The story is quite compelling and one finds oneself rooting for the main character, despite the gruesome nature of what he is trying to achieve. However, the story kept building and building, but the end was somewhat confusing and leaves the reader very much hanging. While I'm all for cliffhangers, I would have liked a little clearer resolution to this book. That having been said, I would likely read the next one!

The author (and even those who describe the book) do a great job with the gender-fluidity of the main character and I really liked Sal, but I found the shadows confusing, and the numbered contestants made the story less enjoyable to me. At first, I wasnt sure I was going to read the next book in the series when it is published, but as time passes, I find myself looking forward to more of the series.

A few months ago, I started hearing about a debut novel featuring a gender fluid assassin protagonist. Since that sounded amazing and the writing was being compared to that of Sarah J Maas and Leigh Bardugo (two authors I adore), I couldn't hit request on Netgalley fast enough. Cue the happy dance when my request was approved and I was ready to read. However, it soon became clear that this novel could not live up the high expectations I had set for it.

The plot follows Sal, the protagonist, as they audition for the position of Opal, one of the four members of the Queen's Left Hand - her personal assassins. At the beginning of the auditions, each contestant is given a number and told that only one of them will make it out alive. They are free to kill each other, as long as they don't get caught. What follows next is a long montage of training and murder scenes, occasionally interspersed with scenes where Sal interacts with her maid or the love interest.

Since the majority of secondary characters in this novel were only given numbers, I found it incredibly difficult to keep them straight and to connect with them. Most of the characters don't really have any backstory. Even Sal's backstory is piecemeal, leaving much to be desired. There weren't really any character besides Sal and her maid who stood out to me until the last portion of the book. In the last few chapters, many of the previously amorphous characters coalesced into interesting, unique individuals with dark backstories. However, this change occurred much too late in the story for me.

The world-building was pretty mediocre. The characters keep mentioning the past but it's never explained. Additionally, there is a lot of political intrigue toward the end but there wasn't context for me to truly understand or enjoy it. I was never quite sure of the role magic played in this society. This world had the potential to be incredibly interesting but needed a lot more depth to reach that potential.

I thought that the author did a good job of explaining Sal's gender fluidity. I am thrilled that we are starting to get more diverse characters in books. I don't have any experience with gender fluidity so I learned a lot throughout the course of the novel. It was very helpful that Sal explained it in a clear and understandable way toward the beginning of the book.

Okay I loved the premise of this book and I love the fact that it features a Genderfluid MC but I did have a few problems with this book. Lots of times I was confused on reading it. It just jumped around so much that I had to reread parts many times just to try and grasp what the heck was going on.

I loved the character development with Sal. I felt that was very well done. Though some of the side characters didn't get that. I do think this was marketed correctly to SJM fans, as it follows that trope very well. To the point where sometimes I felt it was too much like an SJM book.

The action is very well done, and I do love the plot. I love how the member's of Queen's hand are named after rings. I know that sounds silly but I just love that little tidbit. I really enjoyed just following Sal around while they did their thing. Sal is pretty damn badass.

So overall, I did enjoy this book, the parts I could understand and hope the next books fixes these issues so that it is mind blowing amazing!

The whole premise of this book was that there was a competition of assassins and the last one standing is to become one of the four Queen's assassins that went out and did her biding/dirty work to protect the Kingdom. Haven't we seen this exact storyline before? That's what was bothering me throughout the book but I quite couldn't put my finger on. I've seen this exact trope dozens of times in thinly-veiled YA fantasy novels, and at some point in time they stop becoming interesting to consume.

Not only that, but this was one of the most predictable plot-lines that I had read in a very long time. Meaning that you knew what the outcome was going to be even before you finished Chapter one, or from a mile away. It's not that I've even read some spoilers about what would happen, it's just a cliche that you know is coming, and I wish that the author could have thrown us for some sort of surprise curveball, instead of the plot being so straightforward.

Do you know what else I really expected from this novel? I wanted the political intrigue and worldbuilding to be much more developed. I'm writing this review roughly four hours after finishing this book and I couldn't tell you the name of the main kingdom in which Sal resides. I couldn't tell you the players on the political chessboard. I couldn't tell you much about the world at all, and coming up with these type of major blanks is not supposed to happen in a well-developed fantasy setting.

Further, you know when a character just gets in easy, or learns all of the world's talents in a week? That's how it felt like the author was writing the development of Sal, after they got accepted in the audition, they suddenly had all sorts of fighting skills and physical strengths developed in an instance, which is so utterly ridiculous and unrealistic that I cringed during displays of Sal's talent that weren't practiced enough.

The only side character who I cared about, as the other seemed like stereotypes of assassins, was Maud, who was the servant in Sal's quarters. Maud is very determined get paid so that she could save her triplet siblings from being scattered and sold by the orphanage. In my opinion she is the shining, yet quiet heroine in this novel.

Another thing is that I wasn't on board with the romance at all. Whenever there is a teacher-is-lover-with-student, I feel all icky because a boundary is crossed and in every situation it makes me not want the two characters to end up together at all.

I don't want to discount that this book could mean a lot to someone objectively, because I identify as a non-binary person and this was the first genderfluid characters that I have ever seen represented on page. Even though I don't have the same experiences as Sal did, I still feel like there was adequate emphasis on explaining their pronoun preferences and who they were interacting with. Also as a note there was a bisexual/pansexual love interest, which made me appreciate the various sexuality that was represented in here.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

You know I wanted to love this based on the gender fluid character. We need so much more of that in MG and YA. It's not that I didn't like this story, it just was too much action for my taste. I wanted to get to know the world and characters more before we jolted ahead at full speed. I will be recommending it to my teen readers- especially all those GOT enthusiasts.

Let me preface this review by saying that I only made it through 3/4 of the book before giving up.

There was quite a lot that I didn't like about this book, so I'm only going to go over the most important points. I did feel like this book had potential, but was poorly executed. It felt like the author had set ideas they wanted to include, but put on page they came out kind of jumbled and confusing.

Firstly, I didn't like how Sal's only interesting quality was their gender fluidity. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely an interesting characteristic, but not enough to make Sal appeal to me. Sal ended up being a very flat character and had almost no growth throughout the entire novel. My largest grievance with Sal was that they were supposed to be this person with no qualms about killing others ("nothing personal," to the guard about to be killed by Sal's hands...), yet when anybody made a mistake about the correct gender to address Sal with, they (Sal) threw a fit. How can Sal be an assassin when something so small causes them to be so upset?

Secondly, the Left Hand - they seemed so interesting, but they were too inconsistent to be believable. The Left Hand were supposed to be impartial to all of the auditioners (and sometimes they were!), but half the time they seemed worried about the auditioners, or very partial to Sal at least. I just don't understand how Ruby didn't care when Four was laying bleeding out on the ground, yet it was a big deal to make sure that Sal wasn't offended by using the incorrect gender pronoun.

The thing that bothered me the most was that there were no meaningful or reasonable relationships. It didn't make sense for Maud to be friends with Sal because they were both only doing things for themselves. Why would Maud put her job on the line to help Sal when that could mean losing her livelihood and her ability to help her siblings? And don't get me started on the relationship between Sal and Elise. There is no good reason that they should be head over heels in love after less than a week, but they totally are. Their interactions only involved a robbing, flirting and tutoring, but apparently that's the formula for love.

The world was not fleshed out, the details were thrown in haphazardly and the book was just confusing overall.
This novel was supposed to be comparable to those of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

TLDR: The author had promising ideas, but the execution just wasn't there. The world/main character were boring and the relationships/interactions completely unbelievable.

I don’t read a lot of YA because it has to be so dark it pretty much isn’t meant for younger kids for me to enjoy it.

This book did not disappoint. It’s upper YA, the main character is in their late teens and they grew up hard, an orphan from a war. They’re a thief who becomes an assassin. PERFECT.

I first asked for the book from Netgalley when I heard through Twitter that it had a gender fluid main character.

Being non-binary and the parent of someone I think is likely to decide they’re enby too, I couldn’t click on the request link fast enough.

The voice in this lifts up off the pages and grabs you from page one. I fell in love with the MC, Sal, by page three and by chapter three the book had hooked me good and hard.

It doesn’t feel like a debut novel. (Though, as an author/editor/publisher, I know most debuts aren’t the author’s first book.)

It felt so amazing to see a gender fluid character being accepted for who they are. Not a lot of fuss or muss about it. I even loved Sal’s prickliness about the issue. It’s perfect.

Content Warning for a misgendering by one of the antagonists.

The story was fast paced enough to keep me flipping pages and I fell more and more under Sal’s spell the entire time I read. Nearing the 3/4 mark I once again bemoaned my inability to draw well enough to capture my ideas because there is a scene between Sal and the love interest Elise that I want to draw soooo badly.

I’ll just have to wait until someone more talented than me does so.

I just loved this book so much. I love it enough that I’m preordering a hardcover copy for my DD, who I have a feeling will be enby when xie figures xyrself out.

Side characters are real and well developed with their own clear motivations and lives. Quirks that bring them to life. The auditions chilled my blood and made me need to know what would happen next.

I will critique it a bit here though because I do feel, from an editorial standpoint, that it could have been deepened better with more physical description of the characters, things like facial expressions, how their bodies are positioned within the rooms. The assassination and battle scenes are fantastic, some of the more passive scenes needed a bit more depth.

