I was immediately drawn to the idea of a gender fluid thief/assassin—those two things just compliment each other perfectly! I was also impressed by how believably Sal’s identity is blended into the story. It’s done in such a way that you barley even notice it and you just accept it, which is exactly how it should be! My only issue was that almost every single secondary character was an auditioner (or a member of the Left Hand) and that means that they were referred to by a number (or gemstone) only with virtually no other descriptions. It took me so long to get them straight and actually start caring about some of them—so long, in fact, that most of them were actually dead. BUT, this did fit wonderfully with Sal’s character and struggle to be understood and accepted by others—It made the characters themselves matter more than their gender or appearance. So, confusing… but not just for the sake of being confusing—the confusing serves a purpose.

Mask of Shadows is an incredibly entertaining read. It took me a bit to get into it, what with the numbered-character-confusion and all, but when I did get into I really loved it. It's fast paced and has a ton of worldbuilding, complete with politics, history, division of class, and tension. Sal is a great, diverse character that we don’t really get to see a lot and the world is absolutely amazing!

I was very excited for this one, even though it has basically the same plot as practically every other YA fantasy at the moment. I was hoping that the idea of a gender-fluid main character would make it fresh and hopefully would mean that the author would bring other fresh elements as well.

Well as you can tell by my rating, I was sorely disappointed. There was nothing new or fresh about this one, and actually it was so poorly done in all regards that I couldn't enjoy it at all. I almost didn't finish at all but I kept hoping that maybe the end would make up for the miserable everything else. But no. 

The writing was horrible. There was way way way too much telling and virtually no showing, and nothing sucked me into the story at all. There was no character development and I wasn't able to feel anything for any of the characters. I don't think the book did anything to help the position of LGBT characters in fantasy, since the gender fluidity of Sal didn't even really make sense, at least to me. Sometimes he, sometimes she, sometimes they? Based on what he/she/they chooses to wear? 

Anyway, I definitely wouldn't recommend it. So disappointing.

So this is basically like the Selection where winner gets a court position but you kill your way to get there. The end (not really). There's more to it than that, and not any real magic as I was expecting, but it was a good and quick read if you like murder.

This is a hard book to review. I have a lot of mixed feelings on it, but ultimately it fell short. And it felt short, which is it's main problem. It's fast-paced in a way that sort of skips over the meat of things, over the description and over the things that would make us care about the main character and the plot. Normally fantasy books have the opposite problem, being too long-winded, but I think Mask of Shadows could have benefitted from having a little more wind.

Because man, it was kind of hard to care. Sal, our protagonist, felt really flat. Beyond being genderfluid (not that that is presented heavy-handedly, in my opinion for the record), there isn't much separating them from being Generic YA Fantasy Protagonist. Like, how many thief protagonists have you seen? Aspiring assassins? Have lost their homeland? Want revenge? A lot, and fairly often all at once. There's nothing about Sal that makes me want to root for them or like them beyond the fact that we're supposed to because they're the protagonist.

Even though, honestly, I don't feel like Sal is qualified for the "job" they're trying to land. [Or at least not qualified enough to have actually landed it. (hide spoiler)] As the book went on it felt like we were supposed to believe Sal is clever and capable, but somehow it just didn't quite work. They felt like someone playing at thief and assassin more than anything else, like they thought they were clever but they just weren't quite.

There's also our romantic subplot, which I really wanted to like, but like everything else it felt rushed and a little forced. It went from 0 to 60 real fast, not necessarily insta-love but a bit quicker than I felt the characters in question would have been. And I'm not sure I believe there's any reason for the two characters to really like each other, even. It's cute, sure, and I like a cute romantic subplot like a sucker, but.

The writing is also pretty bare bones, particularly in scene transitions. There were several times through-out the story where I had to stop and reread what I'd just read, thinking I'd missed something leading us to our next scene and found I hadn't. I found the descriptions lacking as well, overall making things hard to place/picture and hard to figure out what the heck was actually happening sometimes, sort of just having to shrug and continue on until it made some kind of sense.

3.5 stars. I don't usually deal in .5s but 3s are so rare for me, and I didn't necessarily dislike this book. I enjoyed some of it, it was just also kind of flat and eh. But it wasn't hard to get through, and I would read any sequels that come out (particularly since the ending does leave that possibility very likely).

