Tag Archives: The Masked Truth

[REVIEW] The Masked Truth – Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong
The Masked Truth
Random House Doubleday (US & CA: 13th October 2015); Hachette Little, Brown Atom (UK & AU: 13th October 2016)
Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

CONTENT WARNINGS: The Masked Truth deals with mental illness, predominantly PTSD and schizophrenia. Throughout the novel are ableist slurs, racism/cultural stereotyping, size shaming, sexism, and the threat of a sexuality conversion camp. While these problematic things are for the most part called out by other characters, sometimes they go unchecked. (“Crazy” appears frequently.) There’s also gun violence.

I understand what the author tried to do here, but the execution is iffy.

The novel comprises two distinct parts: thriller and mystery. In the former, a weekend therapy camp for teens with mental illnesses quickly turns into a hostage situation led by three masked intruders. Deaths and injuries ensue.

In the latter, survivors are few, but they’re left to make sense out of what happened. This is quite interesting at first, as it tackles the prejudice people with mental illnesses and disorders face, particularly if there’s a crime involved. But as the survivors connect the threads, the story gets rather farfetched. Even the very last chapter has a final twist, but it seems like more of a twist for the sake of having one, rather than making sense.

I think the author tried to show that teens with mental illnesses and disorders can face adversity and save themselves. Thing is, Riley and Max’s relationship is very co-dependent – so instead of saving themselves, they save each other. So yay for teamwork, but that may hinder independent spirit. Not as inspiring as you’d expect.

13th October 2015 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

Kelley Armstrong
The Masked Truth
Random House Doubleday (US & CA: 13th October 2015); Hachette Little, Brown Atom (UK & AU: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

A few months ago, Riley Vasquez was caught up in a horrific murder. Now everyone around her thinks she’s a hero. Riley isn’t so sure. Meanwhile British army brat Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn’t dare reveal. The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with “issues”. But that’s exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage. The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree. Riley and Max know that if they can’t get out, they’ll be next. They’ll have to work together – but first they’ll have to trust each other with their deepest secrets.

Megan Crewe
A Sky Unbroken (Earth & Sky, Book 3)
Amazon Skyscape (US: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

The rebels have been disbanded, their plans ruined. Betrayed by those she trusted most, Skylar finds herself herded, along with a small group of Earthlings, into a living museum – a human zoo – on the Kemyates’ space station, subject to her captors’ every whim. Any move Skylar makes could result in the extinction of her people – but giving in means losing any hope of freedom. Meanwhile, Win returns home and evades punishment by pretending to be loyal to Kemya. But he can’t bear knowing that Skylar is imprisoned or watch his fellow Kemyates swallow the Council’s lies about Earth. He must bring the truth to the Kemyate public and see the Earthlings freed – even if it means openly challenging his world’s rulers. Neither Skylar nor Win knows they are about to uncover an even deeper conspiracy – one that could push the future they’re fighting for completely out of reach.

Gail Giles
Girls Like Us
Random House Candlewick (US & CA: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Quincy and Biddy are both graduates of their high school’s special ed. program, but they couldn’t be more different: suspicious Quincy faces the world with her fists up, while gentle Biddy is frightened to step outside her front door. When they’re thrown together as roommates in their first “real world” apartment, it initially seems to be an uneasy fit. But as Biddy’s past resurfaces and Quincy faces a harrowing experience that no one should have to go through alone, the two of them realise that they might have more in common than they thought – and more important, that they might be able to help each other move forward.

Mira Grant
Symbiont (Parasitology, Book 2)
Hachette Orbit (US: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

The SymboGen designed tapeworms were created to relieve humanity of disease and sickness. But the implants in the majority of the world’s population began attacking their hosts, turning them into a ravenous horde. Now those who do not appear to be afflicted are being gathered for quarantine as panic spreads, but Sal and her companions must discover how the tapeworms are taking over their hosts, what their eventual goal is, and how they can be stopped.

