These Vicious Masks

Gr 8 Up—This latest from the Swoonreads online crowd-sourcing effort is a Victorian love story with a healthy dose of the supernatural. Evelyn Wyndham and her sister Rose are wearily making the rounds of dances and parties that comprise British society when Rose suddenly disappears after a ball. Over her parents' objections, Evelyn travels to London to search for her sister with the help of the moody and mysterious Sebastian Braddock and the charming and sardonic Mr. Kent. As she follows the clues to her sister's whereabouts, she begins to unravel secrets about those closest to her and soon discovers that she and Rose possess powerful gifts. Her search ultimately unveils a hidden world of people with supernatural abilities—a world in which some use their gifts for good and others work unspeakable evil. This tale has brisk pacing, plenty of action, and a heroine with more than her fair share of girl-power confidence. The secondary characters, of which there are many, come off rather stereotypical, and the story itself could benefit from greater development of the setting and background information. Nevertheless, this Regency-style romance meets "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman" superhero adventure will delight many teens. There is little doubt that there will soon be many more admirers yearning for the sequel that Shanker and Zekas set up in the final pages.