King of Fools… On April Fool’s Day!

Happy April Fool’s Day! It’s entirely a coincidence that I’m reviewing Amanda Foody’s King of Fools on April 1st; the book just happens to be coming out within a month and this was the next book on my list to review. I was provided with an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

After beating the Shadow Game, Enne and Levi’s lives are about to change. Enne has earned a notorious reputation as her alter ego, Séance, and Levi’s gang is in ruins, but he wants to rebuild it. Levi sees a potential opportunity when Harrison, Vianca’s son, contacts him and wants to 1) win the upcoming election, and 2) see Vianca dead. The difficult part is going against Vianca when she has an omerta against him (and Enne).

While Levi is trying to rebuild his gang, Enne (Séance) is forming hers. Enne’s girl gang is a lot different than your typical gang. Instead of your typical guy clothes, these girls wear fancy gloves and skirts. And they have cats (so does that make them crazy cat ladies?).

King of Fools excels in many areas. First, the relationships are great. Levi and Jac’s friendship is tested in several ways, as is Levi and Enne’s budding relationship. There are several characters, not just Levi and Enne, that have lives and make independent decisions that drive this story. They also have to deal with their consciences and past demons. It’s well-done.

Another place where this book is great is in how it deals with power. Power (both among the gangsters on the lower rungs and among the powerful politicians) is a huge theme of this story. The way the politicians’ decisions affect the people’s lives and the way they fight back is great.

While this book kept me interested the whole time, it did seem to lag a little bit towards the middle, but then picked up and I stayed up a little too late so I could finish it.

The ending of King of Fools! I definitely plan on reading the next book because I want to find out what happens.  I don’t want to say what happens because – spoilers – but the next book will definitely see some changes.

I definitely recommend King of Fools if you like power manipulation and exciting books with gangsters and a little magic. You’ll want to read Ace of Shades first though, if you haven’t, otherwise you might be lost.