A masterfully written new YA fantasy that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Feature image credit: Pan Macmillan Australia
The coming of a new YA fantasy series is always exciting for fans of the genre looking for a fresh new take on familiar tropes. And for Adelaideans, the first book in a new series is a million times more exciting when it’s written by a local author.
Alina Bellchambers grew up in her family’s bookshop and now writes on a hobby-farm in the scenic Adelaide Hills, but it’s tricky (and wonderful!) to juxtapose the image of a local writer with a debut like The Order of Masks, which feels destined for Hollywood.
My first thought as I devoured the first few chapters was a YA Song of Ice and Fire, with a smaller cast and tighter focus on female protagonists. But many of the factors that made George R.R. Martin’s work a success are there: a tightly plotted narrative brimming with political intrigue, original world building and an interesting magical system, and best of all, morally grey characters. We love morally grey characters!
The Order of Masks follows both Mira and Scarlett, a performer and a princess, as they infiltrate a brutal court filled with magic, betrayal, and aforementioned characters that we spend the entire book tossing up whether to trust or not. Then there are those we probably shouldn’t trust, but we want to root for anyway, again in the vein of Martin’s work. The story is full of twists, unexpected cliff-hanger chapter endings, and high stakes that will keep you on the edge of your seat. While readers are taken through an array of emotions in a world where no character is really safe, the dominant sentiment while reading for me was rage. By the end, I was as invested in revenge as our two protags.
This debut is truly a testament to Bellchambers’ talent as a writer, marked by a terrific balance of plot and character development that is well paced. The (mostly) dual point of view works well to show us the same story from two different perspectives, while the prose sparkles with fresh descriptions and rich sensory detail. While this is strictly subjective, I was thrilled to find a novel marketed as romantasy in the age of BookTok that wasn’t 99% spice. The romance feels more like a subplot rather than the overarching purpose of the story, and mercifully, no eggplant or hot pepper emojis are needed for this book review.
It’s perhaps only a matter of time before The Order of Masks develops a die-hard fandom, and it’s no wonder: this debut is undoubtedly an example of some of the homegrown talent and ambition we have here in SA.
Reviewed by Vanessa Elle
Instagram: @vanessaellewrites
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Pan Macmillan Australia
Released: September 2024
RRP: $34.99
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