ellasbookishwonderland 's review for:

King of Fools by Amanda Foody

4.0

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The plot of King of Fools is on a whole new level. It's a lot darker than the first book, and it's not just about Enne anymore, it's about the entire city and everyone in it. I'm really visualizing the storm clouds gathering over New Reynes. The politics were super intriguing, everything is so corrupt and everyone involved has their own, personal agendas that they keep betraying each other for. People keep getting involved with at least two opposing sides in every conflict, there are double agents and betrayals and it's a hell of a time. The mix of politics and violence, and how the crime lords influence the election, is so interesting and perfect for the setting. Then it all comes together in the most intense ending ever with so. many. revelations and plot twists that, along with the little snippets of north side legends you are served every once in a while that clearly have something to do with the story, makes you end up with unlimited amounts of questions and a physical need for the third book.

Spoiler

Also, I found it really funny how Enne and Levi are simply walking around with these semi-prophetic dreams after Zula Slyk literally told them that a shade ties them together or whatever, and they just don't ever investigate it? They're like ah well guess that's just part of life

Both Enne and Levi have developed personalities since [b:Ace of Shades|30238163|Ace of Shades (The Shadow Game, #1)|Amanda Foody|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508169063l/30238163._SY75_.jpg|50701123], which interestingly lead to Enne becoming my favorite of the two. I was a bit annoyed about how Enne, who used to be a naive little lady, has been in this city for a week and a half, and now I'm supposed to believe she's some sort of hardened criminal when she was literally blushing at bare ankles like four days ago, but I really felt like she grew throughout the story into a badass, confident heroine. Levi went from being merely likable to being a man (derogatory), he's constantly only thinking about himself and ruining the plans of others because he thinks he's helping them when they haven't asked for help, and I really started to dislike him for it. Enne is finally learning to take care of herself, but she's never able to do so, because Levi thinks he's so much more capable and keeps interfering. On a more positive note, I really enjoyed having Jac's pov, he's been one of my favorites from the start and seeing his growth in this installment was one of my favorite aspects of it. Jonas also became a favorite of mine, I found his character very interesting.

Spoiler

(First Reymond, now Jac and Jonas? Why do my children just keep dying)

Also, I hate the main romance (nothing new here), I feel like both sides have infinitely better romantic chemistry with literally everyone else, potentially because they act like they care about their friends but just keep fighting with each other. They have so many reasons to dislike each other, which they also genuinely seem to do when they're not making out, and very few reasons to become a couple, especially considering they, at the start of this book, have known each other for less than two weeks.

Even though I have complaints about the character department, I immensely enjoyed the plot of King of Fools, so I'm ending up with quite a high rating. Hopefully, the third book is even better, but in which case, I can't wait to read it!