Sal is a damn good fighter--crafty, stealthy and smart. When a position comes open among the queen's assassins, Sal can't resist. It's an opportunity to gain revenge on the enemies of the state that were responsible for Sal's entire country--family included--falling to slaughter and ruin in war.

The assassins are named for the rings on the Queen's hand, and the opening is for Opal. Becoming one of the Queen's assassins means giving up identity and becoming Opal--wearing a mask and never having your face seen. Sal will do it, one way or another.

Mask of Shadows has an interesting premise--that to become an effective tool, one must outwardly lose one's own identity. It's presented like the anonymity keeps the assassin's families and loved one's safe, but it also seemed to serve as a transformative tool.

The pacing of the book works well, and it's not got a single dull moment. Thoroughly enjoyable, and appears to be the start of a series. I'll gladly look for the next one.

I fell for the gorgeous cover of this book, and so was alittle disappointed when I found the story itself a little dull. It was slower paced than I am used to with YA books, and though the characters intrigued me, I am not sure I will be reading the sequels.

I so, so, SO wanted to like this book! A gender fluid protagonist - tick! Training-and-competing-to-be-the-ultimate-fighter plot - tick! A love interest, plucky friend and magically-influenced world - tick!

Unfortunately, the elements just didn't add up; the book felt too formulaic, slow, and like every other YA fantasy competition novel out there. It never felt like there was any real drama or danger to Sal or Sal's dream, though there was some character growth which I always love to see.

While it was amazing to read a novel featuring a gender fluid protagonist, I ultimately found Sal's characterization to be underwhelming - their mental flip-flopping around the idea of becoming an assassin felt schizophrenic, rather than like a real a moral dilemma, and it was hard to believe Sal made the instant connections and relationships they did with the other characters, particularly Elise and Maud. In fact, any deep emotion portrayed by any of the characters felt flat and unrealistic. Everyone was underdeveloped (even the villains), and referring to all the competitors by number made it hard to keep track of who was who - not necessarily a bad thing when they're getting killed off left, right and centre, but certainly frustrating for the ones that are more involved with the plot.

Overall, it felt like MASK OF SHADOWS could have been better - there was so much potential, but it just wasn't realized here. There's a fantastic story here, and some (theoretically) really interesting characters, so I can only hope the next book in the series delivers where this one hasn't...

3.5 Stars.

While this wasn’t the best fantasy book I’ve ever read, it was still a fun read. Those new to the fantasy genre and want a fun adventure to start off with would probably love this one. Similarly, it sounds like fans of Maas will also really enjoy this one. This assassin story is a great way to kill a weekend and was a wild ride. Action, betrayal, and political intrigue shroud this story leaving many readers wanting more. While I don’t plan on continuing with the series, I still had a blast with this one.

Full review available on my blog.
Link: http://coffeecocktailsandbooks.com/2017/09/13/mask-of-shadows-by-linsey-miller-spoiler-free-arc-review/

In many respects, the novel description of Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller seems to be like many other fantasy novels. Protagonist Sallot Leon is an orphan-thief who wants to escape a life of successful highway robbery and find a way to avenge the dead of his/her family and countryman.

What makes Mask of Shadows a standout is that Sal is gender fluid, and insists that s/he be addressed in the appropriate manner based on his/her mode of attire on any given day. This is not just literary window dressing, Sal’s gender identity is central to the plot development and adds depth to his/her character.

Smart, witty, introspective and deadly, Sal tries out for an opening in the cadre of the Queen’s personal assassins, and a position in court close to treacherous nobles. The audition for assassin is a fight-to-the-death amongst all applicants. If Sal wants revenge, s/he will have to be ruthless.

Fast-paced, brutal, with a unique protagonist, Mask of Shadow is an exciting new fantasy read.

Sallot Leon is a gender fluid thief intent on winning the auditions to become one of the Queen's Left Hand, the assassins named after the rings that she wears. Sal is the sole survivor of a nation that was sacrificed to protect a larger one, and now Sal wants to infiltrate the court and slaughter those responsible for the massacre. In order to do that, Sal has to win the role of Opal and become part of the nobility.

It's a deadly game that Sal plays, and one where the tension is effortlessly maintained throughout the brutal audition. Sal is entrant number twenty-three, and masks abound; in a society where names, faces, masks, and clothes are everything, Sal's gender fluidity is remarked upon but not always treated with disdain. Sal finds love in the midst of the intrigue and is able to let go of insecurity enough to trust in a few people.

The kingdoms and their histories were effortlessly woven together, and you really get a sense for the cultures involved. Differences in languages, names, dress, and customs are discussed as Sal observes the other contestants for clues, and we slowly learn more about the nation that Sal wants to avenge. I was immediately drawn into this world, and I can't wait to see what will happen in the next book.

Wow. Just wow. It’s been days since I read this, and I’m still not sure how to do review this properly, because I still haven’t processed it. I absolutely loved it. It started out a bit slow, but the pace just got faster throughout, and I have to say, the slow beginning actually added to the plot, to the tension and excitement. Sal felt realistic and relatable, and I loved to see how they grew through the book, and I also loved the romance. It didn’t take any attention from the action or the plot – in fact, it only added to the tension.

I loved reading about Sal!

Despite Mask of Shadows being a High Fantasy, Sal felt very realistic. It was easy to relate to them and it was interesting to read about them. Sal also grew a lot through the book, and it was amazing to follow their journey. And I have to say something about the diversity in this book. Way too often in Fantasy, I feel like there isn’t any diversity, and if there is, it feels a bit like it’s there just for the sake of it being there. It’s the complete opposite with Mask of Shadows, it feels completely natural and it’s so important.

The romance was really sweet and so intense!

I really liked how the author portrayed the romance between Sal and Elise, it progressed slowly through the whole book, which made it feel realistic. Also, I have to say they are simply too cute together! I shipped them from the moment Sal robbed her, which is definitely a first for me. I just really love how they interact with each other, from the moment they first met – not to mention the tension that is there from the beginning. This is how romance should be portrayed in Fantasy books!

The world-building is what dreams are made of!

First of all, the author has created such an amazing, unique and utterly interesting world – from the first page, you just have to know more, making it impossible to stop reading, even for just a moment (who cares about school, anyway, I can study after I’m finished). I had no idea what to think about anything, because Miller breaks every single popular trope, and I loved it! And secondly, she does it in such a great way, leaving small hints and pieces of information that only leaves you wanting more. Any author who wants to know how to hook a reader should take lessons from Linsey Miller, because she has it down to an art.

The plot had me hooked from the first page!

As I mentioned earlier, the plot started out a bit slow, but not slow enough that it was ever boring. Instead, that slow start worked as build-up, and the tension and action only intensified from that point. It grew and grew and grew, until I had trouble breathing and reading at the same time.

The writing is bursting with tension.

The writing is seriously amazing. No matter what type of scene it is, there was always a ton of tension in the writing, and I swear my heart never stopped beating frantically in my chest. The writing just had that unique quality that is hard to put your finger on that has the reader on the edge of their seat, holding their breath, anxious for what’s going to happen next. I can go on and on about everything that was amazing about this book, but the truth is, no matter how great the plot, characters or romance is, in order to enjoy a book to this extent, that tension in the writing has to be there, or you won’t enjoy it that much. And Miller’s writing has it and so much more!

This is a book everyone should read!

It’s filled to the brim with emotion, and it is honestly incredible how well Miller portrays every feeling, making it hard to separate the characters’ feelings from your own. With relatable characters, world-building that is out-of-this-world, and tension from the first page, Mask of Shadows will take you on a journey that you won’t forget. But a piece of advice before you start reading (and you need to read it, okay? Just do it); make sure to read it on a day you have free, because you will not be able to put it down.

3.5 stars
I have to admit I struggled with Mask of Shadows here and there. It felt all to familiar to other series I've read in the same or similar genres. That was a bit distracting. With that aside, it was also a little slow. It was one of those weird instances where it felt like so much and nothing at all happened. Even though I didn't fully connect with any one character I still loved them and the story. I know, so weird. The end is where it really picked up. I loved the set up of the competition to be part of the Queen's Left Hand. The history of the members of the Left Hand and their country, as well as, Sal's reasoning for wanting to be the next member. I have a get the sense from all the build up at the end that the next book is going to have a lot more going on in it. At least I hope that is the case because I really want to see how everything plays out for Sal.

I expected a lot more from this book. It wasn't terrible, but I found it hard to muster up any real excitement for it. Not sure if I'll read the 2nd book or not.

Can we talk about a gender fluid person in a fantasy novel? I’m so excited to see gender fluid characters getting more rep in books, especially a non contemporary book!

I have a love hate relationship with this book. It just didn’t have enough world building for my taste. It was like I was just dipping my toes in the water of this world when I wanted to dive into the world headfirst. What we saw of the world was wonderful and I really hope there’s more of it in the second one!

The pacing was a bit off too. The first 20% was just too much backstory honestly. Which sucks because I wanted to give this one 5 stars but there was just some work that needed done.

But I loved Sal and Elise. I couldn’t stop shipping them. I loved that Sal was paired with a scribe and not someone in the competition. I’ve seen it one too many times where they fall in love in the competition and then have some giant fight/crisis over who should win.

I enjoyed how the female characters weren’t stuck in the background the whole novel. Give me more fantasy full of ladies. I didn’t count the male versus female characters but I definitely didn’t notice a huge gap like in most fantasy novels.

Overall, I liked this book and I will definitely pick up the second one!

Mask of Shadows
By: Linsey Miller
 


 
“Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class and the nobles who destroyed their home.
When Sal Leon steals a poster announcing open auditions for the Left Hand, a powerful collection of the Queen’s personal assassins named for the rings she wears — Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst, and Opal — their world changes. They know it’s a chance for a new life.
Except the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. But Sal must survive to put their real reason for auditioning into play: revenge. (GoodReads)”

Hey guys and gals. Got another discussion and review for you. Today we will be briefly talking about Mask of Shadows. I was kind of excited for this book, truly thought it had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I was not as entertained by it. I’m not saying it was a bad read..it just wasn’t a favorite of mine. This is why I rated it with 3 stars on GoodReads.
Let me try to explain what I mean.
First off this was a first for me in regards with a gender fluid character. I have absolutely  nothing against them but I thought the book could have explained it a little better. I was often confused as to how I should be addressing the main character (He, She, etc.). Even the other characters in the book didn’t know and so it was just confusing.
We follow Sal’s journey in becoming an assassin from previously being a thief. Now, while this book didn’t leave any blank areas it still felt dry or dull to me. I love reading about assassins, thief’s, and the like, but this book truly didn’t do it for me.

“Familiarity bred trust, and trust got you killed, made you think someone was there to catch you when they weren’t”

Sal is auditioning to become the Queens next Opal assassin. The Queen names her assassins after the gems of her rings; Ruby, Amethyst, Emerald, and Opal. The Left Hand needs to replace Opal and so host a competition to find the replacement. Sal is number Twenty-Three and has to prove he/she has what it takes to be Opal. She is only wanting it for REVENGE of her people.

“There are only three rules while you are here: kill your competition, do not get caught doing so, and do not harm anyone outside of the competition.”

It felt very Hunger Games style to me as the auditions were live or die. Not only is Sal doing this completion but Sal also has feelings for Elise. Who  happens to be one of the Queens scribes and whose father is one she is seeking revenge upon. So Sal has to think about what he/she really wants to do and question if revenge is truly worth seeking.
One other thing that slightly bothered me with this book was the grammar. Now, I’m not an expert at English, but every ‘had’ in the book was in junction with it’s previous word.
example:
I’d- I Had
They’d- They Had
It was just getting annoying.
There was also the instance where words just felt very young/ childish to me. I know this is a YA book, but here is one example:
“She Covered the rest of my hurts in sweetly scented salves, and she slipped me a jar of it with a pat on the hand.”
It just bothered me.

I just thought this book has so much potential given its take for more diverse books. And I apologize because I truly don’t know how to address gender fluid people. I just thought this could have been less confusing. Mask of Shadows should have just came out and stated the truth about its character from the beginning to keep the guessing and confusion from happening. It definitely could have used a little bit better development.
I’m not going to say that you shouldn’t read this book. It wasn’t unbearable I just possibly had higher hopes for this.

” I was a thief and a killer, trained by childhood of fear and violence, and Weylin was not prepared for me. No walls or armies could protect him.”
“They’d taken my country and my life, and I would take their heads.”
 
Until Next Time,
DauntlessReading

Found this book intriguing and spellbinding. Amazing description and unique story concept

This book rests comfortably among other fantasy series such as Throne of Glass, but fails at creating a plot that keeps you engaged throughout. A worthy book to read, but may miss more people than it hooks.

I’ve heard so much about Mask of Shadows and while I’m not usually into fantasy, I really liked this one. I’m not typically into fantasy because world-building is not something I particularly look for when I read books but the characters and fast-paced plot kept me engaged enough to enjoy this.

Sal is a thief, one who’s good at what they do. When they come across a flyer with auditions for The Left Hand, the Queen’s personal assassins, Sal decides to take a chance and try to change their future. Mask of Shadows is a fast-paced fantasy with a great main character.

At the centre of Mask of Shadows is a high-stakes competition that kept me entertained and had me rooting for more than one character. The side characters felt really fleshed out for me and I really cared about a lot of them. I also really liked the romance and thought it was just cute.

If you’re looking for a new YA fantasy with court intrigue, compelling characters and fast-paced action, I highly recommend this one. Now if you’ll excuse me, I can’t wait for the sequel.

The gender fluidity seemed to be thrown in just to create noise. Sal was not a likeable main character and I found my eyes rolling through most of the book.

The action was exciting and I can see why you would compare this book to Sarah J Maas due to the subject matter but the writing style and pacing is very different.

