My thoughts



Narrative and Plot




One of the things I love about reading fantasies is the suspension of disbelief and escaping into this outlandish scenario. The Knave of Secrets wastes no time in luring you into this world of card games with a few card sharps at the centre of a deep conspiracy.
Told from multiple perspectives, the story intricately weaves a web - one that includes politics, espionage and a game of cards amidst all this.
The only thing that I could point out is that for a long time, as a reader, I was confused because of the shifting point of views. About 30% into the story, just when I figure out the main characters and the ones I need to root for, the perspective shifts to a random character. It threw me off balance at first, but once I got the hang of it, it didn't bother me too much.




Characters and Conflicts


Any story that includes the underdogs is easy to navigate. You root for the band of misfits to win against all the odds. Again, it is fascinating to build a character profile within a fantasy where you find a hook from the real world. Velan and Marguerite's simple wish or Ten's plight as a Mistigiri isn't too farfetched. It is those real0life aspirations of your characters that keep you in that world wanting to see them win.

As the story progresses, the stakes rise, making it impossible for the heroes to win. As they scatter and scramble, it becomes clear that the one thing they can do to move forward is play for their life. That 'aha moment' is enough to give you goosebumps.


Conclusion




The Knave of Secrets is a textbook example of how to execute a hero's journey. It hits every single beat of storytelling and keeps you hooked as if you're enjoying a game of not cards but chess. There are very few action scenes in this one, but believe me, it is an adventure that keeps you thrilled with just a deck of cards.

Whenever a con and a heist are mentioned there is that immediate harking reference to Loch Lamora. Whilst there are echoes of this, The Knave of Secrets did not particularly put me in mind of Lynch’s seminal fantasy book, but (and this is only my opinion and not in anyway fact!) it put me in mind of The Sting, crossed with the politicalness of The Councillor.

Now you might be asking yourself why compare it to anything? Is it not its own book? Well of course it is, but sometimes our brain works in mysterious ways, and it will inevitably recall certain things that seem relevant and try to organise experiences in the indices of our memory, and if a certain thing has a particular emotive quality that reminds it of experience blah blah blah, it will inevitably evoke these comparisons. And like I said, these were the things that The Knave of Secrets stoked in me.

So, onto the book itself. The story revolves around a group of card sharps (which having grown up on a diet of American films, always thought it was card shark, so the book gets a plus point in educating me), who spend their time and resources eking a living at the local gambling dens.

We are immediately thrown into the book with a set piece in which Valen is out to con some local lordling or other out of his pot of cash, resulting in some quite negative effects. As we leave the initial set up, we are then introduced to the world of Valen & the gang.

Now if you have read the blurb for the book, that is pretty much the plot of the book, and I don’t think I need to reiterate that here.

In terms of structure, the story revolves around five different points of view, all with different impacts on the story. Some of these give a bit more clarity into the wider political machinations of the story as a whole, and I think that this is one of the things that the book does well in that we have both the more intimate story of Valen and the gang and how they are going to complete the task set out for them, but then there is the widening of the lens to show the much larger picture of what is going on in terms of the political machinations of other parties (I don’t want to give too much away!)

The plot moves along at a steady pace. After we start with the initial opening scenes the story moves along building its momentum, and generally having high points at certain key stages, such as when the team are at The Forebearance Game. Foe me, there were times that the flow of the narrative became sluggish, particularly when imparting information to the reader about the massive amount of card games that were played. And let me tell you there is a lot! It is like a Bicycle Compendium of Card games at times.

I felt at times that character depth was sometimes missing in favour of plot and world building, although, I generally liked the characters, I wasn’t highly invested in some of the ensemble cast that is in the book. There were certain characters that I liked, such as Jac for instance, and others that I was didn’t really feel much of anything for.

However, one of the things that did stand out for me was the partnership between Valen and Marguerite. There are too few happily married couples in fantasy, and I always find it refreshing to see this component in a book.

I equally admired how Alex Livingston has attempted to bring something different to the fantasy genre that does not rely on swords and massive battle scenes. It is not to say that there aren’t battle scenes, it is just that they are more understated and take place at the card table rather than muddy fields lined with opposing armies.

Another thing of note is that the setting of the book is quite interesting. The quasi 17th Century French world that the book is set in adds a different flavour to the story and works quite well.

On the whole, the book is an enjoyable read that brings something a little bit different to the fantasy table, and whilst (for me!) there were some bits that didn’t quite work, I would like to see this world expanded and would definitely like to revisit it.

I love that the main characters in this intricately detailed fantasy novel are morally gray and sometimes hard to like, but intriguing all the same. The world of Valen, Omer-Guy, Ria, and the others seems a bit like an alternative European country where magic, pirates, secret sunken treasure, and political machinations are quite common. At times, the large cast of characters, place names, and nationalities is a little hard to follow, but that just makes me want to read this book again! The world building is exquisite. If you like your fantasy filled with gritty street characters, games of chance, and dark court and wizard maneuvers, you'll love this book!

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE KNAVE OF SECRETS ABOUT?
Valen Quinol has pretty modest ambitions—he's not looking to become rich or famous or anything, he's seeking stability and comfort. He wants to open a casino with his wife, he just needs to get the money to do that. Earlier in his life, he went to wizarding school and left in a pretty noteworthy fashion, when it was clear that his scholarly ambitions were going to be thwarted. So he turned to the only thing he knew he could support himself with—gambling. And sure, in addition to being a pretty savvy gamesman, he became pretty skillful in ways to rig games.

Valen's wife, a friend who left school with him—Teneriève—and another friend work with him now—traveling around from casino to casino, from tavern to inn, etc. making enough money to support themselves, and maybe put a little away.

After the reader meets the crew, a local ganglord pays Valen and Margo a visit to hire/threaten them into doing a job for him. Valen typically shuns his work, but this one comes with some tantalizing bait—Valen will be given the buy-in for a local tournament and can keep the money he earns. All he has to do is make sure one competitor walks losing everything they came to play with. If he turns this down, well, there'll be a duel in his future. And Valen's a cardsharp, not a fighter. It will not go well for him.

Because this isn't that kind of Fantasy novel, Valen and his talents go with the less violent option. What Valen doesn't realize—and his sponsor doesn't either—what the defeat of his target is going to kick off and drag them all into.

Espionage, murder, political intrigue, societal upheaval—and the imminent possibility of a world war. All because of a game of chance.

We get to watch Valen and his crew (partially) realize what they've instigated, as well as getting points of view of several of the major players in the fallout.

TENERIÈVE
Teneriève is one of the more interesting characters in the novel—she's from a group that's essentially an analogue to the Roma, and faces hostility and discrimination everywhere she goes. Valen's crew are the only family she's known since leaving home, but even then, she doesn't feel secure—not because of anything they do/think, but because of her own issues.

Her story arc doesn't go the way you think it will initially, and I'm glad it didn't. Her story definitely doesn't get wrapped up in a tidy bow. She could probably serve as the central character in a follow-up novel because there's a lot to her that could be explored. I also really appreciated while the Roma-esque nature of her background informs her actions and attitudes, her story isn't all about that identity.

Quick tip: As good as the other storylines are, pay special attention to her scenes, they're better (and frequently more frustrating and rewarding) than the rest.

SOMETHING THAT JUST OCCURRED TO ME
Before I hit Publish, I was struck by the thought that this is one of the most PG-13 Fantasy novels I've read in a dog's age that wasn't targeted at an MG audience. Maybe even PG (but a couple of the deaths probably shove it into the PG-13 world).

I don't know that this is a plus or a minus in some readers' minds, but I thought it was noteworthy—who writes like that anymore?

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE KNAVE OF SECRETS?
I'll tell you this upfront: I was not in the right frame of mind for this book when I started it. A novel with a new magic system, an involved history, a complicated (but not convoluted) political situation, and gambling—and people cheating at gambling. So you've got to understand the new games pretty well to visualize not just how to play, but how to cheat. Frankly, that's a lot of work.

Now, that's not unusual for a Fantasy novel—and I'm not complaining. I'm just saying that when I started this book I didn't have the mental energy to dive in, and I really wasn't in the mood for it. So when I say that before the halfway point Livingston had me very engaged and invested in the plot and characters, that's saying something.

