Traitor’s Masque by Kenley Davidson
Fairytale Retelling. 410 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
A Retelling of Cinderella
She has one job—attend a masqued ball and dance with a handsome prince.
What could possibly go wrong?
Everything, that’s what.
After years of submitting to her stepmother’s unreasonable demands, Trystan finally has a chance to be free. The promise of a new life, in exchange for her help. Simple, right? After all, the old woman has only asked for one night. One night, one beautiful gown, one dance… and one message to be delivered to a mysterious recipient.
It should be easy. Maybe even fun. Especially when she can slip away into the night after the dance, leaving no clue as to her identity.
But before she can escape the ball, Trystan makes a shocking discovery that leaves all her hopes in ruins. She will be forced to confront two very different princes—and choose whether to betray her kingdom… or her heart.
If she’s lucky, maybe she’ll even survive to tell about it later.
A thrilling, suspenseful retelling of Cinderella, Traitor’s Masque is the first book of the Andari Chronicles, a series of interconnected but stand-alone fairy tale retellings that feature strong heroines, romance, mystery, and deeply satisfying happily ever afters.
My Review:
As mentioned in my review of the prequel The Countess and the Frog, this series has been on my TBR for years. I love Cinderella, so I’ve been looking forward to this. Now that I’ve read it, I do wish I’d waited to read the prequel until after. While it’s a fun little expansion on the characters, it did perhaps deflate a little of the curiosity around the two princes.
What drew me to this book was the intrigue, the mystery, the daring adventure. A spy Cinderella! The politics of a kingdom and a smart, sassy heroine. And, there was some of that. Enough to keep me interested. The plot was intriguing and I did find parts of it suspenseful. But the prose was dense and hard to wade through in places. The thick writing made me want to skim in some places and the verbose, large vocabulary pulled me out of the story. I love learning new words! But when so many unusual words are used over and over, it got a little irksome.
On one hand, I liked Trystan/Embrie (what a pretty name Embrie is!) and on the other hand, I did get a little bored. But it may not be entirely her fault. I just had a hard time believing she lived at all before the story starts. It felt like she just went through the motions, which we all do sometimes, but she wasn’t the kind of character who felt like a living, breathing person who existed before the story began and would go on to exist after the story ends. It seemed unrealistic that she never had any indication or inkling that she was cared for until just the right moment in the plot, but perhaps that’s on par for the time. I don’t know. I juts had a hard time buying some of her thoughts and motivations. But she also had some refreshing bits. I think she was best on display as a character when she interacted with others, especially Donevan/Ramsey. She had an element of wit and the banter was fun. I really liked the horsebackriding bits, too. They felt refreshing and natural to the story. I also liked Theron, her horse! I liked that he felt like a little more than just a horse, but almost (not quite) as if he could have been a character all his own.
Malisse, Anya, and Darya were the typical stepfamily. We didn’t see much of the daughters at all and Malisse filled her role as expcted. Lady Isaura was the real wrench in the story, though. I enjoyed wondering if she was good or bad, what her motives were, and seeing the twist on the godmother figure seamlessly woven into the political intrigue of the plot itself. I had the hardest time in the world trying to pronounce Vianne’s name! The cook was an interesting piece of the puzzle, though I did wish to see more of her personality shine through in the story. And I liked the two stable guys we saw, but we don’t know whatever happened to them. Maybe that’s something to be revealed in subsequent books in the series.
I liked the two princes a lot. The dynamics between them and the royal household were some of my favorite parts. And this is why I wish I’d waited to read the prequel until later, but Rowan was a delightful twist on the classic Cinderella story. And the relationship between Ramsey, Rowan, and Kyle created a nuanced look at brotherhood. Kyle was easily my favorite character and honestly, he’s about the only reason I want to continue the series. I’d love to see more of him, but I also wonder if I should just be content with imagining the potential he could fulfill. But much like Trystan, I think many of these characters are stronger when they are together and we can see them play off one another. Alone, they make questionable choices and their thoughts and motivations don’t always feel consistent and cohesive.
To clarify, I may finish the series someday, but having read the first one, I’m not in a hurry to read the rest. There may be other readers who enjoy this more than I did. I just think I was so excited and then a little disappointed after waiting so long.
Content: a little bit of foul language, which took me by surprise since the other authors in her fairytale group don’t use any language in their books. Each author gets to make that choice and I respect that choice. I just didn’t expect it. And to be fair, the book wasn’t overrun with swearing. There were maybe 10 instances at most? Just be advised if that’s something that bothers you. There’s a sweet, clean romance with a refreshing focus on forgiveness and honesty. I did enjoy the exploration of the themes of loyalty, betrayal, and moral responsibility. There’s some light fantasy violence, though I don’t recall much. I’d probably recommend it for 14/15+?
More:
The prequel novella in the Andari Chronicles is The Countess and the Frog (4 Stars)
Book 2 is Goldheart
Book 3 is Pirouette
Book 4 is Shadow and Thorn
Book 5 is Daughter of Lies
Book 6 is Path of Secrets
I haven’t finished the series, but you can learn more using the Goodreads links above! For the most part, these seem like standalones, but I would guess they should be read in order to avoid spoilers for previous books.
On GraceBought
See my thoughts on the previous book in the series here!
The Countess and the Frog