Masks and Shadows

Masks and Shadows is an enjoyable historical fantasy novel with a grand conspiracy, music, and romance set almost entirely within Eszterh??za Palace in Hungary in 1779. I loved the oft-overlooked setting and Charlotte's personal journey and found it to be an incredibly readable, absorbing story. Since it had a LOT of characters, it didn't have as much in-depth character development as I would have liked, but I did think it was definitely worth reading!

3 1/2 stars - a solid, enjoyable book that I liked

Full Review: http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2016/05/review-of-masks-and-shadows-by-stephanie-burgis/

It???s as if the story cannot decide what it wants to be: a supernatural historical mystery? A historical romance? A drama about the opera? A story of political intrigue? This novel could have been one of those things, or even some of them, and it would have been a thoroughly enjoyable read. But in order to be all of them, at once, there must be a careful balance between all the necessary elements, tropes, and conventions ??? a balance which, unfortunately, is never achieved.

Full review here: http://wp.me/p21txV-tJ

2.5 Stars

I've been stewing on how to rate this one for a bit now. It was good, and kept me interested. It just never WOWED me. First I felt it was a bit too long, and by 75% I was starting to lose interest. Second, there were a ton of different characters and at times it was hard to keep track of who was who. And out of those tons of characters there wasn't a single one that stood out as being particularly engaging.

Still, the time period and setting (backdrop) of the story was interesting. I enjoyed the little details, and court intrigue. The details about the costumes, and the behind the scenes look at the Opera were enjoyable also. And that cover...amazing.

The ending though was a little too much. I found it hard to believe that the widowed sister and the castrato would become lovers. In any case, overall it was an OK read.