The Masked City – Genevieve Cogman

Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai goes missing. She discovers he’s been kidnapped by the fae faction and the repercussions could be fatal. Not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.

Kai’s dragon heritage means he has powerful allies, but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people – and the forces of order and chaos themselves.

Irene’s mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it’s always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death.

Irene is back! This is the second instalment in Genevieve Cogman’s wonderful series about The Invisible Library. The first book was a huge amount of fun and The Masked City is no exception. Genevieve has really settled into her style here and this is a more confident, bigger tale as Irene has to go on a rescue mission to find her protégé across worlds, facing down dragons and Fae (and the occasional werewolf) as she goes.

Irene is a fantastic character, and the Invisible Library itself is a fantastic concept. I must confess that I was a little (and only a little) disappointed that we didn’t see more of it this time round! If you’re reading this, Genevieve, more Library in book three please! It’s great seeing a kick-ass librarian heroine, not taking any nonsense from any of the men (or dragons, or Fae!)

The story is a helter-skelter ride across worlds ending up in an alternate Venice where Irene must try and rescue Kai from the dastardly Guantes before he’s auctioned off to the highest bidder and a war is started between the Dragons and the Fae. There’s a clock ticking down the hours and a real sense of drama and tension as we get closer to midnight.

I thought The Masked Library was a huge amount of fun, and if you’ve read The Invisible Library, this is a must-read. If you’ve not read that yet, start with the first book – this is one series you really want to read in order! Highly recommended.

Roll on book 3.