A fun, adventure story. We follow Sal in trying to become a member of an elite Queen's guard. The rral goal is to get revenge for the deaths caused years ago. The characters are well fleshed out and the story is adventurous, funny and thoughtful. I also love that the main character is gender fluid and that it's one of the least interesting things about Sal. This is so important to show kids that people are just people. Everyone is unique in some way and different doesn't mean bad or weak.

I liked this book, but it wasn't without issues. The foreshadowing was a bit clunky and though I wanted to connect to Sal/23, I had trouble. At times cynical and others idealistic, both extremes just seemed too much. I didn't love the ending, but I would recommend it to fans of Gracling, Princess Academy, or possibly The Thief by Taylor.

I had a hard time getting into this at first but if you stick with it the story line does get quite interesting, it just took a little for the story to flow for me. I'm not sure what the reason for Sal being gender fluid is. I understand dressing to fit the job and needing to be able to appear however fits best but it was never explained very well. It felt slightly forced on the story, as if trying to appeal to a wider variety of readers. A good story though once it gets into the actual competition and beyond though.

Mask of Shadows in the debut novel of Linsey Miller. The story lead is Sal a orphan and a thief, Sal  is fed up with life as a Highway thief, and want to get revenge on the nobles that let her home be destroyed and her family murdered. Sal find a poster giving people the chance to be in the Queens Left hand a group of assassins that kill on the queens orders. This is the chance Sal has been looking for, all Sal has to do is survive the test, but that's not as easy as Sal might hope.

I really liked the fact that Sal is gender fluid, the focus on Sal as a person and Sal achievements and failure are not tinged with gender bias. It's also an interesting the interaction with the other character trying to find out Sal gender. Also Sal has a romance and it nice to reads a romance that not affected by gender, the only barriers are rank and the fact Sal could die at any moment.

The book reminded me of a Throne of Glass with the competition to be the Monarch assassin,  this competition is more brutal more like the Hunger Games fight to the death.

The book is a good starting point for the series, I hope in the next book we get to learn more about Sal and more about the world that this book is set in. Some people may not like the little information we get about Sal appearance, but it makes sense to me as she join the competition she is giving up her identity. Sal face in public will be hidden meaning Sal could be anyone.

I am not overly impressed. I think the world, characters, and overall story has good potential, but I was confused for the majority of the book.

I think this is set in a land called Igna, though names like Nacea, Erlend, and Caracol flew around frequently. From what I pieced together (since there is barely any explanation or world-building), Erlend is a land (or people) that used Nacea (another land/people) as a shield when a great magical battle occurred. The Erlend mages who created shadow-monsters used Nacea to escape and save their own people, thus eradicating Nacea and then going on to live their happy lives. The Queen of these people, whom our main character adores for some odd reason (because, Sal hates the Erlends but this is the queen of the Erlends?), is looking for a replacement in her Left Hand - her royal guard - and is holding a tournament for assassins to find the new member. I didn't mind the similarities in plot to stories like The Hunger Games; I mean, really, are we saying that no one else can ever write a similar plot in a different setting? Plus, I didn't really think The Hunger Games was that great...*gasp!* Don't shun me.
Anyway, I didn't mind the plot line, and I thought the idea of the Left Hand all representing a different stone the Queen wears was interesting. We have a masked Amethyst, Ruby, Emerald, and Opal...though I wondered the entire time why it was Opal and not Sapphire. Sapphire just seems like the obvious fourth stone.
I also think that every time Sal refers to the Lady, he/she is talking about the Queen...though Sal looks at the stars a lot when praying to the Lady Bless, so it could be a goddess instead. I just don't really know about a lot of things that happened in this story - it was all over the place with new names thrown around, gods invoked, evil shadows popping up, and magic possibly still existing. The politics were a mess, I barely followed what was going on and Sal jumped from one thing to the next too fast to make sense of what track we were supposed to be on.

The other main aspect I thought was poorly executed was how Sal is supposed to be a gender fluid character. While I respect (COMPLETELY) why we should have characters like this in books, I thought there was way too much effort put into Sal explaining/defending every few pages why he/she didn't want to be classified as either gender. My first issue - if your intent was to create a world in which gender fluidity is completely accepted, then why do you need to have your character explain themselves over and over? Better to just write as if it truly is accepted and not something to get hung up on or in need of explanation, and the reader will accept them and fall deeper into the world you are trying to create.
My second issue stems off the first - there were several instances where Sal grew angry when someone addressed her/him wrong. Sal says, "Address me how I dress; if I'm dressed like a girl, she; if I'm dressed like a boy; he." Right, so you're saying the way people dress define them, number one; and number two, it's a little unreasonable to expect people to just change how they refer to you every day. If you meet someone and learn their name, call them that name the next few times you see them, and then they say one day "today I am *new name* and I'd like you to call me this whenever I wear this color," sure I think we could adjust to that for you since it's what you've asked, but cut people some slack if it's a little jarring to bounce around and remember to change our way of speaking depending on what you're wearing that day. People can get touchy about this all they like; it is a very controversial topic in which there's always someone saying "it's not about you, but about me and what makes me comfortable." Yes, and that works both ways, so let's just not forget that empathy on BOTH sides will get us a lot further than defensive argument. The author never gave any anatomical details one way or the other, and I will say this did help to keep Sal a fluid character in my mind, even though my impression leaned towards female.

