Mask of Shadows is the story of Sal, who has grown up working as a thief to stay alive. Sal also happens to be gender fluid and prefers the pronoun that best matches how they look, or “they.” Sal finds out about a chance to become part of the Queen’s Left Hand, essentially her assassins, and decides to join the competition in order to avenge their family and former home. The competition is a fight to the death, with all competitors wearing masks to hide their identity.

While this makes it difficult to connect with any of the other competitors, there are still plenty of other characters without masks we get to know throughout the story. The story was fast-paced and action packed. I couldn’t put it down. I just had to keep reading to find out what would happen to Sal. I absolutely loved this book!

I think the fact that the main character is gender fluid is so awesome. However, if you’re looking for a book about gender fluidity or its impact on the character, this is probably not the book. Rather, the main character happens to be gender fluid and the story develops separately. So in my opinion, this is great because it helps to normalize non-binary gender identities. Sal is relatable and strong as well as frustrating at times, so in this way, Sal’s gender fluidity is only PART of them, not ALL they are. Which is important to me. Though, being a straight cis gender female, I may be completely off base in my assessment.

This is not a book or series I would typically read; yet I was somehow drawn to this one. The book does have a lot of animosity, intrigue, and craziness. There is a lot of fighting, training to fight, and spaces between where killing is acceptable. I feel like this was a crazy version of Hunger Games meets crazy-land. The characters faces stay covered and it is kind of hard to feel anything for the characters. I am not even quite sure how I feel about this one yet...

I loved the main character of this character so much. I loved how she was gender fuild and how hat was such a small part of the story. It was so well done in the story and put the focus on so many other then her appearance. It gave me massive throne of glass vibes to the assissan elements and I will admit the way the characters were named did add to my confusion. The story did kept me turning the page and was a great first book in the series but I am curious where book two will go and what will occur next. It made want to keep reading but i do hope the world building is expanded in future books in this series because I still have questions

I unfortunately found MASK OF SHADOWS to be a disappointing and tedious tale of assassins who spent so much time learning dull things that I nearly fell asleep before they got to the exciting part of the plot. The info-dumping was at levels: unreal and intense. And the plot was so cliche, just starring events and characters that could've come right out of Assassin's Heart, The Orphan Queen, Throne of Glass, and Nevernight.

However! It was endlessly pleasing to see a badass gender-fluid protagonist in epic fantasy! I definitely think we need more diversity in fantasy so yes please and thank you.

•My biggest issue was: I was super bored. The book is 80% descriptions of training. How to fire a bow and arrow! How to tell poisons apart! How to run through the woods! How to pick a lock! How to learn to read! And I just about died of extreme boredom. Where was the spark and pizazz and engaging plot? I'm not here to fire a bow, I'm here to be engaged with a fast-moving plot that keeps me flipping pages and invested. This did none of that. In a time when assassin-YA books are super common, this needed way more to stand out. If Sal hadn't been gender-fluid, the entire book would've been extremely bland. It also turned the plot very predictable.

Also I was confused at Sal's actual personality. Sal has very clear traits of being a freaking psychopath. They're sitting there going "killing is totally cool it's just a job" which is what a psychopath would say. And that's fine! I like reading about psychopaths. But the thing is...Sal would turn around and care deeply about a servant. They show kindness to their crush. They want justice for their wronged people!! They don't steal a family heirloom to be kind. These are not psychopathic traits. So I could never get a full grip on who Sal was because their personality traits seemed all over the place. It wasn't consistent, making it entirely unbelievable. Sal never once felt bad about killing, yet, if they weren't a psychopath, they should've been at least freaked out by this at some point. It made Sal distant and completely unrelatable with this cool and calm way they handle murder. I enjoy assassin books, but when the assassin is very clear about how they're bad.

The info-dumps were so full on. Good news is, this country has a very detailed history. Bad news is, it didn't make me care before it shoved it down my throat.

I also couldn't handle all the characters being referred to simply by numbers. It made it too confusing for me and I never could tell them apart.

Definitely not a book to suit me, but would more work for fans of Throne of Glass and Nevernight. I had too many frustrations with the tedious plot and world-building to actually enjoy the story. And Sal pretty much scared me with their intense calmness for blood-lust.

I thought this was fantastic! It was honestly everything I wanted Throne of Glass to be (don't get me wrong, I liked Throne of Glass but it was missing a little something that this book had). It definitely has an edge that puts in more of a "new adult" than "young adult" category, if that's a thing you pay attention to and/or prefer in a book. I can't wait for the next one!

2.5 stars

While I definitely think the premise of this book was promising, I don't find that the execution lived up to my expectations. I really appreciated the main character, Sal, being gender fluid and I found that I liked the way Sal's gender fluid-ness was explained within the text. Many of the characters respected their gender identity and I appreciated that. However, I can't help but feel that Sal's gender identity would have been more efficient had the story been written in 3rd person. That way the author could have used the various pronouns used to describe Sal that they insist upon in the text. I've never read a book with a gender fluid main character that shows us the use of pronouns in that way. I feel it would have been even more effective.

I feel the rest of the issues with this book comes down to bad writing. The majority of characters within this novel are either referred to as numbers or long, fancy names that match characters that you don't get to meet for most of the novel. This was incredibly confusing. It wasn't until the end of the book that I felt I could tell any of the auditioners or members of the Left Hand apart. They didn't have enough distinguishable personality characteristics to really stand out from one another. I don't feel like Amethyst and Emerald had very different personalities and none of the auditioners had any personality aside from Sal and Five, who is set apart as the "bad guy." The descriptions of the old lords and mages from the history of this world were incredibly confusing because of how the names in this story read. There are still many characters that I'm still not sure who is who.

I also felt like the descriptions and actions were equally as confusing. There were many instances when Sal would be in one place and the very next sentence they'd be in another place with no description of how they moved between the two points. Sal would be performing one action before suddenly be doing another, without any transition between the two. That was super confusing because I constantly found myself having to reread passages and asking myself, "what?" There is one scene where Sal is walking before suddenly crawling in rafters before suddenly walking again but it's never said that Sal is moving between these places.

The plot and world-building weren't very original and, again, quite confusing. I'd also have to say that the first half of the book was quite boring. However, I very much enjoyed the second half once the plot got more action packed and the court intrigue got more intense. I can't say I enjoyed the romance for the pure fact that Sal and their love interest fell head over heals over the span of a few days. They were basically ready to die for each other and Sal essentially threw away all of their convictions and hatred for Erlend after knowing their love interest for a few days. It was way too intense, way too fast which kind of soured it for me, even if I thought their interactions were cute.

Overall I appreciated seeing a gender fluid main character and I'd love to see more characters in these underrepresented minorities in the future. However the rest of this book fell low for me and I'm unsure whether it's compelling enough for me to want to continue the series.

4.5 stars

A daring debut novel, Mask of Shadows is definitely on the top of my favorite 2017 fantasy releases. Breaking bounds in LGBTQ+ representation in YA literature and mixing it into a fantasy world, Linsey Miller's novel mixes action, adventure, and magic into one stunning debut.

Gender-fluid Sal has been living their life as a thief under the overbearing Grell. Sal is an orphan as their family and most of the people of their country, Nacea, were killed by the shadows. They have a thirst for vengeance as the Erland people in the north retracted their soldiers from Nacea in order to save themselves from the shadows, which in turn demolished Nacea.

Now, the shadows are gone and Sal is taking their chance at doing something besides thieving for Grell. Living under the Queen who has united they try out to be one of the Queen's Left Hands who are her personal assassins. There is Ruby, Amethyst, Opal, and Emerald, one for each gemstone ring the Queen wears. Opal has died, and there's now a competition for the empty place.

Sal is ready to get out of Grell's hold and get some revenge on the Erlands who killed their people. The competition is to the death, and Sal will have to face deadly opponents if they want to be Opal.

Can I just say WOW because doesn't the summary sound so exciting? And the story really is.

One of the first things I'd like to go over is Sal's gender fluidity. Some days they want to be a he, while others they'll want to be a she. Depending on the gender Sal chooses, they'll dress accordingly. The entire concept is explained well, especially for readers unfamiliar with the use of gender neutral pronouns, etc.

I know some people have criticized the lack of conflict pertaining to Sal's gender fluidity, but do we really have to make such a big deal out of this? Isn't it better to send a message that says "Yeah, gender fluidity should be accepted. Look at how cool all the characters in Mask of Shadows are acting--this is what life should be like"?

And it's not true that there's a lack of conflict. Five repeatedly messes up Sal's gender and doesn't bother to correct himself, and Sal reacts. The acceptance of Sal's gender fluidity is not perfect in Miller's fantasy world, but it's definitely improved.

The way Miller addresses their gender fluidity is subtle and poignant as this is what our society should aspire to be. We should be accepting of those of LGBTQ+ nature. It shouldn't be something to overreact about.

The gender fluidity in Mask of Shadows isn't the focus of the novel, and sometimes I feel like people forget that. It's definitely a plus diversity-wise, but this isn't a contemporary novel about finding yourself and learning about the big message in life. It's a fantasy with all sorts of action and adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

And speaking of keeping me on the edge of my seat, Mask of Shadows was such an enjoyable read that I absolutely sped through. The pacing was smooth and there weren't any moments that the narrative lulled since, remember, you're in a fight to the death.

It's fast paced, action-filled, and this definitely makes Mask of Shadows an enjoyable read.

The plot isn't very twisty, and you know who the winner has to be if there's going to be a second book. Nevertheless, Miller still throws a few twists in near the end, all of which are justified.

I've also read that people think this is a Hunger Games knockoff, but I don't agree. Mask of Shadows is not as dystopian and Sal's less empathetic. Sal wants revenge & honestly just to get out of Grell's hold, while Katniss was all about saving her sister and was greatly influenced by her emotions.

The case is much different with Sal who's a pretty logical character--smart, cunning, and sometimes apathetic. It's justified that Sal's this way because if they want to win, they have to be willing to kill other people to do it. They're an assassin and they should do their job correctly, even if it is a job of an unsavory nature.

Despite the less emotional personality, we can still connect with Sal when looking at their romantic relationships.

I don't want to spoil anything, but Sal has a very large soft spot of their writing tutor, who's a pretty, kind of nerdy, dark-skinned Erland girl. They have a very cute dynamic and I can't wait to see more of how it progresses in the sequel.

On a small side note, the diversity isn't ever forced or awkward like it is in some books. I almost didn't catch the tidbit about the tutor being dark-skinned, but I can just imagine how pretty she is, glasses and all. Like with the gender fluidity, it shouldn't matter what skin color the characters are. They are all people, and that's what's important.

All of the people participating in the game are given numbers (Sal is 23), and they never show their faces which are instead covered by a mask. It's enlightening to see how you can still bond with characters even if you don't have names. Miller does a good job of picking out what you need to know as she develops the important characters and skims over the unimportant ones.

I think all the characters were developed nicely, and if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't be too expressive either. The other contestants are ready to kill you so you try to keep information about yourself hidden.

I didn't see anything exceptional in the prose; nothing stood out to me as positive or negative. This is what contributed to the drop by a half star for me because with such a rich and interesting new world, I wanted details. I think the world-building was done nicely in explaining the dynamics of the past years and the strenuous political balance, but I think in explaining the politics of Nacea & the other states, Miller had to X out some of the description.

I still got a good idea of some of the landscape, but I still have many burning questions of what the world looks like. It was still very nice to have the political balance of the world explained instead of leaving the readers in the dark about what happened with Erland and Nacea.

I can't wait to see more of Sal's world in the second and final book! All in all, I would recommend Mask of Shadows to anyone who's looking for a fun, action-packed read. It was always entertaining to read, and I will definitely buy myself a copy (though I'm not sure if I want to wait for a box set to come out 🤔).

I thought this book was wonderful and I loved how the author is pushing the envelope within young adult fiction with gender and sexual fluidity. I also thought the world building was well done. There were parts that I thought could have used some refining or explanation, but I was also glad that there was not too much info-dumping...For a debut title, I thought Miller did a fabulous job and will definitely be looking forward to her future works.

2.5 stars.

*

Mask of Shadows is an YA Fantasy novel with lots of action, intrigue, a sprinkle of romance and a wonderful main character. The plot is rather light on the Fantasy aspect, as the world-building lacks development and falls a little flat, and the magic get some mentions but no explanations. The premise is also familiar — different people fighting to death for a place as the Queen’s new assassin —, giving readers a huge sense of deja vu and making the story a bit boring to follow

Linsey Miller’s writing is good. It’s easy to follow the story along, and Sal, our main character, is a great narrator. The way the author addresses Sal being genderfluid is incredibly well done and definitely the highlight of this story. Unfortunately, Sal is really the only thing that grasped my attention in this novel.

Sal really is amazing. Their determination and drive throughout the novel are really gripping. They grow and develop as they face the obstacles put in their path, and aren’t afraid of recognizing their mistakes. Once again, the way the author addresses Sal’s gender identity is also great! That is just a facet of Sal’s character, instead of being the entire center of their character.

When I say the premise is familiar, I mean it reminds me a lot of Throne of Glass. Seeing as this has been marketed towards fans of Sarah J. Maas, it does make sense. Sadly, this doesn’t really do the book any favors. The familiar premise doesn’t bring anything new and exciting to the page, as it does give readers the feeling they’ve been here and have read this before.

The lack of world-building also makes it difficult for readers to connect and understand this world. The little bit of history and magic mentions we get throughout the novel are really interesting, but they are mostly left unexplored as the story progresses. There isn’t a lot for readers to hold on to besides the assassin competition, which turns repetitive the more you read.

It is also extremely difficult to connect to and care about any of the side-characters. The characters competing with Sal are referred to by numbers, making it really hard to remember who’s who and causes trouble when trying to differentiate between names and when another character is just… counting down to something. They also sound a lot alike, with the exceptions of Maud and Elise.

In the end, Mask of Shadows feels like a book you’ve read before. The unexplored world-building and undeveloped characters make it hard to connect with the story. Sal, as wonderful as they are, can’t carry the book by themselves. I might have liked this if the plot didn’t feel as familiar, but as it is, this book was not for me. New YA Fantasy readers might have a better time with it than I did.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars (release date Aug. 29, 2017)

I have mixed feelings about this book. Overall, it is an ok book. It's a quick, uncomplicated read, but is definitely not without flaws. The book is a standard YA novel that wants to be compared with Sarah J. Maas' books, but falls short. The main character, Sallot, is a thief that is part of a crew that steals from wealthy travelers. (Sallot is gender fluid, so "they" switch genders throughout the book.) Sallot discovers that the Queen is having a competition for a new assassin and leaves the crew to compete. Much of the book centers on the competition.

The problems with the book start almost immediately. The story is set about 10 years after a devastating war that killed thousands of people and tore the country apart. Sallot is an orphan of war. Nacea, his/her country and people, were obliterated during the war. He/she blames the lords of Erlend for abandoning the country and leaving them to the slaughter of the "shadows".

There is little to no world-building, so the reader is left wondering why the nations were at war, who was involved in the war and how the kingdom is now structured. Brief descriptions of the "shadows" atrocities are given, but what they are, how they came to be, why they did what they did and how they were vanquished is told in bits and pieces throughout the book and is still not clear in my mind even after finishing the book. All I know is that "shadows" are bad and allegedly they have all been "killed" by the Queen and can no longer threaten people any more. Apparently they were formed by certain mages using magic, but that's about all I know. Erlend left Nacea unprotected and the shadows killed everyone, except Sallot. Therefore Sallot's life is dedicated to avenging the death of his/her family and people. Hence, entering the contest to be one of the Queen's assassins.

The book is part of a series, but I'm not sure how many are planned. I will probably check out the next book in the series, but if more answers aren't provided early in the book, am not sure I will stick with it.

MASK OF SHADOWS was such a nice surprise. The assassin in this story is gender fluid. In fact, no where does it say whether Sal Leon is a male or female. Now that I have explained that, let me try to use the proper pronouns in this review.

Sal’s homeland of Nacea was massacred by Shadows. Sal is one of the only ones to see a Shadow and live. Living now as a thief at the latest heist Sal finds a flyer to audition to become the Queen’s Left Hand. Opal, named for one of the Queen’s rings, is open for auditions and either an invitation or a proven skill is necessary to join. Sal easily proves worth and enters the game. Sal becomes Twenty-Three, named for their number in arrival to the competition. Sal needs to win so they can serve the Queen but it is not for the reason everyone believes. Sal only wants to infiltrate the royalty to gain revenge for what was done to Sal’s homeland.

This story jumps right in with Sal finding out about he competition and then in the competition as Twenty-Three. I had no trouble understanding Sal’s nature with the way it was broken down.

“Address me however I look” I was both. I was neither. I was everything, but that wasn’t exactly a friendly conversation.

In this story they use swords, knives and poisons to kill so there is an old-timey feel to the story. There is mostly acceptance to Sal’s gender-fluidity, but there were some people who voiced issues with it. Sal can’t be the only person in this place that lives that way. I had to keep in mind that this story is just Fantasy, so the author really had free reign to define this world and the people in it however she wanted. I had no problems with the way Sal’s gender was handled.

Sal is a baddass assassin whether dressed as a man or woman. Sal grew up fighting in the streets and stealing to survive. Those strengths come in handy for the competition. There is an anonymity to the story as all 23 would-be Opals wear masks with their numbers on them. At first, all the assassins have free reign to try to kill each other, so long as the killing isn’t witnessed. I loved Sal’s wit with his opponents and clever preparations to avoid being killed by the competition. Sal gets a little help from the maid and I really liked seeing how Sal treated “the help”.

Sal also starts a relationship with a royal love interest named Elise. She teaches Sal to read the Queen’s home language (there are a few languages mentioned in this book and I can’t remember the name or location of any of them, sorry). Elise also teaches Sal manners and how to act at court. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see Sal put those skills to work so I have high hopes for the next book. I did like the beginnings of this romance. I’d like to see where the author takes that as well.

There is a few things I have to mention about this book that I didn’t like. Other than Sal, we don’t get much character depth. That should be a huge deal for me, but the story moved so fast I was just going along and didn’t notice that I didn’t know anyone really until they died. Also, the world isn’t really explained well. The scenes are well described but I know very little about the world. I wish I had a map or something. I don’t know how far Nacea is from where the competition took place and that bothered me some. Other than that I really enjoyed this read. I am looking forward to the sequel.

Interesting YA fantasy, it covers a genderfluid person trying to become an assassin. Sal, who is quite interesting as he/she changes however he/she wants to be. Sal enters a contest to become the new Opal, a queen assassin. While training Sal has a bit of a romance with a girl that was his tutor. I wished there was more into it that killings but it was a different story of what I usually read.

