Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

10 reviews

chronic_listener's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

Content Warnings

fishindices's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious 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

Content Warnings

maxierosalee's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Please note that this review contains spoilers. All page numbers are from the Libby e-book version.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab has been on my wishlist for quite a long time. The premise instantly hooked me when I first read it. Not only that, it has countless glowing reviews. My hold on Libby took over three months to deliver, it was so popular with my library.

I don't even know if I could say I was hyped for it in the way I have been in the past for other books. Yes, I was looking forward to reading this, but I wasn't exactly vibrating in my seat once I got the notification that it was finally available to read. I looked forward to a good fantasy adventure in a unique setting with lovable, compelling characters.

Sigh.

Great concept, bad execution. Why do we keep meeting up like this?

And I feel bad because I wonder if part of the problem is with me. I always hate to ruin peoples' fun with books. Even if I don't particularly like a book (unless it's some hateful QAnon fantasy or something similar), I want people to enjoy what they enjoy. I don't want to sound elitist. This isn't a novel that's particularly horrible in some way that I find inexcusable. It's just that the construction of it is so…shallow. It's not terrible. It's utterly mediocre but built in a way that's meant to be appealing to the masses in as much of a mechanical way as possible.

I know that's a heavy claim to make, especially on a book so beloved by many people. That's why I made sure to write this review as soon as I was finished, as I made detailed annotations and quotes to back up my claims.

I am not going to be making friends with this review, I can already tell.

SUMMARY

So, let's give a quick summary since I'm writing this to be a more formal review than a lot of my other ones. The story takes place in London…specifically, with four of them. Red London, Grey London, Black London, and White London. The term is very informal, as they're not all the same city but with a different color scheme. They're completely different worlds that are tethered to one another through magic. Each London has a different society and practices a different culture/level of magic than the other. Most people can't travel between them and do not know of their existence, but the rulers of each London regularly communicate with one another through a certain someone: Kell, our protagonist. Kell is an adopted member of the royal family of Red London and can travel through each of the Londons, delivering messages between them. He also has a side hustle, however, which is smuggling things from different worlds.

One day, he's taking a trip to White London, the scariest of all of the worlds, because of the brutal magic culture surrounding it. Also because of the two uber-evil twin rulers who sit on the throne. During his trip, Kell is given a mysterious black stone that channels extremely powerful magic, and he's now on a quest to bring it back to Black London, where it belongs.

During his quest, he runs into Delilah Bard, or Lila for short. She's a resident of Grey London, who only has the barest hint of magic in their world. Lila is a witty and tough thief who earns her living on the streets, a wanted criminal who is determined to have an adventure of her own and fulfills her goal by tagging along with Kell.

So, the premise and setting? Great. Magnificent, even. I love the four Londons and how they're mirror worlds of each other but with major differences. I love the difference in culture and history of magic between the four of them. It's an intriguing and exotic setting, drawing inspiration from our own world and giving it that magical twist I love. In some areas, I'd even classify it as urban fantasy. It's the perfect world that's grounded enough to be relatable, but foreign enough for the reader to feel like they're experiencing it. Not to mention, it makes for the perfect setting for an adventure. And the adventure itself? It might be a typical "journey to deliver some important item" quest, but there's a reason they work: it might be basic, but it's effective. Sometimes, there's strength in simplicity. There are no complicated political machinations and 4D chess moves you have to keep track of. It's a romp through a magical world with a fun quest, and those are my favorite types of stories.

Despite these fantastic building blocks in place, I still disliked what I was reading.

See, here's the thing about building blocks: they're building blocks. As in, their purpose is to lay a foundation for all the other pieces to come together and strengthen the overall piece. To me, an interesting premise by itself isn't enough to make a story good, and it can be buried by the worst parts that are not as well-crafted. To be fair, sometimes a strength makes up for a weakness in something that I read, and I'll still find myself enjoying it or at least appreciating it. Here, the plot just isn't enough to make up for the other parts that I found lacking. Let's get into it.

TROPES & CLICHES

First off, I want to start with the tropes. This is going to sound so mean, and I'm so sorry, but I can't think of any other way to put this that makes it sound nicer. This book is chock-filled with the most basic, undercooked tropes that are appealing to the masses without much of anything else going on under the surface. It's popular for the same reason Marvel movies are super popular. They're played completely straight without any sense of awareness. Listen, I get it. I've got a soft spot for those corny, overused cliches too. They're endearing. But when you put them in with no craft or awareness and on top of all the other problems the book has, it's grating.

You see it a lot in the characters. They're all just stock archetypes, meant to serve a purpose instead of being actual, compelling individuals. You've got the uber-evil villains with literally nothing else going on for them other than to be cartoonishly evil. Literally, one of the early scenes is of one of the villains torturing and enslaving a little orphan boy because he didn't bow low enough. You've got the evil henchmen who only exists to be a threat by proxy and menacingly chase down the protagonists. Even the main characters, to an extent, are this. Kell, I find at least a little interesting, but even then, he feels generic. Lila is a walking trope through and through, with nothing to make her stand out. She's the typical snarky female heroine who's supposed to be tough, sassy, and gives out witty little quips. She's a risktaker, the chaotic energy in the main duo. The male main character is a rule follower and a bit uptight, while she likes to live dangerously. But of course, despite that, they have chemistry…or at least, I think they're supposed to. I don't know, all of their interactions read like they're coming straight out of the playbook for "plucky heroine and exasperated but endeared hero." Honestly, the two of them are their own problem I'll get into.

The story is littered with cliched, trope-y moments. It feels like I'm reading a 2012 Tumblr fanfiction written by a 19-year-old sometimes. You've got "dialogue meant to be witty and clever but it comes off as annoying or insincere":

"Yes. Because unless you plan to wed me yourself—and don't get me wrong, I think we'd make a dashing pair—I must try and find a mate." (pg. 110)

"Sure I do," countered Lila cheerfully. "There's Dull London, Kell London, Creepy London, and Dead London," she recited, ticking them off on her fingers. "See? I'm a fast learner." (pg. 281)

He hadn't meant it as a compliment, but Lila took it that way, flashing him a grin. "What can I say," she said, "I'm one of a kind." (pg. 290)

Lila let out an exasperated noise. "Unbelievable," she snapped as he led her out of the throngs and away from the river, toward one of the narrower streets. "I'm so glad you're all alright, Lila," she parroted. "Thank God using the stone didn't rip you into a thousand thieving pieces." (pg. 321)

You've gotten in the was long enough," said Astrid, raising her hands in front of her.
Lila's mouth quirked. "I do seem to have a talent for that." (pg.534)

"The Danes are dead," said Kell. "I killed them myself."
Lila cleared her throat.
Kell rolled his eyes. "With Lila's help." (pg. 564)

You've got "villains trying to sound all intimidating and dramatic but they're coming off as clowns instead":

"Do you know what makes you weak?" said Holland. "You've never had to be strong. You've never had to try. You've never had to fight. And you've certainly never had to fight for your life. But tonight that changes, Kell. Tonight, if you do not fight, you will die. And if you—" (pg. 493)

(The above quote is by far the egregious example of this. Imagine this big bad guy getting ready to slit your throat, and he starts doing this monologue. And you gotta sit there as he starts unloading this all on you with a straight face. I'd be dead because I would start laughing.)

Athos smiled grimly. "You are like Holland," he said. "Do you know why he could not take the crown? He never relished war. He saw bloodshed and battle as means to an end. A destination. But I have always relished the journey. And I promise you, I'm going to savor this." (pg. 511)

Athos smiled darkly. "Oh yes," he said, lowering the shield. "I'm going to enjoy this." (pg.513)

The problem with this is that it breaks my engagement with the story. How am I supposed to bond with these characters if I can't take them seriously because of their dialogue? How am I supposed to become invested in these big, tense moments when they have scenes like this:

Athos frowned. "What does it matter, the shape your death takes? It is still at my hand."
"You said you wanted to kill me yourself," countered Kell. "But I suppose this is as close as you can come. Go ahead and hide behind the stone's magic. Call it your own."
Athos let out a low growl. "You're right," he said. "Your death should—and will—be mine." (pg. 530)

This is supposed to be the ultimate final battle between the big bad and the main character, and Kell literally bamboozled the villain to not kill him very easily, effectively, and quickly with his big, powerful magic by pulling the old "fight me like a man" card. Are you kidding me? This doesn't feel like a high-stakes scene where the character is winning against all odds. This feels like a playground fight where the villain has two brain cells, and the good guy is only winning because he has three. We're supposed to believe the villain is this powerful and intelligent magician with the ultimate power at his fingertips. It's laughable.