I craved more backstory of the world (because I loved it so much). It wasn’t needed but I do like very richly detailed stories and I wanted a bit more detail. Grounding the scenes in the five senses would have made me feel the story more.

I’d also say that adding beats to lead into scene breaks would be helpful. It felt a little jumpy from one place to the next, almost retconned at the end. A chapter detailing what happened from the end of climax chapter to beginning of denouement chapter really would have tied things together very neatly.

The climax felt rushed and little confusing, I had to actually go back and reread it to make it clear in my mind what was happening. That’s where grounding the scenes really could have helped more because I shouldn’t have to go back and reread to keep track of what was going on.

I also really should’ve FELT the sadness of what happened. I didn’t, which made me sad. Gah, reviewing without spoilers is hard.

Leave it at this, something bad happens, and I didn’t feel the bad as much as I should’ve. With what happened, I really should’ve had an aching chest from Sal’s responses, and I didn’t. I wanted more of that.

I had a few issues with the likelihood of the lead in to the next book, as well. It just doesn’t make sense that what happened, could’ve happened in a palace with guards and what not around. It fell a little flat for me. But anyone who knows me, knows I’m incredibly picky and a gifted developmental editor, sooo… it’s just me saying, gods this is so good, but it could have been better IF.

Yes, I drive my husband nuts.

Absolutely none of my critiques ruined the book. I’m still buying one for a gift and I’ll be eagerly looking for the second book in the duology.

Sal is a thief. At the moment, she's a highway man and she's hoarding bits of her stolen goods to try to leave this life and go on to something better. Her boss isn't easy to get away from. When she finds out they are going to have auditions for a vacant position at the castle she decides it's time. The Queen needs to find a new assassin for her Left Hand. They are her hired killers and Sal wants to avenge the deaths of her people, especially her own family. She begins practicing by killing her boss and taking his hand along to prove it and gain her entry.

Sourcebooks Fire and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published August 29th.

She gets accepted. From now on she's named as a number: Twenty-three. There are rules. They have classes. And they are allowed to kill the competitors...

Sal walks a fine line here. She's not a natural killer but she has people she wants to kill. She has to protect herself and her maid. And she's got to stay alive to become Opal of the Queen's Left Hand.

Sal is gender fluid and plays the part of male or female depending on the clothing she wears. She most often acts male but she's not big bodied so others assume she's female. They make other assumptions which cost them. Some even pay with their lives.

Sal falls for the lady she robbed in a carriage in the past. She's her instructor in this new life and they spend enough time together to flirt and carry on a romance.

This story focuses on Sal's quest to become an assassin and to kill those who left her people stranded with the shadows who destroyed them. She manages to do her assignments but things are still going wrong. The Queen isn't who she thought she was, the assassins do what they are told with no questions and this is hard for her, and her love gets kidnapped by her father. At the end of this story, the tale is just really beginning. It will be interesting to see what the next book is about.

Mask of Shadows is full of action and adventure. It will take you on a journey of betrayal and bloodshed. Prepare for murder, double-crossing, political plotting, and intrigue!

The Plot: As a highway robber, and a good one at that, Sal wants more from life. Sal wants revenge against the Erlend nobles for the murder the Nacea people. Sal has an idea of who needs to be targeted, but has no way of getting close to them, until an opportunity arises. Sal finds a poster about an audition for the Queen's Left Hand (a group of 4 trained, personal assassins) and decides to enter. Little does Sal know that it is a fight to death. Can Sal win the competition, the heart of a kind Erlend noble girl, and get revenge?

The beginning of this one had a rough start for me. It felt a little too forced, confusing, and slightly boring. It took me about 10% of the book before I finally got in to it. I thoroughly enjoyed the remaining 90%, though.

I loved the interesting backstory of Sal. I loved the idea of the Queen's Left Hand. And, even though the competition thing is used a lot in YA books, I loved the idea and point of the competition and the things that I felt made it different from books like The Hunger Games. 

I feel like the competition had a good reason behind it. The Queen was on the hunt for the best assassin in the country. An assassin must be fast, strong, skilled in multiple areas, and discreet. The rules of the competition were quite intriguing, and fit nicely with the search for the new member of The Left Hand. 

The beginning of the book was a little disappointing, but easy to get past. I felt that the backstory and world history was thrown in too early, and in a confusing way. I also felt that Sal's character seemed odd in the beginning, like they weren't quite themselves. Once past this awkwardness, I was able to enjoy the story and Sal.

Sal was a fantastic character. They were brave, strong, curious, and dead set on a mission. They were always up for learning new things and working on their weaknesses. My favorite thing about Sal was how they went about describing themselves and how they dressed in the moment of feeling. Sal was a gender-fluid character, meaning when they didn't feel like they conformed to just one gender. I really admire they way that Sal's character was just naturally Sal, and it wasn't made to be a book selling point. Yes, it is in the synopsis, but it felt natural to the story, and not forced.

