*A few Spoilers*
Loved it!
Ace of Shades follows the story of Enne Salta who has made her way to the city of New Reynes nicknamed the City of Sin to find her mother. She has been missing for the last month and has left Enne a letter with the name of a man of might be able to help her, Levi Glaisyer.
I really enjoyed Enne’s character and the growth she shows over the course of the storyline. She starts off very naive and unsure of herself, very prim and proper and eventually becomes Séance, the badass gang lord who has defeated the Shadow Game. She’s very self-aware and almost unapologetic in terms of who she is and how she conducts herself. She isn’t the cliché damsel in distress in need of rescuing, she takes on the city head on and will do just about anything to find out where her mum is.
I loved Levi! He is one of my new favorite male protagonists. He is a very complex character and I loved seeing all of the different sides of him come out during the plot. He has the persona of the Iron Lord and has to be the strong, resolute and almost cruel at all times, yet he has so many doubts and guilt and he is being pulled in all these different directions.
The romance was a little bit of a slow burn, it was obvious right from the start that they would get feelings for each other because they were thrown together so quickly. I thought they complimented each other quite well and I loved the banter between them.
I thought the magic system was quite unique and very interesting. Having the different families with different abilities and having split abilities depending on your heritage I found very clever. I like that in this world you’re limited by who your family is; it makes it simple to understand and also adds an element of mystery if someone doesn’t know who their mother or father is.
I liked that the book spanned the 10 days that Levi’s debt was due. This format enabled the plot to really go in depth on what the characters were doing at every moment of the day; all the mundane actives that would otherwise be overlooked had the story been longer. This really helped me form a connection to the characters and made me a lot more invested in the story.
All in all I really loved this book! From all the characters, to the setting, the world building and the plot. It all really came together so well and had me intrigued and invested right from the start.
⭐️4.5/5 stars I could not put it down!
I decided instead of doing individual reviews for each book I would combine them all and do a series review! I was immediately sucked in to this series and the storyline and the characters. I started the first book on a Friday and by the next Tuesday I had completed the series, I was that invested!
It was nice to have a different perspective on the whole vampire genre. It is usually quite straightforward from what I’ve read in the past in terms of their powers and how they are turned etc. The fact that Richelle Mead created something that was so different and unique really captured my attention straight away. Having the three species of vampires and having differing was that they are changed and how they reproduce added a lot of depth to the books.
The characters had the perfect amount of angst that I wasn’t too annoyed by. They weren’t the most complex cast of characters that I’ve read about but there was enough distinction between them that kept me eager to read on.
Rose didn’t really show any growth throughout the books in terms of her demeanour or attitude, she stayed pretty consistent throughout; though that didn’t really bother me because she brought a lot of unpredictability and entertainment to the storyline. She acted and reacted very true to her age and I appreciated that, she read as a 17 year old and that’s why I liked her so much.
Lissa’s storyline was very fascinating; it strayed a little too close to the political side of the story which doesn’t really engage me as much as the action. It was nice that the plot went so in depth with the Moroi royal families and their many layers of political manoeuvrings, but again I wasn’t all that interested in that side of the story. She was one character that we did see a change occur throughout the series. I found her to be a little bit pretentious and entitled in the first few books, but you really get a feel of how much she appreciated Rose and her friends in her rise.
As I was making my way through the series there was definitely times when I could predict exactly what was going to happen and usually that annoys me, but this time I was actually ok with it because it made sense. The progression between each book was purposeful and each book was easy to differentiate. Sometimes when I read a series quite quickly all of the books can kind of blend together and I can have trouble picking out which event happened in which book. With this I had no such trouble, I was invested enough that when I finished one book I wanted to immediately pick up the next and did. I can see now why so many people love and recommend this series; I just wish I had read it sooner!
This is a dual perspective fantasy following Harper a girl who one night noticed a man dragging and unconscious woman down an alley and Rhen the crown Prince to the kingdom of Emberfall.
This book follows the story of Alice who has been moving around her whole life with her mum Ella trying to outrun the bad luck that plagues them constantly. That is until Alice’s grandmother a reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood and Ella proclaims that they are free. Or are they?
Amy Leigh Reads 