This had been a book I had seen around quite a lot but had never picked it up. I haven’t read anything else by Amanda Foody (even though I do actually own her debut novel) and was unsure whether I would actually read this book because I had heard some mixed reviews.
I decided to bite the bullet and ended up reading both Ace of Shades, which is the first book in The Shadow Game series and King of Fools, which is the second book (you can read my review here).
The series follows Enne Salta who was raised as a proper lady and attends finishing school. Ladies like her would never willingly visit New Reynes, the so called City of Sin but Enne finds herself there after following the footsteps of her missing mother.
All Enne has is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Enne can only hope that this man has answers but unfortunately Levi is not the man she expected – he’s a con man and the street Lord to the gang The Irons.
Levi has gotten himself into quite a predicament and is one payment away from cleaning up an investment scam which is going terribly wrong. He doesn’t have time to help prim and proper Enne find her mother but Enne is quick to offer compensation for his time. She needs to find her mother and preferably before she has to go back to finishing school.
Levi quickly accepts, knowing this money could be the solution to all his problems and he can finally get The Irons back on track.
The search for Enne’s mother leads them into the clutches of a ruthless Mafia donna and Enne finds herself trapped, unearthing an Impossible secret about her past whilst Levi’s enemies finally catches up to them.
Soon they find themselves ensnared in a brutal execution game where the players always lose. To save Levi, the man she’s started to trust, Enne must surrender herself to the city and play the game.
I really liked Amanda Foody’s writing style and really loved the world that she has created. I love the idea that everyone possess two different talents which are inherited from each parent, I thought this was so different to anything I’ve read about and found myself completely obsessed with it. The talents were so varied, and it made the book even more interesting.
I love Enne, I love how when she steps onto New Reynes she’s selfish and expects to be treated in a certain manner however the development of her character was so impressive that she ended up embracing her surroundings and becoming a rebel.
Levi and his second in command Jac where two perfectly written characters. Levi has flaws; he dreams too big and those dreams gets him and the Irons in a lot of trouble. He’s reckless but he’s also protective and compassionate. Jac is a very loyal character and no matter what Levi does, Jac is standing by his side ready to face whatever comes at them.
I think what I loved the most is that the villains were so dangerous but that wasn’t because of their talents or magic. It was their human traits that made them villains and I thought that was fantastically written.
I did have trouble at the beginning of the book trying to remember the different districts in New Reynes but I soon found that it all just clicked into place and found myself loving what each district brought to the table.
Overall I loved this book and even stayed up past 2am to finish it because I was that addicted to it. I had to know what happened and I couldn’t sleep without knowing how it ended. I was very lucky that I had the second book to dive into straight away because the world Amanda has created was all I could think about.
Rating: 5/5*
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