Sal is a street thief who runs in a gang. One night he robs a lady and finds a pamphlet in her bag. The Queen is holding auditions for Opal, one of an elite group of assasins, all named after gemstones. The previous Opal had recently died, and these auditions were being held on the palace grounds, to the death. Sal, having never killed anyone before but wanting revenge on the people who caused genocide on on their country, thought this a chance that was too good to pass up. Sal kills the gang leader and takes his hand to the auditions as proof of intent to be the next Opal.

This was a great YA fantasy novel. The plot was original and the characters fascinating. All of the men and women who were auditioning as the next Opal wore masks and were given numbers as names creating gender ambiguity. So, even though they were men and women, they became five, four, and in Sal’s case, twenty-three. Sal was also not gender specific. If Sal wore women’s clothes she was to be addressed with the pronouns she/her, etc. Dressed as a man, Sal was addressed as he/him. Sal’s sex was also kept from the reader, so you were developing feelings for this character not caring if it was a boy or girl, if the relationships and feelings they were portraying were the same as your own. I liked this unique aspect of the story and started paying more attention to the plot based on the person. Not the sex of them.

This book also had a lot of action scenes, including knife and sword fights, that were very well written. The contestants were auditioning with their lives at stake, so their feelings were extreme, amd the outcome could be gruesome, but that only added emphasis to the terrific dialog and plot. I really enjoyed this novel and can’t wait to see how Sal will enact their plans in the next novel. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest opinion.

I love when a book starts off with an action scene! It always hooks me right into the story! Overall this book was fun and exciting. I love the main character, they were strong and yet clearly flawed. I enjoy seeing a characters flaws, makes them much more relatable. My students really like that about characters as well, they say those characters seem more like people. I am very excited to put this action backed book on my classroom library!

Nothing sensational about this fantasy read. Nothing terrible either, just an OK book. Needed more world building and a chance to let the characters develop a bit more.

Mask of Shadows is told from Sal's perspective. Sal goes by he or she depending on how she/he is dressed for that day. So from the beginning we're introduce to Sal, Sal is from Nacea, which no longer exist. Also, they're these monsters called "Shadows," but they also no longer exist thanks to the Queen who got rid of all of them when they was also Magic, Magic also no longer exist. So basically there's like three different country/town? Nacea (which is where Sal is from), Erlend (which is where basically the capital is and where the Queen reside), and then Alona (which we don't really get much of). Anyways, Sal is a street thief who works for this street thug/lord, whatever you want to call him. So yeah... Sal was robbing a lady one day when she acquired a flyer speaking of a contest to be part of the Queen's personal guard, who are like really assassins instead, and they're like only four of them based off by colors; Ruby, Amethyst, Emerald, and Opal, who the current one just died, so in the flyer, there's a competition for finding the new Opal. Sal goes off and compete in this competition, hoping to become part of the Queen's guard and also to find informations to seek revenge for her country. So in the previous war when Nacea and the Shadows still existed, the Erlend's army decided to just run off and left Naea undefended to fight for themselves to basically use Nacea as a sacrifice to slow down the shadows before they hit Erlend. So Sal is after revenge, because she knows that someone gave the order to do that and because of it, everyone she knew are dead, and having to become an orphan and then a street thief.

So fast forward to the competition, there's twenty-three of them, and basically it's like Hunger Games, they all have to kill one another off. But the thing that I liked about this competition is that you have to be discreet. You cannot get caught killing someone, anyone who witness it, you're out. And if you hurt anyone who is not part of the audition, for example the servants, you're out. So basically they want you to be a secret ninja assassin, be smart, quick, don't get caught, always have an alibi, don't make it obvious that it was you, and don't cause unneccessary harms to others. So I did like how the competition works. So most of the time they're killing one another off in secret or training. They are also a couple of different other competitions involved as well. During the competition, Sal have "hallucinations" seeing the Shadows. And the problem with that is that is the Shadow shouldn't exist or the Queen's position is jeopardize. And they are also people who wants to create the Shadows again, because people are evil and stupid.

Well, a lot of feelings are involved, people die. There is also some romance involved between Sal and another girl who is like a Court lady named Elise. A lot of political things, secret and questionable things happening. Sal snooping around trying to find out who give the order to sacrifice Nacea and she do find out her answers.

But anyways, fast forward to the end. The Opal is chosen and I think it's quite obvious who will be the Opal. Sal feels betray toward the end. There's a lot of bad guys in here y'all. Sal also don't know how to feel about all of the killings. (TW: Self Harm) We're not even sure who to trust, really. And Sal thought the Queen was a saint or so, but she will soon finds out that that's not really true, and her loyalty to the Queen will be questioned.

MY THOUGHTS:
I thought it was okay, I don't really have any strong emotions for this book, it's not horrible, but it's also not that amazing. It feels like a mixed of Throne of Glass (with the assassin thing going on), Hunger Games (with all of the killing each other off), and actually An Ember in the Ashes (because of the whole training and the whole court thing). I also didn't really cared for the romance, I just didn't feel the chemistry between Sal and Elise, I mean it was sweet and they were always flirting, but I never felt any chemistry between them. I mean over all, the competition was interesting, but it was mostly safe, like you knew Sal is not going to die.

Sal is an interesting character if you're not familiar with Gender Fluid and want to get an insight of it, but I'm not over going to overstep my boundaries and talked more about that because I honestly have no clue. But do note, there are some diversity, yay.

And to be completely honest though, the most interesting character I found was Sal's servant, Maud. She's super funny and smart.

Will I be reading the sequel? I'm not quiet sure, that will depend on my priority. I think this book might work for others, but it didn't really work for me. But hey, don't let my review stop you. You may enjoy it more than I did.

Thank you Sourcebooks for providing me an e-ARC copy via Netgalley.

Tired plot line, vague character development, confusing characters (numbers for names got really confusing, really fast.) I really wanted to like this book from the description but it felt uninspired and just a bland reincarnation of the Hunger Games. I felt in no way connected to the main protagonist, Sal, nor any of the supporting characters. I also couldn't really relate to the revenge motive behind Sal's desire to attain a high position. Not enough was explained in a clear way to appreciate the full history of the land or people. I couldn't make an emotional connection to the characters which meant that I didn't care enough about what they were doing to carry my interest throughout the entire book. Hard pass.

The danger with fantasy novels- and with YA ones in particular- is that they often run the risk of blurring into each other. With so many young people fighting to define themselves in various fantasy kingdoms, often with a dictator or monarch involved, your story needs to have a hell of a good plot or a hook to make them stand out from the crowd.
Mask of Shadows has that. With its compelling main character, it manages to put an entirely new spin on the genre and reinvent it for a new, modern fantasy audience.
The action starts well enough: set in the newly-formed kingdom of Igna after a brutal war that saw magic leeched out of the kingdom, Sal makes a living as a thief- until one of the new Queen’s assassins dies and the post suddenly becomes vacant. It’s the perfect job opening for a cut-throat competition to decide the new Queen’s ‘lOpal’- a competition that will see competitors aiming to kill each other, and the old wounds of the war re-opened.
I loved the way the author worked Sal’s genderfluidity into the novel: I don’t think genderfluid or queer characters really get enough representation in fiction, and having Sal be so casual about their identity, and having everbody else be so accepting of it, is fantastic. It also makes for a fresh new romance with Elise, a noble whose spark and wit makes for great chemistry between the two of them; I was rooting for both of them throughout the novel which makes a change from some of the books I read!
As a character, though, Sal feels a little underdeveloped. The backstory of the kingdom they inhabit has the potential to be fascinating: skin-flaying Shadows used to roam the lands until magic was banished, and two warring kingdoms are now united in an uneasy truce by the new Queen, an ex-Mage- but very little was done to address that, or flesh out Sal’s desire for revenge that is supposedly their main driving force for most of the book. (Also, a story about the Queen would be great.) Had Linsey Miller spent some more time worldbuilding and beefing up the subplot, I might have invested a little bit more in the story and the world as a whole- as it was, the only people I was interested in were Sal, Elise and the mysterious assassin Ruby.
That said, the trials that Sal undergoes to become Opal are fun, as the contestants pick each other off and Sal is required to use every bit of their ingenuity to stay alive and stay one step ahead of the others. The plot is deftly written, and the way in which Sal navigates the tasks set ahead of them is fun; Miller also really does know how to work a phrase which makes her writing exciting and engaging. As a novel, this book is a new twist on the Sarah J Maas kind of fantasy- if you’re a fan then this is for you!

There are various reviews roaming the internet about this book.  I don’t think any had an issue with representation though, so I decided to give this book a try.  The first chapter was amazing!  Then it took a step back and did character introductions and a bit of world building, but then we were thrown right into the competition.  Non-stop action, revelations, and exploring genderfluid as an accepted form of identification.  While this story may not be new territory (think Hunger Games and Throne of Glass), I enjoyed the author’s writing style and the characters presented.

I’ve already started passing this around to friends because I need someone to talk to about this book!  I also went ahead and pre-ordered a final copy to have another one to loan out.  There is a cute pre-order incentive, which you can find here, and it enters you into a grand prize drawing with all kinds of exciting swag 🙂
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So, this has nothing to do with how I feel about the story contained within, but I do want to mention that Sourcebooks Fire outdid themselves with a really fun promotion that involved social media outreach, prizes, and great emails to the “auditioners” who participated throughout.  I did win a random prize for an arc, signed bookplate, and stickers (which in no way affected my honest review), and the creative mask challenge was a neat addition.  Here’s my entry!  Thanks for putting all that together Sourcebooks Fire!!
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SUMMARY:

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.

The story sounded interesting, but in the end, I had to quit reading it because I couldn't find any connection with the main character. Now, I realize that lots of people are super excited about a "gender fluid" character, but when it came down to it, that was the exact thing that made it impossible to connect with Sal. Sal felt un-human, because gender is part of what makes us human, it helps define us. I was so unconnected to Sal that I just couldn't engage with the rest of the story. And I got about 1/3 of the way in and realized I didn't care. And when I don't care about the story, there's just no point in continuing.

The writing was decent but not stellar, and the characters were on the surface interesting, but I never felt drawn in by any of them. Overall, a disappointing offering.

*Just to be clear, the main character of Mask of Shadows is gender-fluid, and the author would like reviews to use they/them pronouns for continuity, so that’s what I’m doing.*
Sallot Leon is the only survivor of a shadow war that sacrificed their entire nation years ago. More than anything, Sal wants revenge. When one of the Left Hand—the queen’s elite quartet of assassins—dies, Sal decides to stop being a thief and become Opal.

But competition for the spot of Opal is fierce. It’s more than fighting. The competition also includes lessons in healing, poisons, and even reading—where Sal meets Elise, a scribe who’s also frustrated with the status quo at court. Only one apprentice becomes Opal. The rest die. And meals and lessons are the only violence-free times, so Sal must be alert always if they want to stay alive, while trying to find out just who was behind the massacre of their people so they can finally have their revenge. And winning would be nice, too.

There’s been a big deal made about Sal being gender-fluid, and the novel itself shows a dichotomy of sorts. 1)  The characters in the novel really don’t make a big deal about this. Sort of Oh, you’re gender fluid? Cool. Whatever. 2) Sal gets emotional when someone treats them like the gender-fluidity is no big deal, as if it has normally been a big deal in the past. Which one of these things is accurate? Because I don’t think they can both be accurate:  it’s either a big deal, or it isn’t. I noticed the dichotomy, but it didn’t detract from the story for me.

That issue aside, I enjoyed this book immensely. I’ve also seen a ton of “Oh, this is just like The Hunger Games” comments. Yes, there’s the whole there-can-be-only-one-survivor competition angle that’s the same, and…that’s the only similarity I saw, so I wouldn’t say just like The Hunger Games. The history in the novel wasn’t super clear to me—I did not get a clear picture of the political climate and what happened with the destruction of Sal’s nation—nor did I find out as much as I wanted to about the shadows, but the book was a great read, with plenty of action and conflict, and a unique main character that I liked a lot.
 
(Galley provided by Sourcebooks via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Excellent read! If you like Sarah J Maas books you'll love this one.

"Mask of Shadows" follows a fairly standard YA format -- a sassy and surprisingly skilled young person competes for glory and revenge in a nation locked in political turmoil and class struggle -- but, in an epic victory for representation, features a gender fluid protagonist. Sal is well-rounded and interesting; they are adamant about the proper pronoun usage, some days he/him and others she/her, and demand respect from those around them.

Though it was overall a win, there were times I felt like the author used Sal's gender as a bit of a ploy, to make the story "different," because it was somewhat heavy handed. I understand that it is not reflective of Miller's own experiences, and I also have no personal experience and therefore cannot judge definitively, but I felt like Sal's gender was addressed too often and too explicitly for first-person narration.

They establish their identity, and the fact that they won't take anyone else's pronoun errors lightly, but also that they are comfortable with who they are and don't care what others think. Yet pronoun usage comes up again and again in Sal's thoughts, as if to remind the reader about their gender, a point that is essential to the character, of course, but not necessarily the plot.

But, again, representation, representation, representation. I'm proud of Miller for choosing to take this path with her debut, and of my little YA community for supporting the book. We need more like it. 

The lowest point of "Mask of Shadows" for me, was the romance. For most of the story, the development between Sal and their love interest just seemed like an unnecessary side plot, like Miller simply threw it in to fulfill the checklist of YA cliches. I understand the pull for that, and especially the need for representation, but the relationship didn't develop either of the characters involved. And, as a reader, every step of the relationship was easily predictable from the moment the two characters met. 

Not all of the story was cliche as I'm making it sound; I had my fair share of gasps and squeals. The action is fast paced and incredibly entertaining, and the politics are surprisingly well thought out, though slightly confusing. I really enjoyed the interactions between the characters, especially the various masks, they're a wonderfully human take of the classic team of badasses. The plot is well-paced, not too absorbed in one element over the other, and not wholly consisting of the competition that kicks off the plot. 

"Mask of Shadows" is a debut with incredible potential, and I'm confident that it will firmly secure Linsey Miller along the many YA greats working right now. I highly recommend the book to fans of Victoria Aveyard, Marissa Meyer, Kiersten White, and the like.

***Full review on wildandwonderfulreads.com ***

Actual rating:  3.5 stars

*Note to those reading my review:  In regards to the gender fluid main character, I will utilize gender neutral pronouns, including they, them, and their, as the author previously suggested via her Twitter account.  Please feel free to contact me at wildandwonderfulreads@gmail.com should you have any questions about the meaning I am trying to convey. 

The description and fierce cover art are what compelled me to read Mask of Shadows (yes, I do love an awesome cover).  I am drawn towards Young Adult, Fantasy far more often than not, so it was not a stretch to say that I would likely enjoy this book.  This is a book that, for several reasons, though, I believe you need to read with an open mind.

Mask of Shadows is the debut novel from Linsey Miller, a “wayward biology student from Arkansas (Goodreads)”.  It is the first book in a duology, and it releases August 29, 2017.

Prior to and since reading the book, I read reviews and have seen the comparisons to, both, vastly popular YA authors and books, but this is partly why I feel you need to maintain an open mind while reading Mask of Shadows.  This is not an exact duplication of any other story, although I see the similarities.  Linsey Miller is not Sarah J. Maas or Leigh Bardugo.  Despite having seen those comparisons, I was able to enjoy this book as its own, individual entity.  It seems quite natural for authors to draw inspiration from other authors and books.  I also rarely find that ideas, especially in YA Fantasy, are truly original.

In Mask of Shadows, we follow the gender fluid Sallot Leon, an orphaned highway thief and street fighter, as they try to find a way out of their menial life while exacting revenge on those who obliquely had an effect on the deaths of their family members and all those in their home of Nacea.  The story traverses the deadly auditions to become the new Opal, a member of the prestigious Left Hand of the Queen.

We’ve got a tumultuous world, a competition to the death à la Throne of Glass and The Hunger Games, cunning characters, and a slow burn romance!  Sign me up, right!?!  The foundation for a knockout story was there, but, unfortunately, I think the execution missed the mark a bit.

I enjoyed the premise of Mask of Shadows.  Not wholly inventive, but certainly intriguing!  I liked the hierarchy that Miller created in her fantasy world, but I wish there was a little more world building.

I struggled with the syntax in Mask of Shadows, though.  I felt the writing lacked fluidity, and I often found myself having to reread various sentences or scenes because I found them difficult to follow.  This is a large part of why I lowered my review rating.  Fantasy writing already has so many elements that could cause confusion among readers (i.e. imaginary worlds, characters with inhuman traits, mythical situations, etc.) that I believe the writing needs to be succinct, which Mask of Shadows was short of, in my opinion.

Miller won me over with a lot of her characters:

-Sal was a home run.  Their history/story is compelling, their relationships with various characters are endearing, and I could not help but root for them!  I probably shouldn’t be so willing to cheer on someone slowly becoming an assassin, but what can I say!?!…I love them!  Miller’s portrayal of a gender fluid character seemed appropriate and well-done.
-Elise and Maud were also strongly-developed characters that I happened to adore!  Part classy, part sassy, and utterly fabulous!  Both of their interactions with Sal were irresistible, and I found myself wanting more!
-I really liked the members of The Left Hand, too.  They seemed to feed well off of each other, and their group dynamic is great!
-With numbers assigned, rather than names, I found it hard to emotionally connect with the other auditioners.  As the story went on, we did get to know some of them better, for which I was thankful, but for the most part, not knowing who they are or their back stories was a little disappointing.  Two of them did stand out to me, though:  “Four” and “Five.”