All in all I was intrigued to read about a gender fluid character because I wanted a better understanding, and the plot had potential, but a lot of things fell short for me. More world-building, less defensive writing about what the main character is classified as, and clearer execution would have set this book above.

Thank you to Linsey Miller, Sourcebooks, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this free copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is an original and intriguing story about Sal, a street fighter and highway thief, who auditions for a place on the Queen's Left Hand, her trusted band of assassins.

She/He is given a mask with the number Twenty-three as identification for the audition. Sal has to learn to become a killer/assassin, but unexpectedly also falls in love. It's a battle to the death as there are very few rules. Unless stated otherwise, you may attempt to kill your rivals outside of the challenges.

The androgynous concept in this book is interesting and will appeal to YA readers. Although the plot was violent, it was full of clever intrigue. I really enjoyed reading this gripping story line.

I’m looking forward to the sequel!

An amazing new voice in fantasy! Enthralling from the start I loved the feature of a gender fluid character and he way that it flowed naturally through the story-as it should! Would recommend to teen and adults alike.

The first book I have ever read with a truly genderfluid protagonist.
It was impossible to decide male/female/neither/both and, truthfully and as it should be, it didn't matter as it made no difference in the action, which was tight and nerve-wracking and kept me awake until the last word.
I want more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over half of my friends didn't like this book but I freaking loved it! There was only one little aspect I didn't like but it wasn't too bad.



Sal gets into the Audition to become the next Opal a particular assassin for the Queen. Sal has other plans, Sal wants to find out all of the people involved in killing everyone in Nacea.

This book is freaking awesome if you like assassins and people going around trying to kill each other and blood and guts and what not.

There are a group of these assassins and they all wear masks with a number on them. They are known as their number. They can kill each other during trials, during the night, pretty much any time accept while eating with their trainers and while in training. It's pretty cray.

Sal is already pretty experienced in fighting since Sal has from childhood and in street fights. Sal's also a thief and knows how to do other cool things that pertain to that. I love how Sal is just telling them all, I'm going to be the Opal and does what has to be done to not get killed in the process.

I wanted to smack someone at the end of the book though because of that little aspect I don't like about the book almost gets Sal killed. But, that's all I'm saying about that. It doesn't matter, I already pre-ordered the book on Amazon =)

Not only does Sal have to learn training in the different kinds of fighting, they give Sal a tutor to learn how to read and write. And no one can try to kill Sal while in study time. Lol. This book is great. Oh, they also learn about poisons and other ways to kill people. Yay!

*I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.*

I received a copy through NetGalley.
Linsey Miller's Mask of Shadows takes us on a fast-paced, emotional, journey of Sallot Leon, a street fighting, pocket picking orphan of Nacea a country whipped off the map, by mage spells gone wrong. Unable to control their own creations the nobles of Erlend protected themselves, leaving the people of Nacea to be ravaged by wayward shadows. Sal still lives in fear of the last days of their homeland, haunted by what they witnessed. A robbery of a young noble woman sets Sal's life in a direction they could have never dreamed of, to an audition to become one of Our Queen's Left Hand, her elite and most dangerous assassins. The Queen has need of a new Opal, and Sal might be just the right person for the job.

Mask of Shadows does get off to a bit of a bumpy start, but if you can get past the first few chapters, your guaranteed to really enjoy the story and Sal. Sal was a fun curious read. Lindsey Miller made the understanding of Gender Fluidity very simple, you address Sal as they appear. In a dress: She, in male clothing: He, in a mix of both: They. I though Sal's character was very successful in conveying their feelings and point of view, it was pulled off very nicely. Sal is Sal, and that's just how it is.

Overall I enjoyed Mask of Shadows and look forward to seeing where Sal journeys next in this complicated world of court and conspiracies.

Reminiscent of all the usual YA-Dystopia tropes. Good debut effort by author Linsey Miller, however, character backstory and scene descriptions were lacking. Hoping the next entry in this series will be more intriguing.

