The Knave of Secrets Book Review 

The Knave of Secrets was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Book: The Knave of Secrets

Author: Alex Livingston

Publication date: 7^th June 2022 (US); 9^th June 2022 (UK)

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis

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.

Now Valen and his motley crew are being hunted by thieves, gangsters, spies and wizards, all with their own reasons for wanting what’s in that envelope. It’s a game of nations where Valen doesn’t know all the rules or who all the players are, and can’t see all the moves. But he does know if the secret falls into the wrong hands, it could plunge the whole world into war…

My Thoughts

I knew I had to check this book out when I found out that it was about con artists and was a fantasy novel. Alex creates a very detailed descriptive story following a con artist who can’t resist a good game of trading secrets. 

This is such a unique concept and I couldn’t wait to read it. 

The world building was really great. I felt like I knew the world so well after finishing this book. The descriptions were wonderful and I didn’t think there was too much info dumping throughout the story. 

I found that this book had a lot of great humour and made me laugh throughout. Valen was a really great character to follow. 

Right from the beginning I was sucked into the story. It had me in its grips and wouldn’t let me go.