“The London air was full of smog and filth.”
I really loved the imagination in the first book of this series, The Invisible Library, even though I didn’t quite think the elements of the story quite lived up to high expectations. Still, it was more than enough to make me grab for the second installment!
Following on from the adventures of the previous novel, Irene now finds herself Librarian in Residence of that same world, and is settling well enough into her undercover role. However, when her apprentice, Kai, is kidnapped, the peculiarities of his heritage make the whole situation not just dangerous, but possible catastrophic for the whole world.
Forced to treat with both Dragons – keepers of order – and Fae – epitomes of chaos, Irene is transported by a train which may well be part of the Wild Hunt to a version of Venice forever at carnival. It’s not just the party masks on show, but the more subtle kind worn by all the players, as they try to hide their real games. Isolated in enemy territory, Irene must find and rescue Kai – but at what sacrifice?
I’m pleased to say that I think The Masked City manages to avoid most of the flaws of the first novel. That wasn’t the author’s first work, but this definitely reads like a more mature and polished effort, from a stronger plot to less cliched characters. Indeed, I really liked Irene here, after finding her a little too perfect in the first outing. Perhaps my only complaint here is the magic being a little too easily used – despite several scenes protesting otherwise – to solve every problem as they rack up at the end. Still, the adventure levels remain high throughout, and it’s lovely to have the heroine rescuing the prince, for a change 😉
Thoroughly looking forward to The Burning Page, due December 2016, and thrilled to see another 2 books planned afterwards (according to GoodReads).
Kindle: 357 pages / 27 chapters
First published: 2015
Series: The Invisible Library book 2
Read from 30th September – 8th October 2016
My rating: 8/10
