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Ruin of Stars

(Mask of Shadows #2)

Linsey Miller (Goodreads Author)

3.73 · Rating details · 712 ratings · 176 reviews

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

As one of the Queens 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 ...more

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Hardcover, 416 pages

Published August 28th 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire

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Average rating 3.73 ·

Rating details

· 712 ratings · 176 reviews

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Jul 17, 2018 Dianne rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, own, arc-read, action-and-adventure, dark-fantasy, ya-fantasy, diversity

Sal can finally seek vengeance and retribution behind the mask of Opal. The seek and destroy mission is now a thing of reality and Sal will make them pay. But will the greater price be paid by Sals soul?

Enter the intriguing and dark world of Linsey Millers RUIN OF STARS as one young assassin will enter a world filled with deceit, magic and love, with little hope of coming out emotionally intact, just the last person standing. Is the magic of the world really gone or has it been hidden away, ...more

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Jan 23, 2018 Rosiee rated it it was amazing

This is the sequel my soul needed!!! RUIN OF STARS has 100% more queers, stabbing, and sassy Maud, and I may never recover. Emerald is my everything. Sal deserves every hug in the world. My emotions are altered forever.

That epilogue. Is all I'm saying. *yodels into the night*

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Apr 15, 2018 Shenwei rated it it was amazing

Shelves: queer-reads

Ruin of Stars? more like Ruin of Shenners 😭😭😭

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Aug 09, 2018 Clare T. rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy, ebook, young-adult, lgbt, one-star, arc, did-not-finish

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a free, electronic ARC to review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

DNF at 60%

I wanted to like this book, but I just could NOT get into this. The first book, Mask of Shadows, was amazing! I was pretty excited to get this sequel, but I was pretty let down.

The story itself isn't that bad. It's a continuation of the previous book and explains a lot of backstory. Unfortunately, the writing is not amazing this time around. Many scenes have been ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 iam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, lgbtqia, gays-with-dragons, trans-enby-gq, comfort-reads

Read this review and more on the blog.

I don't think I'll be able to properly describe how much I loved this book. It meant so much to me.

Content warnings include: graphic violence and gore, torture, death, murder, panic attack, trauma/PTSD, graphic descriptions of corpses, queerphobia, xenophobia, misogyny, sex off-page, public executions, human experiments, child abduction; mentions of: genocide, death of family.

Ruin of Stars is quite a bit different to its prequel, Mask of Shadows. In ...more

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Sep 14, 2018 Alison♊⚜️✨(semi-hiatus) rated it really liked it

Shelves: single-pov, male-pov, possible-reread, read-2018

4 stars
I quite enjoyed this duology as a whole, with a very satisfying ending. I, actually, preferred this book compared to the first one as it was not completely focused on one thing/ one plot, like it was in the first book.

Would I re-read this series in the future? Perhaps but not right away;
Would I read other books by this author? Maybe, depending if the plot sounds interesting...

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Jul 24, 2018 Monique rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2018, e-arc

This is the second and last book in the Masks of Shadows series by Linsey Miller. It starts right off where the precious book ended, so it is a good idea to read them together. I did, and it made it morw enjoyable since the last book ended with a bit of a cliffhanger.

In this book I finally made sense of what happened at the end exactly. That is my major issue with this book, both books really: the action scenes are really confusing. Its hard to keep track of what happens and whos involved, and ...more

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Jul 09, 2018 Lili Marcus rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, lgbtqiap

As a conclusion to this series, I think this one did a good job.

The book started almost right where book 1 ended. Sal, our heroine, is now Opal, one of the members of the Left Hand. And they're now have the means to take revenge to those who ruined their home. In short Sal got what they wanted since it was the reason why they auditioned to be Opal. But they still have to work on the real identities of the 5 culprits who go by aliases. They only know three of them and the book opens with Sal ...more

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Mar 24, 2017 Dark Lordette Jennymort ♔ marked it as to-read

Shelves: ya, own, part-of-a-series, i-needs-it, 2018-release, why-is-this-not-out, fantasy, shut-up-and-take-my-money, why-do-i-have-to-wait

Sequel to Mask of Shadows, about a gender fluid pickpocket. *cries*

description

I need this book. Like right now.
description

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Jul 23, 2019 McKenzie/literarydragon rated it liked it

Shelves: lgbtq, multicultural, audiobook, reviewed

two and a half stars
I dont know how I feel about this book or this series. I was about halfway through reading Ruin of Stars and I wasnt sure I was going to bother finishing it. Then I found out it was part of a duology rather than a trilogy or series and I thought I might as well finish it off.
Bad
Some parts were quite jumpy, but because I listened to it as an audiobook I cant tell if those jumps were shown on the page with a space and the audiobook narrator didnt mention them in the reading two and a half stars
I don’t know how I feel about this book or this series. I was about halfway through reading Ruin of Stars and I wasn’t sure I was going to bother finishing it. Then I found out it was part of a duology rather than a trilogy or series and I thought I might as well finish it off.
Bad
Some parts were quite jumpy, but because I listened to it as an audiobook I can’t tell if those jumps were shown on the page with a space and the audiobook narrator didn’t mention them in the reading or if the writing really does just jump from one place to another with zero segue. Inconsistent writing is my bet because there were other sections where there was a leap in logic and little to know explanation.
Sal is super militant towards people that disagree with his/her life (Sal is gender fluid and changes pronouns depending on the day so I think him/her works best for this review). Obviously this is a dystopia so violence is a daily occurrence and attacking people who disagree with you is almost accepted. However, I feel like it sends the wrong message if the only reason Sal keeps choosing to kill people is because they try to fit him/her into a gendered box. I understand that forcing someone to conform is awful and should be fought against, but murder seems a bit extreme. In this book it felt like Sal’s revenge for the death of his/her family is forgotten in comparison to the crimes of disagreeing with his/her gender fluidity. This is just my opinion. In the first book it was much clearer that Sal’s fluid nature was simply a matter of life and that he/she had to occasionally argue to be accepted, but that it was not a big deal for the people that cared about Sal. That calm acceptance worked better in the story than fighting every single person who looks like they might say the wrong pronoun.
Good
The narrator was pretty good throughout. There weren’t terribly done accents or poor sound quality. As far as the audiobook part went this was a fine book.
I loved the development of...

For the full review please visit https://www.literarydragonreviews.web... ...more

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Mar 18, 2018 Avery (Book Deviant) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-books-ever, 5star, review-copy, rep-queer-aromantic-spec, rep-queer-trans, rep-queer-enby, rep-queer-unlabeled

is...is there a possible way to give this MORE than 5 stars? because 5 stars certainly isnt enough.

i literally just finished and i still cant believe what i just read. im still so RAW from this book. so much of it just ruined me that im having trouble putting my love for these books into words.

i am 100% going to be rereading this, and then a review will be up.

thank you to the team @ sourcebooks fire for sending the arc to me. it means the world to me.

reread 7/28/18: GODDAMNIT WHY DO I DO THIS ...more

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Oct 24, 2018 Jillian Pelletier rated it really liked it

It was really good. The end was my favorite part!

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Aug 07, 2018 ♠ TABI ♠ marked it as to-read

oh hey this is actually coming out pretty soon so yay for that!

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Aug 20, 2018 Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed-on-blog

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I wish I could say I enjoyed Ruin of Stars as much as I enjoyed Mask of Shadows.
Unfortunately, I didn't. In Miller's debut novel, we are introduced to Sal, a genderfluid thief who auditions to become a part of the Queen's Left Hand, a group of assassins who work for her, particularly for Opal. Sal hopes that with their success, they can get ...more

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Aug 18, 2018 Luth Tate rated it it was ok

Shelves: dnfed-but-reconsidering

I couldn't finish this book. And I really wanted to like it, because the last sequel in a book I read didn't do so well, either.

I'll start by stating that the whole "relation between chara and surroundings" def improved. I could better visualize where Sallot was in different scenes.

That being said, I only stuck around for less than 30 chapters.

The gender-fluidity is nice and all, but then it starts getting beat over your head. Sallot constantly mentions it, and as another review states, it'd be ...more

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Feb 25, 2019 Christine rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction-fluff, fantasy, young-adult

3.5. ⭐

Hmmm. Well, the plot line, once it got going was really good. We know as the story opens that Sal, as Opal, is intent on hunting down the Erlenders who helped destroy her country. Miller did a good job of moving the story beyond that linear narrative. There are a lot of plot twists here that expand and build the story and the tension. Five of five for me on the plot.

Here's where I had problems. While Miller discussed magic in the first book, there wasn't a lot of detail on how it worked ...more

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Sep 20, 2018 Jessica (novelcravings) rated it did not like it

After reading Mask of Shadows I wasnt sure if I would read the sequel. It was one of those books that I enjoyed while I was reading it but when I looked back to write my review I realized it had some issues with writing style and plot. Ultimately I decided to give the sequel a try because I heard good reviews and it is only a duology.

I only made it 50% of the way through Ruin of Stars before giving up. I found the writing had not matured and dialogue even more confusing than the first book. It ...more

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Jun 24, 2018 K. Wolf rated it it was amazing

My dudes, this book was absolutely amazing and fantastic, I would absolutely recommend.

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Sep 07, 2018 Ceillie Simkiss rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, lgbtqia, 2018-release

Holy baldy-eyed cats. So much love for this book. My heart aches.

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Dec 30, 2019 Kait Goodwin ★Kait Plus Books★ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lgbtqia, magic, series, thriller, arc, fantasy, edelweiss, own-kindle, 2018-pub, cover-love

Maud is my favorite 💫

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Nov 14, 2019 Rana rated it liked it

So much potential but the magic system didn't always make a ton of sense. I also had some trouble really working through any of the fight scenes as they sometimes went like Step 1 to Step 3 or Step 4.

I also really wanted the author to lean hard into the supremacist undertones as well as making the respect for gender fluidity more front and center.

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Feb 07, 2019 Will Dominique rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, characters-trans, dnf, reviewed, 2018

DNF @ 76%, although I skimmed the rest of it. This book was such a disappointment considering how much I enjoyed the first book.

This one seemed much more sloppily written due to:

1) Glaring grammatical and spelling errors like using their instead of there and instances of missing entire words or punctuation.

2) Inconsistency and continuity issues. Characters would be doing one thing, be described one way, or be in one place, but then they would abruptly be doing something else, be described DNF @ 76%, although I skimmed the rest of it. This book was such a disappointment considering how much I enjoyed the first book.

This one seemed much more sloppily written due to:

1) Glaring grammatical and spelling errors like using “their” instead of “there” and instances of missing entire words or punctuation.

2) Inconsistency and continuity issues. Characters would be doing one thing, be described one way, or be in one place, but then they would abruptly be doing something else, be described differently, or be located elsewhere in space with zero transition—from barefoot to wearing socks, from lying on a bed to standing somewhere across the room, etc. Action scenes, or actually any scenes with movement in them, often felt disjointed. Also, some sentences completely contradict one another! For example, in one scene, Sal’s hand is being examined by a physician, and she says, “I won’t have to stitch it up.” Then, in the very same scene less than a page later, she says, “I’ll have to stitch it up.” So..... which one is it? This just seems like careless writing or like a first draft that was never polished.

3) Choppiness—for the amentioned reason with consistency, but also due to weak pacing and the transitions between chapters.

4) Redundancy. Seriously, while repetition CAN be an effective technique, sometimes it’s taken to an extent or used in a way where it just becomes tedious and overbearing. Unlike other reviewers, I’m fine with the issues around Sal’s genderfluidity being brought up again and again—when you’re trans, that shit is so often on your mind, and you’re faced with it again and again, everywhere. My issue is moreso how the author presents it; each time Sal’s gender and their struggles related to it are discussed throughout the book, it feels like the same lines repeated over and over—maybe with a few words rearranged or altered, but essentially the same. The repetition doesn’t feel like a natural, pervading force; it feels manually inserted, almost copied and pasted. After Sal’s first or second time being misgendered and having an inner monologue about how unaccepting Erland is with its gender binary, you don’t need to keep re-stating all that. A simple description of their gut twisting or their stomach dropping is enough to indicate their distress and bring all those previous thoughts back. The reader already knows Sal is fluid and Erland is unaccepting, and even more than that, the reader can SEE that from the descriptions and happenings in the book. Repeating something after you’ve already established and shown it, especially repeating it in the same way, weakens the writing and makes it tedious.

The plot was also plain confusing, which is the main reason I DNF’d this. I honestly loved the first book enough that I ploughed through 75% of this book despite the poor writing, which would normally turn me off. But after 75%, when I still was so lost, I realised that it wasn’t really worth it to me to spend more effort and time finishing this. Maybe my confusion is augmented because it’s been a while since I read the first book, but even plots and information only introduced in THIS book were unclear. I think the writing probably contributed to this, as I often had to reread things multiple times to grasp what was trying to be said. Like I’ve mentioned, a lot of the writing was very inconsistent or contradictory, jumping from place to place or thought to thought either without fleshing out the connections and relationships or—even worse—while conflicting with previously established facts. Another aspect that I feel inhibited my understanding was the doling-out of history and Very Important Imformation. That information didn’t seem gradually built up, especially towards the end of what I read; instead, it seemed like it was thrown at the reader without much time to process or understand it before moving on. ...more

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Aug 24, 2018 Chelsies Crazy4Books rated it really liked it

Shelves: completed-series, review-books, 2018-releases, queer-books

Quick Summary:

The conclusion to the Mask of Shadows starts off not long after the first book ended. After winning the competition and becoming one of the Queens elite assassins, Sal finally has the power, prestige, and permission to discover who killed their family and hunt them down. While enlisting the help of some old friends and even some enemies Sal realizes there's something terribly wrong in the north. Talk of the return of shadows, missing children, and magic abounds. As Sal takes out Quick Summary:

The conclusion to the Mask of Shadows starts off not long after the first book ended. After winning the competition and becoming one of the Queen’s elite assassins, Sal finally has the power, prestige, and permission to discover who killed their family and hunt them down. While enlisting the help of some old friends and even some enemies Sal realizes 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, they learn some truths that just can’t be forgotten or forgiven.

My Thoughts:

This was a thrilling tale of magic, assassins and revenge. I really liked our main character Sal, also known as the Honorable Opal. I thought their genderfluidity and PTSD were well represented. Sals struggle between getting revenge and deciding if that made them a bad person was endearing. I also found their righthous fury and ruthlessness compelling. While trying to prevent another war and learning the shadows who were sent to destroyed their country might be back Sals PTSD is at an all time high. Theres also more focus on Sals genderfluidity and the need to accept everyones identity.

Its like everything I enjoyed in the first book was amplified in this sequel. Besides more focus on the diversity representation we also get more magic and time with some favorite characters from Mask of Shadows. I love seeing more of Sals childhood friend Rath and Maud was still as amazing as ever. She isnt afraid to call Sal out and I just really liked their friendship. We also get to see more of a friendship develop between Sal and Four. I liked getting to know the other queens assassins Emerald and Amethyst better. I also felt like the conflict with Sals love interest Elize was well done. Their relationship was realistic and it didnt over power the story.

When I first picked this up I had a difficult time remembering all the side characters, but I eventually got the hang of it. The world was pretty straight forward, but the magic and shadows were interesting. I really liked the importance of family and how I wasnt able to predict the plot. I loved how the author wasnt afraid to kill people off. For the most part the pace was gripping with a balance of both plot and characters. The writing was alright. We get just enough descriptions to get a picture of the setting, but the time line was a little vague. I thought the ending wrapped up nicely. Ill definitely keep an eye out for any future books by this author.

*received for review consideration* ...more

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Aug 15, 2018 Anthony ➳ KeepReadingForward ➳ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, arc, netgalley, end-of-series

3.5/5
Date Reviewed: 25 August 2018
This Review was first posted on Keep Reading Forward. If you want to see more, check out our other locations as well as here.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I received an eARC for Mask of Shadows and finished it, I really enjoyed it and was excited for the next book. I knew that Ruin of Stars had to be better. What we have in the first book, we got in this book and even more. However, did the new stuff added into 3.5/5
Date Reviewed: 25 August 2018
This Review was first posted on Keep Reading Forward. If you want to see more, check out our other locations as well as here.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I received an eARC for Mask of Shadows and finished it, I really enjoyed it and was excited for the next book. I knew that Ruin of Stars had to be better. What we have in the first book, we got in this book and even more. However, did the new stuff added into the story make it seem “more” and better? It’s a yes/no answer.

Yes, magic is introduced. I like magic it as I am always willing to read most stories involving magic. I cannot recall if magic was in the first book. I do not believe any magic was used, but I am not sure whether or not it was mentioned. In this book, the magic was interesting and a little bit shocking.

Yes, we got more world-building and history. Along with the magic, more of the world and history was revealed to understand more of it. The history provided more information and better understanding on how the world works. History is an integral part to world-building and without world-building, a story feels flat. This world-building has definitely improved since Mask of Shadows.

No, there’s more politics than I bargained for. I am not one for plots driven by politics, but when the major characters are in a court and works for the Queen, some politics are bound to happen. I found that if put in good use, I won’t mind the politics at all. This could have been more, but I felt the politics were a bit much and somewhat confusing. In some ways, it overlapped the main plot of the story, which is finally getting revenge on those who done wrong to Sal AKA Opal.

In the end, I enjoyed the characters, the mission for Opal, and some of the scenes (there was one I remember to be a little bit graphic..). As I enjoyed most of the story, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of something letting me down and I believe that was due to what I thought was the politics and the strategy the characters had to go through. Ruin of Stars does live up to Mask of Shadows, but I believe there’s definitely room for improvement where it could have been better. ...more

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Sep 09, 2018 Shannon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: provided-for-review

I received an ARC from Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

I'm struggling with how to rate this, its between and 2 and a 3. I really loved Mask of Shadows, but I was kind of underwhelmed with the conclusion. I expected alot more action, but I felt like it took too long to get to the ending. The plot too far to long to develop and the pace was just too slow for my liking.

I had a hard time keeping track of all of the characters, mainly because they all have multiple names. This took me I received an ARC from Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

I'm struggling with how to rate this, its between and 2 and a 3. I really loved Mask of Shadows, but I was kind of underwhelmed with the conclusion. I expected alot more action, but I felt like it took too long to get to the ending. The plot too far to long to develop and the pace was just too slow for my liking.

I had a hard time keeping track of all of the characters, mainly because they all have multiple names. This took me twice as long to read because I had to go back and re-read passages multiple times so I could figure out what was going on. This made it really hard to stay invested in the story. On the plus side we get more information on the magic system that I wanted from the first book. We learn how and why magic was banished and more about how magic was used before the Queen of Igna banished magic completely.

This books picks up pretty much where book 1 leaves off with Sal now a member of The Left Hand. Sal is now Honorable Opal, and one of the assassins of the Queen of Igna. Sal is still out to avenge Nacea, her homeland that was destroyed by the shadows, and take out those who created the shadows. Sal has a hit list and she will stop at nothing until they are all dead. She is also distraught because Elise has been taken prisoner, yet we find that Elise is safe for the time being and has her own part to play. Their romance plays a significant part in the book, as does gender fluidity, and sexual orientation.

I will say one of the downfalls of this book is the constant mention of Sal's gender fluidity and Elise's sexual orientation. While I'm supportive of the diversity that this book offers and I love that we have diverse characters in the book, it didn't help to advance the plot. I felt beat over the head with it. It could have been mentioned less and we still would have had diverse characters. As I read other's reviews I see that this is a common complaint.

I did love the side characters, Maud is awesome! There are some great side characters in this series, and I'm glad we got to see some of the characters from book 1 resurface and get some more development in this second book. ...more

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May 05, 2018 Alexandra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1018

I received an e-ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Review can be found on *Milky Way of Books*

The action-packed ending to this duology had everything I love in a good fantasy; amazing characters, mysteries unveiled the wonderful Sal to root for and a finale which I didn't expect, yet I loved all the same.

With Sal trying to find the rest of the conspirators who want to destroy the Queen and hell-bent over revenge, they will have to deal with more than just their torturous past. ...more

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Oct 05, 2018 Chiara rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, read-own-physical, cover-love, lgbtqia, physical-review-copies, lgbtqia-trans

A copy of this novel was provided by New South Books for review.

Mask of Shadows is hands down one of my absolute favourite books. I read it for the first time last year and fell in love, and I re-read it in preparation for its sequel Ruin of Stars. In all honesty, I hadnt any real fear that Ruin of Stars would disappoint, but I am happy to report that it most certainly lived up to its predecessor.

Though I must mention that Ruin of Stars is vastly different to Mask of Shadows. Mask of Shadows is ...more

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Aug 03, 2018 Carrie (brightbeautifulthings) rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-fantasy, netgalley, underrated

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Sourcebooks Fire. I very much enjoyed Mask of Shadows and its representation of a genderfluid main character in a kickass fantasy world, plus assassins (I have a problem, clearly. But there are so many, whos counting?). There was a lot of fangirl screeching when I was approved for this title. There are spoilers ahead for Mask of Shadows. Trigger warnings: blood, death, violence.

Sal has earned their place as Opal on the Queens Left I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Sourcebooks Fire. I very much enjoyed Mask of Shadows and its representation of a genderfluid main character in a kickass fantasy world, plus assassins (I have a problem, clearly. But there are so many, who’s counting?). There was a lot of fangirl screeching when I was approved for this title. There are spoilers ahead for Mask of Shadows. Trigger warnings: blood, death, violence.

Sal has earned their place as Opal on the Queen’s Left Hand, which means they’ll finally be able to exact revenge upon the people who killed their family and their entire country, Nacea, when the shadows tore through it. Revenge isn’t as simple as they thought though, as the decade-old country of Igna is balanced precariously on new ideals and old prejudices. Death weighs heavily on their conscience, but in order to make every past death mean something, they have to discover the identities of the three names left on their list among new betrayals and the seeds of a fresh war between Igna and Erlend.

A lot of fantasy novels end up looking alike, but I really love the world that Miller has created. Rather than fighting a dystopian government or trying to overthrow the monarchy, Igna is already in place with a good but flawed Queen, and its people are fighting for a lot of the same things we’re fighting for–respect, equality, the rights to decide our own identities, and the space to live them. As a genderfluid main character, Sal is better placed than most to critique the old Erlend insistence on heterosexuality and binary genders, among other things, and it looks a lot like issues we’re struggling with in the real world. While I’m completely on board with the message, there are places in Ruin of Stars where it begins to overwhelm the plot. At some point, Miller needed to step back and let it stand on its own rather than repeating it at every opportunity. (I know, I know. When you play Chutes and Ladders, do you complain about all the chutes and all the ladders?)

Mask of Shadows is fairly straightforward in terms of plot–Sal has a contest to win at any cost–and the plot of Ruin of Stars is quite a bit messier. It’s been almost a year since I read the first, so I had some difficulty relearning all the names of fantasy places and people, and Sal’s agenda isn’t as clear in this book. All the different threads of the plot do manage to come together, but it’s far from elegant, and I can’t help feeling it could have used a little more time on the editing floor to streamline things. I was also fully expecting a trilogy, not a duology, so I was surprised to see everything come together by the end of the book. After a rather lengthy climax, the end scenes felt a little rushed.

While Mask of Shadows had a few too many characters, Ruin of Stars almost doesn’t have enough. I love Sal; they’re complex and funny, deadly and guilt-ridden, and they feel the burden of every life they take. I didn’t feel we spent enough time with Rath, Adella, and Moira to really get to know them, and Sal is so much in their own head in this novel that they pay little attention to anyone else. I love Elise though, and for me to love both a main character and a love interest is practically unheard of. She’s clever, brave, and honorable, and one of the best things about this book is how Sal and Elise are forced to come to terms with each other’s flaws. I’m not much for romance, but it feels like a necessary (and usually sweet) detour from the blood and bodies of the rest of the book. I was satisfied with the ending, but I feel like I’m going to have to re-read them both to really get a handle on them. I’ll be looking for a copy for my library when the paperback comes out.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com. ...more

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Jul 10, 2018 Di rated it liked it

Shelves: feeding-my-ya-addiction, earc, cover-love, 2018-releases, edelweiss

** I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes were taken from the advanced readers copy and as such may not be accurate or present in the final version**

Mercys dead, I whispered. ... You killed mercy, but vengeance remains.

I desperately wanted to love this book because Mask of Shadows was one of my favourites from 2017. It wasn't perfect by any means, but these books carry such an important and relevant message that I just ...more

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Aug 21, 2018 Lindsay rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, young-adult, danger, fighting, death, family, secrets, magic, lgbtqia, fantasy

As Opal, Sal finally has the power, prestige, and most importantly the ability to hunt the lords who killed their family. But Sal has to figure out who the culprits are before putting them down. Which means trying to ignore the fact that Elise is being kept a virtual prisoner, and that the queen may have ulterior motives. And the tales coming out of north are baffling. Talk of dark spirits, missing children, and magic abound. As Sal heads north toward their ruined homeland and the lords who As Opal, Sal finally has the power, prestige, and most importantly the ability to hunt the lords who killed their family. But Sal has to figure out who the culprits are before putting them down. Which means trying to ignore the fact that Elise is being kept a virtual prisoner, and that the queen may have ulterior motives. And the tales coming out of north are baffling. Talk of dark spirits, missing children, and magic abound. As Sal heads north toward their ruined homeland and the lords who destroyed everything, they learn secrets and truths that can't be ignored.

Ruin of Stars is a conclusion to a mission full of revenge and anger, a search for the truth and those who would plot to destroy so many lives.

Sal, now Honorable Opal, in service to the Queen of Igna, is ready to carry out their plan. Hunt down the lords that brought about the destruction of their home country of Nacea. The death of their family. The capture of Elise. Sal may be full of guilt, guilt at surviving and not seeing the traitors until it was too late, but they're also full of determination. They will not rest until all the names on their list is crossed out, until the truth is revealed, until all the innocents are saved. Even if it kills them.

A big part of this book, something that isn't hidden or whispered about, something that's discussed openly and thought about long and hard by Sal, is destroying Erlend's way of thinking. Their way of treating people. The strict confines of the male/female binary, the belief that men are smarter and better at leading and commanding than women. It's a way of thinking that looks at inclusion and acceptance with disgust, a way of thinking that tells people they're wrong, that something in wrong with them, and that there is only a binary when it comes to gender, only a male romantic partner to consider when you're female. For Sal who considers themself genderfluid, who shifts back and forth and in-between, for Elise who would rather court other girls, or for Emerald who feels no romantic attraction toward her partners, this way of thinking hurts in so many ways. Sal phrases their feelings about Erlend and their restrictive way of thinking so well: "Their comfort was more important than [Sal's] existence." Those like Sal, like Elise or Emerald or Lark, are seen as less than people, less than human, seen as something broken and in need of fixing, and that kind of thinking is horrific and wrong.

How far will revenge take you? How much will it fuel you, push you towards an end drenched in blood and despair? What will become of you when you reach the end, when all those who wronged you are dead at your feet? What will become of Sallot Leon, of Honorable Opal, when their list no longer has any names on it? I thoroughly enjoyed reading this duology of identity and discovery, of pain and sorrow and revenge, of despair over close-minded ways and hope for the future.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.) ...more

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About Linsey Miller

Linsey Miller

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Originally from Arkansas, Linsey has previously worked as a crime lab intern, neuroscience lab assistant, and pharmacy technician. She now holds an MFA in fiction and is the author of the Mask of Shadows duology and Belle Révolte. She can be found writing about science and magic anywhere there is coffee.

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Mask of Shadows (2 books)

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Quotes from Ruin of Stars

“Well.’ Maud handed me a bandage. 'That was the most foolish thing you’ve ever done.’
'Don’t joke. We both know it isn’t.” — 1 likes

“What do you do when your flesh is rotten, when the skin is so dead even your blood turns against you?”

I took her hand. “Cut it out.”

“Exactly,” she said. “And if you would have me as your surgeon, I would have you as my knife.” — 0 likes

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