Releasing tomorrow is a new YA fantasy book!
Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest review!
MASK OF SHADOWS MASK OF SHADOWS by Linsey Miller (releasing tomorrow – August 29th)
My Thoughts: 2.5/5 stars!
MASK OF SHADOWS by Linsey Miller is book one of a new YA fantasy series. A story about revenge, survival, and auditioning to be the Left Hand of a powerful Queen.
Sallot Leon is our main character. Sal is a thief, and a very good one. Sal will stop at nothing to get off the streets and leave the life of a highway robber and dreams of making it up to the upper class. After stealing a poster that was announcing auditions for the Left Hand. These are the powerful collection of the Queen’s personal assassins that are named for the rings that she wears – Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst, and Opal. The audition is a fight to the death with circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and ex-soldiers. A life of crime is barely enough preparation for Sal, but they must conceal the real reason for entering – revenge.
So, I really thought this was going to have a unique premise. If you’ve read THE HUNGER GAMES then this book will sound familiar. A fight to the death and dystopian themed YA is a commonly used plot line and it’s been overdone (in my opinion). The one thing that was really unique and new about this book was that Sal is gender-fluid. I know that’s something the YA genre hasn’t seen much of yet and it definitely added a new element.
Overall, I was bored and found it hard to get through. I haven’t DNF’d a book yet this year, so I made myself push through it. It was a commonly used plot line, some continuity issues, and I didn’t connect to any of the characters. The gender fluidity of Sal was the only thing that made this one stand out.
Do you think gender-fluidity is something more YA novels should include? It was a very interesting concept!
–Jess
Jessicamap Reviews 