Mask of Shadows

I liked the first chapter. It was tense and atmospheric, and relayed a great lot of information without awkward info dumps. There was a good deal of strong, dark imagery and original ideas. I really liked opening scene with the daring highway robbery, and the first major character turning point when the protagonist murders Grell, the gang leader. I also was impressed by the scary depictions of the Shadows (the monsters). The backstory on the destruction of Nacea was well done too.But very little else worked for me.I appreciate it when authors refrain from info dumps. But in this book, too much information was lacking, and it hurt the story's verisimilitude. I couldn't get past the plot holes, and I questioned the premise itself. It just doesn't make sense that a monarch would trust any rando off the street to be her private assassin. What's to stop the rando from turning on the monarch? The "kill or be killed" nature of the assassin auditions was a little unbelievable too... Why bother giving classes to people who will probably be dead in the morning? That just didn't seem workable. I don't believe -- not for one second -- that the Queen of anywhere is going to audition twenty-three random strangers for a position that requires the utmost loyalty and trust. Not without some kind of guarantee of allegiance. The Queen's enemies could just audition, and then betray her in one of a hundred different ways. The concept lacked verisimilitude.And then there is the protagonist... Sal. Big questions here. This book is written in the FIRST PERSON. That means that the reader is inside the protagonist's head. Everything Sal knows... we know.I don't have a problem with Sal being non-gender normative. That's actually a refreshing character choice. But the reader can't be left in the dark about Sal's physiology. Not in the first person. Sal's gender has to be explained completely -- or as completely as Sal understands it. If this is a common gender expression in Sal's home country of Nacea, then explain that (and that would be totally fascinating, BTW). Sal's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual expression of gender has to be revealed to the reader... because Sal knows these things and we're inside Sal's head. Instead, this is what the reader gets:"I always felt like Sal, except it was like watching a river flow past. The river was always the same, but you never glimpsed the same water. I ebbed and flowed, and that was my always." p. 46That's poetic, and a great spiritual description of gender expression, but it raises more questions than it answers. What does it actually mean? Is it literal -- like some kind of magic that changes Sal's physical anatomy, or is it figurative? On page 79, after another contestant asks, Sal says: "I was both. I was neither. I was everything, but that wasn't exactly a friendly conversation to have between strangers trying to kill each other."Again, that's interesting, but not enlightening. What specifically does it mean? Look, if Sal's gender expression isn't supposed to be a big deal, and I'm not supposed to question it, then why does the author keep bringing it up? If it's a mystery, and/or none of the reader's concern, then the story should have been written in the Third Person, where the reader is outside the protagonist's head. Then the protagonist can keep secrets from the reader. As it stands, this is a major part of the story, and it just isn't revealed to the reader. In the first person, I need to know what Sal knows, because as I experience the story through Sal's eyes; I am Sal. Whereas in the Third Person, I experience the story as a detached observer. I'm a fly on the wall. I can discover Sal's mystery from clues left by the author, or the mystery can just remain an unsolved enigma.To sum it up, there just wasn't enough information here for me to buy into the plot, or into Sal's character. Although the imagery and action sequences kept me reading the story.2.5 stars

There's a lot going on here. Yes, the MC is genderfluid, but it brings little to the story other than a reminder now and then that they're genderfluid. There's a vague sense at the begining that this is normal and acceptable within whatever the society is supposed to be (still unclear from vague world building) but then the MC had a few emotional moments of being accepted for who they are and I honestly have no idea what the hell is going on.This is definitely not like anything by the authors it's compared to with the exception of the words "assassin" and "contest".The MC is the most Mary Sue of Mary Sues to ever Mary Sue in all of the history of Mary Sue and their actions make no sense from the beginning. They conveniently come across a flyer that informs them about an assassin competition. The MC decides then and there that their precious plans of buying of their way into the military to escape their abusive thief master is out the window and now they're gonna be an assassin to get revenge even though they've never killed before and don't want to kill (huh?). So they kill the thief master and bring his head to where the competition is held to buy their way in. The competition can last only a few weeks but the competitors are given daily training in the areas of their weaknesses. For our MC this is in ALL areas, including reading. This would be less confusing if the training didn't last less a couple of days. Like, what's even the point here? No really I wanna know. Also all of the competitors have to wear masks and somehow eat and drink around them? I'm picturing masked wrestlers here but not sure if that's right or not because details are endlessly vague.Yes of course the MC Mary Sues their way to somehow winning and killing all of the people with no remorse and the littlest amount of training conceivable. They then discover that the queen who they'll be the assassin for isn't who they thought she'd be and now they hate them and tell the queen as much. Instead of dismissing the MC the queen is just whatever about it and sends them to the second book where the MC will Mary Sue some more.The action, of which there is plenty, doesn't even make sense. Our Mary Sue will be across the clearing in a tree with a life threatening wound pontificating on absolutely nothing and the next paragraph they're across the clearing with their knife in someone. At several points I had to stop and go back to make sure I didn't accidentally miss something super obvious (I didn't).So, two stars for great ideas and zilch for execution.

This was the first book I’ve ever read with a gender fluid character and I thought Linsey Miller did a good job of capturing Sal’s identity as they were so much more than just what gender they identified with. I felt the author handled this aspect of Sal’s character with some sensitivity.The story will get under your skin with its action packed plot line that engages the senses making you want more. Miller created a realistic world rich and vibrant in detail that included countries, cultures, politics, and a whole background of historical plot lines. It also has a layer of darkness that will grip you making you unable to put it down as you’re pulled deeper into the story. Thankfully there are moments of humor sprinkled about so you can get an emotional break.The author’s characters that surround Sal become the kind that you can really dig into and would want as friends.Miller not only has the ability to entertain but for all those who want to write themselves someday take not of her style because you can learn a thing or two.

As soon as I started this book, I knew I was going to love it. Well, I mean, before I started it I was sure I’d love it too—an epic story of assassins, set in a fantasy world, and with a Gender-fluid main character? What’s not to love?! And this book really delivered.From the first page, I love Sal. They’re confident and independent, and their goal was so, so clear. Their motivations for their actions felt so, so real. And the best thing? This isn’t a story *about* being gender-fluid. It’s an epic fantasy story of revenge where the main character is gender-fluid. But it’s not their only defining character trait. And their gender-fluidity is accepted in this fantasy world and not made a huge thing of.The book follows Sal as they compete with other auditioners to become Opal, one of the queen’s assassins. I love assassin stories. And I loved this one. There are definite Hunger Game vibes as all the auditioners are set tests and are allowed to kill each other at times. I love stories with tests like these. This is one hell of a job interview, and Sal’s building romance with Elise is so believable and well done. I also love how it was just part of the story, and not a main focus. The plot stays centred on Sal’s determination to be the last auditioner and become Opal, their desire for revenge on the Erlend lords who destroyed Nacea (where Sal comes from), and their determination to stay alive.The worldbuilding for this fantasy kingdom is also great. It’s believable and there’s a lot of politics wrapped up in it and that just seems so realistic. While we get a sense of the politics as the auditions are taking place, it’s only once the audition has finished that we understand just how politic this book is in its exploration of these fantasy kingdoms.Halfway through reading this I learned it was book 1 of a duology and I immediately went and bought the second book so I’d have it ready upon finishing. (Plus I bought Linsey Miller’s other book as well, which I’ve heard has an ace MC, making me very happy!)

Mask of Shadows is the first part of a duology with a beautifully observed gender-fluid protagonist.Sallot Leon is a thief who wants to do better. 'The Left Hand of the Queen,' a group of four masked assassins, is auditioning for a replacement. Sal wangles an invitation and it all kicks off from there!With believable world-building, a great cast of characters, and dark humour, I thoroughly enjoyed Mask of Shadows. Now I'm off to read the second part: Ruin of Stars.

This is another book that I read late into the night and then dreamed about 4 sequels in the too-short sleep that followed. The gender fluidity of the main character was what drew me here, but what held me was the straightforward, clever, narrative drive, the strong people, strong world and strong (so far hidden) magic. I loved this and am about to leap into book 2. What else is lockdown for if not discovering new writers?

Whilst MASKS OF SHADOWS boasts an intriguing world with rich politics and a pulse-racing star-crossed romance, it ultimately befuddles with confusing prose, a confusing cast, and a confusing climax.This was a higher rating enjoyment-wise, only let down by technicalities. Unfortunately the numbered cast are forgettable and bland, and the climax was too rushed to properly satisfy, but overall a good series opener. Can't wait to see how the story ends in RUIN OF STARS.

Came on time. Nothing wrong with the book or the package it came in.