Ace of Shades (Shadow Game) Hardcover – 10 April 2018

This is a YA fantasy, and the first book in The Shadow Game series. This follows Enne Salta, a prim and proper young lady, who travels to the City of Sin, to find her missing mother. Once there, she seeks out a name from her mother’s letter: Levi Glaisyer. Unbeknownst to her, Levi is a conman, working for a notorious crime family. Enne’s life is about to be turned upside down, and in the City of Sin, anything can happen… This was a brilliant novel, and you can see the development in writing from Amanda Foody’s debut. It’s still as fierce, but seems more polished and flows better. The characters are brilliant – both Enne and Levi change so drastically from the beginning of the novel, and it’s interesting to see them have flaws and be fleshed out. The romance element is slow burn, and I was living for it! There is great LGBT and race representation, as well as gender fluidity, which I was presently pleased with. The world building was incredible, and I could see this in my head as I was reading – the casinos, the burlesque shows, the drinking establishments, the gang hideouts! The villains were well written and intriguing, and after the epilogue, I’m excited to see what they will try next. Whilst there is violence and paedophilia, it’s completely condemned and I was thankful that the characters called this out. The fantasy element comes from people inheriting powers from their birth parents, such as accounting and dancing etc. I’d love to see more from these abilities in the future. I can’t wait for book two to be released!

I promised myself I wouldn’t get into any more series until I could access all the books (I hate waiting), but here I am again. This first book in a sequence by Amanda Floyd pulls you into New Reynes and the lives of Enne and Levi straight away. From innocent to street-wise is quite a journey, full of danger and intrigue. I will be waiting impatiently for the next instalment.

Ace of Shades is proof that the YA genre is beginning to encounter authors who truly own their game, and write novels that are far more complex than the stereotypes of the genre.A novel that would appeal to adults of all ages (of a certain mindset), Ace of Shades does dystopia very, very well - and makes the reader question which possible future the novel really deals with.Can't wait for the next instalment of this series.

enjoyed it a lot

Brilliant book!!!

Cam in great condition and the book is superb, would highly recommend.

Fast paced and brilliant.

I have found this book has been compared largely to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo in pretty much every single one. If you go into this book expecting Six of Crows then you aren’t going to be happy because whilst the City of Sin and the gangs do slightly shadow Six of Crows vibes, this book is its own work of art.The plot of Ace of Shades really intrigued me especially the concept of Blood Talents, each person has a blood talent based on their parents, there is a whole array of talents you could have from dancing to being able to make orbs in which volts (the currency of Ace of Shades) can be stored and other talents can be much darker. This added a real mysterious element to the book and every character because you never know what someone’s talent might be therefore is what the character is seeing and hearing the truth?Another mysterious element present throughout, is the story of Lourdes; who she really was, why she is missing and where she is. This is the whole reason Enne enters the City of Sin and as the story begins to unravel so does Enne’s own life as she has always known it.In terms of pace, this book followed a steady pace throughout. I never felt bogged down with information or confused which is something that is easy to feel in a fantasy book.CHARACTERSAce of Shades alternates point of view between Enne and Levi, both of which we see strong character development. When we first meet Enne she seems like a damsel in distress, someone who the City of Sin would swallow hole. As the story develops we learn Enne has more going for her than we originally thought, she really blossoms into a strong character.Levi is our black and bisexual male protagonist, although sexuality isn’t something that is labelled in this world. He simply just is sexually drawn to both men and women. There is a connection between Enne and Levi, a very slow burning romance but it isn’t the forefront of the book at all and although you can feel the tension between the pair and the emotional build up, it’s not really acted upon. The plot is always the forefront of this book which is amazing.The only thing which did niggle me a little bit regarding characters is the development of others. As the point of view was between Enne and Levi, the book focused on these two but it did try to develop Jac and Lola’s story to a greater level. In my opinion I think there just needed to be a bit more time spent on that because they both have such interesting backgrounds and stories and they become important roles in the plot.RATINGAce of Shades was a 4 star book for me. I really enjoyed my whole reading experience and I need the second book in my life immediately please. The only thing which let it down slightly for me was the lack of development of Jac and Lola but I think this might be developed to a greater degree in book 2. The world building, the pace, and plot itself were all marvelous and my favourite aspect was most definitely the concept of blood talents.