The Masks: Secrets & Battlelines by Payton Balog
Author: Payton Balog
Title: Secrets & Battlelines
Published On: July 28th, 2026
Series: The Masks #2
Pages: 419
Genres: Superhero Fantasy, Superhero Science Fiction
Format: eARC
I received this book for free from The Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: The AuthorPurchase Links:
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SYNOPSIS
Alice's worst nightmare has come true: the devil who killed Glisin has returned, and Height City is being terrorized by the infamous gang of masked powered people.
As Eidolon, Alice does her best to fight crime and save lives. But without her mask, as her powers grow stronger, Alice grieves the loss of a close friend, while the others deal with their own grief and fight their own battles.
The Masks might survive, but will they stay together?
Stakes are raised, secrets are stirring, and villains are winning in the second installment of The Masks Series.
Mike’s Review of The Masks: Secrets & Battlelines
If Our Origins was the teen-drama-meets-mob-story mashup, Secrets & Battlelines is the Empire Strikes Back of the series. And it wastes no time getting darker, heavier, and completely fine with letting the villains win a few rounds. The start is brutal. Not oh, that’s rough brutal, but “put the book down and stare at the wall for a minute” brutal. Strap in.
The devil who killed Glisin is back, Height City is being terrorized, and Alice is trying to hold it all together as Eidolon with the mask on, and as a grieving friend without it. A good chunk of this book is mourning and reminiscing, and if that sounds slow, it isn’t. That’s exposition baby!
Now, a word about names. In my Our Origins review I warned you to take notes on the cast. Still on theme, everyone seems to have at least two names. And once again the book beat me to the punchline, because the characters themselves start getting confused. Get out of my head, book! Again!
I’d also like to publicly apologize for thinking I knew where this was all going. I had it mapped out. I was feeling smug. And then? Nope. I did not. And I love being wrong.
And I have to eat a little crow: I grumbled about descriptions getting a bit Tolkien in book one, but the detailing here is exactly what I want. The worldbuilding gets real texture instead of the typical handwave, and Height City feels like a place with actual history under the masks. The pop culture references are still flowing, too, and I am still fluent. Keep ’em coming.
All in all, Secrets & Battlelines is the gut-punch middle chapter done right. The stakes are getting higher, the secrets stirring, and my feelings thoroughly wrecked. Book three, I am ready. (I am not ready.