That's not the only example. There's another scene, one of the most cliched and cringe-worthy in history, where Kell and Lila do the "kiss for luck" schtick.

Kell smiled back. And then Lila brought her free hand to his jaw and tugged his mouth toward hers. The kiss was there and then gone, like one of her smiles.
"What was that for?" he asked, dazed.
"For luck," she said, squaring her shoulders to the wall. "Not that I need it."

I let out an audible "oh, come on" when I read this.

How many times have I seen this exact scene in so many other cookie-cutter romances? Do people still think this kind of thing is cool? Haven't we advanced as a society? Maybe this would be fitting in a YA book, and even then it would be wearing its welcome. This is supposed to be an epic fantasy work targeted towards adults. The worst thing is that scenes like this can work. Cliches are endearing to people for a reason, but you can't just slap them in and call it a day. You have to add some kind of flair, some kind of craft that makes it stand out and be a replica of a tired old trope. Instead of writing actual chemistry between Kell and Lila, they quip at each other and have quirky little scenes like this. Schwab makes use of some of the most overused, corny lines imaginable with no flair whatsoever. This is stuff I would be swooning over and thinking was the coolest, edgiest thing when I was 14 years old.

Funnily enough, you know what I was thinking at the end of this book?

"Ha ha, wouldn't it be funny if they went full circle and did a callback to the kiss scene where Kell kisses Lila back and—"

"Hey, Lila," he said softly into the space between them.
"Yeah?"
He pressed his mouth to hers for one brief moment, the warmth there and then gone. She frowned up at him, but did not pull away.
“What was that for?” she asked.
“For luck,” he said. “Not that you need it.” (pg. 536)

GODDAMMIT.

CHARACTERS

Moving on from that…let's go in-depth with the characters. By characters, I mean Kell and Lila, because they're the only ones worth talking about. Everybody else, from the villains to the side characters, are props and have nothing to them.

I've already touched on them before and their dynamic. Kell feels pretty generic to me and an archetype I've seen a million times before with nothing that makes him stand out to me: he's…you know what? I'm struggling to describe his personality. He's the levelheaded protagonist dealing with the eccentrics he tends to come across, something of a reluctant hero. Most of his biggest moments of personality come with his quarreling with Lila, but in the later half of the book, his relationship with his adoptive prince brother, Rhy, is probably the most interesting and worthwhile character interaction in the entire story. He dearly loves Rhy and is willing to do something very significant and sacrificial for him. It's very sweet, and it makes me wish the book could have been about them instead of Kell and Lila. Now that I think about it…yeah, Schwab? Why wasn't Rhy the secondary protagonist?

Their relationship does feel like something that goes above friendship and into familial love, and I like that angle. It's just that…Rhy is in maybe 15% of the book. Perhaps 19% if I'm being generous. You get tidbits like this:

Rhy hated it when Kell was forced to use blood magic, because he felt personally responsible—he often was—for the sacrifice that came with it. He had caused Kell a great deal of pain once, and had never quite forgiven himself for it. (pg. 113)

This is pretty compelling! A past incident that holds guilt for Rhy? That makes for an interesting dynamic. But you what would be great? Being shown this instead of having to be told. Why can't we experience things like this instead of having it be a footnote?

Speaking of telling versus showing…

Lila.

I warmed up to her a little bit by the 70% mark, and she had some cool scenes. But before then? Lila was my least favorite character. At one point, I was willing to give the book an extra star if Kell ditched her at a bus stop somewhere. She is an example of one of my least favorite writing pitfalls: telling us a character is one way and then showing her to be the complete opposite.

Lila's whole deal is that she's a thief, a pickpocket whose sly hand tricks make her able to steal almost anything. She's a notorious criminal, a wanted man (because she often dresses up like a man to disguise herself). We're supposed to believe she's clever, sly, tough, and more than capable of handling threats that come her way. The prose hammers on the point again and again that Lila takes no nonsense from anybody. In her beginning scene, I was on the path to believing this, where she defends herself from somebody and kills them. After that, it was all downhill from there.

Because, in actuality, Lila is not the sly, clever thief Schwab wants you to think she is. Lila, in actuality, is as dumb as a bag of bricks and has the emotional maturity of a 15-year-old high schooler. First off, re-read the section I wrote about the corny and try-hard dialogue. Notice how much of it comes from Lila. That's half the problem right there. Worse than that? Lila, for all her supposed toughness, is constantly getting into trouble. No less than three times, she gets into trouble and needs to have Kell swoop in to save her. The worst example: Lila and Kell magically transport to Red London from Grey London, and they get separated. You'd think a master thief with a bounty on her head who has never been arrested would be good at blending into the shadows and laying low. Nope. You know what she does? She walks into a crowded marketplace and blatantly steals something from a vendor in plain sight and causes a scene, which makes Kell have to come to her rescue. I'm supposed to believe she's a master thief? She makes the argument in the scene that "she didn't know it was enchanted," but it is the middle of the day, on one of the busiest holidays in Red London, and she steals it right in front of him so he notices her trying to pocket it. Not to mention, instead of de-escalating the situation, she continues to draw more attention to herself to the point where royal guards come running up to her. Some pickpocket.

Then there is this scene:

Her gut said to go, and years of stealing to survive had taught her to listen when it spoke. besides, she reasoned, no one in the city was looking for her.
Lila made for the door, and she was almost to it when she saw the knife again, the one she'd been so keen on, sitting on top of the chest where she'd left it. Kell had warned her against thieving in the shop, but the owner was dead and it was just sitting there, unappreciated…She eyed the door, wondering if the words protecting the shop from thieves had died with their maker. Might as well test it. (pg 398)

Our resident master thief, everybody. Doesn't listen to her gut despite being supposed street smart and tough as nails, and takes another enchanted item after already having a bad encounter with one previously to "test" it. She actually might have kleptomania since she sometimes seems incapable of not picking up things that are not nailed to the ground. That actually would have a kind of interesting twist to her archetype.

"I'm willing to bet my knife could find your heart before your hand could reach this rock." She said it with such casual confidence that Kell suspected she might be right. (pg. 288-289).

Yeah, sure, Lila. I definitely believe you. It's not like I'd just have to drop something on the ground, and you'd fall over yourself trying to pick it up as gracefully as a drunk donkey while I take my leave.

Perhaps I'm being a little too harsh on her, but this is one of my least favorite writing habits. Don't sit there and tell me how cool, smart, touch, etc. a character is, and then show me them acting the complete opposite. If you dedicate a chunk of your story to talking about how a character is, you better put your money where your mouth is.

Even in the scenes where Schwab makes an attempt, it comes as perfunctory. Lila is threatening to stab Kell or otherwise cause him bodily harm. The one time she manages, Kell kicks her ass and goes on his merry way. There's a scene where she chews into Kell for complaining about his life when he's been adopted literally by loyalty, while she's had to steal and live on the streets for most of her life. It's one of her few great scenes, or at least it's half a good scene, but the way it's written, but then we get this at the end of it:

"Don't you dare pity me, magic boy," growled Lila, a knife in her hand. (pg. 337)

Like I said: emotional maturity of a 15-year-old. Also, she's already gotten her ass kicked by him once. What is brandishing her knife going to do at this point? She knows he does blood magic. Is she gonna get her ass kicked again?

But like I said, she does have some good scenes near the end of the book that warmed me up to her a bit. There is a scene where Lila comes across a poor, orphan boy who is in her way. He’s been carved up and forced to serve the evil twin rulers while being completely conscious. Lila is forced to go through him to enter a room, but he won’t allow it. He goads her into trying to get past her...and then she realizes he’s essentially asking to die. There’s no prolonged angst like I would typically expect. She pities him but quickly and efficiently kills him in the way he’s requested without hesitating for too long. It’s a very compelling reaction, unique, and threw me off what I would usually expect in a situation like that! Too bad Lila couldn’t be that interesting for the rest of the book.

Her final fight with Astrid was also pretty good. I even liked it better than the final fight between Kell and Athos. Lila showed her own against a powerful magic user and put up a pretty good fight, even if she didn't necessarily win. All the odds were against her, and she still held her own.

