Book Title: King of Fools (The Shadow Game #2)
Author: Amanda Foody
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Description from Goodreads:

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 Seance, 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 Vianca Augustine’s estranged son. Meanwhile, Enne remains trapped by the mafia donna’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: To sacrifice everything they’ve earned in order to survive...

Or die as legends.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

The gang is back at it again! This book started off really strong for me — it was extremely fast-paced and engaging — but about three quarters through the book, it started to drag a little and was harder to finish. In this sequel, Enne becomes much stronger and more sure of herself. While she does things she isn’t proud of, she’s able to grow from those experiences. I love that she starts her own girl gang and recruits all these badass women who prove strength, cunning, and deadliness are not gender-specific traits. While Enne appreciates traditionally feminine outfits, incorporating intricate dresses and white lacy gloves into her gang’s wardrobe, these choices don’t make the women any less dangerous to rival gangs. If anything, they’re more dangerous when underestimated by their adversaries. As a leader, Enne also shows that loyalty is earned, not forced, when she earns the trust of every member she recruits.

Levi continues to both frustrate and impress me at times. He comes up with some great ideas to help generate chaos and change the dynamics of the city, but he also hurts people along the way. Tock becoming his third is a great development — she’s not impressed by Levi and has no issues telling him this. I also like that everyone is accepting of Levi’s bisexuality with no one so much as batting an eye when he becomes romantically involved another man.

Vianca is still the worst in this book, but the reader begins to see why she is the way she is. Even Enne gets to peek behind Vianca’s mask and understand her frustration with the society that they live in. A line that really stuck out to me was if Enne “…truly believed tears and vulnerability meant weakness, then she wouldn’t merely understand Vianca Augustine — she would respect her.” Enne doesn’t believe that compassion and developing personal connections makes her weak, but instead she sees value in those relationships. We also get to see Vianca start to unravel, which is both surprising and terrifying.

The books switches POV between Enne, Levi, and Jac, which I found somewhat annoying at times. I would just be getting into one character’s part of the story, only for the chapter to end and the next pick up somewhere completely different. It was interesting having all the gang lords meet up and getting to see all the different personalities clash. I think Foody does a good job of creating such distinct characters with unique backstories. Throughout the book, we also learn more about the history of New Reynes and the legends that live there, which I enjoyed.

Overall, I liked this book but definitely not as much as the first one. It’s nice to see more of the characters and to watch them grow, and I love how unique the plot and characters are.