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tellingetienne's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very enjoyable book. I am always on the look out for books with genderqueer/fluid characters, and I was delighted to read the description of this book and knew I needed to read it ASAP.
It's a solid YA fantasy. The writing is engaging and the voice and narrative is interesting and compelling. It wasn't exceptional, but it was good. I really loved Sal and the trails they put themselves through to get what they wanted. It was bloodthirsty. The world building was great, constantly adding more to our understanding of the setting as the story develops.
But what I really appreciated with Mask of Shadows is that Sal's genderfluidity is never a plot point, it's not an issue for 99% of the characters in the books, and when it is an issue it's done in such a way that it's obvious the character is A Jerk and the others don't approve of what is happening. Sal's gender not sensationalized or exploited, and for that I loved this book.
It's a solid YA fantasy. The writing is engaging and the voice and narrative is interesting and compelling. It wasn't exceptional, but it was good. I really loved Sal and the trails they put themselves through to get what they wanted. It was bloodthirsty. The world building was great, constantly adding more to our understanding of the setting as the story develops.
But what I really appreciated with Mask of Shadows is that Sal's genderfluidity is never a plot point, it's not an issue for 99% of the characters in the books, and when it is an issue it's done in such a way that it's obvious the character is A Jerk and the others don't approve of what is happening. Sal's gender not sensationalized or exploited, and for that I loved this book.
starlightbooktales's review against another edition
3.0
I received this arc from Netgalley.
First, let me start by saying I requested this book because of the cover. It looked magical and I immediately wanted to know what this book was about. The second thing that hooked me was, "Perfect for fantasy fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo," it was with that line that I knew I needed this book. Much to my surprise, I was granted a copy, it was my first arc and overall, I am glad it was.
Honestly, I was excited for the diversity with the main character. I have never read a book where a character identifies as gender fluid. It wasn't a concept I was familiar with and I just wish I had a better idea of who Sal is. I wish it had been better executed. Because I still don’t know them as a person nor do I know the full extent of their history. I want all of the details not just of the reasons why they want revenge.
This novel had so much potential to be something but it just fell flat. The entire concept of this book is the exact concept of Throne of Glass. A person must face other assassins to be the Queen/King's assassin. There is a competition, some romance, and a lot of training. The difference being that Sal isn't that great of a thief/assassin and has never actually killed a person before the audition.
So, comparing to Maas and Bardugo, it was lacking, big time. I didn't get attached to the characters because the author doesn't allow you too. I don't know what most people look like or their history. This is supposed to be a duology but I don't understand how things will come full circle in one more book.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it. I enjoyed Sal and Maud's weird friendship. I sort of enjoyed the romance, but I don't really think spending a few tutoring sessions is "falling in love." I will gladly read the second book and see how this story continues because I want to see the ending. I want to see how this plays out and if the author can prove me wrong.
First, let me start by saying I requested this book because of the cover. It looked magical and I immediately wanted to know what this book was about. The second thing that hooked me was, "Perfect for fantasy fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo," it was with that line that I knew I needed this book. Much to my surprise, I was granted a copy, it was my first arc and overall, I am glad it was.
Honestly, I was excited for the diversity with the main character. I have never read a book where a character identifies as gender fluid. It wasn't a concept I was familiar with and I just wish I had a better idea of who Sal is. I wish it had been better executed. Because I still don’t know them as a person nor do I know the full extent of their history. I want all of the details not just of the reasons why they want revenge.
This novel had so much potential to be something but it just fell flat. The entire concept of this book is the exact concept of Throne of Glass. A person must face other assassins to be the Queen/King's assassin. There is a competition, some romance, and a lot of training. The difference being that Sal isn't that great of a thief/assassin and has never actually killed a person before the audition.
So, comparing to Maas and Bardugo, it was lacking, big time. I didn't get attached to the characters because the author doesn't allow you too. I don't know what most people look like or their history. This is supposed to be a duology but I don't understand how things will come full circle in one more book.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it. I enjoyed Sal and Maud's weird friendship. I sort of enjoyed the romance, but I don't really think spending a few tutoring sessions is "falling in love." I will gladly read the second book and see how this story continues because I want to see the ending. I want to see how this plays out and if the author can prove me wrong.
alfie_reginald's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
3.0
hellomadalyn's review against another edition
4.0
This review originally appeared on Novel Ink.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I enjoyed this fast-paced fantasy novel so very much! I’m honestly baffled by the amount of one- and two-star reviews of this book on Goodreads. If you’re a fantasy lover like I am, don’t let the negative reviews deter you from picking up this book!
I’ll preface this by saying that I am cisgender, but one of the elements of Mask of Shadows I was most looking forward to was the fact that it features a genderfluid protagonist. I’ve only read one other book with a nonbinary POV character, and I was so excited to see this representation in a YA fantasy! Sal’s genderfluid identity isn’t a huge part of the plot, largely because they seem to be fairly widely accepted by others in this world, but the couple conversations about it were incredibly well-done, in my opinion. Sal goes by they/them, she/her, and he/him pronouns over the course of the book. Any time another character misgenders them, that character is quickly corrected. Again, I am a cisgender woman, but I will be linking to #ownvoices reviews by nonbinary reviewers of this book below (and I will be updating this list as I find more), so be sure to take a look at those!
I loved Sal as a character in general. They were definitely morally ambiguous (so are real people, though, right?), but they were incredibly easy to root for. It wasn’t a typical “chosen one” story, which I really appreciated since that plot is quite overdone in YA and can get tiresome. Sal had to work hard to improve their skills and stay alive throughout the competition; nothing was handed to them. All of the other characters won my heart, too– especially Sal’s love interest, Elise, and their servant during the tournament, Maud. Both of these ladies were resourceful and quietly clever, and Sal 100% would have been dead without the help of both of them. I also loved getting to know the members of Our Queen’s Left Hand, the guild of assassins Sal is competing to join. I thought the whole idea of the Left Hand– them being named after the gems the Queen wears on her actual left hand, the fact that no one except each other sees their faces unmasked, and their deadly skill– was incredibly clever and unique. Really, none of the characters in Mask of Shadows are completely “good.” All of them are doing what it takes to survive and therefore they all are morally grey in some way. I love love love books like this, because the characters react to real situations the same way that real people would. That element kind of gave me Six of Crows vibes.
As for the actual plot, I’m a sucker for a magical/fantasy tournament plot (think Goblet of Fire, A Gathering of Shadows, Throne of Glass, etc.), and this one completely delivered on that front! Again, Sal is competing to fill the spot of Opal, one of Our Queen’s assassins who makes up her inner circle known as The Left Hand. I loved the high stakes of the competition, and I enjoyed reading about the various tasks and challenges Amethyst, Ruby, and Emerald put the contestants through over the course of the story. Basically, it’s like Throne of Glass, but without Sarah J. Maas’s shitty writing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The other contestants all had interesting backstories and motivations that were fun to learn about. Mostly, I loved Sal’s resourcefulness throughout the audition. Like I mentioned before, they had to work hard to make it through, and it was really refreshing to read from the POV of a protagonist who actually planned their next move instead of always just acting impulsively and getting through every challenge through some miracle or stroke of good luck. I’ve seen many reviews where people took issue with the pacing of this story, but I found it compulsively readable and perfectly paced! I read this entire book in one sitting on an airplane, which is incredibly rare for me with fantasy books.
I think if you’re new to the fantasy genre, Mask of Shadows would be a wonderful starting place. The world is interesting (and comes with a helpful historical timeline in the back of the book!), but it’s not too dense or confusing, and there are no huge info-dumps. Plus, the magical elements of the world play a relatively small part, at least in this first book.
All in all, I cannot wait to see where the story goes in the sequel! The action built steadily til the end of this first book, and think the conclusion to this duology is sure to be an action-packed ride. I highly recommend Mask of Shadows to established fantasy lovers and to those new to the genre of YA fantasy alike.
Have you read Mask of Shadows? If so, did you enjoy it? And if not, do you plan to pick it up?
