The Mask of Mirrors (Rook and Rose Book One) by M.A Carrick

Synopsis
Renata Virdaux is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadezra — the city of dreams — with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house and secure her fortune and her sister’s future. 

But as she’s drawn into the aristocratic world of House Traementis, she realises her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as corrupted magic begins to weave its way through Nadezra, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled — with Ren at their heart.

Review

The Mask of Mirrors is the first in a promising new fantasy trilogy from M.A Carrick. In the magical city of Nadežra, the city of dreams, Ren comes in the hope of a better life for her and her sister. As she cons herself into the house of Traementis, as the daughter of an exiled sister, she soon realised that her dreams may put her in danger and at the centre of a web of politics, intrigue and corruption that puts her life in danger. With a masked vigilante, a Crime Lord and a Hawk looking for who killed his brother, she finds herself living a nightmare that could destroy them all.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive” Sir Walter Scott, Marmion.

Never was there a more perfect quote to describe this intricate and complex magical read, and its main characters. The Mask of Mirrors is the story of Ren, orphaned at a young age who then was part of a group of ‘fingers’who stole from the rich. After a difficult start in life she decides to use her skills for a long con, to ingratiate herself into one of the leading families in Nadežra, the House of Traementis, as the daughter of the Alta’s exiled sister. Ren wants a better life for her and her sister Tess, who plays her maid, a life where they will never go hungry again, and will always have a home; all she has to do is convense them she is Alta Renata Virdaux. Ren was a character I warmed to as the book went on, yes she is deceiving the Era Donaia and her children Leato and Guina, but as the book progresses she lets her guard down, and begins to care for the family and ends up helping them to improve their status and their business. Her only problem is that in trying to secure a better future she inadvertently places herself in danger, bringing her to the attention of Crime Lord/Business man Derossi, Vargo Captain of the Vigil (law enforcement) Grey Serrado and the masked vigilante Rook. Ren is intelligent, smart, confident and loyal, to her sister Tess but also to the House Traematis who she begins to see as family, with maybe a bit of conscience for her origional actions. She certianly shows her loyalty and respect when she finds herself at the centre of a a political conspiracy that could destroy the city of Nadežra. Ren is not the only character keeping secrets, just who is the masked vigilante the Rook, and has Vargo put his criminal activities behind him to become a respectable businessman?

There is no doubt that M.A Carrick (actually two authors Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms) was influenced by the beautiful city of Venice for the magical city of Nadežra, with its waterways, masks and the council of the ruling families. This is a place where magic is everywhere, where make up can be imbued to help change your appearance and used in clothes to make the colours shift and change. Magic is also used for contraception, medicinal purposes and even to clean up the waterways, and protect buildings. The plot line of this book is detailed, complex and multi layered with political corruption, secrets, the different affiliations of the Houses of the ruling classes, and the rebel groups who were against them. I did find myself getting a bit confused at the beginning as to who was who, their role in the plot and who to trust but there is a glossary at the back of the book that I used a lot. It was a bit slow at the start of the book, setting the scene for not only this book but also the next books in the trilogy, but by part three the pace ramped up to the point I couldn’t put the book down. The writing and imagined world of Nadežra is stunning, the attention to detail, and the web woven around the characters make this such an immersive read, bringing the city, it different districts and characters to life and taking me out of my reality ad into this wonderful world.

The Mask of Mirrors is a magical and spellbinding read. With a masked vigilante, a Captain of the Vigil who has his own secrets, a crime lord turned business man and the fascinating con artist Ren, who I came to love by the end of the book. Add to this duels, sword fights and plenty of subterfuge with a good helping of magic makes this a such a fabulous and all encompassing read. I can’t wait to read the next instalment.

I would like to thank Orbit Books and Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the invite to read this book as part of the blog tour in return for my honest review.