Lissa's Review: Mask of Shadows (Untitled #1) by Linsey Miller

PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire RELEASED: August 29, 2017 GENRE: Young Adult, Romance, Scifi, Fantasy LENGTH: 352 pages FORMAT: ebook, Paperback, hardcover, audible

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Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class and the nobles who destroyed their home.

When Sal Leon steals a poster announcing open auditions for the Left Hand, a powerful collection of the Queen's personal assassins named for the rings she wears -- Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst, and Opal -- their world changes. They know it's a chance for a new life.

Except the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. But Sal must survive to put their real reason for auditioning into play: revenge. TWO BOUNDLESS STARS

Let me just say that this book has a beautiful cover. That’s what initially got me to read the book. I really hoped I would love it. Mask of Shadows was an interesting, well thought out story. With a game to become Opal and be right next to the Queen. Now I thought it was cool that the writer, did something not really done before (If it has I haven’t read it) making a gender fluid character. Sal identified as whatever they were wearing. Which, really didn’t give me a clear picture of who this character was. I wasn’t able to relate to the character, so I was kind of in limbo. Honestly, I’m not sure why anyone would sign up for something, knowing they would die. It kind of had a Hunger Games feel but they volunteered for the game. The writing was done well, but I didn’t have that pull to finish. So it did take awhile to really get there. Overall, I have to give this Two Boundless Stars. It was ok but could have been better.