J. Kenner
Seduce Me (Stark Ever After, Novella)
Random House Bantam (US & CA: 13th October 2015); Hachette Headline Eternal (UK: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)

I’ve never felt as close to anyone as I have with Damien Stark. I know every line of his body, every secret within his soul. There’s nothing I crave more than his touch, and with his kiss, he seals his claim. Las Vegas is the perfect place for us, where we can indulge every desire and fantasy. But when someone from my past resurfaces, I can’t ignore my instinct that I have to make things right. With Damien by my side, I feel safe no matter the danger. Our passion protects us, drives us, makes us whole. His pleasure is an exquisite game, and one that I’ll play forever.

Andrea Kleine
Calf
Perseus Soft Skull Press (US: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

The year was 1981. The US was entering a deep recession, Russia was our enemy, and John Hinckley, Jr.’s assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan shocked the nation. It was also the year author Andrea Kleine learned her close childhood friend had been violently murdered by her socialite mother, Leslie DeVeau. Both events took place in Washington, DC. Hinckley and Deveau were both sent to St. Elizabeth’s hospital, guilty by reason of insanity. It was there that they met, and later became lovers. These two real-life and ultimately converging events inspired Kleine’s novel, Calf. Made up of dual narratives and told over the course of one year, Kleine’s account follows a fictionalised John Hinckley Jr. as he stalks a young actress in the lead-up to the assassination attempt, and eleven-year-old Tammy, whose friend is murdered in her sleep.

Marie Lu
The Rose Society (The Young Elites, Book 2)
Penguin (US & CA: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Adelina Amouteru’s heart is set on revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she flees Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her. But Adelina is no heroine. The leader of the Inquisition wants her dead, and her former friends at the Dagger Society want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

Richelle Mead
The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines, Book 6)
Penguin Razorbill (US & CA: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, she and Adrian become enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world and alter their lives forever.

Blythe Woolston
MARTians
Random House Candlewick (US & CA: 13th October 2015)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Last girl Zoë Zindleman, numerical ID 009-99-9999, is starting work at AllMART, where “your smile is the AllMART welcome mat.” Her living arrangements are equally bleak: she can wait for her home to be foreclosed and stripped of anything valuable now that AnnaMom has moved away, leaving Zoë behind, or move to the Warren, an abandoned strip-mall-turned-refuge for other left-behinds. With a handful of other disaffected, forgotten kids, Zoë must find her place in a world that has consumed itself beyond redemption. She may be a last girl, but her name means “life”, and Zoë isn’t ready to disappear into the AllMART abyss. Zoë wants to live.

October 2015 Releases

Done with September 2015 Releases? Here are October 2015 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

TRIGGER WARNING: The cover image for Andrea Kleine’s Calf (13th October) is confronting.

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11 New Covers (Armstrong, Carr, Driza, Ewing, Fitzpatrick, Hart, Roux, Silver)

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Now Available for US Pre-Order

Cassie Alexander: The HATED: 1st February 2015: Buy (US)
Kelley Armstrong: THE MASKED TRUTH: 13th October 2015: Buy (US)
Holly Black: BLACK HEART (mass market paperback): 24th November 2015: Buy (US)
Melinda Braun: STRANDED: 25th August 2015: Buy (US)
Jessica Brody, Marissa Meyer, Caragh M. O’Brien, et al: FIERCE READS: KISSES AND CURSES: 19th May 2015: Buy (US)
Viola Carr: TENFOLD MORE WICKED: 27th October 2015: Buy (US)
Cassandra Rose Clarke: OUR LADY OF THE ICE: 27th October 2015: Buy (US)
Debra Driza: REDEMPTION: 27th October 2015: Buy (US)
Becca Fitzpatrick: untitled novel: 10th November 2015: Buy (US)
Mira Grant: SYMBIONT (paperback): 13th October 2015: Buy (US)
Claudia Gray: TEN THOUSAND SKIES ABOVE YOU: 3rd November 2015: Buy (US)
R. C. Lewis: SPINNING STARLIGHT: 6th October 2015: Buy (US)
Marie Lu: PRODIGY: COLLECTOR’S EDITION: 6th February 2015: Buy (US)
Richelle Mead: THE RUBY CIRCLE (paperback): 13th October 2015: Buy (US)
Richelle Mead: SOUNDLESS: 17th November 2015: Buy (US)
Scott Westerfeld: AFTERWORLDS (paperback): 29th September 2015: Buy (US)