Shadow Game #2

This is a review for the second book in a series.  If you have not read the first book beware that there might be spoilers ahead for that one.  As always I will not spoil anything from this book.  See my review of the first book here.

King of Fools by Amanda Foody

Publications Date: April 30, 2019

Summary from NetGalley:

Indulge your vices in the City of Sin, where a sinister street war is brewing and fame is the deadliest killer of them all…

On the quest to find her missing mother, prim and proper Enne Salta became reluctant allies with Levi Glaisyer, the city’s most famous con man. Saving his life in the Shadow Game forced Enne to assume the identity of Séance, a mysterious underworld figure. Now, with the Chancellor of the Republic dead and bounties on both their heads, she and Levi must play a dangerous game of crime and politics…with the very fate of New Reynes at stake.

Thirsting for his freedom and the chance to build an empire, Levi enters an unlikely partnership with the estranged son of mafia donna Vianca Augustine. Meanwhile, Enne remains trapped by Vianca’s binding oath, playing the roles of both darling lady and cunning street lord, unsure which side of herself reflects the truth.

As Enne and Levi walk a path of unimaginable wealth and opportunity, new relationships and deadly secrets could quickly lead them into ruin. And when unforeseen players enter the game, they must each make an impossible choice: sacrifice everything they’ve earned in order to survive…

Or die as legends.

ARC provided by Harlequin Teen via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

I just adore this world!  The resemblance to 1930’s America, possibly Chicago or Las Vegas and then the magical system is just so unique.  I love it.  This second installment is just as good as the first, although perhaps a tad slow at times.  But that ending certainly makes up for that!

This book starts exactly where the first one left off, with Levi and Enne dealing with the consequences of the Shadow Game.  They are now wanted criminals and have pretty high bounties on their heads.  So now what do they do?  Do they keep their heads down and keep a low profile, yeah no, not a chance of that.  Levi works on reclaiming his gang and Enne starts a gang of her own.  Life should be good right?  Nope, things get messy when they both make deals without the others knowledge that eventually blow up in every sense of the word.  Both make horrible choices and decisions and keep secrets to themselves with horrible consequences.  I wouldn’t expect anything less from them.  

The story is still told from Levi and Enne’s point of view, but Jac has joined the narrative with his own story.  I loved seeing things from his point of view.  I love Jac and all of his issues.  I love his relationship with Levi and the fact that no matter what comes between them, they still have each other’s back.  Jac is unfortunately the cause of a lot of tension between Levi and Enne which I understood why he did what he did, but I still don’t have to like it.

Enne and Levi’s love story continues to be a slow one to develop.  They both obviously have feelings for each other, but they also have so much more going on in their lives that they just can’t get much past that beginning stage.  Plus, all of those deals and secrets they are keeping from each other does not a healthy relationship make.  

The world building continues to amaze me.  We get a bit more insight into the workings of the gangs and more of the different magical abilities.  Enne’s gang was great not only because of their specialty but because of the fact that they are all girls.  Some of the new gang characters have some very interesting abilities too.  I especially liked Tock and her ability to blow stuff up.  Very cool.

I really can’t say much about the plot with out spoiling things, but boy is it full of twists and turns, lots of double crosses and everyone betraying everyone and keeping secrets from each other.   I almost needed a play book to keep it all straight.  This plot is much more complex than the first book, and oh my god that ending just about broke everyone and everything.  As I mentioned there are a few slow spots, but once you get past them you are in for a hell of a ride. 

Not sure where this story is going to go in the next book, but I am sure that it will be amazingly complex with even more double dealing and backstabbing and I can’t wait.