Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody ♛ 5 Star Review

Amanda Foody has now solidified herself as one of my favorite authors. Her debut, Daughter of the Burning City is one of my favorite novels, and now this is as well. (I’ve now read this book twice, and still love it just as much) In my opinion, she’s one of the most talented authors that I’ve read from in quite a while. This world, the characters, and the plot were so captivating that I couldn’t put this book down even though I’m in the midst of finals week! I will admit that it did take me about 100ish pages to get into the story, but once I did, there was no going back. I am FULLY invested in this series from now on. And while this did have some similar vibes to Caraval and Six of Crows, it’s truly it’s own unique story.

First of all, this world is phenomenal. The story takes place in New Reynes aka The City of Sin, which is essentially this fantasy world’s version of Vegas. Amanda’s writing was so descriptive and detailed that it made this world truly come to life in vivid, flashing colors. And the world building was wonderful, because it was done in a slow and mysterious way. But the most exciting part is that every single person has two “talents” which they inherit from their mother and father. One of these will be your main talent, or your “blood talent”, and the other is a “split talent”. There can be any number of combinations here, and the variety among the talents was so fascinating. The talents range from dancing and counting, to magical abilities such as being able to control someone.

“Some say the City of Sin is a game, so before you arrive-ask yourself, dear reader, how much are you prepared to lose?” -The City of Sin, a Guidebook: Where To Go and Where Not To 

Gangs

The Irons: The gang that specializes in gambling and fixing games. They have tattoos of cards on their arms.
The Scarhands: The gang that specializes in counterfeits, forgeries, and weapon trading. Their hands are literally covered in scars.
The Doves: The gang that consists of nothing but assassins. They all dye their hair white to match their gang lord.

Characters

Our story opens up with Enne Salta who has journeyed to New Reynes in search of her missing mother. She’s a very innocent and shy girl who dreams of coming out as a Lady in society. But on her desperate search to find her mother, the City of Sin will push and test her in every way possible. She begins to question herself and test the limits of what she’s truly willing to do. At first I found her a bit annoying, but she has some serious character development and by the end I absolutely LOVED her.

She was a pistol wrapped up in silk. She was a blade disguised as a girl. 

Next up, we have Levi Glaisyer whom is the lord of The Irons gang. He’s the best card dealer and con man in town, but we first see him in a very troublesome situation. He desperately craves acknowledgment for the gang leader that he is, but everyone looks down on him because of his age. We get to see Levi as the city pushes him to his limits and as he tries to prove himself as lord of The Irons. Due to a letter Enne’s mom had wrote, these two team up and it was everything I could have hoped for and more.

Then there’s Lola whom was my personal favorite. I won’t give much about her away, but I will say that I loved her from her first appearance. She’s a very strong girl, with a tragic story, and she has a tendency to carry an abundance of knives on her person.

Jac is a character that it took me a while to invest in. Everything about him was kind of hush hush, but I should have known that I’d love him as soon as he smiled with those dimples. He’s Levi’s best friend and second of The Irons, and he has a bad habit of getting into boxing matches. He is the most heartbreaking character and I just want to give him a HUG. I feel like we didn’t really get to see that much of his personality in this one so please Amanda, give me more Jac!!

And last but certainly not least is Reymond whom is lord of The Scarhands. He was such an amazing character and basically served as an older brother/father figure to Levi. I just loved him so much.

Characters – 18/20
Plot line – 14/16
Originality – 16/16
Writing Style – 16/16
Pace – 15/16
Ending – 14/16
93/100

Everything that I’ve told you about Ace of Shades is just the tip of the iceberg, because there’s SO much more that happens in this novel and I’m just internally screaming because I loved it so much. It’s officially made it to my favorites list and I’d highly recommend this to any fans of YA fantasy! Now I’m going to sob because King of Fools comes out in less than a month.

Rating: ★★★★★