Reviews with content warning for Slavery - A Darker Shade of Magic

I LOVED THIS BOOK AND ALL THE CHARACTERS!! I think that was great for the first book of the year. It made me tense anxious all the time, the twists and turns of the story surprised me every time and I really impressed.

It was great for the first book in a fantasy series, I felt like it was more focused on explaining the world and how the magic works instead of the characters but it doesn't mean we don't get great-built characters, it just means that we hope we can know more about them in the next books, see their relationship grow even more and see a bigger development.

The plot was also great, it got me hooked from the begging, I loved the short chapters, it really makes me wanna read more and V.E. Schwab's writing also helps because it made me care so much about the story and not the outside world and the time passing, I could only focus on Kell's story and I felt immersed by it. It was like breathing, you do it unconsciously but it's extremely important to you, you can't stop.

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msradiosilence's review against another edition

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5.0

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rrovezzi's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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micheala's review

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slow-paced

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

3.5

The first half of this book is so slow. I originally read the first 40% in one sitting almost 2 years ago, and then put it down. I've now read the first chunk of this book three times before I was able to finish it. The second half has a lot more plot movement and I did enjoy it a lot more, but the overall pacing just threw me off too much to give it a higher rating.

I am interested to see where the rest of the trilogy goes, however as I've been warned that the pacing of the second book is similar to this one, I will probably hold off until I have time to read the entire sequel in one sitting.

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shannonmarie's review

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adventurous 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

4.75

Absolutely loved this book. Was a bit worried I would be confused about the world based on the summary but the author did an amazing job setting it up and bringing the reader into the world. I am extremely excited to read the other books in this series.

The only thing I did not love about the book was the random kiss between the two main characters that came out of no where for me. I thought of them as having a much more platonic brother-sister relationship throughout the book so it took me off guard. However it was very short and was not built upon afterwards. Maybe the next book will either build that relationship up or go back to being very platonic.

Overall one of the best books I have read in awhile.

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