<b>WrensReads Review:</b>

This was me when I read this:
<i>"Perfect for fantasy fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo, the first book in this new duology features a compelling gender fluid main character, impressive worldbuilding, and fast-paced action."</i>

<img src="http://i64.tinypic.com/xo0ahf.gif" border="0" alt="">

This was me about fifty pages in:

<img src="http://i68.tinypic.com/24zxczk.gif" border="0" alt="">

I'm not sure who decided to come up with that little quote about it being like Maas and Bardugo, but I just have one question: <b>have you read any Mass or Bardugo?</b> Like I understand the whole "fight and see who whens to be on this elite team" nonsense that is so wonderful in young adult books these days (Throne of Glass [which is a Sarah J Maas book], Red Queen, Hunger Games, Wolf by Wolf, ect.), but that's where the comparisons stop.

The only thing that I felt translated well out of this novel is the gender-fluid character, Sal. The author did a tremendous job with bringing to light gender-fluidation and showing it as a normal thing. I feel like if you aren't gender fluid, it might be hard to write about, but I feel as if Miller did a great job with that.

I also feel that Sal was the only thing unique about this book.

If you want to know more about the plot, I say just read The Hunger Games or any other fight-to-live-or-be-on-this-really-cool-and-elite-team type book.

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This book started off strong and then I was just lost. The lack of description left me wondering what the scene looked like. I've never had that much trouble picturing a book before. There was a great idea and I wanted to see how the story played out but there was not much in terms of character development and I did not love any of the characters. Except maybe Maud. Maud was my favourite but there still wasn't enough interaction or character development. I didn't like how most of the characters were referred to by just a number and no name or any description. It left me not caring what happened to them and that part of the book was difficult to get through.

The plot was okay. It had a great idea but it bored me so much along the way that I wasn't paying attention. I almost DNF but kept going after taking a few months break in between. The end was just too long and I ended up skimming the last 15%.

The gender fluidity was really cool and it was probably the first time I ever read a book that touched on that. I found that it did nothing for the character or the plot though.

Overall I wouldn't personally recommend this book but maybe give it a try and see if you like it. It's definitely not for those, like me, who need an infinite amount of detail with characters you can fall in love with. It had potential but just fell through for me.

This is exactly what I was expecting. Nothing amazing, but another chance at a YA saga.

Mask of Shadows is Linsey Miller's debut novel, and I was so excited to read it. When I read the synopsis, I knew I had to request it. The idea of a gender fluid character auditioning to be a part of an elite group of assassins completely drew me in. Unfortunately, I didn't like Mask of Shadows nearly as much as I hoped.

Though Mask of Shadows has a great premise, its execution was unfortunately lacking. I can take into account that this is Miller's first novel, but nothing drew me in, and much of it had to do with the writing. Miller obviously has talent to be published, and I don't want to come off as rude, but there was nothing that grabbed me when I read this. The descriptions were dull, and the world-building shaky, confusing, and similar all at once. I felt as if I was reading just another fantasy novel, but if you actually asked me any specifics, I wouldn't be able to tell you any. Miller didn't grab me enough to pay attention to the story, and the world itself wasn't nearly as enticing as the idea of finally having a gender-fluid MC. Mask of Shadows never held my interest, and it didn't have it to begin with.

The one saving grace of Mask of Shadows is the gender-fluidity of Sal, the main character. As gender fluid, Sal doesn't identify as male or female, and uses pronouns they/them unless dressed specifically like one gender, and accepts the pronouns of that gender. Sal's gender-fluidity is shown as a generally accepted fact in the book, which I appreciated. There are only a couple characters that treat Sal differently due to their fluidity. I liked how being gender-fluid is normal (because it is) and how it was generally accepted (as it should be). However, I would say that I am pretty uneducated on gender fluidity, and part of the reason that I was looking forward to this book was because it would be a learning experience. The fact that Sal's fluidity was accepted and normal was great and an example of what we should strive for, but I don't think I actually learned anything from it. I don't know anyone who is gender fluid, and I would have liked to have learned more by reading this book. I think Miller missed a great opportunity by not delving into it.

The ending of Mask of Shadows was..good? To be honest, there was this (what I assume) huge reveal, and yet it had no impact on me. I had a hard time distinguishing among characters, as none of them were really developed. When there was a major character death, I wasn't affected and when some character was revealed to be evil, I didn't even know who the book was talking about. The slow pace and bland world building was what made all characters mold together.