Diversity is a huge player in media now days especialy in young adult books. The fact that the mask of shadows explains and shows the meaning of gender fluid does not mean it blocks out the rest of the story. I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed the book! It is definitely similar to Throne of Glass in the idea but I don't think it's fair to compare the two and I wouldn't go into this book expecting something like Throne of Glass even, with seemingly similar plot lines. I do think the most interesting part was the inclusion of a nonbinary MC. I think Miller did a great job handling their identity and their inner narrative without being forced or reaching too much. Once again. I'll try not to compare to Maas too much, but this narrative is more straight forward because I don't think Miller is planning as vast a series as Maas has taken on, however, this doesn't mean the world building is flat or non-existent. In fact I found that the world building was unobtrusive but still very strong and left a lot to be built upon in later books. Miller gave what was necessary without giving you the information you don't need yet.

I requested this book after reading a few tweets about it and Sal's gender fluidity (there may have been a mention of Leigh Bardugo in there somewhere).

Immediately, I was engaged by what was happening and even a little flustered at the interaction between Sal and Elise. I loved Sal as a character, but was a little confused as to their motivation (I can totally chalk this up to having a problem understanding politics in books so I'm not the best judge). Maude was wonderful and her scenes with Sal reminded me of Shazi and Despina from "The Wraith and the Dark."

There is a scene where it's evident that Sal suffers from PTSD. While Sal may object to feeling weak for this very real reaction for what they've been through, I was surprised by those around them who understood and didn't judge them for it. I don't know if I'm used to the main character's feelings being unsupported by others, but I was thrilled by this.

Linsey Miller takes great pains to not assign a body to Sal. There a few jerks who misgender them, but it's never mentioned if they were (lack of a better term at the moment) right in their assumptions and I was thrilled by this. I was scared that Miller was going to disappoint me and I certainly wasn't. This amount of detail is brilliant because 1.) it's very easy to want to describe a character's body as an introduction, and 2.) the book had interesting parallels to Jeanette Winterson's <i>Written on the Body</i> where the narrator's name nor gender is given.

I can't wait to see what the next book will produce.

My short, to-the-point review is that Mask of Shadows was good, but it was trying too hard. Not in reference to the plot and writing, not at all! Linsey Miller cooked up an interesting world, an entertaining plot, and one of the most memorable, ultra immersive romances I’ve read in quite a long time. Unfortunately, what could be one of the most interesting aspects of this book, the gender fluidity of Sal, the, protagonist, is thrown into the mix in a strange way.

Sal’s nonbinary gender is almost nonchalant for a character who grew up in the streets. There’s a strange unreality to a character growing up with such an impoverished, desperate background not having experienced any discrimination for not conforming to a gender expectation, which would lead a reader to ask if the society in which the character lives has a general acceptance for nonconformists. This question isn’t addressed in Mask of Shadows; at least, not in a clear way. In addition to being sort of unscathed by society in regard to gender, Sal is remarkably well-spoken, to the point that Elise, the love interest, remarks upon it. Sal quickly puts Elise in her place, by calling out her assumption that Sal couldn’t be articulate, rather than addressing the unlikeliness of a street kid attaining an education while trying to stay alive and conduct a life of petty crime. I have to take a step back and acknowledge that yes, this is a fantasy world, therefore the society, from bottom to top, can operate any way the author dictates. The issue then is that it’s not clearly dictated. Miller is a good writer, and subtle, but the choices Miller made in choosing not to replicate the way human societies in reality work makes it difficult to relate to as a Eutopian goal. The reader is shown a great deal, but not told a whole lot, and in this one particular aspect it hinders the book. In every other sense, Miller’s style and writing are super.

The romance between Sal and Elise was really enjoyable to read. It’s difficult to really nail down the roiling emotions of a crush but Miller does it perfectly. The romance is also not a terribly huge part of the plot, not the entire focus of the protagonist’s arc. It’s just a nice, delightful little detour in the the otherwise action packed plot.