There's a…weird scene that comes out of nowhere:

Honestly, what had happened to her? The Lila Bard of south London looked out for herself. That Lila would never waste her life on someone else. She'd never choose right over wrong so long as wrong meant staying alive. She'd never have turned back to help the stranger who helped her. Lila spit a mouthful of blood and straightened. Perhaps she never should have stolen the damned stone, but even here, and now, facing death in the form of a pale queen, she didn't regret it. She'd wanted freedom. She'd wanted adventure. And she didn't think she minded dying for it. She only wished dying didn't hurt so much. (pg. 534)

Normally, a scene like this would emotionally speak to me. You have a selfish character who only helps themselves and knows nothing of camaraderie finding peace and purpose in the friends they've made. She's even facing the possibility of her death with dignity, knowing if she dies, she will take her last breath doing following her dreams. It's something that resonated with me and is inspiring. In a way, it did make me respect Lila a lot more. But…where did this come from? What major character development did Lila go through to have this mindset? I don't remember anything that would naturally lead to this change of heart. It's such a major change in someone's disposition.

I know she's supposed to be risking her life to save Kell, and that's where this new altruistic Lila is coming from, but…this is the problem when you have all of your character interactions be filled with nothing but quips and "humorous" bickering. I was absolutely under the impression that Lila and Kell didn't like each other all that much. I guess that bickering was supposed to be them bonding.

Also, what is the book talking about "Lila never turned back to help?" A quarter of the way in, Lila literally gives some money to a homeless boy she runs into.

Lila passed a boy perched on a stoop a few doors shy of Stone's Throw, and slowed, her thoughts trailing off. The boy was ragged and thin, half her age and as dirty as a chimney broom. He was holding out his hands, palms skyward, and Lila reached into her pocket. She didn't know what made her do it—good spirits, maybe, or the fact that the night was young—but she dropped a few coppers into the kid's cupped hands as she walked by. (pg. 355)

If this somehow isn't enough proof for you, the homeless boy gets robbed and despite multiple warnings from another character and an inner monologue that tells her she shouldn't get involved, she risks her own life to defend the boys from the three thugs.

"The Lila Bard of south London looked out for herself. That Lila would never waste her life on someone else. She'd never choose right over wrong so long as wrong meant staying alive. She'd never have turned back to help the stranger who helped her."

Okay. Sure. Pro-tip to any aspiring authors out there: make sure you read the book you're writing.

This feels like such a weird discrepancy, too. It seems like something that an editor should have flagged when reviewing the book. You know what? That brings me to the final point…

THE ACTUAL WRITING

You want to hear a confession? Most of the things that I listed above, I feel like I wouldn’t take so personally if the writing itself was good. I’ve read books where aspects of it were mediocre, but I was engaged enough to keep going. It would still be an interesting experience for me, even if it was one that I didn’t enjoy.

The actual writing, as in the prose itself, is another letdown. It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s not overly flowery or poetic, not overly simplistic. Schwab has some odd quirks in her writing that she is very fond of using. What I mean by that is she severely overuses them. I don’t want to dunk down on Schawb too much after. After all, she’s the one with the published books, and I haven’t published a single thing in my life. I am just saying that as a writer, it’s a detriment to her storytelling.

Look at this bit of prose:

The quiet—an unnatural, heavy, held-breath kind of silence—broke and gave way to noise, sounds of laughter, of passion—some thought it a way to summon power—but mostly those of fighting, and killing. (pg.119)

Why...was it necessary to use four dashes in this single sentence??

Look at how clunky that is. There are four dashes to make way for two asides in the prose. It interrupts the flow of the description, adds unnecessary distraction to the scene Schwab is trying to illustrate, and disrupts the tension being built. And for what? That first aside is at least a good bit of imagery. What purpose does that second aside serve? What do we add to the sentence (or to the scene overall) by dropping a bit of unneeded exposition? Here’s a more poignant question: Why in the hell couldn’t these just be two sentences? The information would flow so much better if Schwab either cut out that second extra bit or split it up.

They don’t just take the form of dashes. Schwab is also pretty fond of parenthetical phrases:

Those who had not (yet) fallen victim to the gnawing hunger for magic went about their daily work, and minded their own, and did their best to forget about the slow way their world was dying. (pg. 120)

There are three questions science cannot answer: does God exist, what is the meaning of life, and why the fuck did Schwab think that “(yet)” was necessary.

No, really. Stand back at look at that. It looks so awkward and out of place. It breaks the flow of the sentence. It adds nothing of use to that bit of narration.

