perservation in previous books bothered me a lot but to see her as she’s become now, it was so worth it.
Warden’s character also developed a lot and their relationship is just so endearing. This is one of the only series where it doesn’t feel like the romance is forced or shoved in between the story but is truly intertwined within the plot and supports a lot of the underlying themes. With his help, Paige is kind of forced to join this network of spies and work for them to avoid being found out again and probably killed. It felt like such a strange weird fresh start for her in a completely new country with a new identity and a new job – I almost mourned all she had worked for in London when she was there but relished the beginning of another massive part of this overarching plot in the series.
Best part of this book though was how much bigger everything became. The twists and turns just kept coming, the politics became more ingrained and complex throughout the story and the worldbuilding was phenomenal in how quickly it expanded while making sense and simultaneously blowing my mind a little bit. I found myself pulled into this book so much that I couldn’t stop reading, Shannon’s writing was just that impeccable that I lost time and was gripping the edge of my hardback for answers. I loved seeing different sides of many characters, meeting more important side characters and getting a taste of what the story might have in store for us in the future. This book was like an emotional, action-packed rollercoaster and I’m absolutely devastated that I can’t have the next book in my hands right now. The ending broke me a bit, I’m still in denial, hence why this review is SO late because I just couldn’t put my thoughts down into words.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book. It tore me to figurative pieces and I can’t wait to read the next book! I hope we don’t have to wait as long as everybody did for this one, but no matter, I’ve decided that I’m along for the long haul 🙂
What did you think of this review if you’ve read it? Let me know your non-spoilery thoughts below.
Until next time,
