Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Release Day Review: Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller - 4.5 stars

Posted by HelloJennyReviews at 3:00 PM
Title: Mask of Shadows
Genre: YA Fantasy
Author: Linsey Miller
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication: August 29th 2017
Cover Rating: 5/5

Fantasy books usually take a while for me to read. I think it has something to do with the fact that most of the are a billion pages long and always have very intriquet plots, much like every Stephen King novel known to man. Mask of Shadows did not have that effect on me. I just kept reading and reading and every time I stopped to do something I would check my page count and be so shocked. I loved that part about reading this book. I also loved the diversity. Characters weren't hated for their skin color or their sexual orientation, they were hated because they killed someone or screwed someone over, exactly how the world should really be. This was the first book I have ever read with a genderfluid character and while writing this review proved to be rather difficult(I hope I didn't offend anyone with my lack of knowledge on how to review the main character or what labels to use during my review) I can say that I would really like to read more genderfluid characters. I don't think there are any other YA books out there that have this element. Please correct me if I am wrong.

The book is pretty straight forward. Sal, a teenage thief/streetfighter find a flyer for an audition being held to be one of the Queens four confidants/protectors. There are four of these people named after the four rings on the Queen's hand. Ruby, Amethyst, Emerald and Opal. The previous Opal died during a mission and the Queen was replacing them. Sal winds up going to the competition and signing up to compete against twenty-two other people, Sal being the twenty-third. Sal really believes the Queen is a godsend and wants to be by her side. But Sal also has ultierior motives that stem from some Noble's leaving her town to be massacred during the war that made the Queen who she is now. Revenge and an overall need to have better life are what brought Sal to this competition.

Sal was a little rough around the edge. Normally that means he/she/they would be a hard character to like but he/she/they was actually very likable especially during the scenes with Maud or Elise when you got to see the not so brutal side. Sal watched her family die and is one of the few people left from Nacea, I think that is enough reasoning behind the brutal/tough-ness.

During the competition Sal and the other Auditioners are trained in many different aspects of defence, attack and patience. Sal didn't really try to make friends with anyone but I think the other Auditioners that I liked the most were Four and Two. They both came from the same background and it was nice to see some kindness and caring amount twenty-three savage competitors.

One thing that you will find in almost EVERY YA fantasy book is some form of romance/sexual relationship. I don't really enjoy scenes like that so I tend to skip over them of just skim them incase there is information I need to finish the book. Mask of Shadows did not have that hardcore romance portion. There was a rather sweet romance brewing on the sidelines but it never got to the point where it was distracting and taking away from the plot and I think that is one of the reasons I enjoyed this book as much as I did. The book was plot driven and didn't really veer off that path. 


The second thing about YA Fantasys like this book and many others like it is they always have some form of revenge for a family members death. And each time I read about it I can't help but think of:


In the end, I found out this book is going to be part of a duology and I cannot wait for the last book to come out! I am actually even more excited that the book is part of a duology because I hate waiting year and years for a story to wrap up especially when the story draws me in so much.

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.






1 comments:

Sheena-kay Graham on August 30, 2017 at 11:26 PM said...

Glad you enjoyed it. Sounds like an intriguing read.

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