Having a hard time figuring out my feelings for this book. I liked the writing a bunch, and the story was a four star for me. Enjoyed this world. But the romance. Well. That ruined it a bit for me. And I have a lot of feelings about it, that I must share. So I think that I am going to give this book three stars. Was good, but not perfect.
Despite it being a three star, I did like this book a whole lot. I only had some issues with it as well. But shall begin by saying all the things I liked about it. And to start with, the writing. I found it to be awesome and I never had any issues with it. Thrilled about that. The characters were all kinds of adorable and messy. Loved that.
This book is told from the point of view of Enne and Levi. They're both seventeen, yet they come from such different worlds. Enne has spent her life trying to become a Lady. She's tried her best to be liked by those in her school, though all of them seemed awful. Hmph. Levi lives in the City of Sin. He is a street lord. All kinds of ruthless and dangerous and all kinds of adorable. I loved him so much. I adored Enne too. I loved how in the beginning of this one she is so shy and proper and all that. Yet over the ten days this book takes place, she changes so much. She becomes harder and braver and stronger. I loved that change in her. She was so awesome. Levi was still my favorite character of everyone, though. I loved getting to know all about him. Need to know more.
This book begins with Enne having left her safe and quiet home, and is now going to the City of Sin, to search for her missing mother. Whom may be dead or not. Enne gets into trouble the very moment that she steps off the boat. And I loved that a lot, haha. I loved how she ended up meeting Levi, and how they ended up starting searching for her mother together. I loved their banter with each other. How they went from kind of hating each other, to starting to care. So awesome. Loved their growing friendship so much.
In this world that Amanda has created, every person is born with two talents. One that is more powerful, and one that is just in the background. One from each parent. Enne has the talent of dancing. Or so she thinks. There is so much for her to learn about herself in this book, while searching for her mother. Many secrets are revealed. And I liked that a whole lot. And just this world was awesome to read about. I loved the City of Sin. How it was awful and brutal yet so interesting too. There were always new things to learn.
There is a lot going on in this book. Enne is searching for her mother. Levi is searching for money to pay someone, so he does not end up dead. He does not have many days left. The book focus a lot on Levi, and how he is the Iron Lord in this town. Not going to describe it, just know that it was interesting to read about and I liked it a whole bunch. But gosh, Levi deserved better. Some people treated him so badly and I did not approve at all. Hmph. But his best friend, Jac, was awesome. Always. Loved him. And Lola too.
And now it is time to talk about why I did not love this book. The romance. Sigh. There will be spoilers. From the very start of the book I shipped Levi and Enne. They would be very perfect together. And over these ten days they flirt so much. And they each start caring for each other so much. By the end Enne is thinking about love, even. But she is always pushing Levi away. There is not a single kiss in this very long book. What. They obviously want each other, all the time. But no kiss. No nothing. So very disappointed.
I mean, I can handle slow burn romances. But this one was a bit silly. Since it was so obvious that they cared and that they wanted each other. But Levi is waiting for Enne to make the move, as he has been with lots of others, girls and boys. And she has been with none. And Enne. Ugh. She is always thinking about how she doesn't want this, how she wants to leave this town. She was always pushing him away. Even after she starts thinking she may love him. Still she push him away. And I did not approve one bit.
But I am trying to deal with this. But it was so incredibly disappointing. This book is long. Four hundred pages. And not a single kiss in those pages. Just a whole lot of sexual tension. I am not okay with that. And I just feel so sad about it too, to be honest. Yeah. That is why this is a three star for me. Because I cannot stop thinking about the romance, and how it could have been so extremely amazing, but it was not. Ugh. But even so. I did love reading about Levi and Enne together. They were both truly adorable.
So much happens in Ace of Shades. And I enjoyed every moment of it. There was gambling. There was dangerous games to play. People die. People get hurt. And it was such an interesting story to read about. I wish the romance had been better. But I did adore these characters. And I loved the world. And I think I will love the second book a lot. Unless the romance sucks again, then I will not enjoy it. Hmph. It needs to be better. I'm crossing my fingers. Sigh. Just, please don't let me be disappointed with it. Can't handle it.
For the most part I was happy about this book, and I am glad that I read it. But gosh, I wish the romance had been different. Had it been better, I would have loved this book so much. But it was not. Sigh. Still, it was a good book, and I am going to read the next ones. And hoping they will be better with the romance. Nervous. Yet I have hope. I think you should all read this book, though. Huge thank you to HarperCollins International for sending me a free ARC copy of this book to read and review. I'm glad I gave it a chance.
