Mask of Shadows (Mask of Shadows, Book 1) - Fantasy Adventure Novel for Teens & Adults - Perfect for Reading, Book Clubs & Gifts

Mask of Shadows was one of my most anticipated releases for this year and it did not disappoint at all; in fact, it actually exceeded my already-pretty-high expectations.One of the reasons I was drawn to Mask of Shadows is because I love deadly competitions. I mean, there’s a reason why The Hunger Games is one of my all-time favorite series. This book centers around a competition where auditioners compete to become Opal, one of the queen’s assassins. Everyone is there voluntarily, but some are much better at handling the competition than others. I loved the high stakes, loved seeing the characters battle it out, and loved the tension and suspense of who was going to attack and when. It kept me on the edge of my seat, flipping the pages as rapidly as possible because I had to know what was going to happen. There were parts of the competition that were less focused on killing, where the competitors are expected to learn things like how to detect poisons or how to heal themselves, and those parts were just as interesting to me. Basically, I loved everything about the competition to become Opal. Literally everything.The other aspect that really pulled me in was that Mask of Shadows was the first YA fantasy I had heard of that had a genderfluid protagonist. (It’s not actually the first I’ve read, but at the time I first heard about the book, I didn’t know of any others.) Also, just a note here: Sal, the main character, alternates between he/him, she/her, and they/them pronouns throughout the book. The author has stated that Sal should be referred to as they/them by readers, so those are the pronouns I will use here. Clearly, being a cis woman, I’m not qualified to speak on the accuracy or sensitivity of how genderfluidity is represented here, so here are some reviews from trans/genderfluid/nonbinary reviewers: Kuzu’s review, Leah’s review, Xan’s review, and Avery’s review. None of them have any major problems with the representation (and only one of them mentions any problems at all), so I think it’s fairly safe to say the representation was handled quite well. Personally, I really liked seeing a genderfluid protagonist in YA fantasy. I also appreciated that although Sal’s gender identity is a part of the story (meaning it isn’t ignored), it’s not used as a plot device either. Sure, there are a couple of times where they are misgendered, but they always challenge it and there aren’t any huge scenes where it’s a big problem or anything. For the most part, genderfluidity is just a part of who Sal is.Sal was such a fantastic character and they grow so much. They start off as this very shy and independent person who doesn’t want anything to do with other people. They’re there to win the competition so they can get revenge on the people who massacred their family. But by the end of the book, they’re friendly with their servant and have developed a romance with someone they care a lot about. Seeing Sal go through so much development was wonderful and I was rooting for them throughout the entire story, wanting nothing more than for them to get what they want/deserve.I thought the world-building was interesting, although that’s probably the one part of the story that I didn’t think was very original. It’s a pretty typical fantasy setting – a world where magic became corrupt, led to war, and now there are attempts to make everyone equal, but some are still much better off than others. I don’t think this is a weakness at all, but like I said, it’s pretty typical of YA fantasy. I will say I loved seeing Sal navigate the world of the auditions. They have grown up really poor, working as a thief to get by, and then suddenly find themself expected to learn how to live in a world of nobles. They also hold a lot of resentment towards the nobles responsible for the massacre of their family and they want to get revenge. I’m honestly really excited to see where the second book goes because I’m really looking forward to seeing how Sal handles all of that.I’ve seen some reviews mention that this seems like a repeat of Throne of Glass. I’ve never read that series so I can’t say anything about how true that is. I will say that if you, like me, haven’t read Throne of Glass, this story will be absolutely captivating. While it has elements of other books I’ve read, it pieces them together in a way that I haven’t seen before. It felt new and original to me and I loved that. (I can also assure you that even if you have read Throne of Glass, this is probably worth the read because, from what I hear, it’s much more diverse than Throne of Glass is.)One more thing that I want to mention: I loved that there was a bisexual/pansexual character. No explicit label is used, but Sal’s love interest mentions that she is definitely interested in more than just men. That was a very nice surprise.I’m sure it’s pretty clear at this point that I absolutely adored Mask of Shadows. I truly have no complaints about this story. If you like high-stakes, deadly competitions and diverse casts of characters, Mask of Shadows is absolutely a must-read. I’m so happy that I got the chance to read this as it has become a new favorite of mine. I don’t know how I’ll survive the wait to the next book!I volunteered to honestly review an early copy of the book given to me by the publisher.