Livingston has done his homework and has created a very rich world here, we get to see some of it, but probably not all of it. Whether or not this is true, he really gives the sense that he knows all of the ins and outs of the history of these nations going back centuries—and (most importantly) has resisted the impulse to dump it all on the reader. Instead, he gives us just what we need to ground the story and character actions. Give me a book that hints at worldbuilding any day over a book that reads like a history textbook (however interesting the history may be).

All the marketing for this mentions The Lies of Locke Lamora, and insofar as the book centers on a specialized form of criminals fleecing the rich, sure, I can get behind it. But this has a very different flavor and feel than Lynch's novel. Some marketing mentions The Mask of Mirrors—and that feels a bit more on point. Other comparisons involve Casino Royale—beyond the gambling, I don't know if that's appropriate or not, I fell asleep each of the four times I started that flick. The political intrigue of this makes it more like The Mask of Mirrors or the less bloody and sexy parts of A Song of Ice and Fire. I don't point this out (just) to criticize the marketing materials, just to help expectations—don't go into this novel to meet the next Gentleman Bastards, go into it for a new and distinct kind of Fantasy novel.

Despite not being in the right headspace for The Knave of Secrets and going into it with wrong expectations, I ended up pretty impressed with this novel and would definitely recommend this to a wide audience. It's a satisfying read that will leave you wanting to know more about this world and most of these characters.




My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel via NetGalley and Rebellion/Solaris) they provided.

This was a fun read. There was tons of political intrigue, interesting magic, and intricate world-building. The writing was good, and the narrative style did a great job of setting up the tone of the world. The plot was a bit slow at times, especially in the second quarter of the book, but the excitement of the games and mysteries kept me engaged for most of it.

The world and magic system were probably my favorite things about this book. The political situation was tense, and the history of each nation was fascinating to learn about. The Seminaire brotherhood of magicians was an interesting concept, and I wish even more time had been spent on learning about their order and the magic, and secrets, they held. There was also a wealth of information about the different games of chance played by the people in this world, which I'm sure some people will appreciate. Personally, I wish more time had been spent on the magic and less on the different games. Furthermore, I enjoyed the political intrigue but found it to be quite confusing for the first half of the book because I kept losing track of whose side certain characters were on. Once some of the secrets came out, it all made more sense, but the author's attempts at showing the different political ties in the first half without any type of primer on the world's history/alliances really fell flat. All in all, though, the world was fascinating, and I think it has a lot of untapped potential for future stories (if the author decides to make this more than a standalone).

I liked many of the characters, but they all felt a bit two-dimensional. Valen was probably the most well-rounded, and I liked his personality. I enjoyed seeing him become an unlikely hero, and his struggle with guilt about the consequences of his gambling and cheating was probably the most compelling character arc. I also really liked getting a middle-aged protagonist, and the relationship he had with his wife was something I loved reading. They were just so supportive of each other and worked great together while attempting to build their dreams into reality. Many of the other POVs really could have been eliminated. The stories of the two ambassadors felt like filler and a way to impart knowledge about the current political situation. However, as I noted above, they only served to make me more confused, and Ria's perspective and motivations honestly felt a bit inconsistent. In general, the characters were fun to read, though, and many of them had plenty of great moments. They just all felt a bit wooden.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read filled with interesting magic, espionage, and lots of secrets. The ideas were good even if the execution of all aspects of the story weren't as great as I'd hoped. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

“A twisty tale of magicians, con artists and card games, where secrets are traded and gambled like coin, for fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora and The Mask of Mirrors.

Never stake more than you can afford to lose.

When failed magician turned cardsharp Valen Quinol is given the chance to play in the Forbearance Game—the invitation-only tournament where players gamble with secrets—he can’t resist. Or refuse, for that matter, according to the petty gangster sponsoring his seat at the table. Valen beats the man he was sent to play, and wins the most valuable secret ever staked in the history of the tournament.”

Quinol’s hand is forced, he wins the secret and, despite passing it on as agreed, the lives of his family and friends are put in danger. Not only that, but the secret could cause war to break out. This was definitely not on the cards (sorry!) when he accepted the task.

He has to use all his cardsharp tricks, his unfinished, unrefined magic training and rely on the skills of his con artist wife and friends (the only family he has) to work out a way to stop the keepers of the secret killing anyone who learns the truth and prevent what looks like inevitable war breaking out. Not easy when he only has fragments of information and, unlike in the card games he is used to playing/fixing, cannot predict the other players’ next moves.