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I enjoyed this fast-paced fantasy novel so very much! I’m honestly baffled by the amount of one- and two-star reviews of this book on Goodreads. If you’re a fantasy lover like I am, don’t let the negative reviews deter you from picking up this book!
I’ll preface this by saying that I am cisgender, but one of the elements of Mask of Shadows I was most looking forward to was the fact that it features a genderfluid protagonist. I’ve only read one other book with a nonbinary POV character, and I was so excited to see this representation in a YA fantasy! Sal’s genderfluid identity isn’t a huge part of the plot, largely because they seem to be fairly widely accepted by others in this world, but the couple conversations about it were incredibly well-done, in my opinion. Sal goes by they/them, she/her, and he/him pronouns over the course of the book. Any time another character misgenders them, that character is quickly corrected. Again, I am a cisgender woman, but I will be linking to #ownvoices reviews by nonbinary reviewers of this book below (and I will be updating this list as I find more), so be sure to take a look at those!
I loved Sal as a character in general. They were definitely morally ambiguous (so are real people, though, right?), but they were incredibly easy to root for. It wasn’t a typical “chosen one” story, which I really appreciated since that plot is quite overdone in YA and can get tiresome. Sal had to work hard to improve their skills and stay alive throughout the competition; nothing was handed to them. All of the other characters won my heart, too– especially Sal’s love interest, Elise, and their servant during the tournament, Maud. Both of these ladies were resourceful and quietly clever, and Sal 100% would have been dead without the help of both of them. I also loved getting to know the members of Our Queen’s Left Hand, the guild of assassins Sal is competing to join. I thought the whole idea of the Left Hand– them being named after the gems the Queen wears on her actual left hand, the fact that no one except each other sees their faces unmasked, and their deadly skill– was incredibly clever and unique. Really, none of the characters in Mask of Shadows are completely “good.” All of them are doing what it takes to survive and therefore they all are morally grey in some way. I love love love books like this, because the characters react to real situations the same way that real people would. That element kind of gave me Six of Crows vibes.
As for the actual plot, I’m a sucker for a magical/fantasy tournament plot (think Goblet of Fire, A Gathering of Shadows, Throne of Glass, etc.), and this one completely delivered on that front! Again, Sal is competing to fill the spot of Opal, one of Our Queen’s assassins who makes up her inner circle known as The Left Hand. I loved the high stakes of the competition, and I enjoyed reading about the various tasks and challenges Amethyst, Ruby, and Emerald put the contestants through over the course of the story. Basically, it’s like Throne of Glass, but without Sarah J. Maas’s shitty writing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The other contestants all had interesting backstories and motivations that were fun to learn about. Mostly, I loved Sal’s resourcefulness throughout the audition. Like I mentioned before, they had to work hard to make it through, and it was really refreshing to read from the POV of a protagonist who actually planned their next move instead of always just acting impulsively and getting through every challenge through some miracle or stroke of good luck. I’ve seen many reviews where people took issue with the pacing of this story, but I found it compulsively readable and perfectly paced! I read this entire book in one sitting on an airplane, which is incredibly rare for me with fantasy books.
I think if you’re new to the fantasy genre, Mask of Shadows would be a wonderful starting place. The world is interesting (and comes with a helpful historical timeline in the back of the book!), but it’s not too dense or confusing, and there are no huge info-dumps. Plus, the magical elements of the world play a relatively small part, at least in this first book.
All in all, I cannot wait to see where the story goes in the sequel! The action built steadily til the end of this first book, and think the conclusion to this duology is sure to be an action-packed ride. I highly recommend Mask of Shadows to established fantasy lovers and to those new to the genre of YA fantasy alike.
Have you read Mask of Shadows? If so, did you enjoy it? And if not, do you plan to pick it up?
winterlelie's review against another edition
2.0
I feel like there were entire paragraphs missing in this book. the overall plot was okay, but the narrative was often abruptly cut off, which made you feel disoriented as a reader and not in a good way. The book could have done with a rewrite or another round of editing, so the gaps in the story would be less jarring and more intriguing instead.
sidneyellwood's review against another edition
4.0
On a whole, I really enjoyed this book. While the premise was not wholly original (I'm seeing Throne of Glass comparisons, which are not unwarranted) it was well-written and engaging. Sallot was a great character and I loved reading from their perspective; they're determined and ruthless and yes, Celaena Sardothien comparisons abound, but despite the similarities they were original and imo far more well-written than Celaena has ever been. The worldbuilding made itself unique with an interesting magic and political system, and fantasy cultures that waver from the stock fantasy tropes.
someonetookit's review against another edition
5.0
This book has been sitting in my shelves unread for 3 and a half freaking years. Just chilling, staring at me as I read its companions but never this. WHY DID I WAIT BECAUSE ITS SO FREAKING GOOD.
Ok pros -
Love that MC is genderfluid (and it's done well)
Elise is all the yes and suitably squish
Protag has an uncanny ability to kick arse whether presenting as male or female (there's a clip of a woman somewhere on the internet proving its just as easy to fight in a dress with a sword and it gave me those vibes tbh)
Ruby. Period.
Also Emerald because noone suspects the quiet ones.
Cons -
I feel like this could go downhill fast with the sequel
I couldn't read it all last night
There were some passages that were kinda clunky
Also where the hell is the rest of the poem???
Overall fantastic and excuse me vecause theres a second one to binge
Ok pros -
Love that MC is genderfluid (and it's done well)
Elise is all the yes and suitably squish
Protag has an uncanny ability to kick arse whether presenting as male or female (there's a clip of a woman somewhere on the internet proving its just as easy to fight in a dress with a sword and it gave me those vibes tbh)
Ruby. Period.
Also Emerald because noone suspects the quiet ones.
Cons -
I feel like this could go downhill fast with the sequel
I couldn't read it all last night
There were some passages that were kinda clunky
Also where the hell is the rest of the poem???
Overall fantastic and excuse me vecause theres a second one to binge
enby_egg's review
4.0
Thoroughly enjoyed the queer representation in this book, and how it wasn't the main plot of the story.
I found the writing to be a bit hard to follow at some points, especially when describing a series of actions that the MC is taking while on a mission.
Overall, I thought the story was really intriguing, and found myself unable to put it down. I look forward to reading the next book in the duology!
I found the writing to be a bit hard to follow at some points, especially when describing a series of actions that the MC is taking while on a mission.
Overall, I thought the story was really intriguing, and found myself unable to put it down. I look forward to reading the next book in the duology!
ebralz's review
4.0
Hunger games meets GOT meets Robin Hood. Really good audiobook and the author did an amazing job with a gender fluid main character. Can’t decide if I want to nominate for cafe book or not. I think the kids would eat it up.
amrungwaew's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. Most parts I enjoyed—a well-paced fantasy novel that, while not exactly novel, does a good job—but some parts I did not. For instance, the author is heralded for writing her main character as gender fluid... and I can see if she were making the argument that a single character can play all the traditional male or female fantasy roles with ease, but if that’s what she’s going for, she fell miserably short. The gender fluid aspect honestly doesn’t add anything to the book—only spots here and there about which correct pronoun—and I just don’t understand what the author is trying to do. It detracts from the book because it makes the pace stumble and it just feels out of place and awkward.
On the good side of things, this is a fairly otherwise well-written book and I did enjoy it. A bit like Scythe and Six of Crows for the action bits but, oddly enough, it also reminded me of Incarceron for the court intrigue and such (especially in regards to Our Queen). My opinion overall is still up in the air and I’ll have to wait to read the second book to determine which side I fall on (though I suspect it may be on the unfavourable side—a lot needs to be done and done well to make this story succeed).
On the good side of things, this is a fairly otherwise well-written book and I did enjoy it. A bit like Scythe and Six of Crows for the action bits but, oddly enough, it also reminded me of Incarceron for the court intrigue and such (especially in regards to Our Queen). My opinion overall is still up in the air and I’ll have to wait to read the second book to determine which side I fall on (though I suspect it may be on the unfavourable side—a lot needs to be done and done well to make this story succeed).