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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
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.
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.
A well-written first novel that blended world-building, character development, plot, and romance to make a compelling read. If I had to describe it by comparing it to other YA novels, I'd say it's like Throne of Glass meets Hunger Games, starring a genderfluid protagonist. But while I noticed some similarities between this novel and Throne of Glass and Hunger Games, Mask of Shadows solidly stands on its own while still leaving the reader eager to spend more time with Sal Leon in the next book.
5 stars. This is what diverse fantasy should look like. Buckle in kiddos.
Let’s start with a quick review about the story. The story is definitely in the same vein as SJM and Leigh Bardugo - Mask of Shadows follows a very similar plot line to Throne of Glass, and the world building is a bit reminiscent of the Grishaverse. The writing itself isn’t quite up to par with those established authors in the beginning, but there is a very noticeable difference in writing at the beginning of the book versus the end – the writing gets exponentially better as the book progresses. The world building could also use some work, but this is the first novel of a series, from a new author. Mask of Shadows is Lindsey Miller’s debut novel! I have no doubt she will be on the same level of established fantasy authors very soon, if she’s not there already after finishing this novel.
Now, it’s no secret I love fantasy. Fantasy is easily my favorite genre, but through the past couple years, I have been getting more and more disappointed in the genre. I’m getting tired of reading about a special white girl featuring her group of white men who go save the world together (side-eyes SJM). I think I was justifying reading those kind of exclusionary stories because I’ve always felt that good writing is good writing and I’ll enjoy the stories, despite them not having a fleck of diversity (and I do! I loved ToG before I had to confront the lack of diversity). After reading Mask of Shadows, however, I cannot allow myself to support those kind of stories anymore. SF/F is very white, very cis, very straight. This is not acceptable. The world is not exclusively full of straight white cis people, and I don’t want my fantasy worlds to be full of them either. Fiction affects people in real life, and I will not stand by and continue to support authors who invalidate the identities and experiences of so many people. MoS is just one example that shows yes, I can have my awesome fantasy worlds, but with diverse representation too.
Mask of Shadows is what I want in my YA fantasy. It provides irrefutable, word-on-the-page representation to marginalized groups, people other than the straight, white, cis characters that take up the majority of SF/F novels. There are characters who are not straight. There are characters who have BROWN skin (not the ambiguous ~tan~ that authors love so much). Sal is genderfluid, and their identity is almost always respected. And when it’s not? The disrespect is called out IMMEDIATELY right there on the page. Not fifty pages later, not on the author’s twitter after the book is published, or not at all. The disrespect is confronted RIGHT. THEN. This sends a strong, and needed, message. Sal’s identity is VALID, and disrespect about it will not be accepted.
THIS IS WHAT DIVERSE FANTASY SHOULD LOOK LIKE. I am very excited to see the final version of this book, and even more excited to see more from this author in the future.
ARC provided by Netgalley.
I am cis, so for those looking for some reviews by genderfluid/demi readers, see here and here.
Let’s start with a quick review about the story. The story is definitely in the same vein as SJM and Leigh Bardugo - Mask of Shadows follows a very similar plot line to Throne of Glass, and the world building is a bit reminiscent of the Grishaverse. The writing itself isn’t quite up to par with those established authors in the beginning, but there is a very noticeable difference in writing at the beginning of the book versus the end – the writing gets exponentially better as the book progresses. The world building could also use some work, but this is the first novel of a series, from a new author. Mask of Shadows is Lindsey Miller’s debut novel! I have no doubt she will be on the same level of established fantasy authors very soon, if she’s not there already after finishing this novel.
Now, it’s no secret I love fantasy. Fantasy is easily my favorite genre, but through the past couple years, I have been getting more and more disappointed in the genre. I’m getting tired of reading about a special white girl featuring her group of white men who go save the world together (side-eyes SJM). I think I was justifying reading those kind of exclusionary stories because I’ve always felt that good writing is good writing and I’ll enjoy the stories, despite them not having a fleck of diversity (and I do! I loved ToG before I had to confront the lack of diversity). After reading Mask of Shadows, however, I cannot allow myself to support those kind of stories anymore. SF/F is very white, very cis, very straight. This is not acceptable. The world is not exclusively full of straight white cis people, and I don’t want my fantasy worlds to be full of them either. Fiction affects people in real life, and I will not stand by and continue to support authors who invalidate the identities and experiences of so many people. MoS is just one example that shows yes, I can have my awesome fantasy worlds, but with diverse representation too.
Mask of Shadows is what I want in my YA fantasy. It provides irrefutable, word-on-the-page representation to marginalized groups, people other than the straight, white, cis characters that take up the majority of SF/F novels. There are characters who are not straight. There are characters who have BROWN skin (not the ambiguous ~tan~ that authors love so much). Sal is genderfluid, and their identity is almost always respected. And when it’s not? The disrespect is called out IMMEDIATELY right there on the page. Not fifty pages later, not on the author’s twitter after the book is published, or not at all. The disrespect is confronted RIGHT. THEN. This sends a strong, and needed, message. Sal’s identity is VALID, and disrespect about it will not be accepted.
THIS IS WHAT DIVERSE FANTASY SHOULD LOOK LIKE. I am very excited to see the final version of this book, and even more excited to see more from this author in the future.
ARC provided by Netgalley.
I am cis, so for those looking for some reviews by genderfluid/demi readers, see here and here.
I was really excited for this book when I first heard about it. A fantasy book with a gender-fluid main and an assassin competition? Yes please. The idea of the competition to find a new assassin to join the Queen's group, with the competitors killing each other off, was reminiscent of Throne of Glass and The Hunger Games. I loved both of those books so if felt like I should have fallen in love with this one. But I didn't.
Sal was an orphan who worked as a thief but when they found a flyer saying there would be a competition looking for a new Opal, part of the Queen's assassins, they decided to drop everything and hurry to prove themselves. They wanted to serve the Queen. Sal could definitely be likeable. I enjoyed their interactions with Maud, the servant assigned to them during the competition, and their interactions with some of the other competitors. Sal showed how determined they were to become Opal, it was almost all they thought about, but revenge was also on their mind. Revenge against the people they felt had abandoned them and their people during the war, who'd betrayed them and left thousands to die. Becoming Opal would make their revenge easier.
All the competitors were identified by numbers and they all wore masks. It made it more difficult to get attached to any of them and only the ones who Sal either made a connection with or spoke of a lot made any kind of an impact. Very few of them stuck out and were just faceless numbers in the way of Sal's end goal.
One of my biggest issues with the book was that Sal told everyone that they dress as they are on any given day and to address them as such, which is fine, but when combined with a first person POV, I, as a reader who couldn't see what they were wearing, had no idea how to think of the character unless it was said how they were dressed. It was also something that was accepted by most of the characters unless the character was a jerk so did that mean gender fluidity was something that was accepted in this universe or did Sal just happen to join a competition with a lot of really accepting people? I did like that gender fluidity did seem like it was accepted as just a part of who Sal was but I would have liked more context in regards to the universe they were in.
I read through the book pretty quickly. The competition and Sal's quest for revenge felt a little repetitive after a while, almost formulaic. It wasn't often I felt the need to slow down my reading pace in fear of missing vital information because it didn't feel like a whole lot was being revealed. I do want to know more about the world, the shadows, and to see what will happen to Sal next, so there was enough interest in the book that I will read the sequel. It's just not one I can see myself re-reading.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Sal was an orphan who worked as a thief but when they found a flyer saying there would be a competition looking for a new Opal, part of the Queen's assassins, they decided to drop everything and hurry to prove themselves. They wanted to serve the Queen. Sal could definitely be likeable. I enjoyed their interactions with Maud, the servant assigned to them during the competition, and their interactions with some of the other competitors. Sal showed how determined they were to become Opal, it was almost all they thought about, but revenge was also on their mind. Revenge against the people they felt had abandoned them and their people during the war, who'd betrayed them and left thousands to die. Becoming Opal would make their revenge easier.
All the competitors were identified by numbers and they all wore masks. It made it more difficult to get attached to any of them and only the ones who Sal either made a connection with or spoke of a lot made any kind of an impact. Very few of them stuck out and were just faceless numbers in the way of Sal's end goal.
One of my biggest issues with the book was that Sal told everyone that they dress as they are on any given day and to address them as such, which is fine, but when combined with a first person POV, I, as a reader who couldn't see what they were wearing, had no idea how to think of the character unless it was said how they were dressed. It was also something that was accepted by most of the characters unless the character was a jerk so did that mean gender fluidity was something that was accepted in this universe or did Sal just happen to join a competition with a lot of really accepting people? I did like that gender fluidity did seem like it was accepted as just a part of who Sal was but I would have liked more context in regards to the universe they were in.
I read through the book pretty quickly. The competition and Sal's quest for revenge felt a little repetitive after a while, almost formulaic. It wasn't often I felt the need to slow down my reading pace in fear of missing vital information because it didn't feel like a whole lot was being revealed. I do want to know more about the world, the shadows, and to see what will happen to Sal next, so there was enough interest in the book that I will read the sequel. It's just not one I can see myself re-reading.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I'd probably place my rating for this book at a 3.5, really? Although I feel a little mean because I did like and enjoy it. So maybe four would be fairer. I have mixed feelings! There were a handful of niggling flaws (repeated throughout) which kept me from engaging as fully with the main character's journey as I'd have liked. But I'm left with positive emotions overall.
First up - despite having seen several reviews which called the setting of MoS 'generic Medieval European fantasy' in fact this book goes above and beyond in terms of complex, coherent NON-EUROPEAN world-building. Multiple acknowledged religions with no persecution! A complex magical/religious component! Multiple races and ethnicities and cultures, many of which were PoC - including the Queen - all of whom were treated as equal under the law! An implied asexual character, others who are bi or pansexual with no judgement from the narrative! A tropical climate and a 'castle' compound made up of forested woodlands and rivers with individual cabins and lush roof gardens!
The only way in which Sal's world resembles 'Medieval Europe' is that there's a Queen (not a monarchy, note - there's no talk of dynasty or succession and the Queen herself is an ex-Priestess who seized power following a civil war between two nations, at least one one of which was run by a Council of elected officials) and a court. That's it. If you think that is *anything like* Medieval Europe you should educate yourself on history a bit more.
I really hate it when a writer has put a lot of effort into creating something non-standard for their setting and then readers label it 'generic' because of what I call 'fantasy blinders'. They hear 'castle/Queen' and they think 'Tolkien/Game of Thrones' and just ignore anything in the story that doesn't fit the generic picture in their own head. I read a lot (a lot a lot) of fantasy and I found this set-up really refreshing, especially the way that the whole system of governance is brand new and kind of an attempt at Utopia. The Queen and her High Court (including her Left Hand of assassins) truly are well-meaning and want their country to be a place of acceptance, peace, justice and love. Granted, they've a ruthless way of going about it, but it was interesting and new and I liked it a lot.
Having said that, I definitely struggled at times to map out Sal's world in my head. We got a lot of sensory descriptions of food (yum! more please) but when it came to anything else, there was a lack of the kind of concrete detail or narrative flow that would have brought this world more fully to life. I couldn't quite picture the sizes or shapes of buildings or rooms, see where Sal was in relation to others or to objects within scenes, and often lost track of whether it was supposed to be morning, noon or night. Transitions between scenes left me struggling to work out how time was passing. After only two reading lessons Sal's literacy is amazingly improved. Natural ability or because other lessons have been omitted from the narrative and time has passed? I have no idea. Sal mentions 'That was ages ago!' and I thought 'No, it was yesterday... wasn't it? We're told that Sal thinks they're getting stronger because of training - after only a day or two? Or was it longer? How can they be climbing walls now when they literally just got a massive gash in their side? I felt unanchored within the story's reality (both in time and physicality) and this bothered me a lot.
I liked Sal enough to stick with the story regardless. I see a lot of reviews are focussing on their genderfluidity as a point to either praise or criticise, but I feel that misses the point. This book is not about Sal's genderfluidity. That's simply a fact of who they are. The story deals with it as efficiently as possible and then dwells on it only as necessary during the rest of the events (mainly when Sal is misgendered by others either by accident or through deliberate spite).
No one portrayal of genderfluidity can possibly be expected to represent the nuances of the multitudes of different gender expressions beneath that umbrella in the real world, and no book which is about revenge, romance and assassins can possibly be expected to explore fully all the nuances of its main character's specific gender expression without becoming ABOUT that, which is clearly something the author wanted to avoid. We wouldn't expect that of a cis-het character's portrayal, and it's too much weight to place on a fun YA fantasy novel. The author should neither be praised nor censored for including genderfluidity in her work. Diversity is reality.
My main takeaways about Sal are that they're intriguing but ultimately feel slightly underdeveloped as a character. Their internal monologue is very repetitive - 'gotta avenge Nacea, ARRGH SHADOWS, ick Erlendian nobles are AWFUL, can't trust anyone - but I want to trust people - but gotta avenge Nacea...' Which could have worked if, when Sal was forced out of that repetitive mental loop, it had been used as a chance to develop the character more. But instead each time Sal's mind jumped the track to something new it seemed 'out of character' rather than growing naturally from their established traits/obsessions, especially because their thoughts always immediately jumped back to the original track without any sign of change. I felt as if the writer was attempting *something* interesting, but it didn't work for me, to the point where I can't really figure our what it was. Other people's mileage may vary there.
I did enjoy Sal's ruthlessness and the fact that they're constantly teetering on that razor-thin edge between likeable rogue and unlikeable anti-hero. It's nice to see a YA protagonist who isn't always agonising about the right thing to do and other people's feelings. And this was something that definitely *did* work in terms of characterisation for Sal. Because of the hard-scrabble life they've lived and the trauma of losing their family to supernatural 'shadows' as a kid, they've developed an ability to flip backward and forward between a borderline sociopathic mindset where the character can take life, opportunistically and without hesitation- but they still retain enough capacity for human empathy to apologise to their victims if their death at Sal's hands hurts, and to feel the weight of those deaths in the aftermath. This was good stuff and I would have liked it if it was explored even more.
The novel's main flaw was the choice to put all the other assassin 'auditioners' in masks and refer to them by numbers. It would have been OK if we weren't supposed to like, learn about or care for those people - if they were just obstacles for Sal and we were intentionally distanced from them. But I felt the author did want us to care - to like Four and Three and Two, and despise Fifteen and Five and Eleven. The narrative kept referring to them as if we *knew* them. But we didn't. In real life people's physicality means that you can feel an attachment to them even if you can't see their face or know their name, but in a book? They were like walking, talking voids on the page. I could barely tell them apart. It would have taken some amazing, subtle characterisation to pull this off, and I'd have been in awe if it had worked, but it didn't. That left large chunks of the action feeling empty, as if Sal was getting angry/upset/worried about the antics of complete strangers. Five did what? Oh - no, was that fifteen - hang on which one was he? Which number died now? Should I be happy or sad? Ack.
But now to the main point of my review. The thing about Mask of Shadows is that the author tried to do something really original, fresh, interesting and cool. And in some places she fell short. And that's frustrating to read. However, I'd rather read something truly ambitious that aimed for the moon and landed among the stars than another generic YA fantasy blockbuster that's so clearly riding on the coat-tails of other blockbusters that it might as well have been written as a screenplay for the inevitable TV or film adaption.
That's why, despite writing this long review picking faults in the book, I DID enjoy it, and would read the next one, too. That's why I cared enough to review it at all: because a book that came close to greatness but failed is worth analysing in a way that a merely competent or adequate one isn't. We need more debuts like this, and more writers like Linsey Miller, who are willing to write something DIFFERENT even if that means they don't get everything perfectly polished and right the first time around. Ultimately, I'm glad I bought this, and that it exists.
That's all, folks.
First up - despite having seen several reviews which called the setting of MoS 'generic Medieval European fantasy' in fact this book goes above and beyond in terms of complex, coherent NON-EUROPEAN world-building. Multiple acknowledged religions with no persecution! A complex magical/religious component! Multiple races and ethnicities and cultures, many of which were PoC - including the Queen - all of whom were treated as equal under the law! An implied asexual character, others who are bi or pansexual with no judgement from the narrative! A tropical climate and a 'castle' compound made up of forested woodlands and rivers with individual cabins and lush roof gardens!
The only way in which Sal's world resembles 'Medieval Europe' is that there's a Queen (not a monarchy, note - there's no talk of dynasty or succession and the Queen herself is an ex-Priestess who seized power following a civil war between two nations, at least one one of which was run by a Council of elected officials) and a court. That's it. If you think that is *anything like* Medieval Europe you should educate yourself on history a bit more.
I really hate it when a writer has put a lot of effort into creating something non-standard for their setting and then readers label it 'generic' because of what I call 'fantasy blinders'. They hear 'castle/Queen' and they think 'Tolkien/Game of Thrones' and just ignore anything in the story that doesn't fit the generic picture in their own head. I read a lot (a lot a lot) of fantasy and I found this set-up really refreshing, especially the way that the whole system of governance is brand new and kind of an attempt at Utopia. The Queen and her High Court (including her Left Hand of assassins) truly are well-meaning and want their country to be a place of acceptance, peace, justice and love. Granted, they've a ruthless way of going about it, but it was interesting and new and I liked it a lot.
Having said that, I definitely struggled at times to map out Sal's world in my head. We got a lot of sensory descriptions of food (yum! more please) but when it came to anything else, there was a lack of the kind of concrete detail or narrative flow that would have brought this world more fully to life. I couldn't quite picture the sizes or shapes of buildings or rooms, see where Sal was in relation to others or to objects within scenes, and often lost track of whether it was supposed to be morning, noon or night. Transitions between scenes left me struggling to work out how time was passing. After only two reading lessons Sal's literacy is amazingly improved. Natural ability or because other lessons have been omitted from the narrative and time has passed? I have no idea. Sal mentions 'That was ages ago!' and I thought 'No, it was yesterday... wasn't it? We're told that Sal thinks they're getting stronger because of training - after only a day or two? Or was it longer? How can they be climbing walls now when they literally just got a massive gash in their side? I felt unanchored within the story's reality (both in time and physicality) and this bothered me a lot.
I liked Sal enough to stick with the story regardless. I see a lot of reviews are focussing on their genderfluidity as a point to either praise or criticise, but I feel that misses the point. This book is not about Sal's genderfluidity. That's simply a fact of who they are. The story deals with it as efficiently as possible and then dwells on it only as necessary during the rest of the events (mainly when Sal is misgendered by others either by accident or through deliberate spite).
No one portrayal of genderfluidity can possibly be expected to represent the nuances of the multitudes of different gender expressions beneath that umbrella in the real world, and no book which is about revenge, romance and assassins can possibly be expected to explore fully all the nuances of its main character's specific gender expression without becoming ABOUT that, which is clearly something the author wanted to avoid. We wouldn't expect that of a cis-het character's portrayal, and it's too much weight to place on a fun YA fantasy novel. The author should neither be praised nor censored for including genderfluidity in her work. Diversity is reality.
My main takeaways about Sal are that they're intriguing but ultimately feel slightly underdeveloped as a character. Their internal monologue is very repetitive - 'gotta avenge Nacea, ARRGH SHADOWS, ick Erlendian nobles are AWFUL, can't trust anyone - but I want to trust people - but gotta avenge Nacea...' Which could have worked if, when Sal was forced out of that repetitive mental loop, it had been used as a chance to develop the character more. But instead each time Sal's mind jumped the track to something new it seemed 'out of character' rather than growing naturally from their established traits/obsessions, especially because their thoughts always immediately jumped back to the original track without any sign of change. I felt as if the writer was attempting *something* interesting, but it didn't work for me, to the point where I can't really figure our what it was. Other people's mileage may vary there.
I did enjoy Sal's ruthlessness and the fact that they're constantly teetering on that razor-thin edge between likeable rogue and unlikeable anti-hero. It's nice to see a YA protagonist who isn't always agonising about the right thing to do and other people's feelings. And this was something that definitely *did* work in terms of characterisation for Sal. Because of the hard-scrabble life they've lived and the trauma of losing their family to supernatural 'shadows' as a kid, they've developed an ability to flip backward and forward between a borderline sociopathic mindset where the character can take life, opportunistically and without hesitation- but they still retain enough capacity for human empathy to apologise to their victims if their death at Sal's hands hurts, and to feel the weight of those deaths in the aftermath. This was good stuff and I would have liked it if it was explored even more.
The novel's main flaw was the choice to put all the other assassin 'auditioners' in masks and refer to them by numbers. It would have been OK if we weren't supposed to like, learn about or care for those people - if they were just obstacles for Sal and we were intentionally distanced from them. But I felt the author did want us to care - to like Four and Three and Two, and despise Fifteen and Five and Eleven. The narrative kept referring to them as if we *knew* them. But we didn't. In real life people's physicality means that you can feel an attachment to them even if you can't see their face or know their name, but in a book? They were like walking, talking voids on the page. I could barely tell them apart. It would have taken some amazing, subtle characterisation to pull this off, and I'd have been in awe if it had worked, but it didn't. That left large chunks of the action feeling empty, as if Sal was getting angry/upset/worried about the antics of complete strangers. Five did what? Oh - no, was that fifteen - hang on which one was he? Which number died now? Should I be happy or sad? Ack.
But now to the main point of my review. The thing about Mask of Shadows is that the author tried to do something really original, fresh, interesting and cool. And in some places she fell short. And that's frustrating to read. However, I'd rather read something truly ambitious that aimed for the moon and landed among the stars than another generic YA fantasy blockbuster that's so clearly riding on the coat-tails of other blockbusters that it might as well have been written as a screenplay for the inevitable TV or film adaption.
That's why, despite writing this long review picking faults in the book, I DID enjoy it, and would read the next one, too. That's why I cared enough to review it at all: because a book that came close to greatness but failed is worth analysing in a way that a merely competent or adequate one isn't. We need more debuts like this, and more writers like Linsey Miller, who are willing to write something DIFFERENT even if that means they don't get everything perfectly polished and right the first time around. Ultimately, I'm glad I bought this, and that it exists.
That's all, folks.
Update: Reread March 2018: god that was as amazing and heart shattering as i remember. :-) not okay.
God I love this book with all my being.
Check out my full review here.
Trigger warnings for gore/violence, misgendering, kidnapping, murder, self-harm, classism
God I love this book with all my being.
Check out my full review here.
Trigger warnings for gore/violence, misgendering, kidnapping, murder, self-harm, classism
got lost at times but that was on me not paying enough attention to the audiobook, loved the vibes