King of Fools – Amanda Foody

King of Fools by Amanda Foody

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

King of Fools by Amanda Foody is the second book in the Shadow Game series. Although I really enjoyed Ace of Shades, it was King of Fools that had me completely invested in the story of Enne and Levi, New Reynes, and the unique magic system. The plot was more complicated and generally less fast paced than the first book, but it kept me intrigued throughout. There was just so much

One of the things that I had felt was lacking in the first book was a clear description of the magic system. People are born with two abilities, essentially their main and minor (or supporting) powers. Each power comes from their parents’ lineage, so a certain surname has a specific power associated with it. Until the powers manifest, you won’t know which is your main power and which is the secondary, nor how they might interact with or alter the other. Although I still don’t feel like that was fully fleshed out, I did feel like there was a little more depth to it in this book. It’s not perfect, but I’m happier about it and feel like I understand it enough to be able to figure out how it might play out for certain characters going forward.

I really appreciated how the characters have grown since the first book. Although the actual story timeline was quite short, the characters went through a lot in a few weeks. They emerge as new people, with daily struggles and a form of PTSD from the events of Ace of Shades. Levi especially shows how much it is affecting him and I appreciated that authenticity. Enne also has challenges, but she fights harder to stop it from manifesting because she just wants to move forward and forget. The nightmares won’t allow it.

They have also been allowed to grow and change with one another. We see new relationships between characters grow (romantic and platonic), as well as fissure and fracture under the strain of crime, corruption, and lies. There were also new characters introduced that I loved and Enne was able to pull together her own girl gang, which was amazing. It was nice to see a crew of all girls going toe-to-toe with the Lords and gangs of New Reynes. This book also took place between three POVs, with differing goals, motives, and morals so the story was painted in a different way than the first.

King of Fools has a more political cast to it than the first book, as we see struggles for power and the mounting tensions between the North and South sides come to a head. This is another strong plotline running throughout the book and adds to the sheer amount of stuff that managed to be packed into this book. Violence and love, gambling and risk, betrayal and loyalty, and so much more. It was such a fun and stressful ride to be on with these characters and I cannot wait to see where we are taken next in this world.

View all my reviews