content warnings: murder, loss of a loved one, chronic illness
representation: bisexual protagonist, a-spec love interest, lesbian side character, bisexual side character, side characters of colour

I was on the fence about buying Amanda Foody's newest book Ace of Spades, but the masterpiece that was this book has convinced me to buy every single book she writes.

The mystery element to this book is genuinely good, something I can't say about most fantasies that try to pull it off. There are a lot of suspects, a biased narrator, and the conclusion is ultimately satisfying. The mystery does overshadow some of the political intrigue aspects of the book, which is unfortunate because those are equally interesting in my opinion and I wish they had been explored further.

The world that Amanda Foody has created is exquisite. It's explained sporadically, and by the end you still don't entirely understand how the magic of the world works, but in this story it doesn't matter. You're told everything you need to know and the rest is left to your imagination. The powers in particular were one of best elements of the story, and it's never quite explained how or why people get them, they just do and that's a good enough explanation.

As per usual with all of my favourite books, the characters were the stand-outs. Sorina was a great protagonist to follow, and the relationship that she had with her entire family (illusion or otherwise) was so beautiful to read about. I loved that she had a moment with each of them, in particular her moment with Tree towards the end.

Now, strap in, because I'm going to say something shocking: the main romance in this is m/f and I loved it. I know! I'm just as shocked as you are, but it was the perfect kind of dislike-to-friends-to-lovers. Luca and Sorina were so sweet together, and I don't think I've been this excited for a first kiss in a long time. I really liked the way that Luca asexuality was explored and explained, as well as the casual way Sorina's bisexuality was portrayed. All of the portrayals of sexuality in this book were done really well, to be honest.

Part of me now really wants HBO to get their hands on this to make a mini-series but I know how adaptations usually work so instead I'll just reread my favourite bits of this over and over.