book review
Kelley Armstrong taught us that kids who don't eavesdrop on adult conversations are doomed to a childhood of ignorance.
The Masked Truth is a fictional young adult novel, written by award winning Canadian author, Kelley Armstrong. The novel is about a young girl named Riley, the daughter of a former cop, who is suffering from PTSD after witnessing the death of the parents she was babysitting for. She blames herself for not being able to do more to save the parents and is infuriated when people call her a hero for saving the little girl since she left her without any parents. As a result of her PTSD Riley is forced or rather ‘strongly encouraged’ to attend a support group with five other teens suffering from similar issues. Attending this therapy session with five other teens, who have problems is the last thing Riley would do on her weekend, but she agrees to participate in order to please her mother. At this therapy session Riley meets many interesting personalities, some of which she likes more than the others. One personality which particularly stands out (not in a good way) is the secretive, painfully audacious and rather questionable personality of Max. But just as the therapy session begins three men burst into the building and begin killing everyone one by one. In order to survive Riley must trust Max and he in return must trust her, but it is easier said than done, especially when three men are going around a maze-like building killing everyone just for the fun of it. How will Riley and Max survive? Can they trust each other? How will they react to each other most deepest darkest secrets?
This novel is crafted well, with most of it written from Riley’s perspective and the occasional account from Max, unfortunately in third person. But even the third person is endurable as Max provides very valuable information as well as using informative language, which really assisted with vocabulary. The storyline flows smoothly and when the author reveals vital details it’s extremely difficult not to have incredible ‘light bulb moments’ when joining the dots. Although the plot regarding the murderers' motives are slightly absurd and even preposterous, the novel is still wonderfully crafted and it flows superbly.
The main concept explored in this novel is the idea that many people form judgements based upon another person’s problems, condition or attitudes and don’t attempt to understand the reasons as to why an individual act in certain ways. Basically it comes down to “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” because who knows what’s inside the book and what has happened to the book itself. The same goes for people, they shouldn’t be judged entirely on their looks or attitudes because we never know what that person has to offer us, in terms of friendships, eye opening thoughts or experiences.
We also never know what the person sitting across from us on the train has gone through, whether they’ve experienced traumatic life events, have had their lives shattered or just need someone to talk to. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, why can we not judge people “by the content of their character” rather than forming poor judgments without exploring their character. Many other notions are explored within this novel but this was the most important, especially as many people in today’s society (including myself) are guilty of forming harsh judgements about other individuals based entirely on first interactions or no interactions at all!!! This is a thoroughly outrageous habit we have all developed and we all need to work hard to change our own attitudes towards strangers.
Ultimately if you have read through this review and have happened to pick up on a storyline you may possibly enjoy, I advise that you should go ahead and read the novel, especially if you enjoy a good thriller with a satisfying ending. However, if you do not cope well with vivid and highly graphic descriptions of death or entire scenes of brutal murder I strongly advise that you stay well away from this novel and read something less intense or check out our library website for more brilliant suggestions.
-A Chahal, Year 9
Kelley Armstrong, Author