Tropes : High stakes, court politics and intrigue, multiple POV, multi morally grey characters, high stakes. 

The Order of Masks by Alina Bellchambers had me completely captivated; once I was reading I couldn’t put it down. It's been a while since I encountered a story filled with court politics and political intrigue where I genuinely questioned whom to trust at every turn. The first half of the book does a fantastic job of establishing the characters, making the stakes feel incredibly high when the exposition unfolds in the second half. Even though I anticipated the betrayal revealed in the cliffhanger, the way the story is written makes you truly feel the weight of the loss. 

Every character we encounter is deeply and morally grey, which enhances the story's high-stakes atmosphere with added complexity and depth. With each chapter, I found myself reflecting on the characters, constantly shifting my opinions on whether I liked or disliked them. While this might pose an issue for some readers, I truly appreciated this aspect in this book. The romance in the book serves more as a background element rather than the main focus, which I believe fits this story perfectly. At this stage, I can genuinely say that Mira could end up with either of her options or choose none at all, and I wouldn’t be too bothered by it. Although, if the Prince is the end-goal I want an entire books worth of grovelling. 

The world-building and magic system were crafted exceptionally well, with a perfect pace throughout. After finishing this book, I can't help but feel that there is so much more to look forward to in the sequel!

Overall, I feel as if this is such an easy to read Fantasy fuelled with genuine High Stakes and complex, morally grey characters that keeps you guessing until the final pages. I can’t wait to read book two and see where our characters end up!