The Masked City (The Invisible Library #2) by Genevieve Cogman

The Masked City (Invisible Library #2)

 

Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai goes missing. She discovers he's been kidnapped by the fae faction and the repercussions could be fatal. Not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.

Kai's dragon heritage means he has powerful allies, but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people - and the forces of order and chaos themselves.

Irene's mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it's always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death.

 

 

 

My Review:

 

The Masked City is the second book in the Invisible Library series by author Genevieve Cogman.

If readers have not yet read The Invisible Library, I would highly recommend starting with the first book in the series, as it lays the foundation for this book. The Masked City works as a standalone, but the first book lays out a new world with new rules, a completely new and unique magical system, and very intriguing and three-dimensional characters. The mechanics of this book do not differ very much from the first book. As the first book was highly acclaimed and a pleasure to read, it would only make sense that the author not stray too much in her writing style.

The Masked City does follows on the heels of the events in ‘The Invisible Library’. As the book description tells us, Kai is kidnapped by the forces of Chaos, and as a good supervisor (and friend), Irene must devise a plan to rescue Kai from certain destruction. Irene’s plans leads her to a chaos-infested Venice where it is Carnival every single day, every day of the year. Here she meets, uses, manipulates and coerces others to try to rescue Kai. Similar to the first book, The Masked City does not disappoint when it comes to intrigue, suspense and action. The plot develops well and reaches a climax that holds steady for quite some time.

The characters from the first book are fleshed out more with personal details, and we get an even better idea of what drives these individuals. We are also introduced to many more characters on both sides of the Chaos/Order struggle. Fairy tale elements are intertwined with this book when the author introduces us to a new character duo known as the Horse and Rider. There is very little dialogue that does not add to the enjoyment or story in this book. Ms. Cogman’s use of dry humor in the first and second book bring out a smile and chuckle while reading, and has become indicative of her story-telling style.

Similar to her first book, Ms. Cogman weaves a tale of suspense, magic and wonder in this fast-paced genre-busting book. As mentioned in my review of her debut book, The Invisible Library, Cogman invents a unique magical system and continues to build on it in this book. Fairy tale elements combined with Sherlock Holmes and a sprinkling of Tolkien’s influence are readily observable in her writing style and plot elements. With good action, suspense and humor throughout, The Masked City is sure to please a variety of readers. Luckily for us, the third book in this series, The Burning Page, is already available in Paperback from Tor. Happy reading!