Book Review:
Title: Shades of Magic Trilogy (A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows & A Conjuring of Light)
Author: V.E.Schwab
Publisher: Titan Books
“I'm not going to die," she said. "Not till I've seen it."
"Seen what?"
Her smile widened. "Everything.”
Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.
Firstly, this post is going to be different to the typical reviews I write on my blog - Rather than just reviewing a single book, I am reviewing the entire Shades of Magic in one blog post (
This trilogy has been on my TBR for a couple of years - ever since A Gathering of Shadows was released - and I actually planned on starting the series then. BUT then I heard that the ending was quite brutal and everyone was dying for the last book. So I took to executive decision to wait until the 3rd book was released. BUT then I was swamped with revision for my A Level exams. *sigh*
It was around the end of 2017, when I said enough is enough, I AM GOING TO READ THIS TRILOGY NO MATTER WHAT! And I did.
And it broke me.
And I no longer know what to do with myself.
And I simultaneously love Victoria for writing this series and hate her for putting me through such turmoil.
Let's start with the first book, A Darker Shade of Magic. This book was everything I expected it to be and more. I was promised amazing, complex characters, phenomenal world building and lots of magic and I got all of that. The world Victoria created was so intricate and imaginative. There's a lot to the world, being that there is 4 different Londons, but never once was I ever confused or lost.
I ended up giving A Darker shade of Magic 5/5 stars and it even made a well earned appearance on my Favourite Reads of 2017 list! (This was also the book that introduced me to my new favourite character, Holland. A bit of a villain, but not in my eyes. He, as well as the other characters, made this series super special )
The second book, A Gathering of Shadows, in my opinion wasn't as good as the first, but I still did really enjoy it. I gave it 4/5 stars. The characters were still amazing - I fell in love with them even more so (especially Rhy and Holland.) The world building was once again faultless. My only issue was that I found it quite slow in the beginning. I was constantly just waiting for all the characters to be reunited and for something BIG to happen. Once the tournament started, everything picked up and I was completely enthralled, but the first half took a while for me to get in to. This was also the book where the romance increased a bit. It wasn't a major plot focus and kind of just simmered in the background, but that's what made it even more enticing to me. No insta-love. No 'I only met you 5 minutes ago, and I now I want your babies.' It was simple, but oh so effective. I am utter trash for Kell/Lila and Rhy/Alucard. *heart eyes* I am also trash for Kell and Rhy's bromance. These two are sibling goals. (side note: I'm also trash for Holland/Happiness, but I don't ever see that ship sailing *cries*)
And finally we have the book that broke me into a million pieces and that I'm still trying to recover from - A Conjuring of Light. Where do I even begin with this book?!
This book was everything! Let me tell you, Victoria Schwab is not afraid to throw your heart on the floor and stomp on it. She is ruthless. I can't tell you how many times I shouted at the book, how many times I had to close the book and put it aside because the emotions got too high. Every single aspect of this book was brilliant. Well, apart from the treatment of Holland! I am ready to CUT anyone who says anything remotely negative about him. He is without a doubt, the best character in the series, and he may be like 18ish years older than me, but I've decided to take him under my wing and protect him from any harm. Fight me!
...
...
I honestly don't know what else to say about the last book - I'm still reeling from it and unable to convert my feelings into coherent sentences. All I really can say is, Anoshe. *cries for eternity*
But honestly if you haven't read this series yet, please do! The Shades of Magic trilogy contains one of the best set of characters I've ever seen in a book/series. I haven't even scratched the surface about all the awesomeness this series contains, but I seriously can't find the words. I'm just in awe. So take my incoherent ramblings as a sign of how remarkable the Shades of Magic world is and if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and READ THIS SERIES!
Until next time, when Threads of Power and The Steel Prince releases.
Anoshe.
5 Stars
Goodreads
This trilogy is so amazing! I'm glad you loved it. Great Review
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