This book begins where 'Ace of Shades' left off, so it's necessary to read that first to understand the previous events, the Shadow Game and the world of this novel. The action begins when the key players Enne and Levi are dealing with the aftermath of the dramatic events which concluded the last book. They soon go on different paths and Enne begins to pull together her own gang. I enjoyed her narrative and the new female characters, I didn't find Levi's journey that interesting and found myself disliking him,. I definitely preferred the first book in the series, and I think the plot lags a bit with perhaps the 'middle book in a trilogy syndrome'. It's hard to pace and plot a story-line over three books and keep the momentum and character threads going.

However, there are lots of positives with this YA book; some fab new characters; more engaging world building; the political backdrop; Enne's (she seemed a totally different person at times) and Jac's development; their building confidences and dramatic dark turns in the plot for some characters through-lines. The pace definitely lags at times for me, but then we do have great flow and drive building towards the final events. I think book three will be one to look out for in this story as we build towards the final climax.

Overall, many enjoyable moments but I wasn't gripped. Maybe reading the actual finished copy will help, as it's always a better and more comfortable reading experience, so I'll look out for that.

A decent second book development and I'll definitely read the concluding book to see what happens to Enne and Levi in this mafia inspired and politically challenging magical world.

Many thanks for the review copy for HQ and Netgalley