"Ruin of Stars" is the second book in Linsey Miller's duology, following Mask of Shadows. It picks up right where the first book left off, continuing the story of Sal as they navigate a world of political intrigue, vengeance, and identity. If you enjoyed the fast-paced, action-packed nature of the first book, you'll find plenty of that here too.

The strongest part of this book is the exploration of Sal's identity. Miller does a great job handling Sal's journey as a genderfluid protagonist, giving readers a hero who is complex, determined, and relatable. The world-building remains vivid, with lush descriptions that pull you into the story, and the cast of characters is diverse and dynamic.

However, the plot can be a bit chaotic at times, with a lot of twists and betrayals that sometimes feel like they're thrown in just for the sake of drama. It’s easy to get lost in the web of politics and revenge plots, and the pacing can feel uneven. While I appreciated the deeper look into the world and its magic system, it occasionally felt like it was trying to juggle too many things at once.

Overall, Ruin of Stars is an entertaining read if you’re into dark fantasy with morally grey characters and don’t mind a bit of a bumpy ride to the finish line. It’s a satisfying conclusion to Sal’s story, even if it doesn’t quite hit all the high notes of the first book. If you loved Mask of Shadows, it’s worth diving into this one to see how it all wraps up.

Really loved this duology. Loved all the diversity and the world the author built. Also very much enjoyed this authors writing style, it flowed very well and made for a quick read.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Unfortunately I DNF’d this book before the pub date. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC of this title.

I could not really get into this title. I tried many times but always read 10 or so pages and moved onto something else for awhile. I never really felt the rush to finish the title and to think of it first when deciding what to read next. I ended up DNF-ing the book and dont want to finish. I am sorry that I was not able to enjoy this book properly. Best of luck to the author.

I don't usually read fantasy but Miller's series is one that I really loved. Not only did it include a great romance and a kick ass non-binary character, it was so fast-paced and action packed! This was truly a great conclusion to a captivating fantasy series with unique characters!

Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to read this ARC prior to the book's publication, but we did end up buying it for our library collection.

I may not have realized that Ruin of Stars was a sequel until I was over halfway through, and by that point I was far too invested to quit and go back to read the first one to gain context. So while I absolutely did not experience this novel the way I was intended to, I still really enjoyed it, once I wrote off the fact that my confusion was likely due to my idiocy.

Sorry for the late review. I really enjoyed this book about the person trying to help her queen and taking care of business. I wanted to see who won and overall I enjoyed this book.

This was SOOOOO good!! I loved it as much as the first one and really enjoyed the author's writing style!! I think it was a wonderful sequel and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

It was a great conclusion to the duology. I thought it was a trilogy at first and was kind of weary because second parts tend to drag out too much, but this sequel was perfect. Still packed with surprises and action, I loved it

This conclusion to the duology left me wanting more. I honestly felt like I ended my reading with more questions than I did going into it. Despite that this was a fun fantasy series and I think high school students would enjoy it.

I didn't read the first book so I had to look up the first book but I did enjoy this one! I liked it a lot!

I wish I could say I enjoyed Ruin of Stars as much as I enjoyed Mask of Shadows.
Unfortunately, I didn’t. In Miller’s debut novel, we are introduced to Sal, a genderfluid thief who auditions to become a part of the Queen’s Left Hand, a group of assassins who work for her, particularly for Opal. Sal hopes that with their success, they can get closer to the people who have destroyed their home.

Ruin of Stars continues with Sal successfully becoming a part of the Queen’s Left Hand, which gives them the opportunity to find out and hunt down the people who killed their family.

Ruin of Shadows isn’t as exciting or adventurous.
Reading the first novel, there was never a dull moment except for maybe the very beginning. But Mask of Shadows quickly picked up in pace and didn’t let down. I expected the second book to be similar, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. While the sequel provides plenty of action, it is definitely not as action-packed as the first novel.

The characters from Mask of Shadows return and are still lovable.
You’d think that being one of the highest parts of the court would change Sal’s life completely around, which would mean new characters to meet. This isn’t the case at all with Ruin of Shadows. While Sal meets new people who will either help or hinder their goal of revenge, Miller brings back the characters who played an important role in Sal’s life as a pickpocket and thief. People like Maud (so much sass, that one), Rath (omg their friendship) and Elise (I really don’t know how I feel about you), among others.

I especially loved the friendship between Maud and Sal, though.

There wasn’t enough urgency in some parts.
Mask of Shadows constantly had a sense of urgency in every page and there wasn’t a moment in time where I wasn’t worried about Sal’s end coming from another competitor. Somehow, though, that sense of urgency disappeared. Where there should have been urgency, there was talking and discussing of plans. In fact, it wasn’t just about plans, but it was a lot of catching up as well.

Overall, while Ruin of Stars provided a satisfying conclusion, I had high expectations that didn’t turn out as well as I hoped it would.

This book starts where the last one ended. Sal is out for revenge with the means to do so as the new Opal. What is fun about this story is that not only did you get to understand more about Sal, you also got to see more about the world Sal lived in (which lets face it, it't one of the best things about fantasy stories.. the worlds they live in!). This duology was a fun read.

This was a good ending to the duology. I liked that everything was tied up and there were no loose ends. It was a solid read for me.

As a conclusion to this series, I think this one did a good job.

