• The Masked City

  • The Invisible Library, Book 2
  • By: Genevieve Cogman
  • Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
  • Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (229 ratings)

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The Masked City  By  cover art

The Masked City

By: Genevieve Cogman
Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
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Publisher's summary

The second title in Genevieve Cogman's The Invisible Library series, The Masked City is a wonderful listen for all those who enjoyed Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair or Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London.

Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai goes missing. She discovers he's been kidnapped by the fae faction and the repercussions could be fatal. Not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.

Kai's dragon heritage means he has powerful allies, but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people – and the forces of order and chaos themselves.

Irene's mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it's always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death.

The Masked City contains bonus extra content – secrets from the Library!

Continue the bookish magic with The Burning Page. Genevieve is also the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Scarlet - which reimagines the tale of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but with vampires, mages and magic . . .

©2015 Genevieve Cogman (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

What listeners say about The Masked City

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Series

I love intelligent, cunning, practical heroine's like Irene. Kind of a Ripley (Aliens) / Mary Poppins mashup!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This series is fun!

Inventive and adventurous, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is the 2nd in a series and I recommend them.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Not quite as good but still lots of fun

I’m well into the series and while I still found lots to enjoy, so far this is my least favorite, partly because we have relatively little interaction with Kai and Vale. On the other hand there are some new characters who add fun and a little humor, and the alternate world where most of it takes place has good twists and turns.

Irene continues to develop, with hints of the full-on “spy girl” one of the new characters supposes her to be, which augers well for adventures to come.

I will be sticking with this series for at least several more books. It’s not something I can’t put down - I stop in odd places and listen to another book or a podcast from time to time - but as I said in my review of book 1, that’s just what I’m in the mood for right now. If you want something “challenging”, go elsewhere. If you just want/need a diversion from reality this may be exactly what you are looking for.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Delicious humor, lighthearted, engrossing escape!

LOVED it!  So refreshingly original.  Bonus for being action packed fantasy with delicious humor, satiating my dystopian appetite, just enough darkness while delivering a lighthearted and engrossing story.  Cogman, you have scooped me up, an instant fan. 


The gender dynamics, the delightful side characters... THANK YOU. Not once did I have a 'scream at stupid character' moment.  And oh, so many little moments to love. 


Narrator Atherton did an EXCELLENT job. Accents, pacing speech and exciting plot moments. Production team and Narrator thank you - the first books in a while i haven't had to keep adjusting volume!  Protag yelling into abysses, then whispering her thoughts? - handled.

Overall, LOVE these books. Haven't been able to put them down. Now on to book 4.  Will be re-reading soon.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic start to finish

It feels like Irene is truly coming into her own power and she of Glorious

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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I am hooked

I loved this book. Some of it may be a little predictable, but I find that for me the balance is good.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Will be a regular listen!

The story is quick, fun, and adventurous! I love the narrator and her character voices.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Story, Mediocre Reading

Great sequel to the fantastic first book! The performance is okay, but a little annoying - some of the characters have similar voices, and long pauses between words makes speed adjustment frustrating.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

another great tale!

A second book in a series can make or break the series as a whole. I normally expect a second book to be a bridge book with a lot of plot set up. That is not the case for The Masked City. It is another adventure for Irene Vale and Kai (Kai's adventure being not so great) while providing more world building, and character relationship development. I love the dynamic of this trio.

Another great performance by Ms. Atherton in the narration.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, gripping performance!

I am loving this series and the narration is fantastic…makes me want to listen instead of read the physical book version. Story is well written and love the characters…twists and turns a plenty.

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