Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Gathering of Shadows

hello what was this?? i waited so long to read about the tournament but it ended being like 20% of the book??? also where was the character development? i just felt like nothing happened in this book and that it was all filler

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taylorreads17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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mil_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a read that I made for TheStoryGraph Onboarding challenge for 2024; the idea was that I browse a user "similar to myself", and read something that they rated as a 5 Star read. I had to scroll through quite a few of their 5 Star reads to find something I hadn't read yet! And lo, it's part 2 of a series I read part 1 of so I was enthused by the idea.

Kel and Rhy are doing some messy stuff... their love lives are even worse.

I was amused in this one to see some of the development of Delilah Bard, a waif from Grey London who doesn't have any training in magical skill, there having been little to no magic to speak of in her home lands. Crewing up with the dashing (and hilariously named) Alucard Emery, she learns some magical stuff and picks up some local lingo.

In a spiral that has me feeling suspicious about her impulsive and dauntless character she decides to not let anything stand in her way as she kicks *rs* and, occasionally, takes names.

Big tournament.. intrigue.. stuff happening in the alternate Londons as one king dies and another rises, and another is formed.. it all looks like the set up for even more exciting happenings in the next chapter.

Honestly.. some of the reasons these kids do stuff just seem completely OUT THERE... but the convoluted mess that comes of these decisions makes for some tense and intriguing stuff.
My money is on

Delilah following the same sort of path as Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, making pacts with dark forces and going full Darth Rosenberg, in the next one.

at least that's my guess.

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ladygetslit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Book 2 of the series got off to a somewhat slow start. I was trying to figure out what Lila was actually up to, and when the royal brothers were gonna get their angsty selves together. But once the plot started rolling, I was absolutely hooked.

What I loved:

Rhy and Kell’s brotherly shenanigans
Alucard is mysterious and slightly sexy (still waiting for the full backstory but I know it’s gonna kill me)
Lila is such a boss babe: watching her discover her magic and take the world by a storm was everything I never knew I wanted
Setting up for the third book - I am so glad I already downloaded it

What didn’t work for me:

The pacing in the beginning - I didn’t know why Lila was on a ship and how things were going to tie back together… and I just wanted to get to the tournament already
The pseudo-slow burn between Lila and Kell is a hard pass. I don’t feel the chemistry, and I think they would’ve been better as friends. It felt like she threw in the romance because she was trying to draw That Audience, but the story would be perfectly fine without romance whatsoever.

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l3xi3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oooh this is getting good now! I know sometimes sequels can slump in comparison to the first book, but I just love getting to dive right in, knowing the world and the characters. As if multiple magical Londons wasn’t cool enough, in this book we get PIRATES! Alucard is an incredible addition to our cast. I just want him, Kell, Lila, and Rhy to get together and become like the Power Rangers of Red London. There were times I questioned the structure (this could have been two separate installments maybe?), but I did not mind getting lost in a long story! Can’t wait to read #3.

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elliya's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I liked it well enough, but it dragged! Only to have a major amount of drama occur in the final chapter, which always feels (IMO) like a cop-out. Loved spending more time in this world though and went right into the next book :)

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