Reviews with content warning for Death - Die Verzauberung der Schatten

*upping to five stars upon reread*

original review:

(4.5)

the first book read like a stand alone, but this one actually read like the middle book in a serious, with a cliffhanger ending that makes me want to reach for book 3.

also, kell and rhy’s relationship is amazing.

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trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

THAT ENDING!!!! ;-;

Okay so plot-wise pretty much nothing significant happens other than the Essen Tasch and it was quite slow and mostly felt like a filler book but MY GOD did I enjoy this more than I thought I would. The writing is beautiful as expected from Schwab, the characters are so loveable and relatable and I love that their personalities were so much more explored in this one.

Lila is a badass and I'm totally in love with her. Rhy is still a sweetheart and I wanna protect him with my life. Kell, oh, Kell, I still wanna give you a hug, you poor boy. I can't make up my mind if Alucard has an ulterior motive or not. I like him nonetheless. Absolutely adore Rhy and Kell's dynamic.

I was so proud of Holland's come back but then he had to go ahead and ruin it ://

Terrified but also excited to start the next one after that cliff hanger of an ending.

Spoilers for the Grishaverse:

I was thinking just how much Alucard reminded me of Nikolai Lantsov -- aka the prince turned ~~pirate~~ privateer -- what with how those two are so annoyingly charming but also how Alina/Lila describe how they wear different faces for different occasions. I really should've known Alucard would also be royal with the way he was so fluent in High Royal, but somehow I totally wasn't expecting that lol

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noveltay's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny 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

5.0

This series is so good. I loved the new characters and storylines. I loved every aspect of how this story played out, and how it ends with such a cliffhanger that you HAVE to grab the third book.

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asipofcozy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny slow-paced

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

3.5

You know that book that everyone loves, and you want to love just as much but then end up don't because you have weird expectations in life...yah that's this book for me.

I wanted to love this book so much but, in the end, it came down to pacing for me. And while things did happen in this book that kept the pages turning, it didn't really contribute to the main plot line. In fact, I felt like the plot finally got center stage in the last 70 pages or so. There was a certain situation (climax) that, I felt, could have happened at any point in time in the book.

When Holland plans to kidnap Kell. This really could have happened at any time. The entire book he had been sitting on his throne contemplating what to do just to keep the pacing slow.

It was put towards the end for that dramatic flair of what happens next?!

However, that doesn't mean I didn't like this book. What really pushed me through was the characters. I love our main characters Rhy, Kell, and Lila. As well as a certain new character who is all flare and dramatics. I loved the character development in this book and how all the characters progressed. Kell is a cinnamon roll and deserves all the hugs.

I am definitely going to be picking up the final book in the trilogy. I really believe it's going to be a great ending!

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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imds's review against another edition

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

3.75

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mpbookreviews's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

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koistyfishy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.5

So I don’t think I can review this without keeping spoilers out since it is a sequel and all… so proceed at your own risk…

Should you read it? Yes
Was it amazing? No (but you need to get to book 3 so you kinda have to)

Basically two was ok… it wasn’t better than book 1 but had elements of it that were beyond measure of the first book. Mostly since this is not the first book, you already know the characters slightly and the world system so you can jump right into plot…

Now we jump into the spoiler territory so

But that’s where this book lacked…not that the plot is weak, it just doesn’t really add anything to the story. Think of it like those filler episodes in an anime… you could prob skip over this book and move right to the next and still know what’s happening after reading a quick “what you missed” summary. Totally suffers from middle book syndrome as the main aspect that happens (which is totally rushed at the end of the book) could have been added at the end of book 1 or start of book 3.

On to that rushed point, it really annoys me about books when the pacing feels off at the start and doesn’t remain consistent and then everything is slapped on the end. This one starts of ok but then it reaches a point where it’s just slowly ebbing along with nothing going up and down… and then WHAM, BAM, Thank you Ma’am… the last few chapters (not like half the book), like 10 pages is just BOOM! All the action.

To me this book mainly just focuses on Lila getting into her power but I am still confused as to why all of a sudden she has power. The magic system isn’t really explained very well you just have to believe Lila knows she is magical enough to enter this tournament but you never actually see her use magic until the fights. I can understand if VE wanted to use that as surprise factor but it felt disconnected from what we were told to what we see everywhere outside the ring…so I think that could have used a little more polishing. Also everything builds up to this tournament and we hardly see anything of the fights…

The characters overall are a little bit irritating. Lila is sometimes bratty in her confidence and just insufferable. Kell is just moapy THE WHOLE BOOK and everyone is just treating him like shit when they really shouldn’t cause he just saved Rhy’s life but no… and Rhy just gave up and lost his spark and pizazz and whist there are reasons for this all it was at times is annoying to read.

I did really like Alucard though and he makes up for a lot of the other characters. He adds a lot to the story. He is so funny and smooth and loveable but he doesn’t get enough spotlight and I wanted more.

It felt like some of the angst was too on purpose by keeping the characters apart for so long just to add extended yearning and while I love some angst in my novels…. This was just too much…

I did love the ballroom scene where everything was catastrophic 🫢

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