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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
⭐️4 stars⭐️
If someone wanted to call her naive, then they would.
If someone wanted to call her heartless, then they would.
It didn't matter whether she decked herself in knives or pearls. The world would always demand that a girl apologize for herself, but she would apologize for nothing.
If someone wanted to call her naive, then they would.
If someone wanted to call her heartless, then they would.
It didn't matter whether she decked herself in knives or pearls. The world would always demand that a girl apologize for herself, but she would apologize for nothing.
I feel more deeply in love with the characters and the world! Such a great sequel to Ace of Shades! This is a series I am sure I will read many times
4/5 stars.the politics of this world is SO fascinating and the magic is always intriguing. However I have the same problem with this one as book 1 - nothing is quite explained enough for me in regards to both of those things.
I LOVE THE CHARACTERS and that one death had my heart hurting so bad.
I LOVE THE CHARACTERS and that one death had my heart hurting so bad.
okay so this book just wow. i loved the first one and this one did not disappoint. i’m scared for the third because of everything that happened at the end of this one. i loved sophia but i’m scared of what she’ll do without jac (even though i don’t think he’s dead just calling that right now). i love enne and levi and i just want them to be happy. it kinda bothered me because a lot of their issues seemed like they weren’t that big of a deal but that might be because i just want them together. overall i really just love all these characters and i’m so pumped for what will happen in the next one like who did are harrison’s two omertas and just oh my gosh i definitely want to reread the first and second book before the third just so i get it all. so yes this is such a good series and i’m so excited
I wrote a lot of this while I was reading because I didn't want to forget most of it so that was fun. I fkn love this book so much its insane. the vibe of this book and just the overall atmoshphere would make such an incredible tv show or movie. i like how it’s clear that levi is in the wrong with sending jac into the drug dens and it’s not like brushed over. levi is so hot like i have such a clear picture of him in my mind and wow like him being a card dealer and just ahhh. it’s crazy how i literally did not remember this dice/ narinder storyline like at all. i also love how it’s so common that there are people from the lgbtq community like it’s not looked down on. i often get upset when books change so much so quickly like the first book was such a short time and this one is very different but the vibe and feel of this book is so similar that it doesn’t bother me. this black and white hallway i feel will be important in the next book. jac isn’t dead i mean that’s that. harvey saved him. i mean i hate the made up curse words but it’s more believable than them not cursing at all. this book would be such a good tv show. i am very happy i reread this cause i would’ve been so lost. also so wait jonas was harrison’s omertà and now sophia wants to be but ahhh i can’t wait for the last book so i understand everything lol. also we never see harvey again so jac's not dead. even though I just reread it I feel like I'm gonna need a refresher at the start of the next one lol. 10/10 I love Amanda Foody's books they're so great.
audio
okay i love this book so much. it does not suffer from second book slump at all and i just love it so much. the ending is so epic and i love all the political stuff. genuinely so amazing!! levi and jak and enne and sophia and everything is just so amazing!!
as i read when levi tirns her down cause jak asked her to ahhhh. i love them together so much. and how hard it is for levi to deny enne because jak asked ahhh it’s so good!!! levi just pining after enne the whole book and just wanting to be with her but still making so many mistakes. i do hate that he was with someone else even though he wanted enne. enne and levi together for even that little bit is everything and knowing what happens next makes me want to cry. like their small touches are so sweet. levi leaving enne because she worked with vianca
I wrote a lot of this while I was reading because I didn't want to forget most of it so that was fun. I fkn love this book so much its insane. the vibe of this book and just the overall atmoshphere would make such an incredible tv show or movie. i like how it’s clear that levi is in the wrong with sending jac into the drug dens and it’s not like brushed over. levi is so hot like i have such a clear picture of him in my mind and wow like him being a card dealer and just ahhh. it’s crazy how i literally did not remember this dice/ narinder storyline like at all. i also love how it’s so common that there are people from the lgbtq community like it’s not looked down on. i often get upset when books change so much so quickly like the first book was such a short time and this one is very different but the vibe and feel of this book is so similar that it doesn’t bother me. this black and white hallway i feel will be important in the next book. jac isn’t dead i mean that’s that. harvey saved him. i mean i hate the made up curse words but it’s more believable than them not cursing at all. this book would be such a good tv show. i am very happy i reread this cause i would’ve been so lost. also so wait jonas was harrison’s omertà and now sophia wants to be but ahhh i can’t wait for the last book so i understand everything lol. also we never see harvey again so jac's not dead. even though I just reread it I feel like I'm gonna need a refresher at the start of the next one lol. 10/10 I love Amanda Foody's books they're so great.
audio
okay i love this book so much. it does not suffer from second book slump at all and i just love it so much. the ending is so epic and i love all the political stuff. genuinely so amazing!! levi and jak and enne and sophia and everything is just so amazing!!
as i read when levi tirns her down cause jak asked her to ahhhh. i love them together so much. and how hard it is for levi to deny enne because jak asked ahhh it’s so good!!! levi just pining after enne the whole book and just wanting to be with her but still making so many mistakes. i do hate that he was with someone else even though he wanted enne. enne and levi together for even that little bit is everything and knowing what happens next makes me want to cry. like their small touches are so sweet. levi leaving enne because she worked with vianca
I read the last one a while ago, but I remember enjoying it because of how ridiculous it was. That's what I was hoping from this one - a fun story about some gangsters who are also children and some magic and card games. While this delivered in some of those categories, this 600-page monster was a lot...
The main thing I picked out in this book is the feminist angle it took - Enne was gonna be powerful in her own way, she wasn't going to give up her roots or her femininity and in her journey to become a street lord just as formidable as the others. Though it wasn't very subtle at times, especially in her discussions with Vianca who - as Enne's foil - believed that being a woman was inherently weak and thus she had to act like a man to get any respect, I really liked how she wanted power for herself despite that being what everyone expected of her (though now I think about it more, was it just because people didn't it expect it of her?) and that she was going to take her fate into her own hands. She amassed her girl gang and she took on the town in her own way. She threw off the labels of being "corrupted by the North Side" or "not good enough for finishing school" and began to pave her own path.
But, that being said, this wasn't without its flaws, the major one being her relationship with Levi. Levi spends the whole book being told he's good by other characters, and sometimes reassuring himself of the same. Sure, he doesn't really like to murder or do anything particularly violent, but in both books his behaviour is selfish and immature. He makes wagers on things that are not his to bet, confident that one way or another someone will help him get out of it. When he is called out on it, he has a realisation about his flaws, but then (in my opinion) he never really seems to do much to change his behaviour. His relationship with Narinder was a big part of this for me - he was trying to make Enne jealous, when he was the one that said they couldn't be together? It was as if he was trying to goad her into going against his wishes and throwing herself at him just so that he wouldn't break his promise to Jac. He already knew how she felt about him - it was nothing but hurtful to Enne that he was hooking up with someone else around her without a proper explanation as to why. Levi justifies it to himself by saying it's part of his vice - ambition - and that he is just trying to achieve his dream. But this has never gotten him anywhere good before: this is why I think his character had hardly changed or grown.
For most of the book, Enne told the reader that she was determined not to have her heart cut in the same place twice, that she would not let him hurt her. And I wanted to believe this so badly. I wanted this to be a book where she didn't forgive him until he had at least properly apologised or showed proof that he was trying to be different. But then later in the book this idea of their relationship being inevitable cropped up and all hope was lost. They were always going to be destined for each other, there was no use fighting it etc. It seemed like all this talk of Enne not letting him hurt her again was all for nothing because she was going to take him back no matter what in the end. She has moments in this book where she is so unlike the traditional damsel in distress and I found myself rooting for her, or appreciating her cleverness, but then almost every time she's around Levi that completely evaporates.
As for the rest of the story, I enjoyed Jac's parts the most. He seemed to have a genuine motivation for doing what he did, even when he was being above-and-beyond loyal to Levi. His struggle with Charles at the end was particularly gripping for me - it felt like he had really overcome something. I must admit I had forgotten there was magic in this book - it was hardly used at all except to light candles or comment on people's auras - and would have liked to have seen a bit more of it like there was in the last book. I also think it didn't really pick up until the second half - until then it was a lot of preparing and talking and establishing. But when Jac went off to the Torrens and the war amped up a bit, it was pretty enjoyable. I wasn't expecting some of the twists that happened either which I really appreciated, especially for a book of this size.
Some favourite quotes:
"She was a danger he would only risk when he had nothing left to lose." (p.107)
"Jac had worn his good suit for their lunch with Charles Torren, because it was his only piece of clothing that he'd be willing to die in." (p. 442)
The main thing I picked out in this book is the feminist angle it took - Enne was gonna be powerful in her own way, she wasn't going to give up her roots or her femininity and in her journey to become a street lord just as formidable as the others. Though it wasn't very subtle at times, especially in her discussions with Vianca who - as Enne's foil - believed that being a woman was inherently weak and thus she had to act like a man to get any respect, I really liked how she wanted power for herself despite that being what everyone expected of her (though now I think about it more, was it just because people didn't it expect it of her?) and that she was going to take her fate into her own hands. She amassed her girl gang and she took on the town in her own way. She threw off the labels of being "corrupted by the North Side" or "not good enough for finishing school" and began to pave her own path.
But, that being said, this wasn't without its flaws, the major one being her relationship with Levi. Levi spends the whole book being told he's good by other characters, and sometimes reassuring himself of the same. Sure, he doesn't really like to murder or do anything particularly violent, but in both books his behaviour is selfish and immature. He makes wagers on things that are not his to bet, confident that one way or another someone will help him get out of it. When he is called out on it, he has a realisation about his flaws, but then (in my opinion) he never really seems to do much to change his behaviour. His relationship with Narinder was a big part of this for me - he was trying to make Enne jealous, when he was the one that said they couldn't be together? It was as if he was trying to goad her into going against his wishes and throwing herself at him just so that he wouldn't break his promise to Jac. He already knew how she felt about him - it was nothing but hurtful to Enne that he was hooking up with someone else around her without a proper explanation as to why. Levi justifies it to himself by saying it's part of his vice - ambition - and that he is just trying to achieve his dream. But this has never gotten him anywhere good before: this is why I think his character had hardly changed or grown.
For most of the book, Enne told the reader that she was determined not to have her heart cut in the same place twice, that she would not let him hurt her. And I wanted to believe this so badly. I wanted this to be a book where she didn't forgive him until he had at least properly apologised or showed proof that he was trying to be different. But then later in the book this idea of their relationship being inevitable cropped up and all hope was lost. They were always going to be destined for each other, there was no use fighting it etc. It seemed like all this talk of Enne not letting him hurt her again was all for nothing because she was going to take him back no matter what in the end. She has moments in this book where she is so unlike the traditional damsel in distress and I found myself rooting for her, or appreciating her cleverness, but then almost every time she's around Levi that completely evaporates.
As for the rest of the story, I enjoyed Jac's parts the most. He seemed to have a genuine motivation for doing what he did, even when he was being above-and-beyond loyal to Levi. His struggle with Charles at the end was particularly gripping for me - it felt like he had really overcome something. I must admit I had forgotten there was magic in this book - it was hardly used at all except to light candles or comment on people's auras - and would have liked to have seen a bit more of it like there was in the last book. I also think it didn't really pick up until the second half - until then it was a lot of preparing and talking and establishing. But when Jac went off to the Torrens and the war amped up a bit, it was pretty enjoyable. I wasn't expecting some of the twists that happened either which I really appreciated, especially for a book of this size.
Some favourite quotes:
"She was a danger he would only risk when he had nothing left to lose." (p.107)
"Jac had worn his good suit for their lunch with Charles Torren, because it was his only piece of clothing that he'd be willing to die in." (p. 442)
I have to start off by thanking NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for this ARC inn exchange for an honest review. I had been interested in reading Ace of Shades for some time and getting this ARC was the perfect opportunity. Read my review HERE. I’m also meeting Amanda Foody as one of her signing events when she tours for King of Fools. So, I’m very happy to have been able to read this book early.
“Ambition was the deadliest sin of all.”
I had so much fun reading King of Fools. I found that I enjoyed it more than the first book in the series. Already knowing the characters and a bit about the world helped. Though we did get to learn more about both, I think already knowing a bit helped me get into the story quicker and really enjoy the chaos and antics that ensued.
“He would rather die a legend than end his life in anonymity.”
I think my favorite thing about this book was getting more into the world. This place that Amanda Foody has created is compelling and dark and captivating. I absolutely adored the legends we got to read that separated each part of the story. I also really liked how much more time we got to spend in the world. Ace of Shades happened over the time period of a week or so but King of Fools happens over a period of months and I think that was good because so much happened. We learned so much about the world and the politics, things that needed to take time. It was paced nicely, though some of the time jumps were a little awkward.
“Because first they break the rules, then they break your bones…and then they break your heart.”
The characters were something else that I think were done well. They really developed in this book. They are all dealing with change and chaos and it really helps show each character’s true colors. Levi is complicated. Can’t have what he really wants, always seems to be disappointing his friends, taking risks at the expense of others. He says he learns from his mistakes but doesn’t hesitate to repeat them. I loved him anyway. He’s confident and clever. I’m very interested to see what’s going to happen with him in the final book. His best friend Jac was probably my favorite. He’s off on his own little side mission most of the book and I really related to him. He’s doing his part to help Levi while also doing his best to fight his own demons. Then there’s Enne. I didn’t love her in the first book but I do now. I feel bad for the way things ended for her, but I really grew to love her. She’s smart and (mostly) unapologetic. She took New Reynes by storm, her and her girl gang. The girl gang was absolutely my favorite. Lola was totally relatable in the sense that I talk a big game and wear a big bad face but really, I’m a cinnamon roll on the inside. And Grace, who has a counting ability but would rather be out killing someone. She’s brilliant and fierce and I totally adored her. There are so many more I could mention; we get quite the cast of character but I’ll stop here.
“Maybe your soul didn’t break like a bone. Maybe it broke like a promise.”
I do want to mention the villain or villains. I thought it was very interesting that there was one big bad villain, but the whole time we’re left wondering if she’s the one we really should be worries about or if there’s another big bad.
“Because the hero of one story is the villain of someone else’s. It’s all just a matter of who wins.”
Finally, the freaking ending. I was devastated. I almost threw my phone across the room because of certain things that happened toward the end of the book. I am hoping for some sort of explanation that makes it all go away in the third book, but I’m not confident that I’ll get it. Amanda Foody really hit me where it hurt in King of Fools.
I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait until the third book is out. Sadly, I have a long wait. But I know it will be worth it. I cannot wait to meet Amanda Foody in May and tell her just how much I loved this story.
“Ambition was the deadliest sin of all.”
I had so much fun reading King of Fools. I found that I enjoyed it more than the first book in the series. Already knowing the characters and a bit about the world helped. Though we did get to learn more about both, I think already knowing a bit helped me get into the story quicker and really enjoy the chaos and antics that ensued.
“He would rather die a legend than end his life in anonymity.”
I think my favorite thing about this book was getting more into the world. This place that Amanda Foody has created is compelling and dark and captivating. I absolutely adored the legends we got to read that separated each part of the story. I also really liked how much more time we got to spend in the world. Ace of Shades happened over the time period of a week or so but King of Fools happens over a period of months and I think that was good because so much happened. We learned so much about the world and the politics, things that needed to take time. It was paced nicely, though some of the time jumps were a little awkward.
“Because first they break the rules, then they break your bones…and then they break your heart.”
The characters were something else that I think were done well. They really developed in this book. They are all dealing with change and chaos and it really helps show each character’s true colors. Levi is complicated. Can’t have what he really wants, always seems to be disappointing his friends, taking risks at the expense of others. He says he learns from his mistakes but doesn’t hesitate to repeat them. I loved him anyway. He’s confident and clever. I’m very interested to see what’s going to happen with him in the final book. His best friend Jac was probably my favorite. He’s off on his own little side mission most of the book and I really related to him. He’s doing his part to help Levi while also doing his best to fight his own demons. Then there’s Enne. I didn’t love her in the first book but I do now. I feel bad for the way things ended for her, but I really grew to love her. She’s smart and (mostly) unapologetic. She took New Reynes by storm, her and her girl gang. The girl gang was absolutely my favorite. Lola was totally relatable in the sense that I talk a big game and wear a big bad face but really, I’m a cinnamon roll on the inside. And Grace, who has a counting ability but would rather be out killing someone. She’s brilliant and fierce and I totally adored her. There are so many more I could mention; we get quite the cast of character but I’ll stop here.
“Maybe your soul didn’t break like a bone. Maybe it broke like a promise.”
I do want to mention the villain or villains. I thought it was very interesting that there was one big bad villain, but the whole time we’re left wondering if she’s the one we really should be worries about or if there’s another big bad.
“Because the hero of one story is the villain of someone else’s. It’s all just a matter of who wins.”
Finally, the freaking ending. I was devastated. I almost threw my phone across the room because of certain things that happened toward the end of the book. I am hoping for some sort of explanation that makes it all go away in the third book, but I’m not confident that I’ll get it. Amanda Foody really hit me where it hurt in King of Fools.
I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait until the third book is out. Sadly, I have a long wait. But I know it will be worth it. I cannot wait to meet Amanda Foody in May and tell her just how much I loved this story.
✧ book 136
3.5 stars
this felt extremely different than the first book. it was much longer & way too focused on the politics of it all. i enjoyed the addition of the new characters and enne’s character development was just everything. i really liked jac's addition of point of view.
however, levi was much more unlikeable in this book. i also really hated the ending. what happened was unnecessary imo. i’m still going to be reading the last book just because there is a lot of loose ends that i’m curious about.
3.5 stars
this felt extremely different than the first book. it was much longer & way too focused on the politics of it all. i enjoyed the addition of the new characters and enne’s character development was just everything. i really liked jac's addition of point of view.
however, levi was much more unlikeable in this book. i also really hated the ending. what happened was unnecessary imo. i’m still going to be reading the last book just because there is a lot of loose ends that i’m curious about.