Review: The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Masked Truth

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: October 2015

Published by: Doubleday Canada

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis:

Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.

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--but they're about to discover that even escape doesn't equal freedom.

My rating: ★★★★☆

First my father gets shot in the line of duty. Then I’m in the house when my babysitting clients are shot to death. Finally I get taken captive—by armed men—in the therapy camp that's supposed to help me deal with all that trauma. Ironic, huh?

That is Riley’s life right now. Her awful, awful life. Just enduring one trauma after the next. I very much enjoyed reading this, but it was brutal and so heartbreaking! It had a very intriguing mystery though, and it was tense AF! There were also many insane plot twists I did not see coming. The reveals were just very shocking and it just goes to show how people can be... even to their own family. It was unbelievably horrible.

It also had a pretty decent depiction of mental health issues. I really liked how the author touched on the stigmatization of these psychological diseases. It’s just awful.

I also really liked the characters and totally sympathized with them, especially Riley and Max. I liked the fact that Riley was Hispanic, but the book doesn’t actually go very much into that, unfortunately. And Max, even though he has so much going on with his mental health, he was so charming and I absolutely adored him! And I gotta say, him and Riley, totally cute together!

“You're not going to kiss me again, are you?”
“Do you want me to? You can ask, if you do. No need to be shy.”
“If I wanted it, I’m quite capable of initiating it.”
He smiles. “Even better.”
“Focus...”
“Completely focused.”
“On him.” I point at River.
“I don’t want to kiss him. I’m sure he’s a nice bloke—”

At first I didn’t really like Sloane—she was your typical bitchy, older sister. But as the book went on, I actually really liked her! She was very feisty and so protective of her little sister! And another character from the group that I liked was Brienne. She was sassy AF!

However, this book had a lot of rambling that really slowed things down. I understand that it was trying to show the effects these diseases had. I get it, I really do. But the pace just really slowed down when I actually wanted to get back to the action!

Overall, though, I really liked The Masked Truth! And I highly recommend it you like super suspenseful thrillers and mysteries!

Alternate cover:

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)