I didn’t know what to expect from Mask of Shadows, as all I knew going in was that the protagonist was genderfluid and the story had something to do with assassins. For the most part, I enjoyed this novel.

Sal is a great protagonist. As a cis reader I can’t really say anything regarding their gender fluidity, but I do think Miller incorporated it into the story well. Aside from that, Sal had a complex backstory and interesting motives. They were determined to be and make a better life for themself. Their apathetic thoughts made sense, given the position they were competing for, and it was clear that they still cared about other things. Basically, I just really like Sal.

It took a considerable amount of time for the world to fully make sense, but it did eventually. There’s a lot going on in Igna, and the way Miller balanced it all is admirable. The concept of the Left Hand fascinated me. I will say, though, that I think the history lessons overshadowed the descriptions; I could tell you what happened to these countries but not what the setting looks like. Whether that’s because descriptions were absent or there and I forgot about them is unclear.

There are a lot of side characters—twenty-two other competitors, the three remaining members of the Left Hand, and numerous nobles and servants. Yet Miller managed to distinguish each character from one another without overloading the story. My favorites were Sal’s servant Maud, Elise, and Ruby, although Amethyst and Emerald were great too.

Possibly my favorite thing about the story was the romance that developed between Sal and Elise, a young noble woman of color. Their first meeting is unusual and memorable, and later, Elise is Sal’s teacher—she teaches them to read and write. Their dynamic is so cute and I hope more good things happen between them in the sequel. I hope for it with every fiber of my queer being.

So why only four stars? Well, for one, despite the action-packed story, the pacing did occasionally drag. Despite liking Sal and a good number of other characters, I never got fully invested in them or the story, thus reading wasn’t my top priority. I had no problem putting this down and passing time in other ways. My most significant issue, though, was the predictability of the plot. Plenty of events occurred that I didn’t see coming, but this is a novel about a competition narrated in first person. Out of twenty-three, twenty-one competitors died. It’s easy to know from the start who wins.

I was originally planning to give this three stars, but the ending was good enough to raise my rating. I seriously did not expect most events of the last fifty pages. The last few chapters even made me sad; that death was unexpected and cruel. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to like [redacted] the way I did. Maybe it won’t bother others the way it did me. But I liked [redacted] quite a lot, so of course it bothered me.

Overall, Mask of Shadows is a fun, sometimes intense story that I think will be enjoyable for most fantasy readers, especially those that like Throne of Glass. Hopefully I’ll read the sequel soon. It sounds like it’ll be just as enjoyable and much more unpredictable.

Representation:
• Genderfluid protagonist
• Queer love interest of color
• Aromantic side character
• Other side characters of color

CW: death & murder, violence, blood, mutilation, poisoning