INTERESTING WORLD, A FUN MALE LEAD, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE TO RECOMMEND IT IN MY OPINION

Actual rating: 2.5⭐

The opening few chapters (as well as the cover!) gave me super high hopes for this books - ultimately, they were sadly dashed. While the world is interesting, it is not explored or explained fully. The male lead had his charm, but the female lead was an absolute bore. The supposed twists were extremely predictable and the book was just way to long for what it actually was.

👍 What I Liked 👍

Premise: We enter the world of magic and demons, of duels and royalty. I was instantly drawn to the premise of magic coming from another world, one populated by demons. Which of course made magic just as dangerous as it was alluring. It was a great setup that could have taken this book so far. It was interesting and engaging, but ultimately not explored well enough.

Jester: I had a hard time with several of the characters, but Jester was the one who made my finish this book. I really adored every scene he was in. He lightened the mood with his jests, teasing and antics. It was a delight every time he needled Leyna, because it really showed how unable he was to stay away from her.

👎 What I Disliked 👎

Leyna: However, I don't understand what Jester saw in Leyna... She was spoiled, naive, selfish, childish and really not that bright. She showed absolutely no growth over the course of the story. And I found her supposed character (the one we are told) to be in conflict with her actual actions. I was especially annoyed by how she claims her entire life's ambition was to become a huskarl. But it doesn't seem like she's ever actually stopped to wonder what it would actually mean to attain that dream. Because - oh the horror - she actually has to work! So she doesn't have time to ride her horse whenever she wants... Honestly, it was just a little pathetic and very unlikable. Also... she asks A LOT of stupid questions. All the time. Both aloud to other people and to herself. It really got old fast.

Huskarl: Okay, this might be a bit weird... But I'm Danish. And in Danish huskarl literally means... House Lad! 😅 So it was a bit hard for me to take that title serious.

Predictable: There was not a single time were I was taken by surprise by anything that happened in this book. Honestly, I started disliking Leyna more and more because she couldn't figure these things out.

World building: While the world was certainly interesting, there were just so many things left unsaid. Like - if wizards draw magic from another realm, why can they 1) deplete their magic and b) have different levels of magic? And why is Quinn a wolf? Where does that power come from? Is he a werewolf? A demon? Something else? How did humans discover demons? Honestly, these were just a few of the many questions that rumbled around my head as I was reading.

Length: Honestly, this was 200 pages too long. Especially considering the fact that I had figured it all loooong before the ending finally came. So it was a really drawn out reading experience that could have done with some serious editing.

Ending: The ending is my final bone of contention. Because while I didn't have the greatest expectations for the ending (again, after having already figured it out) I still need a great ending at the end of a 500+ page read. But I was sadly let down. The ending was flat. It was resolved way to quickly as well as easily. When the villain is "revealed" and divulges their diabolical plan, I almost laughed out loud it was that feeble and thin.

Wizard's Masquerade is the first book in the Huskarl Duology by Jay Pellegrin

The book starts with action in the first sentence and keeps your interest through the book.

While reading this debut book I found myself wanting less and more. Less telling and more showing and less of Leyna's jealousy. The telling vs showing is a personal preference and Leyna's character is just that, part of her personality and we all have something that irritates someone else. I wanted more depth in the romance but in actuality based on the plot it didn't allow for huge romantic gestures with intrigues and possible enemies around every corner.

I did know I didn't like the bad guy right from the start.

Overall this was an enjoyable read for me.


I received this ARC from BooksGoSocial and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#WizardsMasquerade #NetGalley

A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc!

This was great! I thoroughly enjoyed this!! I have a soft spot for romance novels, especially “romantasy” and this was just perfect:))

This book is like a 3.9.
I could tell the author put a lot of thought into the magical system and the world building which I really appreciated. I found Leyna's relationships with her friends quite cute and I loved seeing them develop over the course of the book. But while I did have a fun time reading there were some parts that dragged on a little too long for me. It also took me a while to get used to Leyna's character as there were times that her attitude kind of got on my nerves, (she was giving me Hermione Granger vibes). But I thought the romance was cute and compelling. I can definitely see Leyna's personality and goals in life start to change as she goes on more adventures!

Was archived before I got the chance to send it to my kindle. Only requested 3 days before it was archived

A gorgeous cover and a premise that I was really excited about , but ultimately a tedious book to get through. The main character was shockingly unlikeable and though the writing was strong and decadent and simply good, it also felt too flowery and overwritten at parts. I found myself skipping parts because I just wanted to get to the main story, but then the MC would come up and I’d just get tired of her.

Honestly, I was ready to like this book so much more than I actually did. The cover is gorgeous and the plot seems great and is right up my alley. I was sucked in right from the first page as Leyna battles through the maze to try to complete her wizardry exams. However, after that the book slows way down with unnecessarily verbose descriptions and not a lot of action. About a quarter of the way through it picks up again as Leyna gets to the castle and meets Jester.

From there it had the potential to really be great but instead we received a lackluster romance and a main character that seems inconsistent or naive in her convictions. Don’t get me wrong, it was an interesting story and I read through to the end and was intrigued as the plot twisted but I couldn’t connect with the main characters as they seemed almost immature in their actions despite being trained for 7+ years. I’m grateful for this ARC from NetGalley and the author and am hopeful that the sequel can really take this world and these characters to the next level!

Loved the cover, really wished I loved the book. I considered DNFing this but I skimmed insted, which is just as bad I guess. My main issues were:
Pacing - so slow and took forever to get anywhere
Repetitive
Plot - I seriouly stopped caring
Female lead - extremely unlikable and whiny
Male lead - kind of likable but barely
Romance - Zero chemistry and came out of nowhere. Sort of felt like kissing my brother 🤢
The pet - Floofy? I can't 🤦‍♀️
I seem to be in the minority here and we can't all love the same books. I think somewhere in here is potential but it just lacked any emotional pull for me.

The world is very interesting and makes me want to learn more about it. I feel like this book only gave us the tip of the iceberg. My only con about this is that Leyna does not act like she is 22 years old. She feels more like 16-17. The jester is such a complex character. I hope the next book delves more into his background and how he came to be how he is.

*this is my personal opinion based on reading the book.*
**Thank you of netgalley for providing me this arc.**

2.5 stars
What if after the maze Harry Potter got out with Cendric Diggory? What if Cendric didn't die and returned to Hogwarts gravely injured? And what if Cendric was friends with badass Rose Hathaway?
If those two were combined, then the result would be Wizard's Masquerade.

Interesting right? Well yes and no.

<b>The plot</b>
The book begins with Leyna being inside a maze and trying to pass the magical exams she had to, to be a part in the Royal Guard. And that's it for the main plot of the book. Leyna tries to go up in the hierarchy. So when a spell doesn't go well she ends up in hospital. And she can kiss her dream goodbye due to a fatal error. Yes? No. Miraculously she wins the spot and she has to protect the king.
The whole plot reminded me a mix of favorite Harry Potter scenes combined with Vampire Academy. Minus the vampires. I read a lot of common themes based on Harry Potter and I didn't liked that. If I wanted to read Harry Potter, I would have.
Like when Dementors attacked Harry Potter, he would eat chocolate to "fell better". When Leyna was attacked by demons she would eat honey to also "feel better". Also Headmaster Emsworth reminds me a lot of Dumbledore. Which again, I would have read Harry Potter.
Also, I mean come on. <spoiler>There is a scene where Leyna accidentally summoned a demon. And they didn't even punished her. Not even punished her, they didn't even acknowledge it. It was her mistake and they didn't even punished her. At the top of that, they gave her the position in the King's Guard.</spoiler>

<b>The characters</b>
Ok, Leyna is an annoying character. She's very very rude with people. Especially with Quinn. You don't get to feel badly treated when you treat bad. No, it's not good. She acts wayy immature for her age. They are supposed to be 22 years old and they act like 14, in puberty. A character, in a book must develop throughout the book. She doesn't. She's immature (Oh, I already said that! That's how mad I am with her!), and petty. She treats people like she's privileged, minus the respect people deserve. She passed her oral exams after Cornelius gave her the answers. I mean, ok how much more?

Quinn and Jester, were ok characters, but ok overall I wasn't very keen on them either. The main problem was Leyna, who again found her really vain and obnoxious to the point were I really wanted to dn'f the book.

Overall the world-building wasn't good. It was a very long book, which really nothing interesting happened, and I kept thinking that I was reading a middle book in a trilogy, which the world and the magic system would be provided in first book and yet this was the first book.

