Masquerade

Canterwood Crest #16

by Jessica Burkhart

Canterwood Crest Academy cordially invites you to a costume party—with a special sweetheart surprise.

Canterwood is known for its fabulous parties, and Halloween is no exception. Lauren Towers is especially excited for the big day. Not only is it her favorite holiday, it’s also her birthday! And this year, she and her friends will celebrate in style—by attending Canterwood’s first-ever masquerade ball. What Lauren doesn’t know is that there’s a special someone behind a mask, just waiting to be revealed. Will this mysterious guest make this masquerade magnifique, or will her perfect birthday bash become a bummer?

Genres: Horses, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Contemporary, Animals, Fiction, Boarding School

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 11, 2012

About the author

Jessica Burkhart is the author of the best-selling Canterwood Crest series which has sold over 1.6 million copies in multiple languages. She has also written the Unicorn Magic series, the YA novel Wild Hearts, and edited a YA anthology--Life Inside My Mind.

Reviews

[Emma Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jessica Burkhart's books. I really do. The early CCA books were awesome- suspenseful,full of horses, and plenty of character flaws. The Lauren Towers books are NOT my favorite. They are good, and I will stick with it hoping for a better story, but I have critique. I rated this book three stars because first, Lauren Towers has absolutely NO real character flaws. She's honest, smart, pretty, organized, a good rider, and pretty much perfect. Sasha had plenty: she lied to her friends, she didn't believe in herself, she ruined all her relationships. I would love to see some character flaws for LT. Second, Jessica Burkhart's writing still strikes me as a teenage dream. Completely, entirely UNREAL. All the characters are rich and privileged. They are all good at school and a sport of their choice, they're pretty and they have boyfriends. I wish that the author would write about someone who isn't like that. The twelve-almost-thirteen-year-olds in this story are way too mature and level-headed for their age. I'm sorry. It's just not real. Jessica is still attempting a dramatic storyline, but it's way too predictable. Tips for improvement- character flaws, realistic surroundings and backgrounds, just something we Canterwood reader girlies can RELATE to! I hope the next book is an improvement.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

jessica burkhart needs to reconsider what she was doing when she wrote this book. taylor just like assaults lauren? and then she forgives him? and that's supposed to make sense. also they're 12.

[Aishah Q. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Mon Dieu! Best. Book. Yet! I liked how Khlo is so supportive of LT! :) My fave part had to be when Drew and LT shared that umbrella! ;) And the ending was. So. Surprising! Cannot wait for Jealousy!

[Olivia Noack · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I was reading through Sasha's books, I found myself often annoyed with her and how she always ruins her friendships, the drama with Jasmine and Julia was petty and stupid. I loved the competitive drama regarding the horse riding teams and and competitions who was winning classes. That stuff was interesting to me. I was relieved when I finished Sasha's books and I was ready to move onto some new drama.
Yet here we are with Lauren, and I don't really like the drama either. She barely spends any time riding in the books at all (there isn't even a horse on this cover- I think she only went riding twice and it was just for lessons). Also, so much of Lauren's drama involves her old friends and people from her home life, which is fine I guess and realistic, but it's not as interesting when it could be with Canterwood Crest. Riley was a super annoying girl, but at least she made conflict. Now that she's gone and Lauren's gotten over her fear of competition, I don't even know what the conflict is. There actually wasn't really conflict in this book because the whole thing is about Khloe planning Lauren's birthday party, which is way too cool for how old they are.
Also, Taylor's Dad is unreal. Like, I get the stereotype of controlling father's trying to force their son into the business, but he's literally only twelve years old. Let the boy live a little.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hi guys! Here's the lowdown on this series if you've never read them: basically they're about middle-schoolers who attend a prestigious boarding school. Most of the characters are horseback riders. If you're a non-rider like me, this may sound potentially difficult to read, but the author makes everything easily understandable and interesting to read! This is book 16 in the series and so far, I've read all of them. These books are for a younger crowd, but they do have a slightly older feel to them. I would recommend them to 5th grade and up! They are kind of young for me, but they're adorable and very drama-filled! 3 words for the ending "Oh. Mon. Dieu." (as Lauren would say).

[ＱＵＥＥＮ · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far Lauren has her super awsome halloween and birthday on the same day! Lauren is hopping that Drew is going to kiss her but someone unexpected shows up and makes her halloween/birthday bash into a total sucesses/drama. instead of Drew kissing Lauren her ex boyfriend comes to canterwood because it was her birthday. So taylor (ex) kisses Lauren and says happy birthday!

[Emma]

I LOVED THIS BOOK too! It feels like I'm actually at Canterwood Crest Academy, and I would definitely want to be friends with all of the horses and Lauren and Khloe!

[Addie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. It's intersting and makes me want to continue reading.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending def surprised me!!! Can't wait for the next one. I love these books so much. They make me feel like I'm actually there with them. LOVED when D shared his umbrella w/ LT :)

[Frances P. Haws · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little bit of everything!

Another good read! I am addicted to Jessica's stories even at my old age as they bring back many memories of my friends and horses, my best friends!

[Emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masquerade is a great book, it has a lot more suspense and excitement then some of the other books in the series. I was totally hooked through the entire book and was on the edge of my seat. This book has a lot of suspense, action, drama, gossip and excitement. I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to people who like horses, gossip, drama, and action.

[Mia Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

LTs Birthday is on Halloween and her friends are surprising her with a Masquerade Party. All is going well until an Anounymous person shows up. Laur thinks its Drew but is she wrong...

[Jocelyn Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end was beautiful but heartbreaking and left me on the edge of my seat the entire time I waited for the next one to show up on my doorstep.

[Bethany Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um wow! This one was just great!
But whats up with the MASSIVE cliff-hanger????!!!!!!
I NEED to read the next one RIGHT now!

[Erin Doolittle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh! What a cliffhanger!!

[Zanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

yeah yeah taylor's here we all knew it was coming

[Payton Lagina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think they are great I don’t think there is to much drama and horses are my life so it was awesome 😍🤩

[squish ˳ ׄ ⟡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“i tried not to stare as he exposed flat abs.” AREN'T YOU TWELVE.

sometimes, i forget they're actually 12-year-olds and not 14 to 15 year-olds. I feel like it would be way more fitting if it was because... 12-year-olds don't act like this??? they seem way more mature than your average 12-year-old. miss jessica burkhart should have changed their ages since the drama didn't feel fitting for their ages.

lauren is the same old, same old, but lauren and drew are actually making moves on each other!!! the movie date was cute. but, there's no way he's 12. the way he acts is way much older, but he's like 12-13??? his age is closer to 10 than 18.

khloe was so sweet here. she worked her butt off for lauren's birthday party.

“not everything can be the same. what about two very cute boyfriends? how are will and jeremy?”
silence.” blank stare. WHY CAN NOBODY COMMUNICATE IN THESE BOOKS??? like the way they directed her to another question... i read these books before, but i can't believe this...

“...you look très glam.” her addiction to saying this is my addiction to reading.

THE PLOT TWIST??? these books are VERY predictable, which made this very UNPREDICTABLE. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE???

bottom line: what.

[alicewkprincess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE CANTERWOOD CREST. One of the best drama series I've ever read.

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

-1 star for the ending. Sorry, but what the hell is up with that. I won't spoil anything of course, but seriously, was that needed? Was it needed to add that level of drama to such an amazing, and also fun, book? Though, then again, knowing the levels of dramarama in this series I guess the answer is yes. :| I am kind of worried about book 17 and 18 now though, guess I will have to buy them soon so I can find out what will happen.

The rest of the book was amazing, though now that I think of it, the ending could have been avoided. It was mostly Lauren's fault to begin with, though also that guy's fault. A bit of both. Arghhh, it ruined the party for me. :(

Ok, ok, no more rants about the ending, let me talk about the rest of the book (which was amazing).
For the first time ever we have no more Riley! *insert me dancing a victory dance* Ding Dong The Bitch is Gone. Finally, and I have to say that the books only got better now that little miss Bleh is gone and not ruining everyone's lives. She was truly the worst character yet (next to Heather from book 1 (no clue if Heather will get worse/better, since I only read book 1)), and so I am delighted that she is gone. I hope she won't come back in the last 2 books, though I guess we will never know until the end. I will be crossing my fingers and hoping really hard that there won't be any Riley to ruin stuff again.

I loved the party, I loved the build-up to it and Lauren's reaction to the party was just adorable. How she tried to sneak in conversations, or tried to sneak up on people to read stuff, it was cute. She just couldn't wait and was so excited.
The party itself, wow, those girls must be loaded. Sure, they could have easily gotten cheap stuff, but given what they bought, and the times they said it was pretty expensive, I am guessing they went full out. It feels a bit weird, if I have to be honest. I know they are at a superfancy boarding school, have horses (which must be expensive too), so it was expected that the parents are probably pretty rich, but it still surprises me.

I kind of missed Drew in this book. We have several very sweet and romantic scenes, but it felt like it was less instead of more, as what one would expect.

The ages of the girls and boys? It keeps being a surprise that these are 12/13 year old characters. I just don't believe a word of that. They are actively dating boys (or girls), they wear loads of make-up, they act way older, and several other things. I just see them as 15/16ish, because that is the age I would expect this all to happen. So Happy Birthday Lauren, with your sweet 16! :)

There is also quite a bit of horse action in here and I just loved reading about it. Whisper is adorable and Lauren and Whisper are such a good team.

All in all, this was a good book, though the ending, and how a certain boy doesn't get a certain hint, was a bit annoying. Other than that, I would recommend this one, and for me? I am going to buy 17 and 18 soon, as I want to know what kind of dramarama we are getting.

Review first posted at: http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Jan-Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most "what" moment book ever. I can't believe she's turning 13 on Halloween. Her party is like the to die for party I want for my birthday. The party is also the best part with the most drama. I can't believe that Taylor kissed her, he was totally out of line I mean seriously she went to a different school and he expected her to still be his girlfriend after they broke up. I wish that her first kiss with Drew would have happened at the party. What about Drew and Taylor talk about awkward Drew most have felt like killing Taylor for kissing his girlfriend, and Taylor would have been like what a poser to Drew. Anyway this book was a total shocker and I practically jump out of my chair when the kiss happened. I can't wait for the next one!!!! Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

i <3 Canterwood Crest again!

I almost wanted to stop reading it because I'd just gotten used to Sasha when new girl Lauren was introduced, but now I'm feeling it again: the reason why I love CC!!! :) And I just adore the ending; it was so perfect. I have to say, though, I totally knew it wasn't Drew, especially with the way it mirrored Little White Lies's surprise ending. Plus, Taylor made it pretty obvs that he wansn't over her. And what's up with Ana and Brielle? They're pulling away and keeping secrets...

[Lexie Shumate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was better. Kinda. But how do the girls have enough money to throw parties like these almost every other weekend? I'd be broke. And who has the time?!?!? It's not much of a surprise that Taylor decided to come to Canterwood. I think the author should have expanded more on the mysterious person who posted that "nasty" comment on Lauren's blog. It's kind of like it's there, and then we hear no more about it.

[CC]

OMG ok this book has such a cliff hanger, if you haven't read the series plz for me READ THE BOOKS! This picks off where Comeback left off Lauren preparing for her birthday, a mean blogger and her crush asking her out until her her birthday party comes there is some real drama but I'm not telling you, you have to find out for your self
-CCya

[Reba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprise ending, anyone? So not expecting Taylor to show up last minute. Lauren is in for some sticky situations. Thinking Taylor was Drew then saying that "Drew" had made her day perfect. What if Drew meets Taylor or vice versa and they don't get along or worse Lauren still hasn't told Taylor about Drew. I don't remember if Drew has been told about the old boyfriend. Yikes!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was perfect for this Halloween season! Lauren's birthday which is on the spooky holiday is coming up soon, and Chloe and the rest of the gals start planning for this big event. Will her bday be a big hit or a big NOT?

[Stephanie Zapff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book from my favorite serie on the whole entire universe. In this book Lauren is having a party not only on her birthday, but on halloween too! Read the book what crazy things happen when lauren sees an old friend at campus...

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read from September 17th 2012-September 22nd 2012.

Re-read from July 31st 2014-August 4th 2014.

[2 Zuling Q]

I really enjoyed this book. At the end it left me in suspense between two characters conversation.

[Mollie]

Awesome