“Ace of Shades” by Amanda Foody • Book Review
Published: 10 April 2018 by Harlequin Teen
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages, English
“People do not play this game to win, my dear. They play this game not to lose.”
★★★★ (4 / 5 stars) All around, I really enjoyed this novel. Foody's captivating descriptions of the City of Sin consumed me as I fell in love with Levi (and the rest of the cast) page by page. My main qualm with the novel is how prissy Enne started out. Her personality irritated me quite a bit, and while my first thought was, "Why couldn't we have had this story with inverted gender roles?" Enne's arc and growth satisfied me in the end.
summary.
If you've read the book, you can skip this section. Enne is a poised young lady who visits the City of Sin to find her mother who, four months ago, told her, "If I'm not back in two weeks, I'm dead." Levi is a boy forced to become a man too soon and a leader of the Irons, one of several city gangs. As the mystery of Enne's mother's disappearance reveals more about her identity and her past than she even knew, Levi confronts demons of the city and of his heart along his journey to earn back both their freedoms.
!! WARNING !! There are spoilers ahead!
magical villains.
The world-building and City of Sin history was extremely interesting to me. There are some gaps that could still be filled, but I expect that will come with the following books in "The Shadow Game" series. The pace moved quickly, and every time I thought there were no more secrets to reveal, there was some new development that kept me intrigued and addicted to Foody's words.
Plus, all the scenes were painted extremely well for me. Levi has the ability to see auras around people—generally only the ones he grows close to—and this added another layer to different characters. Probably the most well-crafted was Vianca, an all-around terrible woman who enslaves people with her omerta, an innate magical power that binds people to her. All I know is she had better meet a horrible defeat in the sequel.
truth & identity.
As I mentioned at the start, Enne goes through some serious growth throughout the novel. While she never truly became my favorite character, I empathized with her in all her suffering and appreciated her embracing a new identity once she knew the truth. Since the world backstory is kind of complicated, I'll just say that she is a Mizer, meaning she belongs to a race that was slaughtered because of their abuse of power.
But Levi also has some identity struggles. As the youngest gang leader in the city, he carries unknowable burdens of running his gang operations, protecting his kin, and proving their value to the rest of the city—all while trying to save his own skin from a terrible venture he was forced to pursue as a hotel owner's slave. I mean, he's dealing with some sh*t...Am I right? As you can imagine, all this weight comes crashing down and threatens to destroy him in possible the most emotional way. But as he terrorizes the boy he once considered a friend who challenges his power, he is forced to confront his own truth—his own self.
final thoughts.
I was inspired by this wonderful, spunky review of Ace of Shades, so here is a quick list of the quirky little things I enjoyed (and the pieces I could have done without).
THE BESTS
Enne's not-giving-a-muck attitude about killing someone who hurt her
Jac and Lola betting that Levi and Enne would kiss
Enne becoming a gang leader with badass acrobatic skills and escape tactics
Enne eating all the cookies
THE WORSTS
Fake swear words like "mucking"
Enne's stereotypical nonsense and trying to be a lady in the beginning
Levi talking about boys he's slept with and how one card dealer was "very much the sort Levi liked in men. Delicate lips, rosy skin, all soft and boyish."