Hey everyone! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for These Vicious Masks! Today I'll be sharing my review of the book - and don't forget to enter the giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, click on the banner above.
These Vicious Masks (These Vicious Masks #1)
Author: Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas
Genre: YA Historical/Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: February 9, 2016
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Description:
Jane Austen meets X-Men in this gripping and adventure-filled paranormal romance set in Victorian London.
England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.
England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.
These Vicious Masks is an exciting first book in a promising new young adult historical/paranormal series. The story is set in Victorian England, and gives it a more gloomy and Gothic feel - which I think is a perfect setting for the book. Our main character, Evelyn, is a member of high society and the perfect age to be getting married (or so her mother thinks). Evelyn doesn't care about the suitors, the balls, the theater, and all the other silly things involved with matchmaking. She's a fantastic lead for the series - smart, down to earth, a devoted and loving daughter and sister, curious about all the world has to offer, and incredibly determined. The story is told from Evelyn's point of view, which I thought was another great fit for the book. I love when an author uses the first person POV, because it allows the reader to connect on a much deeper level with the narrator than any other writing style. We get to know their deepest fears, inner thoughts, memories, hopes and dreams, and so much more. I found Evelyn to be a realistic character and I was able to identify with her almost immediately. I found her sarcasm and thoughts about their society's rituals to be quite funny. I felt like we would definitely be friends if I could slip inside the story alongside her, which it sort of felt like anyway - due to the use of the first person POV.
The plot itself was original and completely intriguing. I found myself reading as quickly as I could to see what was going to happen next. The story is a great mix of supernatural, paranormal, and fantasy - and I felt the author did a wonderful job presenting all of the strange aspects and having it all blend together so effortlessly. Evelyn's character experiences a lot of growth throughout the book - especially after she disobeys her parents and goes to London in search of her sister, Rose. I liked watching her mature in several ways - including, of course, the romantic aspect of the story. I'm anxious to see how she'll handle the events that crop up in the next book of the series, and I hope to see her continue to change and grow on several levels. Overall, this was a compelling novel that had me lost inside its pages until the very end. I got so wrapped up in the story and all the various things happening - that I ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. I can't wait for the next installment of the series to release to find out where things will go from here. I definitely recommend this book to fans of YA paranormal fiction, along with readers who enjoy historical fiction, fantasy, supernatural, and romance. You're going to want to pick this one up!
Tarun and Kelly met in a freshman year writing class at NYU and started writing These Vicious Masks a few years later.Tarun is a writer living in Los Angeles whose idea of paradise consists of kung-fu movies, David Bowie and chai tea. Since completing his first horrible screenplay in high school, he’s written everything from one-act plays and film criticism to humor pieces and strongly-worded emails. He’s also magnetized, crushed and burned the hard drive where that first screenplay can be found.
Kelly is a writer and actor living in NYC. YA is her absolute favorite thing on earth other than cupcakes and she has spent many hours crying over fictional deaths. She also started reading Harlequin romances at a possibly too early age (12?), and still loves a good paperback romance.
Links (Tarun):
http://tarunshanker.com/writing/
http://tarunshanker.com/writing/
Links (Kelly):
Buy Links:
Giveaway: (1) Finished copy of These Vicious Masks - Open to US/CAN only!
This sounds like a fun and unique read! Great review, Steph! Thanks for hosting today! :)
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