I also loved our supporting character, Maud. Maud was our Darby to Lady Helen (Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman). She was sneaky, kind, curious, moral, and determined to make a better life for herself. She paired well with Sal and brought humor and intrigue to the book and competition.

I would definitely recommend this book and I will be waiting for the next installment! Was it the best? No. I would have liked more world building and less confusion in the beginning of the book, but it was still thrilling and enjoyable! I would give it 3.5-4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with this free Advanced Reading E-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Oh, man. This was GOOD. At first I was a little disoriented by the main character because I forgot the blurb I had read before requesting this title.
A great fantasy. The main character is Sal, a gender fluid thief who wants to exact revenge on the nobles who ruined their home. Sal enters a deadly contest to become one of the Queen's assassins and get closer to the upper class. So much intrigue and action! I can't wait for the second book.

**** Part way through this book, I thought this is another book like the Hunger Games, a competition of kill or be killed. However, as I got further into the book, the story got more interesting. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next book in the series!

There have been a lot of mixed reviews on this book. Overall, I liked it. It was a fun little adventure with a different sort of hero. There were some minor irritations that could be fixed. I wasn't thrilled with the numbers as names. I couldn't seem to keep the auditioners straight most of the time. I forgot who was who and who was gone. Some of the action scenes were difficult to follow for the same reason.
I also think the blurb should be altered at the end. We get too much information. I don't want the slightest hint that Sal wins. I want to cheer them on, I want to think "yes, maybe they will win" but I don't want a line that pretty much confirms it

Thanks to the publisher for early access to this title in return for a fair review.

3.5 stars. This book was advertised as perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sarah Maas, but in that regard it failed horribly. Other than Sal, the characters were fairly flat and hard to keep straight. The setting and action scenes were not well described and it was hard to get completely immersed in the story.

As someone else pointed out, I think this is more along the lines of Tamora Pierce, but even then only as a close shadow of her writing. While there was plenty of action and a great motivation for revenge, I just felt like the writing was lacking a certain polish that would bring this from a readable tale into the realm of "can't put it down" fantasy fiction.

One thing I did feel was well written was Sal's character, as traits and actions remained consistent throughout the book. I'm interested to see where Miller takes this for book 2, as I feel her writing will continue to improve over time.

I could not finish this book because it just didn't keep my attention so I can not review.

3.5/5 stars

Overall I really enjoyed this book! The fast pace is really what caught my attention. I loved the gender fluidity of the character, but felt that only made a few little glimpses in the story and to me it just felt like something that was an after thought of the character. Also every point about gender fluidity only focused on one aspect rather than branching out to other aspects as well. The only problems I had with this book were the first three chapters felt very muddled and lacking as well as some political scenes later in the book. Miller can really write fight and training scenes, but the political parts in the book felt very under developed.

This was an interesting cast of characters. YA is not my normal genre, but the cover looked interesting. I see the reviews are all over the map on this one, with some people getting a bit snitty.

Personally I enjoyed the characters and the ingenious ways they thought up to eliminate each other from the competition. I am guessing there will be a second book out continuing on with Sal's adventures.

Thanks Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire

Did not finish at 20%. I may pick this back up at some point, but the writing was very difficult to get used to, and the story seemed a bit jumpy. Unsure how I feel right now.

I received this arc from Netgalley.

First, let me start by saying I requested this book because of the cover. It looked magical and I immediately wanted to know what this book was about. The second thing that hooked me was, "Perfect for fantasy fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo," it was with that line that I knew I needed this book. Much to my surprise, I was granted a copy, it was my first arc and overall, I am glad it was.

Honestly, I was excited for the diversity with the main character. I have never read a book where a character identifies as gender fluid. It wasn't a concept I was familiar with and I just wish I had a better idea of who Sal is. I wish it had been better executed. Because I still don’t know them as a person nor do I know the full extent of their history. I want all of the details not just of the reasons why they want revenge.

This novel had so much potential to be something but it just fell flat. The entire concept of this book is the exact concept of Throne of Glass. A person must face other assassins to be the Queen/King's assassin. There is a competition, some romance, and a lot of training. The difference being that Sal isn't that great of a thief/assassin and has never actually killed a person before the audition.

So, comparing to Maas and Bardugo, it was lacking, big time. I didn't get attached to the characters because the author doesn't allow you too. I don't know what most people look like or their history. This is supposed to be a duology but I don't understand how things will come full circle in one more book.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it. I enjoyed Sal and Maud's weird friendship. I sort of enjoyed the romance, but I don't really think spending a few tutoring sessions is "falling in love." I will gladly read the second book and see how this story continues because I want to see the ending. I want to see how this plays out and if the author can prove me wrong.