Book Review – The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon
The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon (The Bone Season #4)
Fantasy | Adult | 514 pages
Published on 26th January 2021 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Read my previous reviews of this series: The Bone Season | The Mime Order | The Song Rising
Synopsis
Dreamwalker Paige Mahoney has eluded death again. Snatched from the jaws of captivity and consigned to a safe house in the Scion Citadel of Paris, she finds herself caught between those factions that seek Scion’s downfall and those who would kill to protect the Rephaim’s puppet empire.
The mysterious Domino Program has plans for Paige, but she has ambitions of her own in this new citadel. With Arcturus Mesarthim – her former enemy – at her side, she embarks on an adventure that will lead her from the catacombs of Paris to the glittering hallways of Versailles. Her risks promise high reward: the Parisian underworld could yield the means to escalate her rebellion to outright war.
As Scion widens its bounds and the free world trembles in its shadow, Paige must fight her own memories after her ordeal at the hands of Scion. Meanwhile, she strives to understand her bond with Arcturus, which grows stronger by the day. But there are those who know the revolution began with them – and could end with them…
My rating:
Review
I received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
This series continues to hit for me and the tension I continuing to rise, even when you think it can’t possibly go any higher! It’s truly a testament to Samantha’s amazing writing.
Paige is such a great main character – in this book she is seriously suffering, and we go through that with her. We see her doubts and her strengths and it is glorious. She has her moments of being a complete idiot (I was screaming at her by the end of the book!) but it’s not hard to see why she could believe things that none of us want to be true, given her history. It also makes her more human. Paige is far from perfect, and makes many mistakes. But she keeps trying and making headway in her fight, and this is what makes me love her.
This book really ramps up the stakes by taking things international. I love Paris, and it was great to see it come to life in the same way Samantha has brought Oxford and London to life in previous instalments. I found it really intriguing to see differing views from the French, both in the underworld and in the government.
And that ending. Wow. The wait for the next book will be so hard.
All this said, there were a couple of things that dragged down my rating a little, despite my love of the rest. The first is that it’s a little wordy – possibly not a surprise as each book has been getting longer, and there is a lot crammed in here. But I wasn’t sure if it could have been sped up in a couple of places to stop it feeling a little slow. The second is the sex scene. I know people who LOVE it and think it’s great, so this is obviously a personal thing, but it felt sort of awkward to me.
As I said, I do love this series, and I love Paige (even when she’s being dumb), so this high 3.5 star rating is more reflective of what I hoped for I think. I definitely still recommend you pick it up!
Buy The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon from Waterstones.
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5 Comments
Ellie
Thanks for sharing your review! I’ve never actually read anything by Samantha Shannon. Shame it was only a 3.5 for you!
Booksandlemonsquash
Still excellent though and I def recommend her work
Rachel
I’ve heard so many good things about this series! I might have to pick them up!
Kirsty
Fab review Nikki, I’m super behind on this series lol but excited to get more into it
amyjanealice
Sad that this wasn’t a five star read for you but i’m glad you enjoyed it!