4.5 stars

Finishing this book left me with a lot of emotions. I’m impressed, devastated, terrified, and fascinated. Amanda Foody is a brilliant author and, although it took me two weeks to read, King of Fools is nothing less than a masterpiece.

In my experience, giving a novel a high rating means one of two things: it was amazing and I can write an essay on all of the things I loved, or it was amazing but I’ve been rendered speechless and just. Words are hard. King of Fools falls into the second category.

I love Enne Salta and Levi Glaisyer with every fiber of my being. I fell in love with Lola, Grace, Tock, Jac, and Sophia along the way. Every one of Foody’s protagonists is complex and lovable. These characters might have questionable morals, and a couple of them were insufferable on more than one occasion. But they’re also determined, strong, and ambitious in their own right. They’re raw, they’re real, and I just really love my disaster gangsters.

There’s so much Foody did right with this novel — an epic girl gang, complicated friendships, a divided city slowly descending into chaos, political intrigue, gang rivalries and uneasy alliances. A focal point of the story is old legends, making new ones, and writing your own story. Although my thoughts are quite scattered, Foody tied everything together perfectly.

Oh, and did I mention the romantic tension? There’s so much of it! All the good stuff, like miscommunication and pining and repressed desires, as well as the occasional kissing scene. I promise you, though, it’s not cheesy; if anything, it’s painstakingly good.

My only issue with this sequel is the pacing. At the start, the story felt fast-paced and I was enjoying every second of it. Around the halfway point, I felt that the plot slowed down drastically, dragging until the last hundred pages or so. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the entire book, but I think cutting down the length a bit would’ve been beneficial.

But no matter my criticism, that ending rocked my world. Holy crap. I’m relieved but heartbroken, concerned but extremely curious. I need Queen of Volts!!! If you need me, I’ll be here, playing The Sims and eagerly/impatiently waiting for September to come. And if you enjoyed the first book, you definitely should read this one as soon as humanly possible!

Representation:
• Levi is black and bisexual.
• Narinder and Tock, two side characters, are people of color. The former is gay and the latter is a lesbian.
• Lola, another side character, is also a lesbian.
• In the first half of the book, there’s a m/m relationship. Note that it’s temporary.
• Toward the end of the book, a side f/f relationship develops.

CW: addiction to a fictional drug, smoking, violence, arson, gun use, death, murder, torture