The Mask of Mirrors (Rook & Rose, #1) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Nov 12, 2021 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fantasy, re-read, magic, found-family

That was an amazing read! This is a richly imagined , possibly Venetian-inspired world with its own astrological and sacred geometry system, its own tarot (pattern) deck, zlyzen demonsa really interesting cast of thousands and a loving found family. I got some answers to the questions I had, but some will be carried forward to the next in series.

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May 02, 2021 Lindsay rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Ren fled Nadežra as a child with her sister in tow after her brother was beaten to death in front of her by the leader of the group of child thieves that she was part of. Now as an adult, Ren and her sister Tess are back with a plan to con a noble family and ease themselves into a life of wealth and security. But Nadežra isn't a place anyone goes for security, with bitter enmities between noble families, nobles and poorer folk and a simmering current of racial tension as well.

The author is a pen ...more

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Nov 16, 2021 Lata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-h, arc, auth-f, x2021-read

2021-11: 4.5 stars.
Loved this all over again in this reread to refresh my memory of the players and the world, in preparation for book 2.

2021-01: 4.5 stars.
I straight up loved this book from M.A. Carrick (a collaboration of Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms) from the opening pages through to its many-pages later conclusion. The world is complicated, with Nadežra, the country where the story’s action takes place, containing numerous cultures and peoples, with descendants of the conquering Liganti in p 2021-11: 4.5 stars.
Loved this all over again in this reread to refresh my memory of the players and the world, in preparation for book 2.

2021-01: 4.5 stars.
I straight up loved this book from M.A. Carrick (a collaboration of Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms) from the opening pages through to its many-pages later conclusion. The world is complicated, with Nadežra, the country where the story’s action takes place, containing numerous cultures and peoples, with descendants of the conquering Liganti in power, represented by several wealthy families with wide-ranging mercantile and martial interests. The original people, the Vraszenians, form the large, impoverished underclass, who are treated poorly by the noble and gentry families.
There are different magic systems at work in the story:
-the carefully codified numinatri (based on astrology and math, I think.) practiced by the wealthy,
-a type of magic of objects that enhances features for things such as swords, fabric, makeup, and,
-the Vraszenians Pattern magic, which is kind of similar to Tarot, and is not held in great regard by the nobility, though the card readers, szorza, are consulted by all in the land.

Enter Ren, a con artist. She is half Vrazenian, and rejected by the Vrazenian people because of her parentage. After her mother died when she was a child, she fell in with a Fagin-like con artist, Ondrajka, who had a “knot” of children running a variety of cons. Ren and her younger sworn-sister Tess escape and run away after Ondrakja kills their sworn-brother Sedge.
Years later, Ren and Tess are back, with Ren posing as a young noblewoman, Renata Viraudax, from a far-off country and Tess as her maid. Ren is there to con and ingratiate her way into the arms of one of the noble families, specifically the Traementis, who, unknown to Ren, have few allies and dwindling wealth. She chose the Traementis because she worked as a maid for Letilia, the runaway and wayward daughter of the family, and who is sister to the current head of the family.
Ren quickly charms the noble families, as well as the grown Traementis brother-sister Leato and Giuna. And Ren attracts the notice of two individuals: local crime lord Vargo, who is trying to become a legitimate businessman, and the Rook, a legendary figure long working against the noble families.
Ren is a consummate liar who quickly finds that her various cons are becoming ever more complicated, and to her great chagrin that she’s beginning to care for the Traementis. At the same time, Ren is likeable, and the various trauma of her past are explored by the authors, and help to humanize her, making her sympathetic and the her reasons for her actions, however flawed, understandable.
Tess is just plain wonderful, and her genius and trendsetting dress designs are crucial in selling the lie of Renata Viraudax, even while the pair can barely afford to eat or heat the house they’re renting.

So, there’s a LOT going on in the plot, with Ren's many lies layered on top of other lies, and many competing interests amongst the nobility, as well as simmering tensions between them and the Vrazenians. And many, many supporting characters (thank goodness for the Dramatis Personae!)
The character interactions are well handled, and there are multiple mysteries and intrigues at work. The plot takes a while to really get going because there is a lot of groundwork necessary to show us
-the world and the many interests at work,
-how with each step Renata makes up the social scene, the effects are felt for the two sworn-sisters, and
-how the political and social situation in Nadežra is deeply complicated and ready to blow. Couple this with several mysteries, amongst them dying street children, a new drug killing people, a factory fire that resulted in deaths, and more, and I could not put this book down. I loved it and I was thoroughly entertained, and I wish the next book were already in my hands. ...more

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