Being haunted by a sinister circus, ghosts and scary clowns wasn’t unusual for the spunky 18-year-old girl, Estela Nannette Sinclair. Neither was the physical and emotional abuse that she faced from her adoptive parents.
But, one was just a dream and the other would resolve itself in two weeks upon her eighteenth birthday… or so she mistakenly presumed. Her life was a complex façade of lies that hid how deeply she was entangled with three powerhouses of dark magic. Had she been that ignorant of the masquerade before her? An ignorance that wasn’t bliss. And an ignorance that meant her corpse would likely decorate an amusement attraction in a mere two weeks’ time.
Masqueraded is a suspenseful and deliciously dark psychological thriller and the first chapter of an emotionally-charged YA paranormal series that features a strong female lead character, who is looking for answers to her troubled past, while discovering new depths of deviant dark magic lurking underneath the surface in the carnival where she escaped the domestic abuse of her youth. Join Estela, as she explores a hidden magical world of teleportation, scrying, and telekinesis.

Title: Masqueraded: Act One

Author: Alexis Dees

Pages: 144

My review

A story like none other!

Masqueraded: Act One is simply redefining everything we know of the magical world. When I read the blurb, I mistakenly assumed that this will be a story like the Harry Potter series. But I was wrong. Masqueraded presents another level of story. More human and more realistic. Dark magic exists among us. Immortality and superpowers are real but they all come with a price. The price they have to pay to create a bond with it is their soul.

Estela is a soon to be 18-year-old girl, who is craving for her freedom like none other of her age. She is merely surviving with her abusive adoptive parents and dealing with constant nightmares every day. She has been associated with a traveling carnival for three years from now. This is the only place of freedom she has got. But what she doesn’t know is the dark truth behind her friends and associates from the carnival. Finally, she uncovered the truth behind their inhuman tricks and it is not what she imagined at all.

The author has developed Estela’s character very well throughout the story. Her transformation from a naive, innocent girl to a confident, fearless woman was smooth and convincing. She is vulnerable and fearless at the same time. Ignorance brings fear. The more she gained knowledge, the more fearless she become.

I really loved the climax of this story. The cunning and manipulative characters are unconventional heroes in the mainstream. But here they are justified and backed by situations.

Rating:5/5