Livingston’s world building is creative and strong, based on a range of political goings on and that of unseen magic.

The world of gambling and card playing cons was an eye opener to me…so many tricks and tells. That Quinol is so good is evident in his reading of his friends when away from the casino tables.

The story is a slow burner to start with, as the scene is set with a lot of information about the characters and the backstory. However, once the secret is won, the action hots up. Telling the story via the point of view of several of the key characters works well and gives a rounded perspective.

I particularly enjoyed the fact that the “hero” was flawed and questioned his own motives and morals, whilst trying to protect the ones he loves.

One grumble…the blurb gives away too much of the storyline before you even start.

Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for the eARC as part of #TheWriteReads blog tour.

A gripping tale of gambling and politics, cheats and lies, magic and murder.

A group of cheats play games at a scale vastly greater than those played in darkened taverns, resulting in their introduction to a world that is trying very hard to rid them of their lives. Now they must use whatever edge they can to fix the mess, who's creation they unwittingly participated in, and get out with their hearts still pumping inside their chests.

Although I enjoyed this book enough to rate it 3.5 stars it holds the same pitfalls of most single book fantasy stories. Characters don’t hold enough backstory to feel truly fleshed out and the world at large feels underused no matter how well crafted it is. Which is a shame because the characters were enjoyable and believable. Some of the background characters especially felt rich with promise. And the glimpses of world building that were there had me wishing for more.
All in all I would definitely recommend this as a fun read but don’t expect to find an epic, wealthy in lore and action.

I leapt at a chance to read an arc copy of this book because the 'blurb' made it sound so interesting "tale of card sharps and con artists, in a world of magic where secrets are traded and gambled like coin" — but I found it overall a disappointing read.
The world building was interesting but was poorly laid out for the reader making the plot difficult to follow. Yes, there were maps at the beginning to try and explain but reading on a kindle is not conducive to bouncing backwards and forwards. A little more clarity in the writing would have sufficed.
The magic was good and I especially liked the idea of a tower that was held up by spells. The main characters, Valen, his wife Margo, Ten and Jag, were all interesting and different back stories and strengths. I was fully invested in them but then the story did not stick with their pov despite them being the most important. The additional characters, maybe necessary for the plot, but it wasn't necessary for us to read from their pov.
The description of the card games and the tricks employed by card sharps were interesting and something new to me.
But overall I found the info dumps and the pacing were poor judged making parts of the story drawn out and other parts too jumpy. It was hard to follow what was going on and the main characters didn't seem to get enough out of winning to make it all worthwhile.
An added contention was the number of typos in the work making it tricky or at least annoying to read.
Overall a rather disappointing read, I'm afraid to say. It had great premise and could have been much better.
With thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion for an arc in return for an honest review.

Obvious reference to Locke Lamora holds good to a very mild extent. The extent of research going behind the cons is done well and in great detail. The macro plot ties in well with the gambling/game elements, but still the narrative falls a bit short on engagement value. In many places despite having good writing, felt the book didn't really have a wow factor that should have elevated this to another level. Interesting characters, but again come slightly short from being memorable. Hard to rate, I've been debating betwee 3 and 4 starts of 5, but ultimately will settle for a 4.

As a new, epically et, and twisty fantasy tale, then this must be on your to-read list.

The world has been arranged in a rich way, which feeds you what you need to know as you move through the book, which is good as it is not all dumped on you at one go. The quotes at the start of each chapter set up the gaming systems which are at the heart of the story, and are complex and as rich as the world itself. (and some novelists can not even just get the world right.)

And the characters. I mean, like them or hate them, you are often compelled to keep reading just to see what happens next. I hope their is a sequel coming, as I want more. Much more.

I'm sorry to say at 52% I DNF this. I was very confused about the structure of the empire or the opposing non empire still with a queen? And then something about arrondissements or other land masses/societies. There were maps at the start of the book but that really did not help make it less confusing.
Characters were constantly being introduced in such ways I couldn't keep track of who was who, aside from the four main people in Valen's circle. New POVs introduced had me pause to think whether or not their names had come up before or was this a new character. I think a proper ToC could help a bit with that tbf.
Also the end of each POV broken up by some excerpt from a card book in that universe didn't feel necessary or that it added much value to the book's flow. More than half way through the story I didn't feel like I knew or understood what was happening any more than I did reading the synopsis.
It might be a great read for someone else so if it sounds interesting, I would say give it a try. It just unfortunately didn't click with me.