Overall, I did like Mask of Shadows.  The suspense was there, and it is a decent YA Fantasy read.  Moving forward with the second book in the duology (and her writing career, generally), I think Miller has room to improve.  If you’re willing to give it a fair chance, I would recommend this book.  So, be on the lookout for Mask of Shadows next week!

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced galley of this book.  Please note that it, in no way, had an effect on my opinion or review.

****Huge thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!****

There seem to be a lot of mixed feelings on this book with people either DNF’ing their ARCs or loving them, fortunately I was one of the people who LOVED it! I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed “Mask of Shadows” everything about it was entertaining and it really blew away all of my expectations!

Trigger Warnings: Misgendering and Much Violence (gets pretty brutal at times)

Plot

As you can see in the descriptions right away this is being compared to books by both Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo but let me tell you I thought this book was so much better than those! You can see the similarities to the plot of this book and that of “Throne of Glass” right away, which I did, but trust me when I tell you I thought this was far better than “Throne of Glass”. “Mask of Shadows” was essentially everything I had wanted “Throne of Glass” to actually be: full of action, brutal violence, and a main character who isn’t all talk! So I personally thought the descriptions didn’t do this book justice, or it did in case you’re a big fan of either of those authors I suppose.

I really loved how we are tossed into some action immediately at the beginning of the story and we don’t waste anytime getting into all the action the synopsis promised! Of course considering the fact that Sal is auditioning to become part of the Left Hand there is quite a bit of training in many various areas so those parts can become a bit tedious, I personally found them enjoyable though. I also liked how none of the contestants were messing around either, they were hardcore! I actually really liked how brutal and violent the lot of them were because this means the author wasn’t sugar coating the fact that these people are trying out to be ASSASSINS. That’s what they do.

While the pacing wasn’t necessarily fast and went kind of back and forth a little bit, I still never got bored while reading since there was always something going on. The action definitely wasn’t lacking here! But as I said the pacing did go back and forth pretty erratically.

The plot was very entertaining, even though it seems it could be a run of the mill YA fantasy plot. Sal’s thirst for revenge and the lengths they go to achieve the revenge was interesting to read about and definitely had me rooting for them.

Another thing that was very well done was the world building but I could have used a little more of it as well. I thought one of the most interesting points were the “shadows” which I won’t go into detail about but the descriptions honestly terrified me! I personally never felt like I was being “info dumped” on but I could see some people getting annoyed with the amount of info being spilled all at once throughout reading.

There were quite a few shocking plot twists and that ending definitely has me dying to read the sequel!

Characters

One of the best things about “Mask of Shadows” is the fact that the main character, Sal, is gender fluid, that’s right we have a gender fluid main character in a YA fantasy! While I personally cannot say whether this was represented well or not I read a review from an amazing blogger I follow (Avery @ The Book Deviant) who has an own voices review up that I will link for you to check out!

It’s stated in the book that Sal prefers to use the she/her pronouns when dressed as a woman, the he/his pronouns when dressed as a man, and they/their pronouns when dressed as neither. Since this is just a book review I will refer to Sal using the they/their pronouns.

Sal was a fantastic character and I really adored them, they just had so much spunk and spirit. However, they also came with their flaws as well from the rough past that they’ve had and what they’re willing to do to get their revenge as well. I LOVED that Sal came into the competition with a realistic set of skills and admitted that they didn’t know everything and did their best to learn other skills worthy of an assassin. That is so unbelievable refreshing, a main character that doesn’t magically have ALL the skills!

I’d also like to take a moment here to discuss the cases of misgendering Sal that occurred in the book. This happens in one instance at the beginning of the story and Sal corrects them right away explaining how they liked to be addressed according to what they are wearing and it doesn’t happen again. However, there is a more villainous character that misgenders Sal more than a few times and Sal challenges it immediately, which I loved. There is just one thing that goes along with this that I wanted to mention was that Sal states they like to be addressed as they dress: dresses for she/her and trousers/tunics/leggings for he/him. Now I KNOW this is just a fantasy and most clothing is gendered and that’s accepted but when Sal is misgendered by what they are wearing they state that “clearly” they are a woman/man by how they are dressed and would get very angry (which is understandable of course). I just kind of didn’t like this considering the fact that women and men can dress in whatever clothes they like and not have to identify as that gender based off of the clothes they are wearing, especially since this is a book about a diverse character.

Food for thought and hopefully that made some sort of sense.

