These Vicious Masks by Tarun ShankerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I won a set of Swoon Reads titles in 2015 in their Swoon Reads NaNoWriMo Sweepstakes after winning NaNoWriMo (wrote 50,000+ words). With my continued problems with reading comprehension from my brain injury, despite my intentions, I didn't get to reading any of them until 2019 and this one in 2020.
To recap: I underwent the Lindamood-Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing Program to regain my reading comprehension in 2018. 2019, and continuing in to 2020, has been about finding books to practice my regained skills on.
I'm writing this review on 31 December 2020 . . . why did I wait so long? Pandemic!
Because of the length of time, I had to reread the back cover copy, to sit and have a think. Slowly, then quicker, the visuals returned of the opening scene, the carriage ride, the ball. London, and the endless action of Evelyn searching for her sister Rose.
I liked this book. It felt like a blousey rose whose petals peel off one by one, revealing a surprising sweet bud inside and then as those last petals slip off, a . . . But that would be giving away the ending.
One of the male protagonists has the same name as one in a previous Swoon Reads. It seems to be popular for the brooding or dangerous male, the one popular in romance novels since time immemorial. Or at least a century. The novel sets the reader up to decide on first Mr. Kent then Sebastien as the leading contender for Evelyn. Yet the romance isn't the main attraction, it's the relationship between Evelyn and her sister. It's also about self-identity.
Evelyn knows who she is. She knows who Rose is. She knows Rose has a talent she lacks. But then she makes a decision to go find Rose, and her certainty begins to be threatened as she discovers an astonishing secret. Evelyn has more courage to face physical danger than she does herself. But isn't that always the way? Discovering one's true self after growing up certain of who you are feels treacherous, the way foggy with snapping fangs and trap doors.
Sometimes it felt like the action was a little too hectic and Evelyn a bit dumb in her decisions. But I had to remind myself that she's a teenager without the rational influence of a prefrontal cortex. Overall, I so enjoyed this book that I wanted to see what happened next. I also found it remarkable how quickly I read it, yet to this day I retain strong images and remember the big picture. The quickness of my reading gave me hope my reading was improving apace. I only won this first one of the These Vicious Masks trilogy, but luckily I found the next two in my library's ebook collection.
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