Best Fantasy Books: Masquerade

Title: Masquerade
Author: Cambria Herbert
Release: December 7, 2011
Pages: 360
Genre: YA Fantasy

Heven should have been the happiest girl in school. She was smart, popular and had scads of friends. Of course, that was her life before. Her life before whatever had happened that left her with a hideous scar across her face and her life in ruins. That was the life she had before that dreadful and somehow unremembered night, when everything changed. Now all she wants to do is somehow get through the day with her hoodie pulled up to hide her face, her golden hair that she once proudly showed off now a curtain pulled around her face to hide behind.

Masquerade is a wonderful first novel, pulled from an amazing little story called Before that seems to be quite well known around the web. I saw several people mention it and there are quite a few book review members on Amazon who have read it. In fact, although you might want to check out Before (it is free on Amazon as a kindle download) prior to reading Masquerade, you don’t need it to understand and appreciate the story. It is a gently fable, of love and hate, good and evil and has an ending you won’t quite be expecting.

The story begins with Heven’s presentation of life now – after the event that was to change her life. We follow her day, get introduced to her friends, and see her torment about the scars. But the story takes an abrupt turn when we begin to be introduced to different points of view. That begins after she meets Sam, the new guy in town. Not only is Sam the new guy that is unbelievably hot, but he seems to only have eyes for her. He perseveres in becoming her new friend, and she begins to wonder if he could be more.

From there the story introduces us to some shadowy characters, beings of evil that seem intent on returning to finish what they began when they left her scarred. As the plot unfolds, Sam is there to protect her and give her the strength he knows she holds inside. But who he really is, and what that means for Heven is the real story here. And one that you will need to read and find out for yourself. As with so many YA books, there is a moral here, but it doesn’t overwhelm the story. It just makes Masquerade a more meaningful book, and one well worth the journey.