AS for the secondary characters I really enjoyed quite a few of them but mostly I adored the other members of the Queen’s Left Hand: Emerald, Amethyst, and Ruby (MOST OF ALL RUBY!). I didn’t have too hard of a time keeping track of the other contestants but it did get a little annoying at times considering they were only ever referred to by number. Elise was also a pretty great character and I loved that she was diverse as well (either bisexual or pansexual) since she states that she’s interested in more than just men.

There is a romance in this story but it doesn’t take central stage and is more of a minor plot device. It really wasn’t anything special though and was more of your run of the mill YA fantasy romance.

In Conclusion

Overall I really did have a great time reading this book and it surpassed ALL of my expectations!

What I Loved:

-Genderfluid and overall fantastic main character
-Stabby plot that doesn’t sugarcoat!
-Interesting world building
-Great secondary characters (mostly Ruby…)

What I Didn’t Love:

-Erratic pacing
-Sal’s outlook (or just the book’s) on gendered clothing

Recommend?

I highly recommend checking out this book whether you’re looking for a fun new YA fantasy or if you’re looking for a great diverse read as well!

This review and others posted over at <a href="http://milliebotreads.com/"><b>my blog.</b></a>

I was intrigued by the genderfluidity of the main character, but wary of the assassin competition aspect of this YA fantasy. I didn’t hate the book (which we know is kind of rare for me and YA) but I really wasn’t loving it either.

My first thought after reading is: why was Sal gender fluid? I liked the idea, but the way it was slapped into the story felt like it was an effort to check a box that’s not often checked in YA fantasy. Sal’s gender is reflected outwardly by how they dress. When they meet someone new, they explain that if they’re dressed as a male (I took this to mean pants and a shirt) they’re to be referred to as ‘he’ and when dressed as a female (a dress) ‘she’. If Sal’s outfit was more ambiguous (meaning...???) then it was ‘they’ – I didn’t pick up on this last one happening at all, so I’m not sure why it was mentioned.

All of this made sense to me. It also made sense to everyone in the book that Sal explained it to. No one questioned Sal’s motives or asked why they chose to live their life this way or even really insulted their choice (except the one exceptionally douchey competitor, because of course, he was being douchey so we’d hate him) – so my question is, why did this even need to be explained several times? If the world Sal lives in is 100% accepting of their lifestyle, why should Sal ever have to talk about it? Why couldn’t Sal just be referred to as he and she throughout the book without a long-winded clothing-based explanation that felt more for the reader’s benefit? I just wish this had been handled more naturally. I had no problem keeping my mental image of Sal androgynous and shifting genders based on the scene cues and I wish I’d been allowed to do so on my own.

Sal was an interesting character, but no one else really caught my eye. Obviously, most of the other competitors are shallow, as they’re expendable. The final few obviously weren’t going to beat Sal out of the top spot (or it wouldn’t be much of a series, I imagine) so they didn’t really matter either. One of the competitors, Four (they go by numbers), apparently did what he could to look out for Sal, for no apparent reason, and I assume this was to make me care a little more about him, but it didn’t. Why would people competing to be a royal assassin bother to make friends?

The same goes for the nobility whom Sal was dead-set on getting revenge on. Their names were rather similar and there were too many to keep track of and because Sal’s backstory was crammed into large paragraphs of dense, boring, infodumps throughout the book, I didn’t really care about any of them, or take them as a threat.

Sal’s romantic interest felt forced and I honestly don’t think there needed to be romance in this book. That’s not to say Sal can’t have a relationship, I do find that interesting, but amid trying to stay alive, killing other contestants, trying to plan how to exact their revenge and training in the arts of swordplay, archery, poisons and antidotes, healing, etiquette and reading and writing, they found time to fall in love too!? Spare me. Sal met this girl, decided they kind of liked her and then randomly decided (mentally, to themselves) that the girl liked Sal back and suddenly, lo and behold, the girl declared her romantic interest in Sal and added in the fact that while she’s supposed to be interested in men, she’s not only interested in men. Again, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with these aspects, but the way they were presented was awkward.

I knew the assassin competition plotline wouldn’t be fun for me – I already learned that thanks to Throne of Glass and my feelings towards the idea aren’t any different here. Why would any king or queen hold auditions for an assassin, let alone one that’s open to the general public? It made even less sense in this story (it pains me to say) because the queen specifically invited eight people to compete for the spot – isn’t that enough? And if they all failed to live up to expectations, then comb your list for eight more, or maybe then ask the locals and peasants to try out. But…still. No matter how you cut it, it doesn’t work for me.

