The Silent Deal (The Card Game, #1) by Levi Stack

 Final Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Pages: 359

Edition: Kindle

Time Read: 10.1.14 - 10.11.14

Summary:
"WHEN VIKTOR AND ROMULUS, two peasant boys, dig into their town’s strange past, they awaken the wrath of a mysterious overlord. As the blood brothers struggle to survive, their search for answers takes them through gambling parlors, fortune-teller dens, and moonlit forests full of monsters and men alike. But even with the help of their friends, can they escape the dark experiments that their foe is creating in Staryi Castle?"

Review:
It is a wonder I finished this book. While the topic seemed interesting, it was so incredibly difficult to want to finish it. The only motivation I had was getting it done and over with; not any interest in the story itself.

The first two thirds of The Silent Deal go so slowly that I had to force myself to read a chapter a day. The chapter titles are essentially summaries of the chapter itself; it defines a lot of what is going to happen.

The last third of the book should have been about 100 pages sooner. It is the most redeeming quality of the story by far, and is incredibly action packed. It is the reason this book has 2.5 stars instead of 2.

There are a few issues I have with this story. The characters in this story didn't grow at all; they all had personalities that flatlined in the first few pages of meeting them. The girls in the story seemed to have the answers immediately; they were solutions that were thrown in merely to move the story faster. The pacing in this story is horribly inconsistent. As stated above, it goes from painfully slow to having everything that progresses the story happen at once.

Another thing to note - I'm not sure if this story is supposed to be fantasy, or historical fiction. It seems kind of like it should be fantasy, but there's no telltale signs.

Overall, I can't really think of a group to recommend this to.

I was given this book for free by the author for an honest review.