The book started almost right where book 1 ended. Sal, our heroine, is now Opal, one of the members of the Left Hand. And they're now have the means to take revenge to those who ruined their home. In short Sal got what they wanted since it was the reason why they auditioned to be Opal. But they still have to work on the real identities of the 5 culprits who go by aliases. They only know three of them and the book opens with Sal taking care of one of them.

Why I liked this one more than I did the first book?

I learned more about the world and magic. Reading this, I finally understand the history that's been dumped to me in Book 1. Now it was easier to fight along with Sal and sympathize with them because I completely get the depths of their motives of revenge. With these discoveries, the plot, the whole plot of the series became more rounded and interesting. It's fascinating what a real strong motive can do to a story. I mean without it, the whole story would be dull.

And more importantly is Sal. They grew on me because as a character, they grew too. Their development was really shown and well-done. I thought I'd get a boring version of them again but thankfully, I got the best version of them. I liked how Sal's internal battles were fought and won. Like their thoughts about killing and revenge,what it's really do to everyone and most importantly to them as a person.

The side characters were great. Maud was still my favorite and I love that I got to know the other Left Hand members better. i found out that they are indeed great characters, And yes, it's good to have Rath in the story.

the Romance between Elise and Sal was amazing. I liked that the romance in this book kinda took the backseat a bit which put the main plot in spotlight. It's there but not to steal the spotlight from the main plot. I love how great the relationship between Sal and Elise, how understanding they are to each other.

My complain is about Sal's gender. To be clear, I don't have problems with LGBTQIAP characters. I love them and I liked Sal's character so much. What I didn't enjoy in this book is how often Sal's gender was mentioned. Like in every chapter Sal would say something about their gender. As if the author wants to remind the reader all the time about Sal's gender. I mean we already know and it can be shown with how Sal acts. It became 'telling' rather than 'showing'.

And sometimes, I got a problem with how the chapters end. They're bit abrupt. But I liked how the whole series was wrapped at the end. So overall, I still recommend this book.

The plot in Ruin of Stars was very complex and the characters were deeply described and helped me come into the story. The writing has a poetical touch what I liked very much. It drives me deeply into the feelings of the character and the energy of the book.

The story is well-builded but the ending was so surprising that I always thought "oh yes, no I know, how it will end" then there was something changing or it turned out to another direction I couldn`t see ... Very well done ... And my favourite: The best epilogue I read in the last few months!!! Thank you so much for this wonderful ebook!

When I received an eARC for Mask of Shadows and finished it, I really enjoyed it and was excited for the next book. I knew that Ruin of Stars had to be better. What we have in the first book, we got in this book and even more. However, did the new stuff added into the story make it seem “more” and better? It’s a yes/no answer.

Yes, magic is introduced. I like magic it as I am always willing to read most stories involving magic. I cannot recall if magic was in the first book. I do not believe any magic was used, but I am not sure whether or not it was mentioned. In this book, the magic was interesting and a little bit shocking.

Yes, we got more world-building and history. Along with the magic, more of the world and history was revealed to understand more of it. The history provided more information and better understanding on how the world works. History is an integral part to world-building and without world-building, a story feels flat. This world-building has definitely improved since Mask of Shadows.

No, there’s more politics than I bargained for. I am not one for plots driven by politics, but when the major characters are in a court and works for the Queen, some politics are bound to happen. I found that if put in good use, I won’t mind the politics at all. This could have been more, but I felt the politics were a bit much and somewhat confusing. In some ways, it overlapped the main plot of the story, which is finally getting revenge on those who done wrong to Sal AKA Opal.

In the end, I enjoyed the characters, the mission for Opal, and some of the scenes (there was one I remember to be a little bit graphic..). As I enjoyed most of the story, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of something letting me down and I believe that was due to what I thought was the politics and the strategy the characters had to go through. Ruin of Stars does live up to Mask of Shadows, but I believe there’s definitely room for improvement where it could have been better.

This is the second book in the Mask of Shadows series, and although it can be read as a standalone I personally would suggest reading the first book, to do the second justice and understand the complex world-building better.

The topic of gender-fluidity is paramount to understanding both the characters and the premise, because it is woven into the culture, moral fibre and laws of the Erlend nobility. A country and people who only recognise the sexual concept, partnership and marriage of man and woman. The rulers and supporters of Erlend become the bible-thumpers of the 21st century. The acknowledgement of gender fluidity or lack of it becomes the cornerstone of their oppression, which also includes destroying those they consider to be Untermenschen in an attempt to gain more power and property.

The main character Sal is a survivor of the massacres put in place by said nobility, and has taken their place as part of an esteemed set of assassins. One of a set of killers who protect their leader and kill without impunity. As Opal, Sal becomes the masked version of revenge, complete with a set of names on a kill list, which is whispered in times of anger or stress.

What’s interesting to me is the suggestion that the lack of conformity when it comes to gender is presented as a personal failure and downfall for that person. If you are not one of the two, you are socially unacceptable, which sort of mirrors the reaction today in our own society.

The story could be written and told without that aspect of fear and hate-mongering, but I think it was important to Miller to show the similarity between the fictional scenario and the hate non-heterosexuals, and gender fluid persons have to deal with. It isn’t a fictional fantasy problem. It’s a real life problem with real repercussions when oppression is part of our daily existence and own identity.

Miller is a creative writer with fascinating ideas, although I could have done with a map of the countries and reading the first book would have spared me a little confusion at the beginning. The end of the book may leave the door open for further ventures into this world of magic, shadows, oppression and murder. Either way Miller has made her mark in the world of fantasy fiction, and writes captivating stories.