King of Fools 5/5 Stars

This book picks up pretty much right after Ace of Shades ends, which is amazing. I'm always a little annoyed when sequels pick up like months in the future. It starts out with Levi being picked up in a car that is supposed to be Vianca's, but it's actually her son Harrison's *gasp*! Harrison offers Levi a deal he can't pass up, and that pretty much sets the scene for the entire book. I loved all of the character growth that Enne went through in becoming a real street lord. And I ended up really loving Jac, which I didn't think I would! The new characters introduced in this book (Tock, Grace, Sophia, etc) were such great characters and I loved all they added to the story.

I was really hoping that all the good things about the very end of the first book would carry over to this one. They didn't and I found myself struggling to get through this one, just like the majority of the first one. I didn't care about what the characters were doing or feeling. I honestly didn't care what was happening in the world or to our characters.

Just like with Daughter of a Burning City, Amanda has a spectacular premise and a lackluster execution. These characters should be everything I love in a novel, but they're surface level and hard to connect to. I'm not invested in their story or world. I really wish I was because the world is unique and I love the idea of their magic. I wanted so badly for this to work out for me, but instead, it fell flatter than the first one.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Inkyard Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

Do yourself a favor and pre-order this ridiculously stressful masterpiece.

Leave it to Amanda Foody to remind us that we don't need girls who tear each other down- we need girls who do criminal accounting together! King of Fools is wildly amazing for a number of reasons but I have to mention, first and foremost that these are the female characters we need in YA!!! Girls who are just like other girls. Badass and unique and (occasionally) vicious.

King of Fools creates an amazing atmosphere of gangs and casinos and mafia families- your opinions on every character will flip every two seconds and it'll be painful and amazing and heartbreaking and awesome.

I was constantly surprised and shocked and just utterly drawn in.

Admittedly, it took me a few chapters to become re-invested in this world but after I got through the initial set-up, this story was hard to step away from.

Support your local girl gang! Read King of Fools!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for E-Arc copy of King of Fools.
What a great series! Imaginative, exciting, and darkly delicious adventure. King of Fools does not disappoint.

I've come to think of myself as a fan of Amanda Foody's work. Her thrilling debut, DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY, hooked me in. ACE OF SHADES plunged me into a captivating, dark, twisty world of risks and sins. Needless to say, I was beyond delighted when I was approved for KING OF FOOLS. I finished it in one sitting and I had a lot of thoughts about it. Most of which were disappointing thoughts. For me, this book suffered through a sophomore slump. Though the prose was engaging, the pacing and the plot did not interest me. As plot threads from BOOK 1 took shape in BOOK 2, I saw where she was trying to go, but it was a rather sluggish roundabout way of getting there.

As where BOOK 1 was a fast-paced page-turner, BOOK 2 did not hold the same appeal. We are introduced to an interesting set of new characters and a new POV, which are great ingredients for an in-depth adventure into the sinful city of New Reynes. However, the execution left much to be desired. I knew where the author was trying to go, but journey to get there was long and tedious. There were two character deaths that jolted my senses and some plot twists that encouraged me to keep reading, but if ACE OF SHADES was a bang then KING OF FOOLS was a bump.

I've been invested in this story for two years now, so I do want to see how the author concludes this series and hopefully, BOOK 3 will bring back the much-needed spark I found in her previous works.

3 STARS

I absolutely love this expansion into the City of Sin. This sequel is gripping, well-paced, and immersive. I wasn't blown away by Ace of Shades, and I am not blown away by King of Fools, but they are so gripping and unique that you can't put them down.

I didn't know if I would like a mobster-style storyline, but Amanda Foody does it so well. I did feel a slight disconnected between parts 1 and 2, but overall a very good sequel!

Not to mention, the cover is absolutely wonderful and I could photograph it forever. I wish I had a print copy!

King of Fools was absolutely fantastic. Amanda Foody does an incredible job at pulling you in and refusing to let go even after the book ends. I am dying for the next book!

This review is going to contain some mild-spoliery stuff so I’d recommended checking out the first book if you haven’t already! :,)

My thoughts starting this book:
where the FREAK is my kiss....i mean....their kiss....
The angst that kicked me over and left me flat on the ground at the end of the first book came right back to give me over again in this book. It continued straight on in the beginning of this sequel.

SO! This book started off where the last one ended and jumped straight into new schemes and games. This book has a lot more to do with politics and the relationships of all the families and gangs in this world so It does have a different tone than the first book.
Things did pick up again after a while and.... i’m a mess.

I was agonizing over the lack of kissing between certain people at first but hey.... there’s still murder, humor, violence,romance, and so much more you should really read this and find out for yourself.
All the new characters were amazing and I loved getting a new POV! This was a really fun read and would really recommend getting started on this series ASAP!!
I can’t get into much without spoiling too much so! Read!!!!!!!!!!
That ending tho..... like..... WHAT NOW. So much happened and I can’t wait for the next book....2020 pls hurry.

“What did you have in mind?” Grace asked her. “I could teach you all the ways to kill a man. My favorite technique, unfortunately, takes hours.”

ARC kindly provided by publisher via Netgalley <3 Thank you!

I think this is the end of my run with <i>The Shadow Game</i> series from Amanda Foody. I'll admit that I don't think the story is terrible; in truth, one of the big reasons I bothered to request <i>King of Fools</i> from NetGalley is because I liked <i>Ace of Shades</i> more than I liked <i>Six of Crows</i>, the novel with which it is regularly compared with for reasons I personally find inadequate, but there you go. I think the big moment in which I realized that I had never fully invested myself with this series and the characters within it was when I neared the end of the novel and realized that a moment which was supposed to be immensely emotional just...was not for me. And the thing is, this emotional moment involved my favorite character. But for some reason, I just didn't care. And that alone is eye-opening enough to let me know that I probably should spend more time with books and characters that actually evoke emotions from me, whether they are incredibly happy ones, sad ones, or even angry ones.

<i>King of Fools</i> picks up quickly where <i>Ace of Shades </i>leaves off, reacquainting you with characters you already know and introducing the next steps our main characters need to take in order to continue their survival. An integral chess piece in this game, of course, is Vianca Augustine. And as things begin to heat up with the sudden return of Vianca's son, Harrison, Levi and Enne are forced to make a number of cagey decisions in order to carry out orders and save themselves. Just as it was in the last novel, the games of intrigue that the characters all get themselves into are very soon matters of life and death.

I'll take this moment here to say that I've grown to really dislike Levi. Where I enjoyed his character in the first novel, his utter selfishness in nearly every decision he makes quickly proved to remove any kind of affection I had for him as a person and character. I grew increasingly annoyed with him throughout the course of the novel and even found the moments in which he disagreed with a choice Enne was making rather hypocritical considering all of the choices that he, himself, had made and was currently making. I really don't think that he has a moral high ground to stand on.

Overall, I wasn't invested in the story or the plot. And while I found it interesting and definitely don't feel as though this series is a terrible one, it was unable to engage me enough. I never felt concern for the characters involved, barring two whom I was vaguely rooting for that of Sophia and Jac. And even then, I had a hard time. Instead of getting emotionally invested enough to feel happy for characters when things went right and upset when things went wrong, I felt more of an annoyance when things went wrong for those that I was interested in and didn't care when they went right.

And then there's just the fact that a lot of the accomplishments the characters made felt either too easy or too ridiculous. Now, I'm not really all that involved with the stock market and I do still require some explanation for how it works, but the involvement of <i>investing</i> in the gangs was just incredibly difficult for me to buy into. Enne's money was made far too easily and with very little effort from her, leaving me feel kind of cheated with an easily achieved solution to her problem. I would have much preferred seeing her make the mistake of creating volts with her talent and dealing with the fallout from that. Both Enne and Levi's success just didn't feel realistic.

