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nicodaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Stalking, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture, Vomit, and Grief
nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
- 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
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.
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.hannah1994's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
For me, the plot was pretty fast paced albeit with a few slow parts. The last 40 or so pages were just so intense.
I love the world building so much. There's a queen with a group of assassins called The Left Hand who are named after gems and wear masks. You can see why I think that's awesome. Oh and a war might be going down but that's par for the course.
I feel like the romance was a little bit rushed but I still rooted for Sal and Elise to be together.
Will still read book 2 and see where it all ends.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, and War
neighborhoodbeanreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Plot: I thought the plot of this book was well-thought out and had the right amount of twists/turns, I think the pacing could have been a bit better-- it was pretty slow in the beginning and shot-up fairly quickly. I'm excited to read the sequel!
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexism, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Gore, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault
salainen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Torture, Transphobia, Death of parent, and War
foreverinastory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Such a fun reread!!
Rep: Genderfluid white MC, white noble bisexual female love interest, various BIPOC side characters.
CWs: Blood, death, dysphoria, genocide, grief, injury/injury detail, misgendering, murder, violence, war.
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3.5/5
I enjoyed this but was kind of bored with some parts of it. Our MC, Sallot Leon, is a gender fluid thief, that auditions to become Opal, one of the queens assassins. It was quite a leap to see Sal being a thief to then trying to become an assassin, especially since at the beginning, they explain their hesitancy to kill. However, Sal seems to get over that pretty quickly.
The trials that Sal goes through were interesting, but also slightly predictable since everyone is trying to off the other competitors. What helped liven this part up was Sal's lessons with Elise, the lady she stole from to get invited to the competition. I loved their lessons together, and the romance that eventually blossomed between these two. I need more lgbt+ relationships like this.
One other thing I would've liked to have known more about would've be the world itself. Mask of Shadows is set in a world where magic and its dangerous shadows have been abolished by the Queen. However, threats of the shadows pose a danger to the Queen's reign. I would've liked to know more about the magic system that was in place, how the Queen banished it and how/why the shadows existed. They seemed pretty monstrous and it would've be a cool facet to expand upon.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail