The Mask Falling - English Review

Last year I have been lucky enough to receive a digital arc of the 4th book of The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon. Christmas couldn’t have come earlier for me. What can I say? I am blown away. I have so many questions now, almost no answers and I am not even angry or disappointed.

The pace of this book is incredible. I wasn’t really drawn into it at the beginning, not as I was for the other novels. But pretty soon I dived into it, carried by Shannon’s masterful writing and compelling plot.

That was full of plot twists and it has this wonderful crescendo only Samantha Shannon can write.
Some of the plot twists were more predictable than others, but they were enjoyable, nonetheless.
I felt lost as Paige was and I think that is a great achievement: to make readers feel as the main character does withtout frustrating them.
Some of the pillars in Shannon’s writing are still there: ethymologies, mysteries and speech patterns variations and they are good as ever.

I loved the action scenes and the development of some relationships: Arcturus and Paige got to a new level of reciprocal understanding. 

The thing I appreciated the most is Paige personal growth. She is a resilient and stubborn young woman that comes to the painful realization that she has limits. She can make mistakes, as she already knows, but those mistakes can cause the loss of everything she holds most dear. And so it seems to happen.

The part about exploring Paris and getting in touch with the Syndacate there didn't fascinated me as much as the rest of the book, since I think it recalled a little bit the events in "The Mime Order".

Also, I know this series is also advertised as a partial retelling of the Myth of Orfeo and Eurydice, a story I am very familiar with. But I still don't get how. That entices and worries me a bit. And if you know the tragic end of that particular story you may agree with me.

The trauma Paige lives is thoroughly told  with wonderful words and well thought events and I think it's a great depiction  of PTSD. However, I highly recommend reading the short novel “The Dawn Chorus” before The Mask Falling, because I think it’s fundamental to really appreciate Paige psychological developement. I kind of wish that it was incorporated in this book, because I feel some readers will skip the short novels and they are so important.

"The Song Rising", the third installment of the series, remains my favourite one, but this comes a close second.

And I have questions, oh, so many questions My Little Dreamers.

I’ll just have to wait.


Vote 5/5⭐