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528 pages, Hardcover
First published January 26, 2021
“It is a beautiful mask, but all masks fall. In the end.”
“You never can [go back to being the person you were before] That person is dead. So is the person you were yesterday. Death is not an ending. It is only a change of seasons. Passage from one state to another. Your new form is fragile, but in time, it will grow strong. Be patient with yourself.”
“To disappear between shadow and stone. To walk the buried places of the world and still draw breath. To be everywhere and nowhere, seeing all, known and unknown. To rise from the depths, never seeking the sun. To live as one already dead, and with the dead beside.”
“Let the aether bear witness. I will never keep from you what you should know. I will never conspire against you, nor betray you by word or thought or deed. I will never, by choice, abandon you to your enemies, nor forsake you in adversity. In body and spirit, I am bound to this oath. Seo í mo mhóid shollúinte.”
“I was six. I was stumbling over bodies and through lakes of blood. I was twenty and in hell and there was no escape. My past and present selves were side by side.”
“[…] I had to make him understand that this was real, that words spoken behind a mask were no less genuine.”
“Voyants don’t dream. And in the Mime Order, we strive for more than petty treason. We act.”
“You have risen from the ashes before, Arcturus had told me. The only way to survive is to believe you always will.”
“Every moment, every breath, moved me closer to my end. There was no more time to waste. I had come so close to death again. Now I meant to live with abandon.”
“With this, whenever you desire, you can conceal Paige Mahoney—all her fears, all her sorrow, all her rage—and inhabit Black Moth. You can write her story. You can sing it to the streets of Paris. And I promise you, this citadel will call eternally for more.”
As you might know, The Bone Season septology is one of my favourite series. After reading The Song Rising as soon as it came out back in 2017, I have been patiently waiting and highly anticipating the publication of this fourth instalment. And let me tell you, my experience reading The Mask Falling has been quite a roller-coaster. I didn’t love the first two-thirds as much as I loved The Mime Order and The Song Rising. I even thought this would turn out to be my least favourite instalment in the series. But then, the last third of the book happened and it completely blew me away.
Dealing with the aftermath of the previous book, Paige arrives to the Scion Citadel of Paris. She knows the clairvoyance cause needs more allies and, in order to accomplish that, she decides to explore the Parisian underground with the goal of finding its syndicate, also known as Le Nouveau Régime. At the same time, the mysterious Domino Programme and its network of spies are expecting Paige to carry out a mission that can get both parties the answers they need in order to take Scion down.
As I mentioned before, I had some issues with this book. I just think some aspects happen too quickly and very easily, with some revelations being pretty much convenient. Furthermore, and for the first time while reading this series, Paige got on my nerves. I just couldn’t understand a couple of very reckless and crucial decisions she makes in The Mask Falling. That being said, I absolutely loved the last part. There are so many insane plot-twists, shocking revelations and heart-wrenching scenes. It has been more than a day since I finished this book and I’m still thinking about everything that takes place in that last part. Samantha Shannon is a genius. A sadist genius. There is absolutely nothing that could have prepared me for those intense last chapters.
“Fear is a constant for us mortals,” I said, “but so is the knowledge that no matter how careful and afraid we are, life does end. So you might as well take every shot you get.”
I might re-read this instalment once my finished copy arrives so I can properly take it all in and formulate a more solid opinion. Because I feel that one of the revelations that takes place towards the end does justify Paige’s main reckless decision, the one that bothered me. Honestly, I just need to comprehend how this went from a 3-star book for me to an infinite-star instalment in the last third. Because those last scenes were truly a masterpiece.
As always, I cherished every scene between Paige and Warden. This book truly delivers in that sense, since it’s the one that has more scenes of these two together. Their relationship is so pure, complex, beautiful and angsty. I also liked how this book is so focused on how Paige deals with PTSD and aquaphobia, something we already got a glimpse of in The Dawn Chorus, a novella that takes place between the third and four instalment and that I highly recommend to every fan of the series because of how it focuses on mental and physical health—and because of the foreshadowing that includes.
Overall, and even though my start with The Mask Falling wasn’t as promising as I hoped for, I ended up loving this instalment. I honestly don’t know how I’m now supposed to wait two years to know what happens next after that ending. I never thought an ending could have shocked me as much as Golden Son did, but Samantha Shannon just proved me wrong and managed to achieve the impossible. If you haven’t picked up this series yet, I really don’t know what are you waiting for.
“Paige,” Kornephoros said again, spinning out the syllable. “An archaic word for a messenger or servant, as I understand it. Incongruous, since you appear to resist authority. Or perhaps you were named for a leaf of paper, blank, its tale yet to be written. Which is it?”
P.S.: I’m not English, so I’m sorry if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes.
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"If you and I are to fight the gods, we must become mythic ourselves. With this, whenever you desire, you can conceal Paige Mahoney—all her fears, all her sorrow, all her rage—and inhabit Black Moth. You can write her story. You can sing it to the streets of Paris. And I promise you, this citadel will call eternally for more."