The Masked City

The Invisible Library, Book 2

De: Genevieve Cogman

Narrado por: Kristin Atherton

Librarian-spy Irene's assistant has been kidnapped by the Fae – a fairy faction who will stop at nothing to cause utter chaos. The Masked City is the second entry in the Invisible Library series from Genevieve Cogman.

Irene is working undercover when disaster strikes. Her assistant, Kai, is snatched away by the dangerous Fae faction, unveiling his secret identity. Kai is a dragon prince – with this act of aggression, the Fae are determined to trigger a war that will hurl all dimensions into havoc.

With the stakes higher than ever before, Irene must navigate a treacherous path into the heart of enemy territory – a dark, alternate Venice under the grim control of the Fae. To prevent the Fae from triggering armageddon, she must find and rescue Kai. She will be forced to blackmail, fight and make an unlikely alliance – or face death . . .

This book also includes a extra, bonus section – with fascinating insights into the library's intricate spy network.

Continue this enthralling journey with The Burning Page, the third book in the series that takes the adventure to new, fiery heights.

Praise for the series:

'I absolutely loved this' – N. K. Jemisin, author of The Fifth Season

'Irene is a great heroine: fiery, resourceful and no one's fool' – The Guardian

'Cogman keeps upping the ante on this delightful series!' – Charles Stross, author of the Merchant Princes series

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

This series is fun!

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

Fantastic start to finish

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

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.

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.

I am a fan, but…

The Invisible Library and specifically the characters of Irene, Strongrock and her Sherlock- like friend Vail are well developed and you do end up caring about them. However Cogman does lean a bit too hard on deus ex machina. Will I read more in this series? Yes. I want to know what happens to Irene when she goes back to the Library to face the tribunal. Sigh