Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - A Conjuring of Light

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

42 reviews

carriepond's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Man, am I so happy that I re-read this series. A Conjuring of Light is the final installment of V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic trilogy and, man, will it tear your heart out. Set immediately after the whoa mama cliffhanger of the second book, Conjuring is relentless— in pace and in emotional punches.

I love these characters and the relationships and how detailed and nuanced Schwab’s worldbuilding and plotting is. She has laid down such a foundation in the first two books and we reap the benefits here. This book was compulsive in so many senses of the word— both while I was reading, compelling me to turn page after page, and whenever I wasn’t, the characters and plot invading my brain until I could pick the book back up.

This was such a great ending to this trilogy, but man, it is brutal. There is a lot at stake, and a lot is lost, so be prepared. And sweet Holland. His story broke my heart.

If you have read the first two, why are you even reading this?! This is the best book of the series, so DO IT. Read it. It’ll smash your heart to pieces.

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chronicacademia's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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littletiramisu's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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incrediblemelk's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Having picked up A Darker Shade of Magic at random a few years ago and enjoyed it, I borrowed the sequel A Gathering of Shadows from the library and found it very gripping to the point that when I got to the cliffhanger ending, I ran straight to the library and borrowed this, the final book in the trilogy.

I read it in several long luxurious binges. It’s very dramatic and I enjoyed the worldbuilding. The ultimate ending was never in doubt but I found myself sometimes surprised by some of the plot twists. Schwab isn’t afraid to kill off characters to raise the stakes.

That said, this is a very chunky novel and I found myself noticing some of the schlockier moments that pad out the writing. eg people don’t have ‘hair’ when they can have ‘curls’

and there’s a lot of lavish description of the colours and textures of things, and that trope which always annoys me in fantasy fiction of people’s eye colours changing like mood rings.

I don’t think we really needed chapters from Osaron’s perspective as it (he?) was a dull character with only one motivation – consuming power. And it felt like several threads in the novel (to take up the ‘threads of magic’ metaphor that was riffed on again and again here, having never been a major focus of the previous two books) weren’t followed through, eg the Grey London plotline was squared away very briskly and the questions about Kell’s and Lila’s mysterious pasts were brushed over.

Which I guess is fine – I am always complaining that people need every tiny thing in a story explained away to them and so it’s good that some things are left mysterious for the reader to ponder.

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skitch41's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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sofiadanielle's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Ah, the world of Shades of Magic completed and done. I’m honestly saddened by the loss, but so entirely grateful to have read the series.

For me, A Conjuring of Light was definitely the strongest book of the trilogy. Schwab makes 600+ pages fly by- almost in a way that I wish I could slow it all down.

I think I’ll remember this story for a very long time; I’ll hold these characters close with me.

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