After reading Manacled by SenLinYou and LOVING it, I knew I wanted to read more Dramione fanfiction. I’m not really a fan of Harry Potter but some of the fanfiction written in this world is as good as any traditionally published book. I looked for the most popular one, other than Manacled, and I found Secrets and Masks by Emerald Slytherin. This is a massive story with around 1400 pages but that’s not a problem for me… if I’m into the book. Unfortunately, this one took me forever to get through because I didn’t find it to be good or well written. This review will have spoilers.
I like to give a heat level rating for all books with romance. If you’re curious about my rating system, you can check it out here.
Synopsis:
Nine years after the battle of Hogwarts, the war still rages on and everyone is much changed since their days at Hogwarts.
Hermione is the most lethal soldier in The Order, spending her days on rescue missions to free captured Muggleborn slaves and fight on the front line.
For years, she’s been meeting in secret with a spy within Voldemort’s ranks to exchange information.
But, when she’s captured and made prisoner at Malfoy Manor, of all the dark and evil ways she’d envisioned Malfoy would torture her, she never quite imagined anything this horrific.
My Thoughts:
- Rating-
- Heat Level-
My number one issue with this book is the length. It could have been edited down by at least half. There is so much unnecessary filler and the same scenes repeated in slightly different ways. To be totally transparent, I skimmed through around 20% of the book and missed nothing. Since this is a fanfiction, I don’t judge the lack of editing quite as harshly as I would a traditionally published book, but it greatly hindered my enjoyment. There were also quite a few typos but again, since this is fanfiction, I don’t really mind that.
The characters could have redeemed the issues I had with the editing, but I didn’t like any of them. I’m not overly familiar with the Harry Potter world but I have watched the movies and read a few of the books. The characters here seemed to be very different, which is fine since it’s fanfiction, but they weren’t different in a good way. They were all unlikable. Hermione was a typical “not like other girls” trope and Draco was very stiff and bland. I never believed that they were actually in love so that kept me from feeling emotionally connected. All of the supporting characters were varying levels of cringe and annoying, except for the dragon and the house elves; I did love them.
I will be spoiling the ending here so stop reading if you don’t want it ruined. Secrets and Masks does not have a typical happy ending, and I think some will love it, while others will hate it. Since I never got attached to the characters, I didn’t care either way. To summarize, Hermione and Draco both die and end up together in the afterlife. I think it’s a unique ending, but I just felt very meh about it. Meh sums up my feelings for this book as a whole.
Final Thoughts:
It will probably be awhile before I read another Dramione fanfiction because getting through this one felt like a chore. I have quite a few downloaded, though, so I’m sure I will eventually feel the urge again. If you have a favorite one, please let me know what it is! Thanks for reading💞
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