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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. Out-freaking-standing!
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-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:
Yes
DUDE definitely one of my favourite fucking books after reading this. A nonbinary genderfluid protagonist, Sal, who is an assassin and uses the pronouns he/him, they/them, and she/her, which flunctuates along with his gender. Sal uses cis people’s stereotypical view of gender and the clothes that are often assigned to it to their advantage, so when she identifies as a girl they wear fem clothes, when they identify as a guy he wears masculine clothes, and when they feel like neither he wear androgynous clothes. As a non binary person myself who experiences my gender expression in such a different way it was so lovely to learn and experience how Sal expresses their gender through clothing. Along with this, Sal is not at all shy of her identity, happily communicating his gender fluidity and boundaries that are made with everyone regarding pronouns and what to use for them and when, very much normalising gender feeling like this not only in this fantasy world but in real life too. Sal allowing herself to get mad at people who disrespect their identity is completely valid, and as someone who finds it difficult to correct people misgendering me, reading stuff like this is empowering, and the fact I was able to take all this away from a fictional book? What you consume in media does truly affect you, and this book did it in a way that was so positive. Also the fact that the author never discloses sal’s biological sex is lovely and important for deconstructing society’s views of gender, especially that of non binary people. Very very very good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Transphobia
adventurous
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
This book was good. Not quite Sarah J. Maas or Leigh Bardugo. Yes it was about an assassin’s trial and audition to become 1 of the 4 assassins to the Queen, her left hand.
Confusing lands, geography, political shifting, history. My arc didn’t have a map in it, and the timeline at the end didn’t help during the reading.
Good:
Book was overall very readable. Quick read, fun Main character. Appreciated a gender fluid main character. This felt ok for grades 7-8 even, seemed like a younger story than Throne of Glass assassin series, plots, and writing.
Confusing lands, geography, political shifting, history. My arc didn’t have a map in it, and the timeline at the end didn’t help during the reading.
Good:
Book was overall very readable. Quick read, fun Main character. Appreciated a gender fluid main character. This felt ok for grades 7-8 even, seemed like a younger story than Throne of Glass assassin series, plots, and writing.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
Review copy provided by SourcebooksFire via Netgalley
I don’t think I follow enough people on social media, because I rarely see Mask of Shadows running around in my timeline and it deserves more hype if it hasn’t. I’ve also been reading a lot of “fluffy” reads with very little blood involved.
Mask of Shadows is a complete 180 from that. It is absolutely bloody and there are assassins involved, and sad to say, it is completely up my very dark alley of reading preferences.
My mother should be worried about me. “You’re a good kid compared to most of those I’ve seen out there. You don’t do drugs, don’t party, hang out with good people….”
I mean, has she seen the books I enjoy reading? (She would be very concerned.)
I honestly thought of The Hunger Games as an assassin edition while reading, even though the novel is pitched as Sarah J. Maas meets Leigh Bardugo. Our main character, Sal, finds an invitation to become one of the queen’s personal assassins, and sets off to audition in the hopes to get a new life. The auditions are full of trials and are a fight to the death – each of which are varied so there is never a dull moment. I’ve never read Maas, but I personally don’t see any comparisons to Bardugo unless we’re talking world building. The world building is absolutely amazing and stunning, and if I could actually draw some of the descriptions, I would totally do it. (Alas, I am just a graphic design minor.)
Emerald, a vision of steel and green silk, glided through the doorway. She was lithe and muscled, arms bare and flexed, streaked in scars with a pale silver dust twinkling over her skin like stars scattered across the evening sky. She walked past me in a breeze of perfume and peppermint, the apothecary scents clinging to her like the old, black ink of the dead runes scrawled across her. The silk layered and draped over her shoulders matched her high-cheeked, mouthless emerald mask perfectly. Beetle wings stitched into the train of her dress glittered in the light.
That is actually one of my favorite descriptions in the book. It is gorgeous.
Mask of Shadows is the first book I’ve read featuring a gender fluid character. Miller does a really good job of handling Sal’s character well, but the beginning seemed a little rocky, almost as though the author was trying to find the right foothold in the story. But after those rough patches, the story went along smoothly.
