A review by beccisays
Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Adored the way tarot cards are used within the story, true to the real life card interpretations with additional symbolism and meaning from the world and its magic woven in. The plot and games are slightly reminiscent of Caraval or The Night Circus but without as much whimsical charm, mostly as the setting and tone of the book, plus its unique magic system, is rooted in a much more realistic, gritty cityscape. This draws a lot of strong similarities with Six of Crows, in particular the long cons and politics of old fashioned street gangs, including all the (mostly) lovably rogue characters. As it's available in the Audible plus catalogue, I didn’t have the highest expectations but I’m very pleasantly surprised and definitely want to continue to listen to the rest of the series. I would say its use of words like “muck” instead of expletives was kind of jarring though and I would like to see some growth or character arc on Levi’s part as he seems an unlikely fit for the leadership role that is supposed to belong to him. 
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