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onceuponanisabel
You ever read a really f-cking good book and the music hits at just the right moment and the tears roll down your face and everything is just perfect in that moment?
I'm gonna review this in a slightly unconventional way so that you can understand just how much I loved this book. I didn't realize King of Fools was a sequel until after I'd been approved for an arc of it, so I had to go back and read The Ace of Shades, which ended up being one of my favorite books of the year. These books are so, so good, and I recommend them to literally anyone. Okay, so my review will be as a pro/con list.
Pros
- I love all of the characters with all my heart. Jac gets his own POV in this book, and I loved it and him. Enne grows into her reputation which was awesome to witness. Levi continues to be his own amazing self.
- The romance! We stan a slow burn, and Enne and Levi's relationship continues from where it left of at the end of Ace of Shades. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but it was a roller coaster in the best sense, and I can honestly say that I have no idea where they'll end up. On top of that beautiful ship, we're also treated to a continuation of the relationship between Levi and Dice which was steamy af and I adored. I'm really glad Dice came back to play a bigger role than some random hookup in the first book.
- The universe continues to be extremely original and absolutely fascinating. I mean...it's gangs in a magical steampunk Las Vegas. Enough said.
- The plot of this book was a lot more nuanced and complicated than Ace of Shades, which I appreciated. There is a flip side to this, though, which I'll discuss in cons. It was much less formulaic and predictable than Ace of Shades.
Cons
- The complications of the plot were maybe just a little too much, and it was a little hard to keep up with everyone's motivations and all of the political give and take, especially since lots of characters had secret agendas and we weren't treated to POVs for them that would have enlightened us. I don't necessarily think that would have been better, but it was just a lot to keep track of. It took me a pretty long time to get through it for that reason alone.
- Uh. Yeah. That's it.
ARC provided via NetGalley
Pros
- I love all of the characters with all my heart. Jac gets his own POV in this book, and I loved it and him. Enne grows into her reputation which was awesome to witness. Levi continues to be his own amazing self.
- The romance! We stan a slow burn, and Enne and Levi's relationship continues from where it left of at the end of Ace of Shades. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but it was a roller coaster in the best sense, and I can honestly say that I have no idea where they'll end up. On top of that beautiful ship, we're also treated to a continuation of the relationship between Levi and Dice which was steamy af and I adored. I'm really glad Dice came back to play a bigger role than some random hookup in the first book.
- The universe continues to be extremely original and absolutely fascinating. I mean...it's gangs in a magical steampunk Las Vegas. Enough said.
- The plot of this book was a lot more nuanced and complicated than Ace of Shades, which I appreciated. There is a flip side to this, though, which I'll discuss in cons. It was much less formulaic and predictable than Ace of Shades.
Cons
- The complications of the plot were maybe just a little too much, and it was a little hard to keep up with everyone's motivations and all of the political give and take, especially since lots of characters had secret agendas and we weren't treated to POVs for them that would have enlightened us. I don't necessarily think that would have been better, but it was just a lot to keep track of. It took me a pretty long time to get through it for that reason alone.
- Uh. Yeah. That's it.
ARC provided via NetGalley
I don't even really know how to describe the experience of reading this because it was simultaneously sooooo much infodump filler but also so engrossing i've ditched so much other stuff to finish this
I'm genuinely floored by how much I disliked this book.
Todd is an unreasonable idiot who I hated from the first chapter when he repeatedly hits his dog.
Viola has literally no personality.
I was never invested, so an entire storyline about these two characters trying to survive bored me, because I just didn't care if they survived. None of the revelations about the world or Prentisstown surprised me.
I never expected to love this book. I knew going in that it wasn't the type of book I usually like. But given its popularity and the probably-never-going-to-happen movie, I decided to give it a shot. Boy was that a mistake.
Todd is an unreasonable idiot who I hated from the first chapter when he repeatedly hits his dog.
Viola has literally no personality.
I was never invested, so an entire storyline about these two characters trying to survive bored me, because I just didn't care if they survived. None of the revelations about the world or Prentisstown surprised me.
I never expected to love this book. I knew going in that it wasn't the type of book I usually like. But given its popularity and the probably-never-going-to-happen movie, I decided to give it a shot. Boy was that a mistake.
IT'S HALLOWEEN SECOND AND I'M ALREADY READING SUCH GOOD SEASONAL BOOKS I LOVE AUTUMN SO MUCH
