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erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a standard blades and fantasy, YA, elimination challenge (see: Hunger Games, Battle Royale, A Gathering of Shadows), set on a backdrop of politcal unrest and genocide.
A war orphaned scrappy urchin thief vies for the honour of being official secret enforcer to the queen in this week's episode of Survivor Court Assassin.
For the trope it's still pretty well done. The love interest is only made cooler by the main character being genderfluid, but this is normalised and not a major plot point. Representation is cool, especially when it doesn't undermine storytelling.
I can see this being the setup for an ongoing saga, and I'm not sad about it.
A war orphaned scrappy urchin thief vies for the honour of being official secret enforcer to the queen in this week's episode of Survivor Court Assassin.
For the trope it's still pretty well done. The love interest is only made cooler by the main character being genderfluid, but this is normalised and not a major plot point. Representation is cool, especially when it doesn't undermine storytelling.
I can see this being the setup for an ongoing saga, and I'm not sad about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I got this at the dollar store and to say it exceeded my expectations would be an understatement.
It has a quick pace and is more on the plot driven side, but I was in the perfect mood for this type of story.
The character dynamics and interactions are so well done and made me smile (though they only go so deep).
The plot is the perfect mix of politics and action. Just the plot being based around a dangerous audition for a job under the Queen that’s filled with
1. deadly tests
2. training
and
3. other auditioners who are allowed to kill you
Is right up my alley. And the setting is mainly the palace grounds? Yes please!
Although the world building wasn’t deeply explored within the book, I could tell the author spent time doing it anyway because every detail fit within the world and felt like it made sense.
It did get a little sluggish around the middle but it soon picked back up and I was just as invested again when it did.
Okay I’m done gushing. Would recommend if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced fantasy that isn’t too bogged down or “deep.” Very fun read.
P.S. I also really love that the Queen’s left hand have “titles” / new aliases named after the rings she wears on her left hand: Emerald, Ruby, Amethyst, and Opal. I thought it was pretty rad.
It has a quick pace and is more on the plot driven side, but I was in the perfect mood for this type of story.
The character dynamics and interactions are so well done and made me smile (though they only go so deep).
The plot is the perfect mix of politics and action. Just the plot being based around a dangerous audition for a job under the Queen that’s filled with
1. deadly tests
2. training
and
3. other auditioners who are allowed to kill you
Is right up my alley. And the setting is mainly the palace grounds? Yes please!
Although the world building wasn’t deeply explored within the book, I could tell the author spent time doing it anyway because every detail fit within the world and felt like it made sense.
It did get a little sluggish around the middle but it soon picked back up and I was just as invested again when it did.
Okay I’m done gushing. Would recommend if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced fantasy that isn’t too bogged down or “deep.” Very fun read.
P.S. I also really love that the Queen’s left hand have “titles” / new aliases named after the rings she wears on her left hand: Emerald, Ruby, Amethyst, and Opal. I thought it was pretty rad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Transphobia and Classism
Minor: Self harm, Violence, and War
The transphobia is done by an asshole character who refuses to call Sal by anything but feminine pronouns. But it is very obvious this character is a bad guy (it’s not glorified) and we get some great moments when he’s put in his place :)emtees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I think I would have enjoyed this book more if the premise hadn’t been so interesting that I ended up having higher expectations than were really fair, but that’s what happened. Mask of Shadows is the story of Sal, a thief who joins a competition to appoint the newest assassin in service to the Queen. It is literally a fight to the death - the candidates are expected to kill each other until they’ve winnowed the group down to just three, with very few rules about how they can do it. So the stakes literally couldn’t be higher for Sal, who has their own reason for wanting to become an assassin that they aren’t sharing.
This book did have a lot of strengths. The world is very interesting, and the hints at the history behind the ascension of Our Queen Marianna da Ignasi to the throne are fascinating. This is a world that doesn’t seem to have magic, but only a generation ago it did, and it is populated by former sorcerers covered with magical runes and haunted by the memory of dark, destructive magic. We don’t see very much of this - other than one brief venture, the entire story takes place within the walls of the palace where the competition is happening - but the hints were enough to make me interested. The Assassins - called the Left Hand, made up of Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst and Opal - were also fascinating. These are trained killers who gave up their public identities to become known only by their code names, and who never remove their distinctive masks except when alone together. The competition is brutal - Linsey Miller doesn’t skimp on the violence of this world - and there are a lot of twists and turns in the plot to keep it moving quickly. (Sometimes too quickly - an entire subplot is introduce and disposed of in the last few chapters.)
The problem, for me, was the character of Sal. A thief from a rough area who joins the competition for reasons that are only made clear later, despite not being a killer, Sal never really came into focus for me as a character. Writing a complex but sympathetic character who is going to murder a whole bunch of people in the course of the story is difficult, and I don’t think Miller really pulled it off with Sal. They feel more like a conglomeration of fantasy tropes than a person. They have a tragic backstory which becomes more tragic the more we learn about it. They have a secret history. They aren’t who they seem. They want vengeance. They can’t trust anyone, but they clearly want to. They are extremely skilled, despite some of these skills not really being explained. Worse, they start out the story having never killed anyone, and by the end they have killed several people, and I have no idea how they feel about it. Sal’s feelings on the subject of being an assassin are extremely vague and seem to change from chapter to chapter. This was too important of an aspect of their character to miss and unfortunately Miller did.
There are some aspects of Sal I did like, though. For one, they are genderqueer - they have a fluid gender identity, at different points identifying as male, female or nonbinary - and the scenes devoted to Sal explaining their gender identity to others were really well done. (I admit I was a little confused that Sal wanted people to use pronouns associated with however they were dressed on a particular day, because I don’t understand what “non-gendered dress” looks like in this world, but that’s a minor quibble.). I especially liked the scene where they explained their gender identity to the Left Hand and the assassins immediately understood and accepted it. In general this appears to be a world that is pretty open to all forms of queerness, which was neat. Sal also came alive as a character in their relationships with others: Maud, the servant assigned to them for the duration of the competition, who becomes a friend and ally, and especially Elise de Farone, the love interest. Sal and Elise’s relationship was like a rom-com inserted into this otherwise grim world and I loved every minute of it.
There was enough in this book to make me want to read the sequel, but I doubt I will pick this one up again.
This book did have a lot of strengths. The world is very interesting, and the hints at the history behind the ascension of Our Queen Marianna da Ignasi to the throne are fascinating. This is a world that doesn’t seem to have magic, but only a generation ago it did, and it is populated by former sorcerers covered with magical runes and haunted by the memory of dark, destructive magic. We don’t see very much of this - other than one brief venture, the entire story takes place within the walls of the palace where the competition is happening - but the hints were enough to make me interested. The Assassins - called the Left Hand, made up of Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst and Opal - were also fascinating. These are trained killers who gave up their public identities to become known only by their code names, and who never remove their distinctive masks except when alone together. The competition is brutal - Linsey Miller doesn’t skimp on the violence of this world - and there are a lot of twists and turns in the plot to keep it moving quickly. (Sometimes too quickly - an entire subplot is introduce and disposed of in the last few chapters.)
The problem, for me, was the character of Sal. A thief from a rough area who joins the competition for reasons that are only made clear later, despite not being a killer, Sal never really came into focus for me as a character. Writing a complex but sympathetic character who is going to murder a whole bunch of people in the course of the story is difficult, and I don’t think Miller really pulled it off with Sal. They feel more like a conglomeration of fantasy tropes than a person. They have a tragic backstory which becomes more tragic the more we learn about it. They have a secret history. They aren’t who they seem. They want vengeance. They can’t trust anyone, but they clearly want to. They are extremely skilled, despite some of these skills not really being explained. Worse, they start out the story having never killed anyone, and by the end they have killed several people, and I have no idea how they feel about it. Sal’s feelings on the subject of being an assassin are extremely vague and seem to change from chapter to chapter. This was too important of an aspect of their character to miss and unfortunately Miller did.
There are some aspects of Sal I did like, though. For one, they are genderqueer - they have a fluid gender identity, at different points identifying as male, female or nonbinary - and the scenes devoted to Sal explaining their gender identity to others were really well done. (I admit I was a little confused that Sal wanted people to use pronouns associated with however they were dressed on a particular day, because I don’t understand what “non-gendered dress” looks like in this world, but that’s a minor quibble.). I especially liked the scene where they explained their gender identity to the Left Hand and the assassins immediately understood and accepted it. In general this appears to be a world that is pretty open to all forms of queerness, which was neat. Sal also came alive as a character in their relationships with others: Maud, the servant assigned to them for the duration of the competition, who becomes a friend and ally, and especially Elise de Farone, the love interest. Sal and Elise’s relationship was like a rom-com inserted into this otherwise grim world and I loved every minute of it.
There was enough in this book to make me want to read the sequel, but I doubt I will pick this one up again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Transphobia
There are several scenes of graphic violence and body horror; there are a few minor instances of antagonists not respecting the MCs gender identity but they are always corrected.anniereads221's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Transphobia
oceanherd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Transphobia and Colonisation
lolajh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
DUDE definitely one of my favourite fucking books after reading this. A nonbinary genderfluid protagonist, Sal, who is an assassin and uses the pronouns he/him, they/them, and she/her, which flunctuates along with his gender. Sal uses cis people’s stereotypical view of gender and the clothes that are often assigned to it to their advantage, so when she identifies as a girl they wear fem clothes, when they identify as a guy he wears masculine clothes, and when they feel like neither he wear androgynous clothes. As a non binary person myself who experiences my gender expression in such a different way it was so lovely to learn and experience how Sal expresses their gender through clothing. Along with this, Sal is not at all shy of her identity, happily communicating his gender fluidity and boundaries that are made with everyone regarding pronouns and what to use for them and when, very much normalising gender feeling like this not only in this fantasy world but in real life too. Sal allowing herself to get mad at people who disrespect their identity is completely valid, and as someone who finds it difficult to correct people misgendering me, reading stuff like this is empowering, and the fact I was able to take all this away from a fictional book? What you consume in media does truly affect you, and this book did it in a way that was so positive. Also the fact that the author never discloses sal’s biological sex is lovely and important for deconstructing society’s views of gender, especially that of non binary people. Very very very good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Transphobia
salainen's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Torture, Transphobia, Death of parent, and War
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
gayghostprince's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I'm OBSESSED. this is my new favourite book. I love to see nonbinary royalty WINNING.
once I started, I was shocked that I couldn't do anything but keep reading. my sleep schedule is wrecked, but it was worth it. I checked it out from the library and once I finished? i immediately bought physical copies of the first and second books.
the tender moments between Sal and their love interest? fluffy and heartwarming. the tension of being in a castle surrounded by people dead set (pun intended) on killing you? pulse quickening.
once I started, I was shocked that I couldn't do anything but keep reading. my sleep schedule is wrecked, but it was worth it. I checked it out from the library and once I finished? i immediately bought physical copies of the first and second books.
the tender moments between Sal and their love interest? fluffy and heartwarming. the tension of being in a castle surrounded by people dead set (pun intended) on killing you? pulse quickening.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Transphobia
only shitty people are transphobic don't worrygracecharlottekelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
A fun read for me. I can’t wait to read the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia