Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller

I received a free e-book copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars
★★★★★

Mask of Shadows is about a gender-fluid thief named Sal who finds a flyer for an audition to be Opal, one of the queen's right-hand-men. When Sal applies, they realize that the audition is actually a fight to the death.

I really liked this book! I'd checked this book out on goodreads and saw a lot of negative reviews. To not be influenced, I read a lot of positive reviews too. The negative reviews talked about how the world building and character development was lacking, and the positive reviews said just the opposite. So here's what I concluded after reading this book:

The character development is pretty good, but not phenomenal. Sal being gender-fluid definitely made me happy, even though it wasn't really portrayed in the best way. "I dress how I am" isn't really all that gender-fluidity is about, but I appreciate the effort. It's so amazing to see a gender-fluid character in a kickass fantasy world though. I've never seen that before and love the representation! Most people were pretty accepting of pronouns, too, and that's something I expected way more of a struggle with in the story.

The story itself was really fast-paced and kept me on my toes. There was tons of action, but it wasn't so much that it overwhelms you (except maybe at the very end). There was also a little romance, but it wasn't so much that the whole book is about the romance and is boring. It was a healthy blend of action and romance, and I really appreciate that, because it's hard to do.

The world building was a little lacking, but I also understand that it's hard to put in tons of history and explanations while still keeping the readers' attention on the action. I'd give it a full five stars if the world building was a little better! I also wish there was more magic and fantasy elements in this book. There were mentions of runes and shadows, but they weren't as big a part of the book as I wished.

Overall, I loved this book. I couldn't stay away from it. I'd 100% read the next book (but even this one isn't out yet, and I don't even know how long I'll have to wait for book two </3 )

Also. The cover. Isn't is just gorgeous? I'm obsessed.