Overall, this was an interesting story. It was definitely different than what I have read before. I liked the card game, Mythic, and that Shuffle would reference the cards abilities for real life events. Mythic reminded me of Magic the Gathering, for what little I know about it. I don't usually read western books but the setting worked for this one. I would be interested in continuing this if it became a series.

I received an ARC via Netgalley; all opinions are my own.

A very enjoyable middle-grade read! I’ve been craving a middle grade book that focuses on kids and gaming culture, so I’m glad I picked up Cardslinger! It definitely scratched that itch. Even though I don’t normally gravitate to westerns, I quite enjoyed this one! The world building was both atmospheric and accessible. Very well done!

A fun and adventure filled tale that is sure to keep your middle grade readers completely enthralled! Fast paced, well written, and with an intriguing mystery, Cardslinger is a great action story.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions are my own.

A middle grade adventure story that blends the frontier era WIld West with a card game called Mythic ,where players battle using decks of cards based on various mythologies.
Our hero is Jason "Shuffle" Jones whose father invented the game for the two of them before disappearing on an archaeological quest. Shuffle has never believed that his father is dead despite what the rest of the world may think, and when a travelling salesman comes to town peddling the Mythic game he is more convinced than ever before that his father is out there somewhere. He sets off on a mission to find his father and along the way he encounters a gang of gun wielding bounty hunters and a cheating card sharp , but also makes friends and discovers he is braver and smarter than he ever thought.
The book is fast paced and fun , and I am sure there are plenty of young readers who will enjoy it . The characters are fun and feisty. I will say that repeated references to the Mythic cards when events were happening pulled me out of the story and I found that jarring, I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

It was okay. I got kind of bored, so I did not finish reading, but it would appeal to readers who want a western style story.

A western with a modern twist! You don't see too many westerns in the middle-grade category for kids, so when I saw this book I knew I had to give it a try, especially since it fused a modern-day style game to the core of its story.

To best understand the story, it's probably a good idea to understand how trading card games function. I freely admit that my knowledge on the subject is limited, but when most people think of the trading card games, they will immediately go to Pokemon, but there are others like Yu-Gi-Oh or Hearthstone, In the game you have a set of cards with some type of artwork that will depict a type of creature, being, etc. Each of these cards will provide text explaining the card's function, perhaps with defensive characteristics or offensive characteristics. Then, you play the cards based on that games specific rules. I have probably butchered all of that, but I hope you get the gist.

After all..."Deputy Bat Masterson Plays Mythic. Do you?"

In Cardslinger, Shuffle's father created a trading card game called Mythic. However, several years ago he went on an expedition and was never seen again, believed to have been killed. One day Shuffle finds someone selling his father's Mythic cards and realizes his father isn't dead after all. He is positive his dad would never abandon him, so something must be keeping him from coming home. No one, of course, believes him so he sets out to find him, along with his trusty black cat Katana. The journey west does not go as planned and soon he finds himself trying to outrun some guns for hire. But he is not completely ill-fortuned because it's not a western without a side kick and her name is Atalanta, who decides to go along with him on his quest and help him out.

"Of course, the escape couldn't be too easy. Skylla and her gang had to show up to make a game of it. What a pile of cow patties."

This book was such a fun read. As I mentioned earlier you don't see many westerns for middle age so to be able to read about stage coaches, horseback riding, shoot-outs, trains and railroads, not to mention Doc Holliday is going really excite some young readers. The main characters of Shuffle and Atalanta and written really well and it's just possible that you may find your favorite character is the side-kick Atalanta, who is tough as nails. There's a lot of activity that keeps the story moving along at a nice pace. The chapters are short, but if they run on the longer-side of short, then there are usually breaks within the chapter to give the reader a nice stopping point, if needed. Although the book has a lot of adventure, it never loses the heart of it's story line of a boy just trying to find his dad and bring him home.