I remember being so intrigued by this book and its concept when it came out 5 (!) years ago, and I can't believe it took me this long to get around to it. The world of New Reynes and all of the different aspects of this city were so interesting, but I did feel overwhelmed by the plethora of characters and worldbuilding at times, though I hope this is something that readers would feel more comfortable with in the sequels. I thought the characterisation in this was so strong, particularly the 4 more central characters, and I thought their dynamic worked well. While I understand that it was very much the secondary storyline of Ace of Shades, I found the romance between Levi and Enne to be too much of a slow-burn for my liking, especially as I thought it would have been well-served being used as a relief from all of the tension of the various situations going on.

Thieves, rogues, and shady characters always pull me to a story, and so I enjoyed my dive into the morally ambiguous world of New Reynes. Definitely an excellent start to the series!

This one just wasn't for me. The MC didn't grab my attention and I found myself procrastinating reading, which is never a good sign. It definitely could have been a me issue, though. Mood reading is all fun and games until you're trying to clear a book that has been on your shelf forever and then the book doesn't fit your reading mood.

There were interesting parts, I liked that it had been marketed as similar to Six of Crows as I'd enjoyed that book, but the characters weren't as vibrant as in that series so maybe the comparison didn't do it favours.

I was given this book via NetGalley for a honest review. I read Daughter of the Burning City and thought that Ace of Shades would be just as good if not, better. It had nothing on that.

This is a very clever story! I was impressed with the creation and the world building. What I felt let it down, were the characters. There wasn’t much for development, apart from the main character Enne. Her development feels like it’s going backwards. That she is becoming the bad guy.

I don’t know if I will be finishing off the series.

I have been wanting to read Ace of Shades for a while now. Ever since reading the description for the book a few months back I have been itching to get my hands on the book. I think the dark themes and story definitely won me over and I am happy to say that now having read the book it does not disappoint.

The story of Ace of Shades has two different point of views from the main characters Enne and Levi, and I have to say that I loved both of them. I found Enne to be a very determined and resilient main character. Her development throughout the book is amazing, at the end she is nearly unrecognisable and it was amazing to be on the journey with her. Levi is also an interesting and complex character. He is the sort of bad guy that you can’t help to love. As soon as he was introduced in the story I loved him and couldn’t get enough. When Enne and Levi interacted together it was amazing read and I never wanted the scenes to end.

The very first page grabbed my attention and I found that the entire book held my interest throughout until the very end. I didn’t think the story dragged or become boring at any point. With this book being over 450 pages, normally you would expect the middle of the book to be a little dull and slow, but for me Ace of Shades was a fascinating and engaging read. Ace of Shades does have some dark themes and I did think that this was another reason why I found it hard to put this book down because it was so different to what I normally read.

Ace of Shades is the first book I have read from Amanda Foody, and I really love her writing and the way she tells her story. She manages to create an exciting and interesting new world with equally interesting characters. I loved the way she managed to make this story grab you from the very start and leave you wanting more and more. It only took me a couple of days to read the entire book and one of the reasons I couldn’t put this book down was because of the beautiful writing. I have Daughter of the Burning City sitting on my bookshelf so I will be definitely reading the book soon.

I would recommend Ace of Shades for readers who want something different from a YA book. Ace of Shades is and edge of your seat, action adventure book that will leave you unable to put the book down and will trap you in its amazingly dark world. If you are looking for an addictive dark young adult read then you need to pick up Ace of Shades.

I never have high expectations for YA books anymore but I have to admit that I actually enjoyed this one. While i still found it quite predictable and i found the characters a bit annoying at times, I liked the story well enough.

The writing was decent an I actually would love to read the sequel

I've heard a lot of good things about the book and that's why it took me such a long time to read it but at the end of the day, i enjoyed it a lot.. The story is good and somewhat original for ya.

I'd love to see more of this author.

I liked the writing style and how the background information wasn't given all at once. I really enjoyed the story and the build up to certain plot points and reveals. The characters were interesting and I liked the relationships between them.

I am no longer interested in reading this book as my interest in the book has now waned. I have yet to read anything by Amanda Foody but do still have some interest in reading Daughter of a Burning City so will continue to keep an eye out for future books by this author.

The cast of characters are colourful and fun. Both hero and villain wise. Our heroes are easy to get behind, with realistic motivations, that makes you root for them even when they're doing bad. I think the villains are also done so well here. They've also given some depth but you totally loathe them. I also like that there is some interesting, not so well explored characters who will be explored more in the sequels. I'm super interested in seeing how these characters are used in the upcoming books.

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Enne Salta steps off the boat in New Reynes and looks totally out of place. Enne was raised in Bellamy as a proper lady one year away from making her debut. when her mother goes missing Enne travels to New Reynes to find her, she only has one lead and that is to find Mr Levi Glaisyer. Levi is not the gentleman she thought he would be instead he is a street lord and a con-man. He has no time for a little missy messing up his life trying to find her mother when he has problems of his own. But Enne may have a way of helping him so he agrees to help her.

New Reynes bad side “The City of Sin” is world is a mix up of Las Vegas and New Orleans Voodoo magic. There is a lot of world building which sometimes got confusing as it was so intense but I just checked the map a few times and that sorted me right out.

The magic in this is different too. Everyone has two talents their blood talent which is the strongest and the spilt talent which is weaker. It runs in families and the last two names tell of their talents. These talents range from dancing, strength, counting, binding people to your will, seduction, blowing things up, etc.
The main characters are all diverse we have Levi who is a bi black guy who is not afraid to show he cares. Enne who starts off as a prim little lady, becomes a badass leader prepared to do anything to find her mother. and help the friends she’s made.

Overall I liked this story, the pacing was good the story picked up straight away and the characters came to life on the page with great personalities.

I really didn't enjoy this book I gave up on it around 100 pages in, I just didn't feel any connection to the characters and didn't want to continue.

This book honestly blew my mind , the author has written this story so beautifully I was so lucky to get to read this story and am glad I did it has every thing amazing characters, a perfect amount of magic , laughter and romance I can’t wait to see what the author brings out next

This book follows two characters,Enne, who enters the city to find her mother and Levi,who is close to paying his debts and thinks helping her would solve his problems.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time and I’m glad I finally read it. I really enjoyed this book and really liked the world it was set in. It was interesting to learn about the magic system and I was fascinated by it.The setting of this book was very good as it was once a monarchy and now is a republic. It was fun to learn about the history of the city and how it evolved to being what it was. It was told in 2 points of view in a third person narrative. It was good to know what both the characters were thinking and not left guessing too much.

I liked both of the main characters,Enne and Levi. Enne was sometimes shown to believe she was better than others but overall I liked her character. Levi was a favourite of mine, as I just wanted to know more about him and how he got to where he was.I also liked Lola,although she was very mean at the start. I want to talk about other characters but it will spoil the book so I will refrain.

I liked the writing as it was very beautiful and I had many quotes highlighted because of it. The writing was easy to follow and understand.

I liked that there was romance but not too much of it. It was slow burn and not insta-love which I really appreciated as a lot of YA books that I've read recently is basically just love at first sight. It was very refreshing. It seemed that way to me anyway. There was attraction but not right away.

I didn't guess the plot twists although,now looking back, I think it was set up for it and if I was paying more attention to I would have figured out.  It was interesting to see how the plot twists played out and how everything tied together.

One thing I didn't like was that the swear words were made up and it would have been better if the normal swear words were kept.

I really liked this book but for some reason didn't LOVE it. I'm not sure why.I'm looking forward to the sequel and what that entails.

If you're looking for a mysterious book with magic in it, I would definitely recommend this.

4/5

*Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Young Adult for providing an E-Arc. All opinions are my own.*

This first book in The Shadow Game series follows our main character Enne Salta, raised as a proper young lady. The book begins as Enne's mother goes missing and she goes to New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin, to find her. Enne has only one lead: the name Levi Glaisyer. However, he is not what she expected and realises he is a street lord leading a dangerous life. Together they need to search for clues, leading them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless Mafia donna.

I had heard a lot of good feedback about this book so I was excited to finally read it.

The main thing I quite enjoyed about this book was the magic system based on each family's having special talents. It is an idea that I have never seen in any other book and I found this quite original and intriguing.

Unfortunately the rset of the book felt a bit flat for me. I found the characters unrealistic (Levi is supposed to be 17, but not very convincing) and quite annoying.
The pacing was also very slow and I found that the context and world building was not explained enough. I know it is a first book in a series and we will probably have more details later but I found this rather difficult to follow with the little information we were given.

3.5 stars

The City of Sin, New Reynes, is not a place that a young lady attending finishing school should go, especially by herself. But Enne Salta has no choice - her mother is missing.
Enne enters the city with a trunk of belongings and the name of someone she hopes can help her.
Levi Glaisyer is a con-man and a street lord. Levi is desperately trying to gather money together to pay back investors of a scam. Desperate enough that he'll even help Enne, a young woman clearly out of her depth, if she will pay.
Enne and Levi's investigation leads them into dangerous territory and Enne might not like what she finds.
Can Enne survive New Reynes?
Will Levi evade his enemies?

The blurb for Ace of Shades really intrigued me so of course I requested a copy on NetGalley. Fortunately, my request was approved!
Enne and Levi were both interesting characters. Enne in particular surprised me by how much she changed throughout the book.
The plot kept me guessing and held my attention but there were a couple of things that bugged me.
The setting of New Reynes and its history were interesting and I'd like to find out more about the city.
The romance wasn't one of my favourites but I didn't dislike it.
The writing was atmospheric and easy to follow.
I definitely want to see what happens in the sequel.

Overall this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

I love books that include thieves and con artists so this was a no-brainer for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it, Ill admit to being slightly annoyed by prim and proper Emme at first but once she started blending in with New Reynes she definitely grew on me.

Levi, however, grew on me from the get-go. But then I always have had a soft part for bad boys! Hes all of 17 and trying to provide for his gang the way he knows best... unfortunately its against the law. I also like the LGBTQ representation that he provides.

I feel like this story fell a bit short but after finding out it was part of a trilogy im sure the author will fill in any gaps!

a 4/5 read for me and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.

This book gave me HUGE Six of Crows vibes. A city of sin full of gambling, gangs and grime, there are a few similarities to the world of Ketterdam. However the story is completely different and is unique in its own way and deserves recognition for that.

The two main characters, Enne & Levi were a perfect partly-platonic duo.. I say partly as there was romance but it was more of a teasing romance than an actual romance. In all honesty I would have preferred a platonic duo, main characters of opposite genders are constantly pushed together in almost all YA novels. So a platonic duo would have been a refreshing read, at least there was no insta-love!

The plot was interesting and unique, a missing mother led them on a journey of secrets and mystery as well as Levi's enemies adding tension and a deadly twist. I thoroughly enjoyed Enne's role in the ending, that although she initially goes to Levi for help the roles are then reversed and the leading man is in need of a heroine. Girl power!

The pacing of this novel was superb, I usually find myself wanting a plot to speed up to find out all the secrets but there were so many small reveals and clues throughout this novel it kept me reading more and more. I enjoyed every second of reading it and I can not wait for the sequel!

I was honestly worried about reading this book was it had such high praise and big hype but I'm so glad I gave it a chance.
I have never read any of Amanda Foody's work but I will definitely be grabbing for more in future. I'm not sure if I was a bigger fan of the characters or the setting. Both were so vivid and clear and I really felt like Foody knew New Reynes and knew exactly who Levi and Enne were. The world feels like the old film style dark and seedy idea of Vegas and I could hear the bustle of the markets and smell the food cooking on street stalls and I loved being in that world.
Levi and Enne were wonderful. These multi layered characters really drew me in, I was attached from the moment I met them both. I found myself worrying for their safety and laughing with them. The characters aren't perfect and that's another reason I found myself wishing I really knew them. There were times when I really couldn't put the book down but I must say there are also times when I felt the story was dragging on a bit.
I feel like the book left me on a small cliffhanger but not one that I feel I immediately needed the next book but I am really excited to read the next one.
4.5/5 stars

This book has to be one of my favourites this year. I love the unique fantasy element and haven't really read a book set around card games and in a casino. In this book it starts off straight to the point of the plot which i loved and it kept the fast pace through out the book.
I loved Enne and levi as our main characters as i felt that they played to each others strengths. Enne has a goal in mind and will do anything she can to reach it whether that means lying to her friends or not. She came from Bellamy to the city of sin to search for adoptive mother who sent her to levi. Levi is the iron lord which means he has a group of criminals that look up to him. He is very caring for his friend and faces a threat from another high up lord. I liked how every character in the book has two different talents. One is a blood talent and another is a split talent which is unique and ive never heard of that in any other fantasy books.
I gave this book 5 stars as i really loved it and need the sequel now!! i need more of enne and levi!

Oh boy. Where do I start? I don't even know what this is.

I can't remember a time I was so interested in a book and it let me down so badly.

I just finished it and I honestly have very little understanding of what it was about. I know what happened but...I don't really know what the point of everything was. I felt it so difficult to follow at the start because there were SOOOOO many info dumps and it just got confusing. Quite a lot of what happened seemed pretty pointless to me. It all seemed to be leading up to this big showdown with The Shadow Game and it was so dull. The big ending was just...really, very dull. It's the only way I can think of to describe it.

I hated Enne. I can't actually think of a main character I have ever hated as much. She was just terrible. I kinda hoped Levi would be my saviour and he had his moments but it wasn't enough to save it. Lola and Jack just didn't really register on my radar which was a shame because Jack sounded like her had some interesting powers.

The power system was so confusing. Powers and split powers and auras and shades or something...I just had no idea what was going on. I didn't really understand what Enne being a Mizer really meant and I don't care enough to find out.

I did not like the romance between Levi and Enne. It just felt a bit forced.

This may sound harsh but it felt like it was trying to be Six of Crows with a twist. I think it was even pitched that way on Netgalley. For me, it wildly missed the mark.

I don't think there is anything in this book that would make me want to read the rest of the series. I think I'm only not giving it one star because I feel bad...

Sorry for the negative review. I think this book is like marmite as some people really seem to love it, but it's just not for me.