Ace of Shades

By: Amanda Foody

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets...and secrets hide in every shadow

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school - and her reputation - behind to follow her mother's trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected - he's a street lord and con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems. Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos and illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless Mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city...and she'll need to play.

©2018 Amanda Foody (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

I'll be listening to the next one.

Interesting young adult story but narrative is slow unfolding. Involves violence, drinking, gambling and drugs but somehow still manages to stay pretty tame.

Loved it

This had great stakes, tension, and the romance wasn’t ruling the plot but I was hoping for more than what we got. I liked that I wasn’t able to predict what would happen next. Interested in what the next book brings!

Wasn't sure what to expect

This was an interesting book. A couple of times I started to stop listening because it was slow to start but as the story progressed it got more interesting. I plan on listening to the rest of the series because it sounds like the story is is going to get deeper in the next one. The narrator is really good, her accent really brings life to the characters.

I felt every emotion.

The world building was a bit confusing.
I’m still not sure how a lot of main things work in this world, but if that doesn’t bother you, it’s a great book.
I don’t understand how the powers work or are inherited or how the money system works, but that doesn’t take away from the characters, plot, or overall enjoyment of the story.
I love the characters, for the most part, and I am excited to listen to the next book.

The narrator deserves many awards for how amazing she is in this book. With audio books, I often get annoyed at a women narrator making all the men sound too scruffy or angry, but this narrator made me forget that I wasn’t hearing the characters speaking right to me themselves.

loved it

4/5. Loved the book. It gave the God father vibe mixed with fantasy and magical touch. Narrator did an amazing job narrating it.

Excellent

I found this book because I searched for books read by Saskia Maarleveld on Audible. I didn't really know what to expect as far as the story goes, but was pleasantly surprised with how gripped I was throughout the story. Character development was wonderful and the setting was vividly described. I was a bit disappointed when it ended, because I like stories that are close out fully, and only then did I realize it's a trilogy! Now I'm excited to see how the rest go! As always Saskia Maarleveld did not disappoint and I'm thrilled to learn that she narrates the next book in this series as well.

very interesting

This book drew me in. It had some very interesting concepts that were between talents, mutin abilities and magic. I liked the ideas about how money, or volts, was transported and made. I loved the characters and Enne's transformation.

Good but need more detail

I think the narrator makes it very easy to continue listening. I do agree with other reviews regarding the made up word like "muck" and "shatz", made me jump out of story. Story wise, it has very interesting concepts, I do wish it goes into more detail about them. In the book it just gloss over it, like the street rules, oath, the shadow game. It never really revealed those detail which made me feeling lost and can't follow the story. That is a little disappointing because the concepts are creative and pretty original. I hope to more detail than what is given in the book

Just wasn’t for me!

I feel like the story took forever to get through and I really didn’t want to finish but I have never not finished a book I start. Will probably mot read the other two in the series.

What a Great Book

I love a good YA novel but lately they've been so "rinse and repeat" that I had given up hope on the genre then someone recommended Ace of Shades and I gave it a shot with zero confidence that it would be good, boy was I wrong! Every character in this book has layers, they are all real in their reactions but it doesn't take away from the fantastical world or the dramatic story. The slow burn romance is...chef's kiss because you really care for these characters so it doesn't feel like a trope to keep the reader hooked. Don't get my started on the narration which is one of the best I've heard! I hope the rest of the series lives up to this first book because I'm hooked.