The Crooked Mask by Rachel Burge, published by Hot Key Books, was Issue 4’s book club pick. Our co-editor Amy is here to share her thoughts on YA read, as well as our book club writing prompt!
This was a brilliant, tense read. I loved the incorporation of Nordic myths and the sense that no-one was what they seemed. As I’m currently enjoying Loki on Disney, it was really interesting to see another perspective on the Nordic gods.
My favourite aspect was the atmosphere; intense, evocative and mystical, the pervading feeling throughout the book was a thrilling sense of uncertainty. The mist and darkness reflected the central question for Martha – is she seeing what is in front of her?
Our ‘Crooked Mask’ inspired writing prompt is ‘mayhem of masks’. Write 500 words or create an art piece based on the prompt ‘masks’. If you’d like, you can share your work with us, or submit it to our journal!
Reading recommendations: We’re all about strong atmospheres this issue – please tell us about a novel you read where the atmosphere created really jumps off the page and drags you in in our replies. And if you loved The Crooked Mask, please let us know!
You can buy The Crooked Mask here
Thank you for following along with our Book Club! You can hear more from author Rachel Burge in our Book Club corner of Issue 4. Now available at 15% off! We’ll be announcing our next pick at our launch next Thursday, so stay tuned!
This book is written with a multi-narrative, which really enables us to identify with each character as the story unravels. Seo is a reserved and unrevealing character, and this leads to frustration from the other characters as they try to understand what he is thinking. Minjun has a very strong relationship with his brother, and their love is an important theme throughout the book. We also have the contrast of the confusing, complex relationship between Seo and Jack as they both try to understand their feelings for each other.
Blending elements of Japanese and European folklore, Skye brings us a familiar and rounded civilisation in Kichona. Each chapter alternates between young and old characters, giving us a wide view of the world. At times this distracts from the story and flattens the pacing, especially when a character’s viewpoint only appears two or three times, and the reader is left wondering what their purpose is. The use of magic veers between being straight forward spells (taiga magic) and manipulating the environment (ryo magic), accentuating the differences between the two groups of fighters and making the eventual confrontation feel a little one sided. Though, as this is book one in the series this is undoubtedly deliberate. This is a story of love, loyalty and revenge and it is the conflict in the main characters that drives it forward, leaving us wanting to discover more about them as they discover themselves. 
