This Eternity of Masks and Shadows by Karsten Knight [Book Review]

Welcome back, friends!! I am so excited about the review this week! This Eternity of Masks and Shadows is definitely a 5-star book for me, and I hope you enjoy! I received this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. I don’t have enough words to tell you just how much I loved this book!

Some links in this post are affiliate links. I’ll receive a small commission through your purchase, and I’m so grateful!

Synopsis

Gods and goddesses are real. That’s the main premise of This Eternity of Masks and Shadows. Every century, they reincarnate into a new iteration. They don’t retain any memories of the previous century, and based on their place of rebirth and environment, each god or goddess could be good or evil.

Cairn, the main character, is the daughter of the goddess, Sedna, the Inuit goddess of the sea and underworld. When her mother commits suicide, Cairn can’t accept that her mother was that depressed. This determination leads her on a road to find out who her mother really was, and on a journey of self-discovery while she tries to find out why her mom died.

The Author

Karsten Knight has been writing since he was 6 years old, when he wrote a picture book “about an adventurous worm.” Since then, he has written 10 books, worked as a college admissions counselor, and as a copywriter. He currently resides in Boston with his wife and family.

My Thoughts

I think this is the first book I’ve read in a while that I just COULD NOT put down! Things come up, sure, but when I had time to read, I was reading this book. it’s SO GOOD! I cannot say enough that you should drop everything and run to Amazon and buy this book. Yes, I am an Amazon Associate, and yes, I would get a commission through your purchase, but I would recommend this book if I never made a cent. That should tell you something 🙂

Someone asked me on Instagram if this book was scary, and I can say for certain it wasn’t. At least, I wasn’t scared. According to the author, this book is “the confluence of a lot of the genres that have shaped me as a writer throughout my life: the vigilante and superhero stories I consumed as a kid, the mythologies I fell in love with as a teenager, and the murder mysteries and noir I gravitate to as an adult.”

I can say, Karsten Knight did this exceptionally. I can see the superhero and murder mystery influences, and the whole book is about gods and goddesses, so there’s that. I love all three of those genres, so it makes sense that I would love this book. It also has some fantasy influence, even though the book is set in Boston. This book has mythological characters from every mythology under the sun. I saw Norse, Egyptian, Inuit, Greek and many others that I’m not familiar with. One of my favorite characters was Nanook, the Polar Bear god.

Excerpt

“Tonight, I’ll tell you the myth of Sedna.”

Ahna sat at the foot of her daughter’s bed, as she had so many nights since Cairn was old enough to remember. Squall claimed the space between his owner’s knees and nestled in for warmth. While still technically a kitten, he grew bigger by the day.

Ahna gathered her stories from every mythology, every region of the world, and every century, but she always came back to the myths of the Inuit people – their people.

Sedna was the goddess of sea life, and while the details changed with every iteration Ahna told, the myth always remained as unforgiving as the tundra from which it had originated.

“And so,” her mother continued, “Sedna angered her father by turning away all of her male suitors, claiming she’d just as soon marry her dog. To punish Sedna, her father lured her into his kayak, rowed out to the middle of the icy bay, and before she could fight back, he cast her into the frigid waters. Sedna pleaded with him and attempted to climb back into the boat, but with a might slash of his knife, he severed all ten of her fingers. the spurned young woman sank to the bottom of the ocean. But from violence and death springs life anew. As her severed fingers slipped into the dark depths, they transformed into the sea’s most remarkable creatures – the salmon, the walrus, the seal, the whale, the narwhal. Sedna herself was reborn as their master and presided over Adlivun, the underworld where we will all one day eternally rest.”

The myth of Sedna had always been Cairn’s favorite, and for good reason: The story was about her mother.

I have read other books that I just had a hard time with, because of writing styles, and punctuation use, but there was none of that here. Honestly, I tried to find something that I didn’t like, because I like to keep balance in my reviews between negative and positive.

I couldn’t find a thing. Seriously.

I looked and looked for something negative I could say, and I couldn’t find a thing. The characters were well-developed, the story moved along briskly, without feeling to overwhelming, and the plot had so many twists and turns that I never really knew what was going on until the end of the book. I really hope someone makes a movie from this book. I would go see that, for sure!

I hope this book ends up being part of a series, because I would love to see these characters again. I will definitely add this book to my list of “must re-read at some point!”

Interested in purchasing This Eternity of Masks and Shadows? Click here!

If you haven’t read this book, I hope you get to soon, because this book was awesome! It takes a subject as common as mythology (like, seriously, who hasn’t heard of any mythology in their lifetime?) and elevates it to superhero status. While Rick Riordan did this with the Percy Jackson books, and did it well, he focused on Greek and Roman pantheons, while this book focuses on them ALL. That makes this book unique, and more enjoyable in its own way.

Conclusion

If you haven’t read this book, I urge you to RUN to Amazon, and preorder this book so you can read it soon! I loved This Eternity of Masks and Shadows so much, and honestly couldn’t find anything wrong with it! Each of the different mythological characters fit in with their personal pantheon, but fit in with the rest of the world as well, which created a cohesive, well-written story.

Have you read this book? Are you going to? Please let me know in the comments below! I’d love to discuss this book with you! If you love mythology as much as I do, let me know your favorite pantheon in the comments!

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Until Next Time, Friends!