The thrilling conclusion to the Mask of Shadows duology that weaves a tale of magic, shadows, and most importantly, revenge.

As one of the Queen’s elite assassins, Sal finally has the power, prestige, and permission to hunt down the lords who killed their family. But Sal still has to figure out who the culprits are. They must enlist the help of some old friends and enemies while ignoring a growing distaste for the queen and that the charming Elise is being held prisoner by her father.

But there’s something terribly wrong in the north. Talk of the return of shadows, missing children, and magic abounds. As Sal takes out the people responsible for their ruined homeland, Sal learns secrets and truths that can’t be forgotten.

Out in August, 2018

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

I had to get the first book and read it first, finally finishing it in June, then I started this book in August… whew!  I’m finally ready to write my review of the second book and this duology.

For the Duology:

Hated the cliffhanger ending to book one, but lived through the disappointment. Thought it was a bit cautious in its writing regarding diversity, I felt… Characters were interesting and I thought some of the story was inserted just to say it’s there… The plot was jarring at times and jerked around a bit.  I found I needed to re-read paragraphs/pages and this became annoying. Almost didn’t finish the first book… then there’s that ending…

The Second Book:

Ruin of Stars was far more interesting and better written.  The book continues right where the first book leaves off which is much appreciated.  Character development is done well and complete with characters reaching their goals eventually.

I can’t say this is a bad duology; there were places that I absolutely loved in both books, such as the action, the contest and hero. The world-building was interesting and done well and as a character driven story… Miller did come through with a well-fleshed out MC. Secondary characters were true to form and did their job in propelling the MC forward at a steady pace.  The only issue that really irked me, was the plot and pacing and sub-plot insertions, twists and turns.  I think a smoother transition from one to the other would have benefited the story better.

As a debut project, I think Miller did good with the presentation, love the covers and overall the premise of this fantasy duology.

I gave it: