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A review by bookish_notes
Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller
DNF @ 41%. Eek. I feel bad, you guys. There were definitely things I loved with this story, but even 2/5s of the way into the book, I still feel so disconnected from the story. I actually love Sal and that we have a genderfluid character in fantasy!! Sal is one of the highlights in this book, and their characterization is done well, I think.
My issues are with the plot and pacing. The plot is (yet another) game-type competition. It feels like I would care more about the competitors if they all had names or something that brought them to life a little more? Instead, all the competitors are just referring to as numbers and I can't tell who's who. So, do I care when anyone is killed off? Not really. The Queen's...hand, or special guard, are all types of jewels and even then, they seem to lack a personality to differentiate who's who. Characters I did like are Maud, Sal's assistant during the competition, and Elise, Sal'a tutor.
The world-building up to this point is still vague. I'm not sure if the final version of the book comes with a map, but from the e-ARC, I don't have a full understanding of the counties and the politics behind it all. The pacing is exciting at points with thievery and killing (or plotting to kill anyways), but then has some really long stretches of downtime that bored me.
So, in a it's not you, it's me sort of situation, I'm setting this book aside.
My issues are with the plot and pacing. The plot is (yet another) game-type competition. It feels like I would care more about the competitors if they all had names or something that brought them to life a little more? Instead, all the competitors are just referring to as numbers and I can't tell who's who. So, do I care when anyone is killed off? Not really. The Queen's...hand, or special guard, are all types of jewels and even then, they seem to lack a personality to differentiate who's who. Characters I did like are Maud, Sal's assistant during the competition, and Elise, Sal'a tutor.
The world-building up to this point is still vague. I'm not sure if the final version of the book comes with a map, but from the e-ARC, I don't have a full understanding of the counties and the politics behind it all. The pacing is exciting at points with thievery and killing (or plotting to kill anyways), but then has some really long stretches of downtime that bored me.
So, in a it's not you, it's me sort of situation, I'm setting this book aside.