First things first - despite our protagonist being 15 years old this isn't apparently considered a YA fantasy. Look I don't pretend to understand what makes this book a YA book and what makes that book a YA book - I guess it comes down to marketing and where the publisher thinks the book will do best in the case of books like this - but there isn't really anything in this book to make it not suitable for 16 year olds. Hell maybe even 15 year olds depending on how they like their fantasy (if they read more Rae Carson, Kristin Cashore and Sarah J. Maas as opposed to Shannon Hale, Jessica Day George and Gail Carson Levine then this book is fine for them). Fact remains this is a book starring a 15 year old girl, surrounded by a good portion of the cast roughly near her age.

And terrible things happen. Because when don't they when you're the Chosen One. Which make no mistake Mara is very clearly The Chosen One. I was seriously waiting for the reveal that she was "The Lady of Fire and Pain"s grand daughter or that she was secretly the Autarach's daughter. Because seriously, she's that special.

The first half of this book I was enjoying myself. Mara was a spirited, mostly intelligent considering her age girl who had all the insecurities you'd expect in a 15 year who's life was just torn apart, pieced together wrong and forced through a hole three sizes too small. No one tells Mara anything ever. They say things at her. They dance around topics. They come up with vaguely comforting but utterly useless platitudes. But no one tells her anything. Which really mattered very little since until the Masking her biggest problems (in this order) were 1) her daddy was ignoring her for the last two months, 2) her best friend became the Queen of Ice and 3) she thought she was a huge fraud so she could be sentenced to a life of hell. Maybe. Probably.

Mara's time with the UnMasked Army was also similarly fun, though shallow by in large. She got SOME answers and as a reader we realized MORE answers then she could hope to, but it was another case of "we'll tell you if its necessary do as we say".

And then came the single stupidest act in a novel I've ever read. Well..okay it maybe wasn't as bad as a couple of those Harlequin romances I read, but this honestly ranks up there. One of the kids that was rescued, Grute, was through and through dirty and despicable. Blake doesn't even try to shade this kid, just makes him straight up awful. He's imprisoned by the rebels and pretty much left that way since they have no idea what to do with him (several people suggested DEATH and to which I agreed). If they had better plans they never bothered explaining them and it didn't matter since Grute escaped.

Grute who had sworn to "take care of" Mara on several occasions, leered, sneered, made crude comments, attempted indecent actions and was in general happy to pull wings off of birds has escaped. Remember this.

Mara, god love her soul, thinks this means its a GRAND TIME to go and take a bath. By herself. In the most isolated place you can imagine because she'd be damned if she stunk of high heaven if one of her crushes happened by. You can probably guess what happened then. And thus begins the second half of the book in which Mara does every stupid ass thing you can think of. I understand why Blake had her refuse to leave Katia behind. But after the third time of trying to rescue that ungrateful girl you'd think Mara would have put the wellfare of EVERYONE ELSE first. But no! She would save Katia because they were besties! The best part is when Katia slaps THAT idea down unequivocally.

And honestly the entire second part was one way too contrived coincidence after another. She had 9 lives or something. As for her magic...ugh. Since we're only given the barest of ideas of what the "magic" was and where it came from its hard to really understand what was going on there. The magic is running out because the Autarach is...sapping it? To seem youthful? Or something?

The next book promises pirates (I think? There's a ship on the cover and a shipwreck soo...) and Mara going batshit crazy dark. Considering the number of dead people you can lay at her feet that should be interesting to see. ( )

I was very curious behind the idea of this story. I found the context very original which drew me to read it.
I was not however, blown away. While the idea was still very original, the writing was not that great. There were a lot of modern slang and curse words put in that threw me off, like "weird." Who says weird in a fantasy novel?
The main character was far too childish to root for, and while she was only supposed to be 15, Herr dialogue and actions were more annoying then anything. In a society where everyone is deemed an adult at the age of fifteen, you would think they would be raised and groomed to be more adult in their thinking and actions by that age simply due to societal evolution.
I will say that the storyline kept me interested enough to continue reading. And the main character did grow during the course of the novel. I don't think enough time was spent on any side character at all, leaving me in the end not really caring about anyone. The main character is naive and frustrating and I don't know really anything about any of the side characters enough to be attached.
It was an okay book that I got through quickly, but not on the top of my fantasy lists. ( )

​​​​​​Tension building that will curl your toes and amazing world building!​

Read a guest appearance from the author E.C. Blake on writing Masks @ My Shelf Confessions

In Masks the reader will discover a unique magic system where the gifted that are able to work with magic are few and yet each person’s life seems to be ruled by it. This is because the ruler of this country is a of course someone very strong in the use of magic and by his decree all citizens at the age of 15 must don a mask that will essentially reveal any treasonous thoughts that they have.

What makes the magic system unique compared to others I have read is that magic must be gathered before it is used. So one of the gifted couldn’t just cast a spell or conjure something – they literally must have the physical magical element/resource before they are able to begin their work. That makes magic a physical resource, because even if you are one of the gifted what good would your gift be if you didn’t have the magic to put your gift to use? I haven’t seen magic treated in this way before and admit I really found it fascinating.

The main character Mara is the young daughter of the master mask maker and has wanted nothing more her whole life than to follow in her father’s footsteps. But on her 15th birthday, the day of her masking, her mask rejects her and she is cast out of the city and sent off to what is meant to be a lifetime of slavery.

Her journey is a long and enlightening one. Fraught with peril at every turn, Mara must learn what it really means to become an adult and hardships all people face under the weight of the masks – whether they wear one or not. I can tell there are some trying times ahead for Mara in the next book and likely an even stronger presence from the main villain the Autarch of Aygrima. This guy is one evil dictator, though we really didn’t see him much in Masks I think that will change in the upcoming books. Instead there were other villains to contend with in this first volume.


My only concern with the story is that the main character Mara may have fallen into the “safe zone.” This is in no way a criticism of this book, merely an observation and a thought that kept tickling my brain. What I mean by this is sometimes I see a trend in the books I read where an author will write in some very strong themes (I’m referring to traumatizing events) – and yet these things do not directly happen to the main character. There are close calls, near misses, the almost-but-didn’t-quite-happen scenes, you know what I mean. What I then see instead is that the awful things happen to a side character, one that I assume most readers are not as, or at all, attached to. Not that I want bad things to happen to anyone but I think that it loses a smidge or realism when a character doesn’t experience some of these things. It didn’t lessen the amazing story at all, it was just something that I noted while reading, only because I had encountered it in several other books recently as well.


I applaud the author for creating such a world and character that I am already aching to learn more about. Those that love reading about worlds other than our own and rich magical systems will surely want to give Masks a read. I am most certainly looking forward to ( )

Yet another YA fantasy about a young person whose magic is Special, but it goes interesting and somewhat unusual places. Obviously the beginning of a series. ( )

Mara knows nothing else then masks. Her father is the master maskmaker for the Autarch. Everyone who turns fifteen receives a mask. The mask is empowered with magic to show when the mask wearer is behaving badly. Then the watchers are there to take corrective action.

The big day is finally here. Mara is about to receive her mask. However during the making event, something happens and Mara find herself shunned. She finds friends with the Unmasked army. Which was believed to be a myth. Mara learns things about the masks and Autarch that will give her a new outlook on the life she lived.

I really am enjoying the world that the author has built for this series. I can not wait to continue on this journey with Mara. This series kind of reminds me of the Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder. Which is a fan of mine. This is a book that all ages will have fun reading. The action is mild but again this is the first book. Again I have to say however that the author did a great job with the first book. It is hard to find the right balance between giving away too much in either details or not enough that you lose the reader. It was just right. In addition, that even though there was not a lot of action happening, this book is a quick read. I went to take a break and I was already half way done with the book.

Mara has so much depth about her. She is intriguing. She is truly gifted. I can't wait to see more of her gift as she learns more about it and how to use it. She will then be a force to watch out for. ( )