In case you couldn't tell, I didn't enjoy Mask of Shadows. What I thought would be a unique fantasy was just another run of the mill novel that was pretty dull. I won't be continuing on with the series, and I just couldn't make myself care. However, don't use this one review as your decision! A lot of goodreads reviews are mixed. There are a lot of two and five star reviews and not a general consensus yet.
With that, I give this book
1.5 out of 5 Stars!

I won't lie...I really wanted to like this book but it ended up rather confusing and bland. It's not for lack of talent by the author as it was well written - I just found the characters difficult to connect with.
I feel like it follows too closely along to The Hunger Games minus the gender fluid main character, which I do love. It's always nice to see characters be different than the norm.

Oh. "Gender fluid". Never mind. Thanks anyway, I suppose.

Mask of Shadow was your average YA fantasy novel. It has been compared to Throne of Glass and the Hunger Games, and I can 100% see why. It has many similarities to other books in the YA genre, especially TOG. In this book, we meet Sal, a revenge-seeking thief, who enters a competition to be one of the Queen’s assassins.

Pros:
-Sal! I thought Sal was a strong, likable character. They are confident, but not overbearingly cocky. Sal is also genderfluid, which I thought the author handled well throughout the book. I had never come across a nonbinary character before, so the representation was important. Sal’s moral ambiguity was also interesting and developed throughout the book.
-The writing and storyline held my attention to the end. I was never bored or wanted to stop reading.

Cons:
-Because I have read so many books with similar plot lines, I was never on edge or anxious. Though the story wasn’t bad, it wasn’t anything new or exciting,
-The romance! One of my pet peeves is instalove and this book reeks of it. I cringed every time Sal interacted with Elise and wanted to skip over most of the romantic scenes. Honestly, she barely had a point other than to be Sal’s obsession.
-The characters (other than Sal) were flat to me. Their personalities were not developed, so I felt no connection to them. Yeah, I get the other assassins in the completion had to die, but that’s not an excuse for poor characterization. The Hunger Games and Battle Royale had most of their character die in a competition, but I felt for every death.

Overall, it was a good book with a strong enough ending to make me somewhat interested in the sequel. 3/5 stars.

I would like to thank the people at Sourcebooks Fire for sending me a copy of this book via NetGalley, as well as to Shauna at b00kstorebabe for sending me a physical ARC.

Books that blew me away are always hard for me to write reviews for. In truth, I went in with hesitant expectations. I wanted to love this book, but mixed reviews had made me cautious, especially with the genderfluid main character. I didn't want to be hurt with harmful rep, specifically with a book that seemed right up my alley. Diverse high fantasy is something I've been dreaming of, so when I got an ARC of this one, I didnt' know what to do. Jump in, and possibly be harmed, or wade in, and take it slow.

Mask of Shadows may seem like a stereotypical YA fantasy, and some may even say it's a carbon copy of Throne of Glass, but in my opinion, Mask of Shadows is so much more. The way the assassin competition was laid out was much more logical for assassins, compared to others that I've read. The set-up the Left Hand had allowed for them to see each auditioner as they were, what their strengths were, and what they needed work on. The amount of detail and care Miller took to the development of the process is comendable, and one of my favorite parts. Actually, I had a lot of favorite parts of MoS, in case I end up saying that a lot.

Speaking of the development, I loved the divide between the characters. Miller developed the ones that she needed or were necessary to the plot, and then just left the others as they were. Despite characters literally going by numbers all throughout the novel, I was never confused on who was who. Five was Five, Three was Three, and so on. My only confusion was when auditioners would randomly disappear--but I guess that's part of the who assassin vibe, right? The Left Hand themselves stole my heart. Literally all of them did. Even the previous Opal, who we literally never met. Emerald, Amethyst, and Ruby were all so engaging people, all so different despite how they're supposed to be seen as similar. They quickly became some of my favorite characters.

And the world building! Despite some info dumps, I found myself wanting more and more of them, needing to learn more about the history and the actions that brought Sal to where they were then. Miller wrote every scene with care, and didn't let info dumps be just info dumps--everything applied to the characters or the plot.

There were also quite a few plot twists that I wasn't expecting. So many scenes were painful or had me squealing with delight. Let's just say this: don't go in with the expectations it will be like Throne of Glass, because it's nothing like it. It's so much better.

five stars - Overall?

Beware, because Linsey Miller will rip your heart out and stomp on it by the end of this book. That's all I have to say about it.

Would I Recommend?

Yes, especially if you want diverse high fantasy. Not only is Sal genderfluid, but there is a background WLW couple, as well as implied aromantic and MLM rep. Oh, and maybe a pansexual or bisexual character! It's never specified, but they outright say they're "interested in more than guys".

Trigger warnings for gore/violence, misgendering, kidnapping, murder, self-harm, classism.