The Knave of Secrets is ambitious in that it compares itself to The Lies of Locke Lamora. Certainly, the two are similar in genre and share characteristics through world building and its protagonists, but I think the two are much too similar.

The Knave of Secrets offers a tumultuous and intrigue based journey through a world of gambling. While info-dumping and instances where information was way too detailed were plotted throughout, I enjoyed the narrowed focus on the city and underground networks systems rather than a focus on the entire world of the series at as a whole.

I did find myself a little disappointed and dissatisfied with the use of tell over show more often than not. A good combination of both is key to storytelling but its hard to balance a story when the high stakes and tense filled scenes are ruined by the tell-style language.

Overall. I think The Knave of Secrets is a great read for anyone looking to dip their toes into the realm of high fantasy but aren't ready for something as dense and complex as The Gentlemen's Bastards. It reads as a well intentioned love letter to a beloved series and I think that deserves merit.

Great concept, slightly wobbly execution. I really like a good con artist fantasy and I did enjoy this one. However, it was at times a bit info dumpy. I would like to see the next book because I expect once the characters and world have been established, this series will really take off. Fun and not nearly as annoying as Lies of Locke Lamora.

The Knave of Secrets had great potential, but ultimately felt like its page count and planning worked against it.

I have received this book in exchange of an honest review, thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion, Solaris for the opportunity.

I have my own blog now (www.daysinotherworlds.com), so please do give it a visit if you're interested in my other reviews :)

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It's been a little over a year now, but I still incredibly excited when I get approved for a book. This time was a bit more so given the interesting magic system and the scheming aspects.

The world built by Alex Livingston, is seemingly rich and filled to the brim with details. Having a tournament, other nations, deadly secrets and secret orders are just an added extra layers of expected-to-have-fun. The pacing of the book also doesn't let up and the characters are moving from one step to the next in rapid successions.

This in turn, gives me the chance to see even more about the world and try to familiarize myself with the rest of it. Thing is, the scope the author was going for, doesn't fit a standalone book. Seemingly a standalone anyway. Everything is a little too fast for it to matter just as much.

One of the issues I had while reading the The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri last year was this one. Having a lot of ideas is something I personally envy at times, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they all need to be included in a work. In The Knave of Secrets the author built a huge world, and it was intriguing to see what he came up with. But, he did that in a more of a telling rather than showing way, which isn't nearly as fun.

The characters would go on long monologues about how something was, how this cardsharping goes, who this entity is, someone's past, how does something work and sometimes the societal rankings as well. This in itself, is great. What doesn't make it as great or fun in this case, is the way it's told.

Having to experience all of this in a slower pace with the characters, to really understand how the cardsharping works would have been great. Seeing more about the school they mentioned would have been incredible as well. But, there's none of that here. It also doesn't help whatsoever that everyone is an expert, since that means no one is going to take the time to fully explain how something works.

That to me, was a bigger issue than I had hoped given the frequency of using said cardshaping. If it was in passing, I don't believe that I would have cared all that much. But, that wasn't the case.

The characters are another aspect that felt lacking in the book, simple because it was also, always told how the dynamic works, not exactly shown. Yes, they care about each other, but it wasn't deeper than surface level in my humble opinion. Especially given how a couple of them always always clashed about stuff that should have been pre-established given the supposed length of time they've known each other.

So that didn't sit very well for me.

Despite all of this, I would still consider it an enjoyable experience because of the interest I had in some aspects and the book being easy to read. Because, to me, all of this could have been solved if there was a chance for a duology/trilogy or a much much longer book. There is insane potential here, for something incredibly fun and it's saddening that I seemingly couldn't get all of it.

THE KNAVE OF SECRETS is a book that I found so disappointing. The <a href="https://sifaelizabethreads.wordpress.com/2019/11/26/book-review-spellslinger-by-sebastien-de-castell/" data-type="post" data-id="2793">SPELLSLINGER </a>series is one of my favourites, full of con men using magic (and pretending to use magic) to win card games (and deal with the tricky situations they find themselves in.) THE KNAVE OF SECRETS sounded like it would be in a similar vein, just adult in tone and content. Unfortunately, THE KNAVE OF SECRETS lacked all of SPELLSLINGER's charm and ease of comprehension.

This is such a short book, and yet it both felt way too short and way too long as I was so confused. It was so hard to follow what was going on because the action is absolutely sped through, and lots of key bits of information are kept from the reader until a reveal point - except knowing the information (and the context that makes it significant) would have vastly aided comprehension.

And yet, at the same time, there are chapters of backstory exposition about events way before the book that barely touch on the story itself. It really slowed down the pace and dragged me out. It felt like those words could have been better served helping the reader follow the plot rather than understanding a lot of backstory.

There are also a lot of POV characters - five I think? I'm not entirely sure as there were at least three I couldn't quite keep track of/understand why there were in the story. There's the female ambassador that doesn't really come into play until the end, and felt a bit superfluous/like she could have been explained through another POV rather than keep darting back to her.

There are also the two spies (both men) who are on opposite sides of the war? Or maybe double agents on the same side? I honestly struggled to keep them apart because they seemed so similar. Plus the short book and lots of POVs meant there wasn't much time with either of them.

he overly-tight information control meant that the secrets central to the book never felt fully explained, which undermined the ending somewhat. I didn't truly understand the importance of what everyone was after, so the ending never felt like it truly resolved.

This is a brilliant story and one which I enjoyed from the first pages. Valen and his friends Teneriève and Jaquemin are card sharps, people who cheat at various card and other games in order to win and con other players out of their money. Valen uses his cardsharping skills to earn a living, and one day he’s invited to play at the Forbearance Game, one of the most prestigious games where it isn’t just money that is traded but precious secrets. But when Valen wins a particularly expensive secret, he and his friends become targets, someone wants the secret Valen holds and they are willing to kill to get it.

This is a great and different fantasy story and one which I found myself enjoying from the very first pages. Valen and his friends enjoy spending time earning money from cheating at cards and dice games. The first scene in the book opens with Valen playing a game against three other opponents and we see the skills and way he and his friends play in order to cheat someone out of their money. But while Valen’s life of cardsharping brings in enough money, he soon finds himself unable to resist playing at the Forebearance Game even though he knows it could spell trouble for his family and friends.

The story is told from multiple perspectives with each chapter following a different character, though always written in the third person perspective. While I’ve read some reviewers found the multiple points of view confusing, it wasn’t at all for me and I enjoyed getting to know the different characters involved including Valen, Teneriève and Michel. Teneriève is a character I enjoyed, being a Mistigri, an outsider (a bit like a gypsy), Teneriève thinks and acts a little differently to the others and I like how we get to learn some of her back story as well as see how she acts in certain situations. I also liked learning more about Valen and his past, the magical past he and Teneriève share by being a part of the Séminaire, a place where certain people practice magic, and how Valen is also not your typical main character like in so many fantasy books by being older than some of the others.

The story is complex, not only do we learn about how magic is intertwined within the world, but the world that Valen and his friends live is interesting and different. There are a couple of maps at the start of the book which show you boththe island of Valtiffe, where Valen and the others live and where most of the story takes place, as well as the wider continental world. The island of Valtiffe is small compared to the continent and the rival countries of L’Ombres and Cadonga are shown too. I really liked looking at these maps and there are some fun extras printed on them such as which games are favoured in which cities and what political leaning some towns and cities have towards the continental countries, but I have to say that although I did see some of the locations mentioned in the story on these maps, a couple of places I just couldn’t see and I hope the map will be a little bigger and with these place names printed in the final copy.

The story is good with a lot of things happening. At first we don’t know why all the different characters are involved and what they have to do with each other when we start reading, but as you continue to read on with the story you begin to see that it’s not just a simple tale of Valen’s cardsharping but a wider story about the politics of Valtiffe and what will happen to the island nation, though despite being political in parts it was never boring. This political part of the story was well told and despite the complexity of the story I never found myself lost and unable to understand what was going on. In fact I found myself engrossed at every moment, unable to put the book down as I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next.

I wont spoil the story by giving away more, but Valen and his friends end up in a dangerous and tense situation. People’s lives are threatened and as the story leads to the final end it gets more and more interesting. The ending is good and something I wasn’t expecting. I like how things work out and the brilliant surprise in the way things happen. I like how things go for the main characters, especially what happens with Teneriève in the end and how that last scene in the book wraps things up well and makes the whole story just so good and a great ending. To be honest I really wish there could be more to this story, I just didn’t want to leave the characters, I wanted to see what happens to them in the future it was so good. The book does have the occasional use of the f and s swear words and some deaths but nothing gruesome. The back of the book features a few appendices which feature information on the characters, the different games played in the regions and information on the texts that are quoted before every chapter. I liked this little extra part, it was fun to read and I enjoyed reading more on the different games played in the book.

Overall this is a really good fantasy book and one I enjoyed more than I thought I would. I’ve never read a story following a cardsharp before, but I enjoyed getting to know Valen and his friends and what happened with them. I like how the main characters aren’t perfect, how some of the games were explained, enough information for you to gather how the game is played but not so much as to bore you. And I also love how magic is intertwined with the story. It’s definitely a book I’ll read again in the future and one I’d recommend if you’re after some good fantasy with a different feel.

I was intrigued to pick this book up because of the cover and gambling aspect in a fantasy world setting. I found a book that is so much more than just that one aspect. A story of empires, political intrigue, friendship, deception and magic, all rolled up in a rollicking good story, and yes lots of unusual card games. It reminded me of Locke of Lamora. But this is no copy, Instead an original well developed fantasy world and story. The characters are real, with life experiences leading to you seeing their rough edges; the baddies are bad enough; and the goodies are not perfect people either, having their own problems to deal with. With twists and turns, and just the right amount of dry humour, this is a really enjoyable book to immerse and lose yourself in. I look forward to more books from this Author. Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Books for letting me read an ARC. This review is freely given and totally my own opinion.

The author successfully created a unique world of magic, gambling, cons and found family.
Valen left his family behind in order to keep them safe and in his ventures found a new family in Jaquemin, Teneriève, and Marguerite. The dynamic between the characters is well developed, with a solid sense of camaraderie and loyalty; even in the face of what could be a deemed a betrayal, actions taken are in the best interest of all parties involved. We learn a great deal about Valen and Ten’s backgrounds, but I would have liked to learn and see more of Jaq. His character had the potential for more, so I was a little disappointed by that. The main driving force of the plot is the politics involved. There were a few side characters that played a role driving this forward, such as Omer-Guy, Ria, Michel, and Lady de Loncryn. While the Lady’s and Ria’s motivations are clear, I found the motivations of Omer-Guy and Michel underdeveloped; even by the end, I found that Omer-Guy’s role was not entirely clear.
The magic system was interesting - magic that can be built into something to be activated at later time and portal magic - which turns out to be the main conflict of the story.
The story was more intriguing in it’s second half when things really pick up.

A fantasy style Oceans 11 meets Maverick,

The Knave Of Secrets was a pretty good read. There’s not a lot of action as the book focuses more on intrigue and the many different kinds of games. But then also I found the lack of action sequences to be a breath of fresh air. Where the main POV Valen never fights and instead uses his mind and wits to get out the many problems that faces.

At first the magic system seems pretty standard soft system but the further the book goes and more of it revealed it almost becomes a hybrid of a hard/ soft system.

The book jumped around to quite a few different POV and since every chapter was named after it’s POV character it made easy to keep track of who was doing what. Also having so many different view point characters made the book more interesting.

Overall my only issue with the book was its abrupt ending I felt like it could definitely go further. Not sure if there’s going to be a sequel but I hope there will be because a lot of questions were left unanswered.

All in all it was very enjoyable fantasy read.

I really had to try my best to get through this book. The start was great, funny and reminded me a little bit of the vibe Ocean's Eleven had: outsmarting others and winning lots of money.
However, the story was too complicated for my liking and I didn't like the characters much, they didn't jump off the page so to speak.
I think this could be a great read for people who are into intricate stories about deceit, winning games and wondering how the story is going to be resolved. For me, reading this felt more like doing homework.