2017 was a fantastic reading year for me, and I am extremely happy to say that Mask of Shadows is one of my favorite books for the year. Miller’s debut novel is action packed and fast paced, and it will leave you turning the pages until the very end.
This review is originally posted on That Book Gal
I don’t think I follow enough people on social media, because I rarely see Mask of Shadows running around in my timeline and it deserves more hype if it hasn’t. I’ve also been reading a lot of “fluffy” reads with very little blood involved.
Mask of Shadows is a complete 180 from that. It is absolutely bloody and there are assassins involved, and sad to say, it is completely up my very dark alley of reading preferences.
My mother should be worried about me. “You’re a good kid compared to most of those I’ve seen out there. You don’t do drugs, don’t party, hang out with good people….”
I mean, has she seen the books I enjoy reading? (She would be very concerned.)
I honestly thought of The Hunger Games as an assassin edition while reading, even though the novel is pitched as Sarah J. Maas meets Leigh Bardugo. Our main character, Sal, finds an invitation to become one of the queen’s personal assassins, and sets off to audition in the hopes to get a new life. The auditions are full of trials and are a fight to the death – each of which are varied so there is never a dull moment. I’ve never read Maas, but I personally don’t see any comparisons to Bardugo unless we’re talking world building. The world building is absolutely amazing and stunning, and if I could actually draw some of the descriptions, I would totally do it. (Alas, I am just a graphic design minor.)
Emerald, a vision of steel and green silk, glided through the doorway. She was lithe and muscled, arms bare and flexed, streaked in scars with a pale silver dust twinkling over her skin like stars scattered across the evening sky. She walked past me in a breeze of perfume and peppermint, the apothecary scents clinging to her like the old, black ink of the dead runes scrawled across her. The silk layered and draped over her shoulders matched her high-cheeked, mouthless emerald mask perfectly. Beetle wings stitched into the train of her dress glittered in the light.
That is actually one of my favorite descriptions in the book. It is gorgeous.
Mask of Shadows is the first book I’ve read featuring a gender fluid character. Miller does a really good job of handling Sal’s character well, but the beginning seemed a little rocky, almost as though the author was trying to find the right foothold in the story. But after those rough patches, the story went along smoothly.
2017 was a fantastic reading year for me, and I am extremely happy to say that Mask of Shadows is one of my favorite books for the year. Miller’s debut novel is action packed and fast paced, and it will leave you turning the pages until the very end.
This review is originally posted on That Book Gal
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It took me a while to get around to reading this title, but the concept and cover intrigued me so I finally gave it a go! I received an electronic ARC of this through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My general sense of how to explain this book is that it's a crossover between the Hunger Games and Throne of Glass. Sallot is in a competition to become one of the Queen's most trusted assassins, and everyone else either has to die or be disqualified for there to be a winner.
This is a pretty interesting character to follow, and I like the diversity and range of different identities in this book. Sallot, as the synopsis says is gender fluid: Born female, but dresses the way she likes to be addressed (he/she/they). This is something I personally have never read, and I liked that the gender identity was noticeable without being to thrown into the reader's face, though there were times when the description of it was a bit repetitive. I think Sallot was fun to follow in general, and it was cool that she found some sort of love interest in Elise, who is assumedly bisexual from the way she described herself.
My full review is up here (there are spoilers!!): https://ladykatiereads.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/lets-talk-about-mask-of-shadows-by-linsey-miller-arc-review
This is a pretty interesting character to follow, and I like the diversity and range of different identities in this book. Sallot, as the synopsis says is gender fluid: Born female, but dresses the way she likes to be addressed (he/she/they). This is something I personally have never read, and I liked that the gender identity was noticeable without being to thrown into the reader's face, though there were times when the description of it was a bit repetitive. I think Sallot was fun to follow in general, and it was cool that she found some sort of love interest in Elise, who is assumedly bisexual from the way she described herself.
My full review is up here (there are spoilers!!): https://ladykatiereads.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/lets-talk-about-mask-of-shadows-by-linsey-miller-arc-review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated