Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon

40 reviews

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

She's done it again!

Samantha Shannon writes poignant, lyrical fantasy with first-rate world building and characters who are so nuanced they seem to leap of the page. It's what makes her novels such a joy to read. 

As a standalone work, I think The Mask Falling has a cohesive feel to it, as well as a compelling self-contained plot. Within the series, this installment is a beautiful combination of slower, more character-driven story and white-knuckle moments of action & tension. More than ever, it's clear that Shannon still has a wealth of information and secrets to reveal when it comes to the Bone Series universe.

The ending of TMF felt a little overly-full to me. Some of the really fascinating nuance of Paris' criminal syndicate gets lost in the back-to-back action sequences, but perhaps that relentlessness is meant to reflect the never-ending chaos of life in the midst of totalitarianism & rebellion. 

If you have yet to pick up this series, I can't recommend it enough. It grabs you from the beginning and, as The Mask Falling shows, never fails to dazzle.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I do not know what I just read. Obviously, it's another amazing book in the Bone Season series, stunningly written with a brilliant plot. But I am now broken and I might never be okay again. 

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book.
Holy shit.
This fucking book held me by the throat and made me beg for scraps of happiness. This book was so achingly, painfully raw and human it physically hurt me. I had to pause so many times to take a deep breath because I knew what was coming was going to hurt. Samantha Shannon is master at what she creates with this series. The prose was engaging and moving the entire time. The plot held my interest like a vice through the book with no pacing issues, even with the revelations at the last hundred or so pages (*cries*). It flowed well with the set up from the previous books and built Paige and Arcturus in exquisite ways that felt natural. The way Shannon illustrated the growth of the characters is something I'm still trying to put into words; the forward momentum is obvious in the best way-there is still potential to be wrought and revelations to be made. I literally don't know what to say because it was. Just. That. Good. This was already one of my favorite series that I push whenever someone asks for recommendations, but I will be SHOVING this series down everyone's throats whenever possible. Wow.

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

After that ending I'm not even entirely sure I to even write this review. Once again when I tell you that I inhaled the last like 150 pages, I literally mean inhaled them. I am emotionally wrecked, mentally destroyed, and searching for my soul because it has left my body. Samantha Shannon I adore dearly but Part 3 was just too much, way too much. I mean just rude, lol!

The Mask Falling, as some of us who have been following Samantha Shannon, knows that this is where the series is closing arc one, but also opening arc two. Which in a sense means Mask Falling is like a bridge book, I would agree to disagree with that statement. The Mask Falling is so much more, but to go into why that is would hinge on spoilers and I don't do spoilers. Just know that Samantha Shannon had a clear vision for how she wanted this story to go and she executed it flawlessly. I mean seriously from Paige's excellent character development, to shady new characters, gripping action sequences, and even high stake espionage and politics. This fourth novel had it all.

Paige is an extremely strong female protagonist, one of the best in an ongoing series by far. The Mask Falling showed her in such a fragile, yet vulnerable spotlight that was handled with utmost care. Again I don't want to dish out any spoilers, so I am going to be as vague as can be, but if you have read this series then you know exactly what I mean. Watching Paige grow and evolve from book to book is truly amazing and it is one of the biggest reasons I continue to be excited for this series. That is not to say Paige is the only reason because the story is dynamite as well.

The Mask Falling is an extraordinary follow up to The Song Rising and an incredible continuation to the Bone Season series. Definitely worth the 4/5 year wait. However, and this is for you Samantha Shannon, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT MAKE US WAIT THAT LONG FOR BOOK FIVE PLEASE!!!!

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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