Intro

In my opinion, fall is a great time for slower, moodier books, with a nice dose of intrigue to keep you on your toes. Which makes Mask of Shadows—the first book of a duology of the same name—the perfect read for this time of year.

If you’re looking for assassins, gender fluid heroes, or that intrigue I mentioned earlier, you’re in for a treat. This book is also great for fans of Tamora Pierce and Leigh Bardugo, sharing a lot of the same vibes and themes.

So let’s dive into it!

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller Overview

Life has never been easy for Sallot Leon, a teenage thief who’s been living on the streets ever since their home was destroyed by order of the nobility. Although they’re good at what they do—very good at it, in fact—they long to escape the drudgery of life as a common criminal.

And, when they steal a flyer for an audition to become a member of the queen’s personal group of assassins, the Left Hand, it seems that they’ve found the out they’ve been looking for. But Sal isn’t interested because they’re looking to pledge their allegiance to the queen; instead, they see it as a way to infiltrate the court and exact their revenge on the nobility for the destruction of their home and family.

But the road to revenge isn’t going to be an easy one. In order to prove themself worthy of the position in the Left Hand, Sal must face off against the other contestants looking to gain the position in a series of deadly trials, trials that will kill all but the most worthy of competitors.

And things only get more complicated when Sal starts to have feelings for a court scribe, making them start to dream of a different future, one that doesn’t involve all the violence and bloodshed of their current existence. But, before such dreams can become a reality, they must survive the trials, something that seems less and less certain with every contestant who falls. Does Sal have what it takes to succeed where so many others have failed? Or will death befall them before their fantasies of vengeance and romance can come into fruition?

Personal Thoughts

So, it’s basically like the Hunger Games but everybody’s an assassin. (And, you know, there by their own will.) As you’d expect of something with that basic premise, there’s a ton of action and fighting, making it a very exciting read. I remember finding it very hard to put this book down.

One of the things that really stands out about this book to me is the immersive writing style. Miller did a great job of making everything very atmospheric and vivid, without clogging up the narrative with lengthy descriptions. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s got a pretty dark and moody vibe (as any vengeful assassin book should), which comes across strongly throughout.

But, even though Sal’s main motivation is revenge, that thirst for vengeance isn’t their whole personality like it is for a lot of vengeance-driven characters in fiction. They have other things they want too, and some of those things actually wind up conflicting with their quest for revenge, which helps add complexity to their character, making them more believable.

As you’ve possibly guessed by this point, this book veers a lot more toward morally gray than most of the books I talk about here on the blog. (I’ve mentioned before that morally gray usually isn’t really my thing.) But there are some exceptions to this, and this book is one of them. Because it’s an assassin book, some questionable moral choices are expected and, sure enough, Sal does do some questionable things to get through the trials. But Miller does a good job of making you understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, even if you don’t agree with it, so it doesn’t feel so forced and just for the sake of edginess as it does when a lot of other authors do it. So, if you want morally gray done well, this book is an excellent choice.

Outro

That’s all for this month’s reading recommendation. I hope I’ve piqued your interest about this book and that you’ll check it out. Or, if you’ve already read it, feel free to look into some of the similar titles I’ve listed below. As always, thank you for reading!

Books Similar to Mask of Shadows

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce
• Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas