Book Title: City of Masks
Author: Mary Hoffman
Series: Stravaganza #1
Series: Stravaganza #1
Date Started: September 4th 2013
Date Completed: September 5th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: Three stars
Review:
I picked this book up rather randomly. It's been on my shelf for years, and I felt like I should try something a little bit different. You can't really call this book a Young Adult story - I don't know whether it's supposed to be or not - but even so, I'm not quite sure if it's a particularly good children's book anyway.
City of Masks is about fifteen-year-old Lucien. After years suffering with cancer, Lucien wants something other than laying in bed, utterly exhausted. But when his father brings him a marbled notebook one day, and he wakes up in a strange, glittering city. He's dragged out of sight by a mysterious girl and soon he's enjoying Bellezza. But his presence in the city is not unknown, and people are coming for him.
The writing is part of the reason I think this is a children's book rather than a teenage novel (I should really check that). It was very easy, and to be honest bored me a little - I ended up skim reading the whole thing, and I was still able to understand the story due to the bare simplicity of writing style. For a children's book, it was good. Not great, but I can't judge it too harshly since I'm not exactly the target audience.
Having said that, I did love the descriptions of Bellezza. It's more than implied that this city is supposed to be a version of Venice, and the atmosphere really did remind me of the Italian City. It was really nice to feel like I was back there, and I think that was probably the best element of the whole book.
I don't know how accurate the description of Lucien's cancer was, but it didn't seem particularly real to me - from a reader's perspective. I think this was a big issue because I wasn't too bothered about what happened to him - I just couldn't connect.
I think my synopsis is slightly inaccurate as, to be blunt, the story isn't that exciting. I knew it wasn't going to be particularly complex, but there weren't really any parts where I was really into the book. It was very clear what was going to happen, and even for harmless villains, there was never really any threat towards the characters. It all seemed a bit rushed to me.
Having said that, it did remind me of the kind of books I read when I was younger. It's not the highest quality of story and writing, but it was still a nice adventure, and actually quite touching towards the end.
The one great part about the story is that certain parts were tied off that most people wouldn't want to lose. There is no going back with what Hoffman decided to do, and that does take a fair amount of confidence to do - especially in a series, where it could limit future events.
There were a lot of characters for such a simplistic book, which I think needlessly complicated the story since none of them really meant anything to me as I still don't remember any of their names.
I liked Lucian. He was a nice protagonist, but he didn't really do anything for the whole story.
I engaged with Arianna's part in the story because she seemed reasonably realistic. She did have affection for her family (especially her brothers, which is something I always get along with) and she really did have passion for the city. She was also the only character to take risks and actually have courage in the whole story. Young readers love courage and that sort of thing, so I expected more.
Rodolfo is definitely the hero, since he was the one to always work everything out for Lucien and actually do stuff to help their situation. He was my favourite character because he seemed to have genuine affection for both Lucien and Arianna.
The Duchessa annoyed me. Even after she turned out to be nicer, she still annoyed me. She seems like a brat who still acts like a child well into her life. Not much else to say about her.
The pace was okay, but it never really changed at all. As a children's book, it needs to be slower to explain everything to its audience, but there weren't any clear climaxes, and even when we did get to the important parts of the story, it isn't really any different from the rest of the book.
I think it's a really nice adventure for younger readers that I feel I would have enjoyed a few years ago (about the time I bought it). I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series, but I did enjoy this little journey back into my favourite childhood places and stories.
Image Source: https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/p480x480/22042_277957667111_6056832_n.jpg
I picked this book up rather randomly. It's been on my shelf for years, and I felt like I should try something a little bit different. You can't really call this book a Young Adult story - I don't know whether it's supposed to be or not - but even so, I'm not quite sure if it's a particularly good children's book anyway.
City of Masks is about fifteen-year-old Lucien. After years suffering with cancer, Lucien wants something other than laying in bed, utterly exhausted. But when his father brings him a marbled notebook one day, and he wakes up in a strange, glittering city. He's dragged out of sight by a mysterious girl and soon he's enjoying Bellezza. But his presence in the city is not unknown, and people are coming for him.
The writing is part of the reason I think this is a children's book rather than a teenage novel (I should really check that). It was very easy, and to be honest bored me a little - I ended up skim reading the whole thing, and I was still able to understand the story due to the bare simplicity of writing style. For a children's book, it was good. Not great, but I can't judge it too harshly since I'm not exactly the target audience.
Having said that, I did love the descriptions of Bellezza. It's more than implied that this city is supposed to be a version of Venice, and the atmosphere really did remind me of the Italian City. It was really nice to feel like I was back there, and I think that was probably the best element of the whole book.
I don't know how accurate the description of Lucien's cancer was, but it didn't seem particularly real to me - from a reader's perspective. I think this was a big issue because I wasn't too bothered about what happened to him - I just couldn't connect.
I think my synopsis is slightly inaccurate as, to be blunt, the story isn't that exciting. I knew it wasn't going to be particularly complex, but there weren't really any parts where I was really into the book. It was very clear what was going to happen, and even for harmless villains, there was never really any threat towards the characters. It all seemed a bit rushed to me.
Having said that, it did remind me of the kind of books I read when I was younger. It's not the highest quality of story and writing, but it was still a nice adventure, and actually quite touching towards the end.
The one great part about the story is that certain parts were tied off that most people wouldn't want to lose. There is no going back with what Hoffman decided to do, and that does take a fair amount of confidence to do - especially in a series, where it could limit future events.
There were a lot of characters for such a simplistic book, which I think needlessly complicated the story since none of them really meant anything to me as I still don't remember any of their names.
I liked Lucian. He was a nice protagonist, but he didn't really do anything for the whole story.
I engaged with Arianna's part in the story because she seemed reasonably realistic. She did have affection for her family (especially her brothers, which is something I always get along with) and she really did have passion for the city. She was also the only character to take risks and actually have courage in the whole story. Young readers love courage and that sort of thing, so I expected more.
Rodolfo is definitely the hero, since he was the one to always work everything out for Lucien and actually do stuff to help their situation. He was my favourite character because he seemed to have genuine affection for both Lucien and Arianna.
The Duchessa annoyed me. Even after she turned out to be nicer, she still annoyed me. She seems like a brat who still acts like a child well into her life. Not much else to say about her.
The pace was okay, but it never really changed at all. As a children's book, it needs to be slower to explain everything to its audience, but there weren't any clear climaxes, and even when we did get to the important parts of the story, it isn't really any different from the rest of the book.
I think it's a really nice adventure for younger readers that I feel I would have enjoyed a few years ago (about the time I bought it). I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series, but I did enjoy this little journey back into my favourite childhood places and stories.
Image Source: https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/p480x480/22042_277957667111_6056832_n.jpg
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