Okay, I know it seems like I really didn’t like this book. But that’s not the case! I had issues with the characters and the assassin school, but I liked most of Miller’s writing and I especially loved that Sal actually killed people! What’s that? An assassin that assasses!? Why yes! Within 8% (was reading on my Kindle), Sal had already brutally murdered someone. Finally! Sal was certainly fairly badass and while most of the training was boring, they did seem to learn and they had some skills, to begin with. I believe Sal killed about eight people throughout the book and because this is a book about assassins, I felt like it delivered on that standpoint.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions in this post are my own.

This book was like a really weird combination of Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass Series and Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight Chronicles. On Goodreads this has been shelved as fantasy but I honestly did not notice a single fantasy element in this story. Something to keep in mind when you are reading.

Characters…

I’m honestly not sure how I felt about the characters. Gender fluid Sal was interesting. I have never read a book with a gender fluid character so it was cool to read about one. I don’t know how accurately they were portrayed but it was definitely informative. However, I felt the author put too much emphasis on this aspect of the character. I would have liked to have more of a backstory and how Sal feels and what drives him. We learn about Sal’s mission but we don’t get enough to really connect with Sal’s emotions. I know Sal’s gender fluidity was an important part of their character but I prefer when a character’s sexuality just is and they don’t have to constantly remind people about it. But that is just my personal reading preference. If the author’s goal was to show how important this was to Sal, then that was definitely communicated well.

The other auditioners were not developed at all. I know almost all of them died and maybe the author didn’t explain any of their backstories because of this but even if we never hear from any of them again, I still would have liked to be able to connect to at least a few of them. I feel like Sal’s relationship with all of the other characters were not very developed but not for lack of trying.

Maud, Elise, and Sal’s tutor (I can’t remember her name sadly) were the only other characters that really mattered to me. Ruby was interesting but I was confused a lot of the time by her role. I just wanted so much more from these characters.

Plot…

Like I said above, this is like a weird combination between Throne of Glass and Nevernight. There was a competition for the next Opal (one of the Queen’s right hands). The auditioners had to kill each other off and not get caught while participating in training and passing tests. There was a lot of action throughout the book but they were all short, fast paced scenes that lasted for three-four pages at the most. In fact, the entire book was so fast-paced that there was no suspense no time in-between to get to know the characters.

This book takes off within the first chapter. There is no build up to help the readers connect with the story and help them understand the world and what’s going on before all the action starts. Just like in the characters themselves, I wanted more.

I did enjoy the story, however. You give me a book with assassins and you can pretty much guarantee that I will love it. The premise of the story itself was interesting enough to make me want to love it. I also loved that the main character wasn’t the usual characters you normally see in young adult books these day. Is this considered young adult? Honestly, I’m not sure. Overall, if you read the synopsis and it interests you then I recommend giving the book a try. While it’s definitely not one of the best books I have ever read, I really did enjoy it and am looking forward to see where the series will go.

This was a high fantasy action packed novel following a gender fluid main character, Sal as they try to take on a life long vengeance by competing to the death to join Our Queen's team of assassins, known as The Left Hand. 

I loved our main character and the whole plot around the audition and competition. The Left Hand of Our Queen and her assassins being named after the rings on that hand was really fun for me and I loved that it played into their personalities. 

Although I cannot speak to it personally, I really enjoyed reading through the eyes of a gender fluid character and thought the rep here was well done. I think my favorite part about that spin was the fact that Sal's gender fluidity was normalized. Aside from the gender fluid lead, you even had bisexual, gay, and sexual relationships shows (however brief) which I thought added to the normalcy of the main characters identity. It was a refreshing point of view to see from and I think it is an important representation of it, which is so rare in fantasy.

My biggest issues lie within the world and people around the character. While there were a handful of great secondary characters (I am looking at you Maud), most were underdeveloped and at some points I had trouble keeping up with who was who. While the magic system is extinct when this story takes place, I couldn't get much of a grasp on what it had been, and I thought we got a lot of info dumping in place of slow world building. This was disappointing because I really wanted to know more and though the world that was created was so fascinating!

Overall, I really like the universe as a whole that I stepped into. While the plot is definitely not an original one, the pacing was great and absolutely loved seeing it through Sal's eyes. The diversity rep also gives this book major points. But I do think this series has so much more potential and I hope in future book we get more character development and solid cinematic world building.