When I started reading this book, honestly, I was disappointed because I expected too much of Bardugo's and Maas' way of writing in the story to begin with. However, things changed as I go along with the book and the story got really fascinating. It captivated me. The gender fluid character was COOL! (I’m just going to say it informally rather than formal) It is something different and uncalled for. That is what made this book attractive and bad ass (sorry for the language but I that’s how I feel about this book) This book is dark and emotionally captured me in a way that I felt lonely when I finished reading the book knowing that I have to wait for the next book to come out since this one hasn’t been released yet. Linsey Miller, thank you so much for writing such a wonderful story and sharing with the world. I can hardly wait for this book to be released. I have so many more to say but I’ll keep it to myself because trust me it will be never ending.

A high fantasy about assassins and a gender fluid MC? The synopsis of this book definitely piqued my interest. Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

I was intrigued by the gender fluid MC since i have yet to read a book in which gender fluidity is discussed. I'm not educated enough to comment much on that aspect on that aspect of the book but I will say that it felt rushed and was not explained very well.

In parts of the book there was a lot of info dumping, so much so that some events are still unclear to me.

I also found that the character development was lacking a bit. By referring to the competitors as numbers it was very impersonal and hard to keep track of who was who. I found it quite improbable that our MC went from being a thief -who had not killed anyone- to being this assassin who kills a bunch of people without feeling any sort of guilt.

I'm going to be honest here, I absolutely was drawn in by the premise of the book. The idea of a gender fluid character was intriguing, but it was the base of a competition for assassins.. I'm a sucker for assassin themed books. But...

The book was beyond tedious in my opinion.



Sal was a thief, a darn good thief and when the option to become more, to become one of the Queen's skilled assassin's presents itself, Sal leaps and takes a chance by throwing themselves into the competition. Yes, Sal is indeed a gender fluid character so they are frequently addressed as He/She/They depending on how they are dressed or how they prefer to be addressed at the moment.

Each competitor is given a number which is confusing because I cannot keep track of One, Two, Three, Five, Eight, Twenty-Two. All I know is that Sal is Twenty-Three and everyone else is interchangable, forgettable and flat. There is a disconnect between all the characters, I do not feel for Sal's plight, I did not feel for any of the characters. There is no depth, no insight and coupled with the lack of explanation in multiple situations as well as history it made the book a chore to read.

There were also so many things that I just could not make myself believe, even though this is a fantasy book I just found myself shaking my head in disbelief. I wanted to like this book, but for me it was just not there and I found myself constantly stuck whilst reading it.

OMG ! I loved this book ....I want my own Opal now. The story kept me wondering what Sal's next move was going to be right to the end and yes i loved the ending. Hopefully I can read more about Sal's adventures in the future.

Mask of Shadows introduces a new breakthrough in the fantasy world with a character in the LGBTQ+ society. I liked how the author was able to write about a gender fluid character and it has definitely opened up my eyes into the wonderful community. The storyline in this book intrigued me and surprised me with characters you can't help but feel for. It is a perfect mix of a fantasy version of the Hunger Games and Throne of Glass. I will definitely be getting copies of this book on release day!

This was a new author for me and I would have to say I really enjoyed the book, I thought I would not like it when I started it but I really started to get hooked I hope Linsey Miller will write another book soon. I can't wait. I loved the plot and characters it just grabs you.

This was a really good book. I didn't know what to expect coming into it but I was pleasantly surprised by the character development and pacing of the story. I could hardly put this book down. I can't wait for the sequel.

The synopsis for Mask of Shadows says "perfect for fantasy fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo". I think whoever wrote that set this book up to fail in comparison to those two writer's books. Comparing a book to the likes of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo is a very bold claim and I feel like because of that claim and the epic sounding synopsis, I was let down by this book.

The plot is kind of boring and unoriginal. It felt a lot like The Hunger Games and by a lot, I mean almost an exact copy. I'm not really into reading books that are very similar so the plot really wasn't for me.
I liked the writing. It wasn't Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo level but I liked it. It felt like the writing of a debut novel but I think there's a lot of potential for the author.
The diversity in the main character is what held this book together for me. I'd never read about a gender fluid character before and to be honest, I don't know a lot about gender fluidity. I was very interested to learn about Sal and see a new perspective. If the main character wasn't diverse, this would be a two star book for me.

Overall, Mask of Shadows was okay. I liked it for the most part but whenever I think about this book being compared to Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo, I roll my eyes. That line is clearly a marketing ploy and shouldn't be taken seriously. If you don't mind books having similar plots, you might really like this book. Or if you're on the hunt for a gender fluid character, Mask of Shadows would be a good one to pick up. But, if you're looking for amazing writing and an original plot, you'll want to skip this book.

The best part of this story was probably Sal, the gender fluid main character. They were compelling, knew who they were and what they wanted. It helped to include a female romantic interest. The whole story in itself wasn't entirely original, but the way the writer played it made it feel a little more interesting. The idea of the Queen having a left hand of assassins named after jewels was creative, and I found myself wanting to know what happened next. Would read a second book, for sure!

This book was very confusing and the characters were inconsistent.

I liked this book! The exploration of Sal's compelling gender fluid identifiers were indeed the highlight of the book. The explorations if the character as Sal navigates through being a he/she was basically the only reason I wanted to finish the book. The storytelling was less compelling and the plot was highly reminiscent of the Hunger Games to which this book hardly offers anything new to this genre of writing. The book does not compare to that of Leigh Bardugo or Sarah J Mass's writing style nor does it come close to the complex characters and world building. Although I enjoyed the read I would probably skip reading the sequel.

An excellent novel, the treatment of the main character as a gender-fluid individual was fantastic and quite tasteful in my opinion. The action and storyline were quite good, though as this is an advance review copy the segues between scenes seem a bit unfinished and were a little jarring. I loved the characters and found the writing quite engaging

Sal became a thief to survive when his family was killed. The day he stole from a Lady, to the Queen, his life changed. For she held an special invitation to win entitlement of becoming Opal, one of the 5 of the Left Hand to the Queens inner court. If Sal can win Opal then he would enact revenge against his family. Could he also win the Lady's heart? But before doing so Sal would have to battle life and death till the very end against 22 others who are not only stronger but better trained in killing. Could Sal go from thief to killer or would he be able to outwit everyone without killing?

This was not my typical book I would sit and read but I found myself rooting for Sal. He was common man going up against so much more evil. As the pages turned I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter to find out what would happen next to Sal. What was the next challenge and who would be eliminated next. Would he have enough street smarts to win. I hope you find this book as captivating as I did.


I received the book from Netgallery for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

Let me start off by saying: Linsey Miller you have created a magical thing!

Gender fluidity in young adult fiction is still a rare appearance, which is exceedingly unfortunate so Sal adds a new name to a small cast of characters. How gender fluidity is portrayed is well done, actually, it is similar to how a friend of mine presents their identity (without the mask of course). It truly shows how a day, even an hour can change how a person feels in themselves.

Though there are a number of series covering bloody competitions, this was a new understanding of a comfortable plot device. Instead of a battle ending in a victor to keep control over a distressed population we have a group of talented people seeking to rid the young country of those who wish to return to a state of unrest.

The setting is bright and lively even with the dark undertones of the past. The characters are vibrant even if pure hatred emanates from their every movement. This novel was magic in a world where it no longer exists and I cannot wait for the sequel.

Having picked this out almost as a whim, I found I was really gripped - set in a medieval surrounding, the ways of his/her/their's world is a hard one and they are aimed at being Opal the closest protector of the queen with a band of sworn fellows, hard as they are, but with agendas of their own. 'Sal or number 23 as 'they' become picks her gender as she feels it in the moment. their escapades are hard ones, and there is much thought given to the moral ramifications of killing. (I like a bit of mental grit.) the dialogue is sometimes terse, but they are speaking different languages among them etc. Engagement with murder is much respected in this world, and toleration for each other uppermost since they face brutal foes. Sal takes revenge freely after impressing the Queen and being given leave ... we always have that underlying drive from this outsider pushing on .. very persuasive and timely and the whole thing is captivating.

I think I "kind of" get what the author tried to do here, but it wasn't really well executed. I didn't make it halfway through, hence my blank rating.
It was confusing, I didn't even really know what was going on...I don't care to read books to get frustrated.
I hope other readers enjoy it more.
(The cover is beautiful, BTW.)

I was really excited about this book, because the description stated that it was perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo & Sarah J. Mass. And since I am a huge a fan of both authors, I was really excited to read this book. However, I have to say I was fairly disappointed with both the writing and the story and the writing and world building definitely weren't on the same level as Bardugo or Maas.

Sallot Leon is a thief and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class and the nobles who destroyed their home. When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand, the Queen's personal assassins, named after the ring she wears, Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge. But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials and as Sal succeeds in the competition and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive.

I feel like I have read this story before. I feel like this is a mix of Throne of Glass and The Hunger Games, except the writing and world building is nowhere close to the level of those series. I didn't really enjoying the writing or the pacing of the plot and during the competition, all of the contestants are referred to by numbers, not their names, which became a bit confusing. I also never really found myself getting invested in the characters themselves. The gender fluid aspect of the main character Sal is something new to any YA books I have personally written, so the diversity in that was interesting. Otherwise, I really wasn't impressed at all by this book and nothing really held my attention.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of the book.

Okay I think that I figured Sal out.She is a female but like male pronouns. UGH Granted at times I thought that he was a man. While I understand this is gender fluid , but why is everyone okay with this ?? I'm surprised that he only mentioned it once . What's up with the numbers ? They are all going to die anyway. A tutor ...that's how you bring the girl back .

I was really excited to read this book and I was sadly disappointed. Even though I loved certain aspects of the novel, I just found it a little flat. It was just lacking. This book is going to be released in September of this year but I don't think that I will be recommending this book to anyone.

So this book has a gender fluid main character, which would be really cool if the character had any substance. I ended up getting bored with the character, Sal, and found the quest for revenge tiresome. I feel like the character should have been further developed and because they weren't, the book just fell short of anything above 3 stars.

That being said, there were some interesting parts in the book that kept me interested in reading, even though I already knew what was going to happen. That's another thing, this book is incredibly predictable and that kind of made me want to consider it a DNF book. But I kept reading. Can't say that it would have made a difference, though. I basically figured out the end within the first hundred pages.

Throughout this book, there is a seemingly forced and unrealistic romance between the main character and a young noble. To me, this seemed like an attempt from the author to get the reader to feel more connected to the character. It really didn't work. I found both characters to be boring and 2-dimensional. Neither was particularly interesting and I found myself skimming their dialog.

Then there's the plot about the kingdoms and revenge and all this stuff that isn't talked about enough or made important enough for the reader to care about. It was such a yawn to read about the politics of the kingdom because I just didn't care. I could see in some areas that the author would try and get the reader interested in the politics and the corruptness of the government but it fell short. It never kept me interested. I never felt the anger that Sal feels, I never felt his need for revenge. That is the biggest flaw with this book I think, the inability for the reader to connect with the main character.

I really doubt that I will be reading any other books in this duology because I could really care less about the characters or the plot of the story for that matter. While I hate talking bad about a book, I just found this one to be boring and forgettable. For this reason, among others, I will do not recommend this to anyone unless they don't mind boring characters and a predictable and boring plot.