Grace
Loved this book!!! I relate so much with Kat, how she doesn't fit in the High society and actually wants to do good with her privileged position.
I must say it does feel like a fae version of Cinderella, since it has some iconic details like:
- Her stepmother own Kat's possessions after her father's passing and mistreating her
- Kat having glass slippers (inherited from her mom) and then one casually left behind during a raid
- Her glamours during the same raid of the lost slipper washing off at midnight
- And I believe in the japanese legend similar to Cinderella it is stated that her prince kicks her stepmother and stepsisters out of Cinderella's properties and then brings her in her own home as a surprise wedding present.
Still I feel that is a subplot of the book and those details are subtly complementing the story rather than developing around them, which is nice.
I liked how the story develops, and you keep wondering about what truly happened in Kat's past that inspired her to become the Ivy Mask, since she keeps changing the truth but doesn't reveal it even in her thoughts, keeping the reader engaged and wanting to find out alongside Rahk.
I would have liked a more intense character development for Kat, I know breaking down your own walls and accepting to be loved is not easy, but throughout the book she keeps essentially the same: untrusting, fearful of what Rahk might do to her if he found out the truth (her being a woman, then her being Lady Vandermore, and then her being the Ivy Mask... for all three feels like the same story repeating itself) and seems like she doesn't learn anything from it other than the fact that she loves Rahk and doesn't bear to hurt him with each truth. Once she has no secrets left suddenly all of that personality fades and seems like a confident, strong, worthy woman... maybe I missed that process in the reading?
All in all, it is something I WISH it had, but not something that faults the book because it works beautifully and I enjoyed it so much! It's got heist, mystery, deception, love, romance (yeah girls, we all melt with that scene in which Rahks slowly kisses Kat, and drive crazy with the carriage scene), self-doubt, and how even the fearless warrior has his own weaknesses. It is a new favorite of mine and would definitely re read as a cozy fantasy.
Loved this book!!! I relate so much with Kat, how she doesn't fit in the High society and actually wants to do good with her privileged position.
I must say it does feel like a fae version of Cinderella, since it has some iconic details like:
- Her stepmother own Kat's possessions after her father's passing and mistreating her
- Kat having glass slippers (inherited from her mom) and then one casually left behind during a raid
- Her glamours during the same raid of the lost slipper washing off at midnight
- And I believe in the japanese legend similar to Cinderella it is stated that her prince kicks her stepmother and stepsisters out of Cinderella's properties and then brings her in her own home as a surprise wedding present.
Still I feel that is a subplot of the book and those details are subtly complementing the story rather than developing around them, which is nice.
I liked how the story develops, and you keep wondering about what truly happened in Kat's past that inspired her to become the Ivy Mask, since she keeps changing the truth but doesn't reveal it even in her thoughts, keeping the reader engaged and wanting to find out alongside Rahk.
I would have liked a more intense character development for Kat, I know breaking down your own walls and accepting to be loved is not easy, but throughout the book she keeps essentially the same: untrusting, fearful of what Rahk might do to her if he found out the truth (her being a woman, then her being Lady Vandermore, and then her being the Ivy Mask... for all three feels like the same story repeating itself) and seems like she doesn't learn anything from it other than the fact that she loves Rahk and doesn't bear to hurt him with each truth. Once she has no secrets left suddenly all of that personality fades and seems like a confident, strong, worthy woman... maybe I missed that process in the reading?
All in all, it is something I WISH it had, but not something that faults the book because it works beautifully and I enjoyed it so much! It's got heist, mystery, deception, love, romance (yeah girls, we all melt with that scene in which Rahks slowly kisses Kat, and drive crazy with the carriage scene), self-doubt, and how even the fearless warrior has his own weaknesses. It is a new favorite of mine and would definitely re read as a cozy fantasy.