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bookbriefs 's review for:
Mask of Shadows
by Linsey Miller
**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: https://bookbriefs.net**
Mask of Shadows is the first book in an untitled series by debut author Linsey Miller. I have been loving fantasies lately, so when I saw this book, my interest was immediately piqued. I loved the idea behind the story. Basically, the queen has a different ring for every finger of her left hand- an opal, ruby, emerald. Each of the rings symbolize one of the Queen’s personal assassins. When the Queen's Opal dies, there are auditions AKA a competition to fill the spot. Insert our main character Sal.
The book was a little Three Dark Crowns and hunger games- esque because the competitors have to kill each other off to win the spot as the Queen's Opal. There were some pretty graphic, and interesting, deaths in this novel. I also really enjoyed the twist of the competition- no one can be caught killing another competitor. If you are caught you are disqualified (and probably never to be heard from again, kind of disqualified.) I thought this rule made things extra interesting. Most of the book were the various stages of the competition, and served to lay the foundation for the rest of the series. We also got to get some insight into the political turmoil of the various countries in this world. I think book two is going to be even better than the first one because of this. Now that we know what is going on, I bet book two will be action packed and will move us to different scenery and a change of pace from this book, since most of the story took place at court, where the bulk of the competition was held.
Sal is a very interesting main character. Sal is gender fluid, which is the first time I have seen this done in a YA fantasy novel. So this was both a positive and a negative for me. Positive, I loved that Sal was such a diverse character, and I found Linsey Miller's description of gender-fluid Sal to be excellent. But it was also a negative because for a while, I felt like that was all anyone was talking about when they were talking about or to Sal. I was ok with it at first, but once it started to infiltrate numerous conversations I started to become a little bored of it being the main topic of conversation. I am going to see how Sal is handled in the second book. Right now, I am pleased with Sal but it is right on the edge. So I am hoping that we discuss and learn about other aspects of who Sal is, rather than just being gender-fluid.
The plot of mask of Shadows was the real winner for me. I am interested in continuing on in this fantasy series because I think it has a lot of potential to develop into a really strong series. Fans of to-the-death competitions will enjoy Mask of Shadows. I enjoyed this ya Fantasy and I look forward to reading more from author Linsey Miller.
P.S. The ending of this book TOTALLY SURPRISED ME! That's all I am going to say about that...
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
Mask of Shadows is the first book in an untitled series by debut author Linsey Miller. I have been loving fantasies lately, so when I saw this book, my interest was immediately piqued. I loved the idea behind the story. Basically, the queen has a different ring for every finger of her left hand- an opal, ruby, emerald. Each of the rings symbolize one of the Queen’s personal assassins. When the Queen's Opal dies, there are auditions AKA a competition to fill the spot. Insert our main character Sal.
The book was a little Three Dark Crowns and hunger games- esque because the competitors have to kill each other off to win the spot as the Queen's Opal. There were some pretty graphic, and interesting, deaths in this novel. I also really enjoyed the twist of the competition- no one can be caught killing another competitor. If you are caught you are disqualified (and probably never to be heard from again, kind of disqualified.) I thought this rule made things extra interesting. Most of the book were the various stages of the competition, and served to lay the foundation for the rest of the series. We also got to get some insight into the political turmoil of the various countries in this world. I think book two is going to be even better than the first one because of this. Now that we know what is going on, I bet book two will be action packed and will move us to different scenery and a change of pace from this book, since most of the story took place at court, where the bulk of the competition was held.
Sal is a very interesting main character. Sal is gender fluid, which is the first time I have seen this done in a YA fantasy novel. So this was both a positive and a negative for me. Positive, I loved that Sal was such a diverse character, and I found Linsey Miller's description of gender-fluid Sal to be excellent. But it was also a negative because for a while, I felt like that was all anyone was talking about when they were talking about or to Sal. I was ok with it at first, but once it started to infiltrate numerous conversations I started to become a little bored of it being the main topic of conversation. I am going to see how Sal is handled in the second book. Right now, I am pleased with Sal but it is right on the edge. So I am hoping that we discuss and learn about other aspects of who Sal is, rather than just being gender-fluid.
The plot of mask of Shadows was the real winner for me. I am interested in continuing on in this fantasy series because I think it has a lot of potential to develop into a really strong series. Fans of to-the-death competitions will enjoy Mask of Shadows. I enjoyed this ya Fantasy and I look forward to reading more from author Linsey Miller.
P.S. The ending of this book TOTALLY SURPRISED ME! That's all I am going to say about that...
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs