Thank you to the team at Tin House for sending me my first ARC!
I recently read Mike Fu’s MASQUERADE, described as “a surreal, queer, coming-of-age mystery set between New York and Shanghai” by TIME. What follows is my honest review.
Fu’s buoyant, natural dialogue was excellent. I enjoyed the characters’ fullness, each person felt fleshed out and singular, each with their own voice - even if they didn’t get much page time. The nested story - within - the - story was compelling, at times more so than the A-plot. I enjoy reading ‘weird fiction’, and appreciated the elements of that genre this book contained. Specifically, the surreal images like the odd flower, mirrors, & doppelgängers were great. The depiction of various friendships was quite lovely, & I enjoyed reading some of the idyllic scenes where Meadow spent intimate time with his friends. The prose itself was beautiful, but sometimes dragged on.
My biggest gripe here is how (some of) the mysteries were explained. The resolution for the nested story’s plotline was satisfying, but some of the other final beats of the book fell flat to me, especially Diego’s and Selma’s “explained absences”.
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone looking for strong prose, robust characters, a sweet emotional core, and some surreal elements.
I’m impressed with this book as a debut novel, and looking forward to reading further from Mike Fu.
MASQUERADE will be released October 29, 2024.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
yours,
m