The action was cool. And the world felt real. Little things like how they described the city when driving around it felt like you were there. So action 10/10. World building 10/10
I really didn’t like the characters. The MC was an ass. Just always being cruel to those around him fo no reason. He does a few relatively out of character nice things, like save the hot girl. But guess what, every asshole I know would save the hot girl. Every asshole thinks giving a big tip makes their previous rude behavior suddenly ok. Guy needs less swearing and less excuses and more actually redeemable behavior.
The sidekick girl is very pathetic. She is written to be a submissive and puppy-eyed as possible. Still, she’s more likeable than the MC (obviously). characters 2/10
The magic/game mechanics were overcomplicated. There’s a bunch of factions and then that’s compounded by energy types and then every ten years the Gods flip the board with new ly added switch ups and you can combine cards and there’s Rules 1-10 which quickly expand to 20 and 100 rules…
…and big surprise none of it really matters except the powers held by the MC. magic 2/10
The plotting was really predictable. This makes the MC seems fairly dumb since he doesn’t see the obvious coming. 1/10
The pacing which correlates with the action was mixed. The action parts which are already mentioned were good, the out of action parts, not so much. Out of action he seems to be always injured to the point of barely functioning, yet magically as soon as the next fight starts his old injuries disappeared (quickly replaced by new ones) which is a bit of a continuity issue. So pacing 6/10.
Overall, I finished it and would read another hoping for the MC to improve, but my expectations are low and if the MC wasn’t more likeable in book 2, I’d drop it.