Sal is one of the best characters I've read in a while.

As a thief on the streets they rob the stagecoach of an aristocratic woman who works for the Queen. They notice a flyer announcing auditions for a chance to be Opal, one of the Queen's assassains. Sal decides to go to get on the inside to exact revenge on those that ordered and perpetrated the annilization of their country. Once settled into the auditions, they begin to be tutored to read by Elise. Here they are reintroduced to the lady whose stagecoach they robbed. The ensuing romance and competition is interwoven so well, you can't help but root for Sal.

Can't wait for the sequel.

I just couldn't get through this one. I was bored, even though I desperately wanted to love it. It just isn't my cup of tea, I guess. The characters are stilted, the plot plodding, and I could predict each "plot twist" a mile away. I think there will be some who enjoy this one, but it was too slow to excite me.

I enjoyed this book. The main character is genderfluid. It has exciting story and moved very fast, it was full of action and is a fast read. Overall the book is an enjoyable read

What an amazing, forward thinking, and inclusive fantasy to blow all others out of the water! I could not put this book down, Sal is a thief, and they absolutely steal your heart. The world is rich, the characters unforgettable, this is a novel that cannot be missed. There are so few novels that are fantasy with a non-binary sis gender protagonist, and most of my book club is queer and identify themselves on a wide spectrum of genders. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect read! Cannot wait for my kids to read it.

I went into Mask of Shadows very weary because I heard as much good about it as I’ve heard bad, people seem to either really love it or really hate it, so I expected to fall in one or the other but… No. I fall in the middle. As much as I loved some aspects of it, some others needed a lot more work and substance. Overall, this was a pretty decent, fast read, that I’d recommend if you’re just starting out with high fantasy or if you’re looking for some uncomplicated books in that genre.

The writing is simple and yet gorgeous, witty and well tailored to the world’s vibe, Lindsey Miller’s writing style flows easily and feels effortless, the descriptions are clear and make it very easy to imagine the world. Sal’s voice was also very distinct in the narrative, their personnality shone through and I really loved when I’m able to know the MC’s personnality through the writing because that way I’m able to focus on other aspects of the story without worrying about who the main character is.

The worldbuilding at its core is good, the nations, customs, magic systems, etc… well defined, none of it leaves any place for confusion or wondering. There’s one thing that bothered me about it though, it’s the fact that politics wise, it was very lacking, when the whole conflict seems to be based on politics. I would’ve loved if the politics aspect got more attention because I had questions. Like, why Erland and Alona go to war? I know that at the end, there’s a time line with all historical events but those were still pretty hazy to me, and raised more questions in my opinion.

Now the plot is what I really loved, it’s nothing we’ve never seen in YA fantasy, in fact, it’s a lot of the same tropes, but it was still refreshing in a way. The tournament was so well fleshed out and every step of it was given the time and care it needed. What I liked about it is that we discover it at the same time as Sal who knows nothing about it which means that as they try to grasp every detail of it, we also get all those details. That being said, that is a double edged sword because it made for quite the number of info dumps.

Here again I had a problem, not with the plot itself but with how easily Sal got out of the trickiest situations. I never felt any sense of danger or urgency because they got out of evey situation very easily so I was never on the edge of my seat, worried for their safety. Like I said, they knew nothing about the tournament and yet had no real difficulty to get through it which made things pretty predictable. There was a surprise or two but none actually related to Sal themself.

I liked the characters overall. All of them go either by number from one to twenty three (the competitors) or by code name (the left hand assassins) and I was impressed by how easily distinguishable the characters were without having actual names, each one of them has a specific trait of character that sets them apart from the rest and makes them easily recognizable even before their number is given.

Sal is one heck or a character, I loved them so so much. They’re genderfluid and use “he”, “she” or “they” pronouns depending on how they’re dressed. They’re smart, resourceful, sarcastic and driven. They’d do anything to get to their goals and what was good about it is that they did not feel remorse about their kills which made them really interesting to read about because they’d kill and move on, never dwell on anything, since it’s a kill or be killed kind of situation. Aside from that they show kindness and compassion and an amazing sense of justice.

Sal strikes to types of relationships with two different girls. The first is with Elise, his love interest, she is either bisexual or pansexual (unprecised) and really witty, other than that I felt like her character was severly under-developped and their romance too rushed for me to care for it. The second is their friendship with Maud, they tease each other a lot and fall into easy banter rather quickly. They’re not into the touchey-feeley stuff but the reader never doubts that they care about each other. They show it in other ways. I loved Maud’s personality, she is so caring and quite the down to earth cynic, and that’s the kind of characters I love.

Seeing how this book ended, I am excited about what happens next and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. I have really high hopes for it.