The Order of Masks

Anyone who likes Trials of the Sun Queen by Nisha Tuli will love the first book in this new series by Alina Bellchambers. Mira enters the Trials to win a place in one of the 3 Orders of the kingdom of Ravalia. Her mother's terrible fate and the dark secrets revealed to Mira change her life and her ambitions forever. What I liked most about this book was that there are so many morally gray main characters, even Mira and you are kept guessing right to the very end. I can't wait for Book 2!

Unfortunately, the exposition was a bit long. I thought about cancelling the book more than once at the beginning because it just wouldn't get going.
This changed abruptly when all the characters were finally in one place and the actual story could begin. From then on, I could hardly put the book down and devoured the rest of it in one evening.
It was fun to see the intrigues of a court from two different perspectives, sometimes working with and sometimes against each other. We also start with a love hexagon, because love triangles are for beginners. I was particularly taken with one character and hope to see more of him in the future. He's cunning, ruthless and charming, which for me are all the qualities a perfect character needs.
All in all, I'm now looking forward to the second part - even though I'm painfully aware that I'll have to wait a long time for it.
If this book turns up in a book box, I will definitely renew my subscription.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I wasn't expecting to to enjoy it as much as I did.
But it had me hooked, and I ended up flying through this.
A very fun read!

This was so good!! It's been a long time since I read a court intrigue fantasy with genuinely high stakes, and this book surprised me in the best possible way. I could not put it down!

The protagonists of The Order of Masks are Mira and Scarlett, whose fates intertwine in political machinations, struggles for their own legacy, vengeance, and love. I don't want to say too much about the actual story because this book is so dense that it might be better to start it knowing less rather than more. The plot does take some time to really get going, as the author focuses on setting up the characters and establishing the stakes. Some might find this exposition a bit too long, but it's truly worth pushing through because the rest of the book is so rewarding that it more than makes up for it.

What the author did particularly well is creating a story where the stakes feel genuinely high. This is achieved by throwing morally gray characters into the thick of court intrigue, leaving us never quite sure what to expect from them. There are no easy solutions or situations where no one loses. Death and betrayal lurk at every turn and are very real threats to both Scarlett and Mira. Not only the main characters, but everyone around them lies, cheats, and has no qualms about murder. Reading it gave me a similar feeling to A Game of Thrones—nothing is certain, and anyone can be as much an ally as an enemy. The novel is also exceptionally well-written, with romance, a fascinating magic system, and well-crafted worldbuilding.

I'm so glad I picked up this book, and I will definitely continue the series. I highly recommend it to anyone who feels that political fantasy is missing genuinely high stakes and a good balance between characters, worldbuilding, and plot.

I LOVED this book. I didn't want to put it down. I can't wait to buy myself a physical copy of this book and i'm so excited for the next book in the duology.

I'd highly recommend reading this book.