Mask of Shadows

Linsey Miller

From Goodreads: “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 steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand—the Queen’s personal assassins, named after the rings she wears—Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.

But 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. And as Sal succeeds in the competition, and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive.”

In Mask of Shadows, Sal—who uses and presents as they, he, or she depending on their identity each day—grew up poor and traumatized. They seize the chance to change their life in a competition to become one of the queen’s prized assassins. In the process, they (with readers) are exposed to more than enough blood and guts, but also intrigue, heart, and seduction.

I wouldn’t call this book a romance, but it has enough to satisfy my taste. The relationship between hardened thief Sal and sweet, soft Elise is well-written and fun to experience. This book is about more than love, though. It’s about identity, and values, and the definition of home.

The worldbuilding feels natural. We’re given enough detail to carry the story and keep us invested, without too much information being dumped at any one time. Every progression feels organic as the story carries forward.

The LGBTQ+ representation here is spot on, and built well into the realistic world. Sal is relatable to me as a nonbinary person, with perhaps a bit more confidence in their presentation than I’ve yet developed.

The ending was unexpected in many ways, though I did call a few things ahead of time. It closed enough story lines to feel like a satisfying conclusion, but left enough threads hanging for a seamless transition into book two. Onward this reader presses!