Very similar to Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass, Sal and a number of other hopefuls are competing to be the monarch’s assassin.The competition takes place at a royal estate and there is murder, intrigue, and mayhem. Sal is kind of disappointingly good at everything, having never done much of what she learns before. The other competitors are unfortunately not very likeable nor are they easy to get attached to. Miller does make it feasible that Sal might lose and not become one of The Left Hand, which was believable enough to me to make me want to find out how the plot ends.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the competition plot, books that go light on the fantastical aspect while still incorporating elements of the genre, and strong, non-entirely-masculine characters. Disclosure: I received an ARC of Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller from the publisher via NetGalley.

Great story great characters great storyline. This is a new to me author and all I can say is important looking forward to reading more from this author

I have to be honest. I was super hesitant and had pretty low expectations going into this book because there are lots of negative reviews out there already. In reality I’d give this book a 3.5 out of 5 although I rounded up to a 4 on here. I honestly don’t feel like this book was nearly as bad as people made it out to be. I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout reading it even if it did remind me of a couple of different books. I hear this book compared to Hunger Games a lot and I guess I can see it but that’s not what I thought of while reading it. I definitely got some major Throne of Glass and Nevernight vibes…with a little Red Queen thrown in there as well. I feel like the main character of the book was unique enough and the situations different enough where I wasn't constantly comparing the stories. It was the first book I’ve read with a gender fluid character in it and it was a unique experience. I didn’t know what gender fluid meant going into this but the gender they want to go by is the gender they’re portraying in the way they dress and act and it may change on a day to day basis. That being said… I didn’t overly love or hate the romance in this book. It was just kind of there and tolerable and cute but didn’t give me any yummy butterflies. Although I can compare this book to a few others I feel like the characters and story was unique enough to keep my interest. I really was not a fan of Red Queen and enjoyed this much more. I read somewhere that this series is set to be a duology and I most likely will pick up the sequel to see what happens next.

Oh, what a disappointing read this turned out to be. I expected more from this fantasy, but what I received was a generic, almost non-existent world, extremely flat secondary characters, to a point where it was difficult to just differentiate them, and loads of plot holes. The main character themself--is that a word? I need it to be a word but there's a red squiggly line underneath it--hardly made sense to me.

Before I continue, I should make it extra clear that I didn't finish this. I couldn't. I didn't care about what was going on in the book. I didn't care about what was going to happen. The characters, who I needed to rely on to pique my interest, failed me time and time again.

Little ways into the book, after Sal enters the competition to be the next Opal, every competitor is given a number. And that number limits how well you get to know these characters, even though many of them will be dispensable in the future. There isn't much else given about them other than what Sal is able to point out. No one else really mattered in the long run, so they all ended up being flat and boring secondary characters.

Going off this, the competition itself seems like a carbon copy of the Hunger Games. Competitors are killing each other left and right without any real consequence. The only real difference is that they're being "trained" to become proficient killers. Other than that, there's no real build up to it. There's no sense of urgency or danger to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

There's not much said about the setting. I read up to nearly half the book and all I was able to tell was that: they were in a castle. They had some training grounds. There are random tid-bits about magic and wars and shadows, but not enough for readers to really grasp anything. I don't care that most of the book is about some random competition--it doesn't excuse lack of world building. It feels like lazy writing.

I felt so utterly disconnected to Sal. While the representation of a gender fluid character is great, especially in a fantasy, it didn't do much of anything to make them seem anything more than a name on page. I can't tell you a single detail about them because there was no spark, no interest behind them for me. They didn't stand out in any way.

The pacing was also weird, but I think this chalks up to poor writing again. Having a general timeline of the book--from what I read--was messy... not complicated but confusing. It felt off-kilter and that didn't really do any good for the book itself.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with the portion I'd read and I know I won't be impressed with whatever is left. Predictable and boring, I'm giving this 1.5 stars.

Very well written! I was sucked into this story and could not get enough! Highly recommend to everyone!