And I mean, I didn't hate the book. But I didn't leave it with any emotion other than annoyance. As that isn't a feeling I really care to continue leaving books with, I feel it's time to for me part with these characters. There are certainly areas where Foody could improve both her characters and her novel, but I think the bigger problem I had was struggling to find a connection with them. And that, in the end, is something I think has more to do with me.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I really enjoyed Ace of Shades so was eagerly awaiting the sequel. I was not disappointed! The book was as exciting as the first. The character development was great and the story moved along at an excellent pace. I really enjoyed the main characters and their relationships. All in all I would say this book has it all! Definitely looking forward to more books by Amanda Foody.

*thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review*

King of Fools picks up right where Ace left off: Levi and Enne are on the run. King of Fools sees Enne starting her own street gang: a motley crüe of ladies who don’t take no trouble from nobody and have plenty of courage and fire to dish out.

Foody’s wriring has improved quite tremendously from Ace. This book also moves along a bit faster than the first: perhaps due to lack of need of establishing the world.

"The hero of one story is the villain of someone else's. It's all just a matter of who wins." With a line like this it is no wonder that the book from start to finish is white knuckled nail biting heart racing stress and absolute pleasure. Amanda Foody's books are out of this world.

4.5

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, Netgalley!

You're really coming for our hearts with this book, Amanda Foody.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019, and when I found out I got an ARC, I was stoked. I reread Ace of Shades before starting, and honestly? I could stay in this world for eternity. If Ace of Shades was great, King of Fools was excellent.

First off, as I've said about Ace of Shades, I just love the vibes of the series. The whole Vegas but with magic and gangs gives off major Fallout vibes and it's just such a creative world to spend time in. Suffice it to say, I loved it. I could read an infinite number of books set in New Reynes. Seriously.

I absolutely adore each and every character in this book. Particularly Enne's new gang of badass ladies. I love love love them. Grace, particularly. I'd LOVE to see more of her in the next one.

And Levi and Enne's chemistry??? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. I love these two. I love how they interacted in this book.

...and, I realize I'm saying love a whole lot. But I loved this book! So I can't help myself.

Overall, I though the story was great, the characters were great, and the nuances of the world were great. I'm really excited to (hopefully) learn more about New Reynes and the magic of this world, as well as the history of it! Everything's so mysterious--and I love that, it builds so much suspense--but I'm DYING to know more.

My only beef with the book is the pacing and the storylines. Sometimes it felt a little slow, even when things should feel sort of tense and action-y. It didn't bother me too much, but sometimes while reading I wished things were moving along a little faster. In terms of the storylines, it felt like there was a lot going on at times--BUT, it didn't detract, not in my opinion. I think we were trying to see a lot of characters and sometimes things got jumbled up. But it all worked out!

I guess what I'm saying is, read this book. Read Ace of Shades. And then come cry with me about how much you love it, too.

If you LOVED Ace of Shades and couldn't wait for the sequel, rest assured that it is FANTASTIC! My only hope for this book is that everyone else loves it as much as I do! Filled with everything that made her debut novel so great, Foody really steps it up with King of Fools and everything is EVEN BETTER! Five stars for sure.

This book was received as an ARC from Harlequin TEEN-Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was in shock of excitement when I finished King of Fools because I never read a book that was so heavily involved with adventure such as this. Levi and Enne are on a quest tothe underworld and teaming up in finding their missing mother. They have to put all of their differences aside and they made have to team up with some unlikely allies in order to not only find the mother and save her but save themselves. I do have to say though, some parts throughout the book I got a little lost on because the chapters jumped in all sorts of directions and that made it hard to follow and understand at times but once things started to pick up the book finished very interesting.

We will consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 4 stars.

Welcome back to New Reynes, where sassy teenagers run the streets and overthrow evil empires!

I liked the first book in this series well enough, but I fell screaming head-over-heels for this one. The character arcs are huge and sweeping, and there are points in time where I want to grab Enne and Levi by their collars and shake them. If they'd just TALK to one another! Sheesh. It would save me A LOT of stress.

One of my favorite things about this book is Enne starts her own gang, and it's a GIRL GANG. And they own. While I thought she was just meh in the first book, I really liked her in this book. She's lost her - idk, annoying whine? - and replaced it with clever sass that totally befits her Seance personae.

I feel for Jac in this book, for the difficult position he's in, for the sense of loneliness, but I do so appreciate his loyalty to Levi. And I hope that Levi appreciates it, as well.

The nice thing about this book is that all the world building happens in the first one, so this book can really concentrate on advancing the story. And that it does. We learn more about Vianca, her son Harrison, the inner workings of the New Reynes gang system, the politics of the city, and - essentially - about our (anti)heroic cast. There are two new characters in this installment who *nearly* steal the show, but end up mending really nicely with the ensemble.

Overall, I remain impressed by Amanda Foody's ability to write amazing female characters who are unapologetically beautiful in their silk, lipstick, and heels, while still able to stick a stiletto into someone's heart, if necessary.

Ace of Shades was one of my favorite reads of last year and I was so excited to receive an ARC of King of Fools. I can tell you that KoF lives up to the hype and every other expectation that I had. If you like girl gangs, crime lords, ladies who could step on you in stilettos & you'd say thank you, and a SUPER messed up villain....this book is for you. I have no idea how I'm supposed to survive the wait for the next book after that ending. So much happens and my poor heart was not prepared for any of it.

I would like to start by saying I would die for Enne and her gang if they asked. I would also like to say I'm so fucking mad at Enne but what can I do. This sequel wasn't AT ALL what I expected, especially that damn ending?!??!@#$?%$?R&&* So many shady secrets, awful deals and I can't count how many times my heart dropped at all the action, drama and ROMANCE!!! The unexpected relationships, kisses and dancing is what I frickin live for. THE KISSING SCENE WITH THE LACE AND KNIVES!!!!!!!!!! I DIED (y'all will know) I don't know how the next book is gonna be without my darling [redacted] I'm not gonna lie, I was fucking shocked and did not see it coming and that shit hurted! A real bitch almost cried but ugh.......anyways there's like,,,,,,a LOT of shady deals and different sides I never thought I'd see coming from our favorite messy gangs but I shall keep my lips sealed. I'm already dying for the next book.

A solid 4/5 stars!

This was a strong sequel to Ace of Shades. I thought Amanda Foody did a great job going more in depth with all the street lords. There was also a lot of character development for the secondary and minor characters as well! A lot of things that I felt were missing when it came to the world and charcater development were solved here. It was really solid, and definitely a sequel most fans would be on board with!

My main problem with this book was definitely pacing and the ending.

The pacing in this was all over the place. We get thrown right into a lot of narrative and dialogue between Levi and a character we know nothing about. You think things will just take off, but then you see that it's a bunch of chapters with minor plot progression and more dialogue. You'll get about a quarter way through by the time things finally pick up, and by then it might be too late for some people. Once you get through that, things start chugging along perfectly!

The book retains a steady pace for the rest of the bug, but then suddenly stops and slows down in the final quarter of the book. It becomes unbearably slow for some odd reason, even though it's the final act of the book. There was a twist during this that made sense, but it didn't make sense. There weren't enough clues sprinkled around, and the second reveal concerning a character at this same time just felt shoe-horned in. It didn't feel genuine and just left me feeling that the author probably meant to add more clues to set up the reveal.

Also, the final scene in this book -not the epilogue- just left me mad. Not for obvious reasons either. Enne makes the most idiotic decision, and it doesn't fit her character at all. It also doesn't help that Levi had warned her not to go through with it just a few lines before, and she understood it wouldn't work. The fact that she goes through with it left a sour taste in my mouth, knowing that if it was in any other place in the book she wouldn't have done it.

Overall, I thought that this was really good for development of characters and the world, but not so much happens in terms of plot progression until a random twist near the end. I still think that it's a sequel fans of Ace of Shades should check out.

I don't even know where to start with this one. I loved it so much. The plotting was intensely intricate, the character development was off the charts, and the world grew even more interesting than what the first book established. I guessed a few things that happened, but there were plot twists that had me literally gasping, and I'm still not over it. I was so invested in this story that I found myself skimming to find out what happened, but I loved it so much that I forced myself to go back and read the beautiful words. I was looking forward to this book because I liked Ace of Shades, but this sequel blew away all my expectations and turned The Shadow Game series into something I will not easily forget.