And these are not little one-offs or occasional bits, either. These happen constantly. Every other paragraph is filled with parenthetical phrases or little asides that Schwab felt the need to put in there for reasons I can’t explain. If could put screenshots in this review, I would, just to show you an entire page littered with dashes and parenthesis. I can’t remember an instance where the extra words were worth Frankensteining into a sentence. Here are some examples that stuck out to me:

Below a gleaming silver belt, she wore fitted pants that tapered into tall boots (rumor had it that a man once spat at her for refusing to wear a dress; she’d cut off his lips.) (pg. 126)

She pulled the timepiece from her pocket and held it out, hoping the woman wouldn’t notice the blood (she’d tried to wipe most of it off). (pg. 395)

Rhy’s face lit up with a strange kind of glee. “No”—the word slid over his tongue—”but I’m sure you’ll wish I had. Now”—Rhy’s hand lifted Kell’s chin—”where is my stone?” (pg. 407)

Lila gritted her teeth as her hand fell from her wounded shoulder (and her torn coat) to her waist. (pg. 504-505)

Most of these could either be removed completely and nothing would be lost, or made into sentences without feeling like some kind of grafted-on artificial limb. For example, in that first quote, is there a reason that had to be in parenthesis and not a separate sentence? A better question, however, is why do we need that information? We don’t need a tangent like that to be told how cruel Astrid is. It’s bludgeoning the reader over the head to prove a point about how eeevvviiilll she is when we could be shown it instead.

That last one is especially egregious. It’s the perfect example of adding in information we don’t need. For most of the other examples, it’s because the information is simply unnecessary. For this example...it’s because we, the reader, already know this. Three sentences ago, Schwab wrote:

She gripped her arm with a gasp, cussing roundly as blood seeped through her shirt and coat. She’d been shot. (pg. 504)

WE ALREADY KNOW HER COAT IS TORN! SHE WAS SHOT! Blood is explicitly coming through her shirt and coat! Why did Schwab need to tell us that again?!

I don’t know how many quotes I need to post before I convince people about how poorly written this book is, down to its prose, but let me share one last tidbit:

Intangible. Just as the ash had passed through them at the ruined inn, and Kell’s hand through Lila’s shoulder, so did the people on the street. They could neither feel not hear them. It was as if, beneath the veil, Kell and Lila were not part of the world around them. As if they existed outside of it. And just as the world could not touch them, they could not touch the world. (pg. 344)

Reread this paragraph. In particular, reread those last three sentences. I am not exaggerating when I say this gives the exact feel of when I was in college and desperately trying to hit a word count requirement with only three hours of sleep and my only diet being cup noodles. That last sentence is completely unnecessary. I feel like that’s another thing an editor should have flagged.

In fact, I think there is so much in this book that the editor should have flagged. All those dashes and unnecessary asides? They should have sat down with the author and went over every single one of them to double-check if it was needed and added anything to the story or the reader’s enjoyment. Open note to Schwab’s editor: it’s okay to tell your authors to change things in their book. That’s..your job.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I’m just tired. This wasn’t worth the three-month wait, although I guess I’m glad I knocked it off of my to-read list. Apparently, they’ve been trying to make this into a movie. I personally think it would work better as a television series. I’d flesh it out a bit, make it an extended romp through the different Londons, and explore the world beyond what we see. There’s a lot of potential for strange and exotic locations to be visited through Kell and Lila. It would also allow for more exploration of their characters, which I feel might help with some of the problems I had with them. Also would help with their chemistry, which I feel is ankle-deep.

This review is over 5,500 words. I went overboard with it. So, I’m just going to end with a quote from my friend who gave me their impression of the book when reading the blurb for it.

“This seems like an extremely high-concept story with very generic characters.”

Content Warnings

lisa07xie's review against another edition

3.5

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I would give it free point five stars and I really like the story itself it does have a different view of Magic then over books. It was kind of hard to get into for me because the beginning was Just Not for me but after some time I began to enjoy it and I accustomed to the writing Style which was really descriptive and it is in 3 Person but we get to see the pov from so many small Characters even which I think is quite rare. But the romance was lacking I was told it has a romance subplot which I think is really untrue the romance in this book was a whole sentence long which was quite disappointing... But I did like the Characters and the story it was something different

Content Warnings

mobymaize's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A lovely romp through multiple Londons, similar to, but not the same as, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Super exciting and felt like a very well done HBO mini series in the best way possible :)
Planning on reading the sequels at some point!

Content Warnings