Maxwell Whitaker's Reviews > Masquerade of the Heart

I really enjoyed the first book so I went into this one thinking that as long as it was on par with that, I would enjoy it. It definitely was and more. I had a lot of fun reading this one. The plot kept me engaged, and the romance was fun. Dare I say I enjoyed the plot and the writing enough that if the romance had taken a backseat this still would have been a fun ride for me?

Onto the character! Marlow was as angsty and complex as ever and I really enjoy her as a POV character. Dare I say we got to see a lot more from the side characters in this installment? I wish we had gotten some more time with Gemma, but what we had was lovely. Swift was fun as always, and (no spoilers here) but his side plot was so fun. I had thought something was going on in the first book, but the confirmation + the reactions to it were so funny. I did like the occasional chapters from Adrius’ perspective, it was a change of pace from Marlow that was fun. Vale was a really complicated character for me in terms of how I resonated with them. I think there’s a saying that’s super applicable to him. “The road to hell is paved with good intention” pretty much sums up how I think about him. I did find it interesting to read how his genuine care for Marlow was starting to break down her walls and make her question whether stopping him was correct. Though, the lengths he’d go to succeed in bringing about change and protecting Marlow was scary and eye opening.

Let’s talk about the ✨ plot ✨ Now the plot was absolutely the best part of the book for me. There was so many jaw dropping “wtf” moments for me as I reason this. I did have a slight issue with how the main issue of last book (Adrius’ compulsion curse) was solved, but to be fair we had already discovered who had cast it which was mostly the point of the first book, so I won’t knock it too much. There’s only so much space in the book, and I’ll admit I probably would have been annoyed if too much time was spent resolving something from the first book instead of focusing on new problems. I honestly thought the goal change of a mystery to collecting items for a big fantasy quest was fun, and it’s a familiar type of plot that I enjoy. There was plenty of action interspersed with character moments and that was very appreciated from me.

Overall, this book was an absolutely knockout for me. It surpassed my expectations from the first book, and I read it all in one sitting. I had such a blast reading it, and I enjoyed how everything was wrapped up. I can’t wait to see future works from this author because she’s definitely going on my auto buy list after my experience reading this duology.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free ARC. 5/5 stars.