I thought this series had a rather novel concept...not just another Tolkien-wannabe world. The overall story was a little bit predictable so, once the novelty wears off, the second and third books get slightly lower marks. ( )

The masks have power but the power corrupts. People don't know the truth about this power and where it's coming from. There are people who are aberrations being born and routinely these people are killed when discovered. Whether this is because they are a threat to the country or a threat to the weavers who control the masks is unknown.

The daughter of the Empress is a aberrant herself. At the same time a woman's family is killed, leaving her as the only survivor. These two having interwoven lives.

Interesting but somehow it just didn't do it for me. I didn't really care enough about the characters and sometimes the hopping between viewpoints jarred. At the same time it was a good read, it just didn't make me want to rush out and find more in the series. ( )

I had a bit of a shock with this book! I really liked Poison and Alaizabel Cray but didn't enjoy this at all. I know its an adult novel rather than teen but I found it quite disturbing.