I believe that this is the first book of the author, and it had a lot of potential but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

„Wizard’s Masquerade“ is the first book of the „Huskarl Duology“, an unputdownable high-stakes fantasy novel that’ll keep you on your toes until the very end.

Becoming a royal guard has always been Leyna’s biggest dream, but not long after achieving her goal, all hell breaks loose. The king and queen she swore to protect are murdered and the new regime appears to be more than just a little shady. Trying her best to restore normalcy, Leyna has to figure out who she can still trust at court. One of the most questionable figures being the court jester who peaks her interest in more ways than just one.

I don’t even remember how I found this book, but I am glad I did. „Wizard’s Masquerade“ is one of the most riveting fantasy novels I’ve read in a long time. The stakes are high, the magic system is interesting and the slow-burn romance is entertaining – so what’s not to like?
Like the protagonist, the reader does not know who can be trusted and uncovering all the lies, schemes and secrets alongside the book’s heroine is as entertaining as it is suspenseful.
Leyna is very idealistic, sometimes bordering on naive, character and a stickler for the rules, which I found to be very relatable, if also frustrating at times. The most interesting character for me, however, isn’t our protagonist, but the court jester. His unpredictability and secretiveness are very intriguing and his initial interactions with Leyna are nothing short of hilarious.
Fair warning to all those who, like me, tend to get attached to fictional characters: Don’t.

Magic, demons, political intrigue, humour and romance – this book has it all. If you are looking for an unpredictable high-stakes fantasy novel that’ll keep you guessing until the very end, you should definitely read „Wizard’s Masquerade“.

5/5 stars

I absolutely loved this book! The second I started reading it, I was completely hooked!

The story follows a girl named, Leyna, who at the start of the book is in her last year of completing her examinations to become a full wizard. Within the first few chapters tragedy hits and her dreams of completing school and becoming a wizard are almost ruined until she gets the offer she always dreamed about. Becoming a Royal Guard. When she arrives at the castle to serve the king, a huge tragedy strikes and it falls on her to figure out who caused it. Secrets and lies are revealed as she investigates and people that she knew turn out to be something they're not.

Not to mention Jester. He's mysterious and charming. But Leyna doesn't know who he is behind the mask both figuratively and literally. As she gets to know him, he becomes even more mysterious and interesting. Every single time they had any interaction throughout the book I wish it could have gone on longer. I loved the chemistry between them!

This is probably one of the best fantasy romance books I have read in a while. Jay Pellegrin did an amazing job creating her fantasy world and an even better job with the relationship between Leyna and Jester. I highly recommend that people read this book! It has the right amount of fantasy and romance. I can't wait for book 2!

Thank you to NetGally and Jay Pellegrin for providing me with this arc for an honest review.

“He was a mystery, one that she wasn’t sure she wanted to uncover”

Wow just wow !!!
This book gave me chills!!!! I felt my obsession for it and its characters growing and growing by the minute !!!
I couldn’t put it down !!! I felt completely trapped in the story, in the plot and the political intrigues happening in it!!
I fell in love with its magic system and its world and these characters are absolutely amazing !!!
Leyna is a great main character, one I felt like I could relate to in more than one way !!!!
Her doubts, her insecurities and her ambition and determination are so real and so complicated that I actually felt like I was in the story myself!!
And let’s say that I fell for a certain jester that honestly made me melt !!!!
Those spicy times were really good!!!
And the tropes in it !!!! Fake identity and enemies to lovers were my undoing!!!!
This book is definitely a great beginning of a series and knowing that this is a duology … well now I have chills for book two !!!!!
I loved but hated how it ended and o honestly cannot wait for the story to continue !!!!!

“Naughty, sneaky little fox”

This fresh fantasy setting with its wizards and shadowy organizations was fantastic. In my opinion, this is a worthwhile book. On the other hand, I'm crossing my fingers for a sequel that will allow for further growth in the characters.

Wizard's Masquerade is the first book in the Huskarl Duology by Jay Pellegrin.
This medieval fantasy romance tells us a story about young wizard Leyna who has a dream to become a huskarl (high-ranked soldier in the service of the king) and made her kingdom a safer and better place. But everything changes when a great massacre happens and the king and queen with their best soldiers are killed. Unseasoned and naive Leyna and her best friend Grace are suddenly the only two wizards in the Huskarl unit protecting young prince Seth and Leyna is decided to figure things out. Strange things happen. Is obvious that in the castle lives a traitor. (Fuh, it is hard to do not to let split any spoiler.)
So let's get started with a review! First of all, I have to say that I love that Leyna makes huge mistakes. She is sometimes horrible stupid but she is young and suddenly she is part of a game which she does not know how to play. The author is not scared to kill plenty of great characters. There are everywhere little plot-twist.

My the most favorite character is Cornelius because he seems reasonable and wise. Jester has some really good moments in the book, he gives it spice and humour. But on the other hand, I do not like Finnigan. I think he is sometimes out of character and acts like a little child. Grace, Leyna's best friend, is kind and brave but it looks like she is only supposed to be Leyna's friend and nothing more. Quinn is interesting and I hoped that we will know more about him. When I look at characters from distance, they all have some roles. Lover, villain, friend... but they are only that. The only character with little development was Leyna because she had to rethink her ideals and dreams.

A magic system and whole worldbuilding have holes. Magic comes from "the other side" which is dangerous and needs precision (and the narrator tells us about it all the time) but there were moments where the author forgot about that. Leyna is not capable of a fight, she asks stupid questions to the wrong people and there are no consequences to that. And sometimes she acts strangely. She is afraid about her reputation but then she ruined it without a blink of an eye. I do not know, but if it is a medieval-based story, she should have been ruined.
This book has great potential. It avoids cliche about the perfect main character but some plots are obvious from the very beginning.
I knew who the jester is and I found out who is the main villain quite fast. The denouement was sudden and the end was quite closed (and disappointing for me, because what Finnigan had done was not right).

If you are looking for a lovely romance, this book is for you. If you are looking for great medieval fantasy with epic worldbuilding you are probably going to be disappointed.

Thank you BooksGoSocial for eARC!

I love wizards, fantasy, and all things romance. This book had all three of those things.

I've seen a lot of reviews that said elements of this book reminded them of Hogwarts. I absolutely agree. There was a wizards school, and a lot of action in this book. Even though this had a lot of elements you are used to, I never knew what direction the story was going to take. There were some high stakes moments, that had me on the edge.

My favorite part of this book was the Jester. I fell in love with his teasing, his observant nature, and the flirting. I looked forward to every moment with him because the dialogue between him and the FMC was so dynamic and they just had great banter.

The FMC was the cause for all of my stress. Reading her story, almost felt like I was reading a tale about the enemy. She was definitely flawed. I mean, there was jealously, a bit of superiority, and I felt like she was always on the wrong side of the cause. Don't let that deter you though. It made for a good character arc, because you really saw her try to figure out where she wanted to go. She was battling the whole time on which side was good and which was bad. As the reader, if felt more obvious, but in her shoes I could see why it was so difficult. One side was everything she knew about being a good citizen. She had to figure out what being and adult and the politics of her society. How no matter what she chose, that it wouldn't be a black and white decision.

All in all, I devoured this book. I wrote a lot, because a lot happened. I loved every single moment of it!

I am giving this book 3 stars because I did really enjoy it on a whole but there were a few more significant issues I had with the story that prevented me from rating it higher.
To start with, I really enjoyed this new fantasy world of wizards and secret societies. Often nowadays I feel like I read books set in very similar worlds and it can be a little repetitive but with this novel Pellegrin really brought a fresh scope. The book does have interesting high and low points but I did sometimes feel that details were brought up and then forgotten or not completely explained. This didn't exactly hinder the plot but I felt it could have been more well rounded.
The main sticking point for me, unfortunately, was our female protagonist Leyna. At the beginning of the book I was actually enjoying the fact that I didn't really like all of our protagonist's actions or values. It's refreshing to have a protagonist who grows with the story instead of perfect unrelatable charcters. However, bit by bit I felt as though Leyna's character was lacking in something. There is only so many times one wants to read problems being faced with the same stubbornness and unwillingness to compromise. She was so torn between duty and difficult decisions that she almost fell short in every situation.
The main romantic plot was okay but I didn't feel as though there was an overwhelming chemistry there.
All in all, I do believe this was a good book. The premise and setting are interesting and I do believe that a sequel will provide an opportunity for character growth and development.

This perfectly scratched the romance itch I needed! I loved how fast paced it was and although I was able to guess who the main villain was quite easily (mostly because he reminded me so much of professor quirrel to begin with!) I don’t feel like it took that much away from the story. The romance was great, I loved Jester so much!!

I only took a star away mainly for the predictability of most of the twists. I was also generally really confused about the maze test since I thought it was a 1v1 until like 75% into the book lol! And I’m never usually lost in fantasy novels, but that had me very confused

Unfortunately, this book has gone on my DNF list. The book started out strong, but as I progressed into the book, I couldn't get passed the FMC unlikableness. It just got worse the more I read. She initially presents herself as this strong independent all powerful mage. But it turns out she's just a stuck-up kiss ass who can't seem to stop whining. I wouldn't even call it being stubborn as the FMC clearly knows right from wrong, she just doesn't do anything, not even to help her "friends", people she KNOWS are innocent. All because it would what? Mess up her image? This weird idea she has in her mind about what she's supposed to represent? She rants on and on about her strength and so on, but anytime she's in peril she freezes and nearly dies every time. Turns her nose up at other people and their statutes then has the galls to get bothered when someone doesn't look at her or treat her the way she expects? Please. The answers are right in her face the entire time, but since she can't get past statues and titles, she willingly ignores them and continues to give everything up to the wrong people. It was frustrating and I found myself irritated every time I read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm afraid this one was really difficult for me to get through. I tried really, really hard to like it. On paper it was everything I want from a book (and more) and I always have a soft spot for debut works. I was looking forward to delicious slowburn enemies-to-lovers romance, interesting worldbuilding, strong characters and lots and lots of political intrigue. And of course that cover art was absolutely mesmerising.

Instead I got ... something.

Let us start with the positives. The worldbuilding was indeed very charming. I thought the set up began quite beautifully (with the Harry Potteresque feel replete with DEMON SUMMONING, OMG!!!), and I really did think the author's writing had a very easy grace to it and was lovely to follow.

But then I really do have to pause her and talk about the one thing (or, in this case, person) I disliked the most: L E Y N A. Leyna has got to be the most TSTL and annoyingly contradictory character I have seen in a very long time. She is spoilt, arrogant, a try-hard and selfish beyond measure, treating everyone around her with blatant disregard and/or unwarranted suspicion (and yet entirely oblivious to OBVIOUS red flags that should have raised alarm bells from the get go).

I really really have to emphasise that the writing surrounding Leyna was full of contradictions, to the point I just couldn't understand what her values here. For instance, we get told this:

"Prince Seth, then," said Leyna, but she was smiling -- she and Seth had always disregarded titles, and she was pleased that he would extend this courtesy to Grace.


But then just earlier we were given at least two different examples of how MUCH she HAD ostentatiously cared about titles and etiquette, for instance:

"G-good evening, Lady Leyna," greeted the chamberlain, using her honorary title as the daughter of Lord and Lady Saunders. She liked that Percy always upheld title etiquette -- it was one of the reasons Quinn rubbed her the wrong way. He had never used her honorific, not even back at the castle when he had merely been the son of a foreign diplomat.


"Titles should be respected," she said, thinking of the dance they had shared last night. It was an occurrence she didn't want repeated -- at least, not with him. "They create boundaries."


Still, she was starting to regret letting their difference in social class get in the way of her etiqutte ...


Not to mention she can't seem to decide if she wants to be the arrogant noblewoman or the NLOG girl (or in this case, NLON - "Not Like Other Nobles"), between which she oscillates to the point of rendering the reader dizzy. She scoffs at meagre castle accommodation despite coming across like a total prick in front of Grace, who had obviously come from a more humble upbringing, preens at every opportunity at the reminder that she was of royal blood and, like, related to the King, including reminding Jester that she was of royal blood, thank you very much ... but then also goes to balls and revelries saying shite like:

Even growing up at the castle, Leyna had never felt like she belonged with the other noble ladies ...


Oh cry me a river and GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE HUN. DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE AND STICK WITH IT.

Not to mention that she suffers from a really serious leg injury in the beginning of the book that was in the process of healing (with no guarantee of success), but she seems to selectively forget this fact as she is still able to perform near-biological miracles like chasing after Jester over an extended distance in the post-ballroom scene with no realisation of her pain, until, oh wait, her leg finally gives way, conveniently at the very moment when (view spoiler)

This entire book was making me so frustrated that I really did have to just DNF it, unfortunately. Which was such a shame because it had such potential, and I wanted so hard to like it.

Summary: 2/5 (c) this book is bad but it had some redeemable qualities.