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grrr8_catsby's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Part of the charm of A Darker Shade Of Magic was it's self-contained story; while the stakes in A Conjuring Of Light are considerable higher, it feels like an inorganic extension of A Gathering Of Shadows. In fact, A Conjuring Of Light literally opens where A Gathering Of Shadows left off. This second part of the Shades Of Magic series (both A Gathering Of Shadows and A Conjuring Of Light) is a massive story to tell, totaling 1,133 pages. However, it feels as if the story was cut in two segments and padded for length. There are some legitimately exciting sequences in this book, but there are also several that drag on; pacing has been a major issue for these last two installments.
Contrary to what you have read already, I really did enjoy A Conjuring Of Light; in fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed Shades Of Magic overall. It is my willingness to point out the things I didn't like that would change this from a book that I really enjoyed to a book that I loved.
Peripheral characters are finally given sections that help flesh out their characterization, but this is nothing compared to the major salvaging that certain characters receive. Both Lila Bard and Holland receive wonderful character work in this entry, and turn from annoying main characters to important (and, more importantly, enjoyable) pieces of the story. Again, the magic system feels fresh and exciting, and it is thrilling to see characters display mastery over the elements. Battle and action is fast, detailed, and reads as a major motion picture or video game should.
The ending of Shades Of Magic concludes satisfactorily, while, of course, leaving the door open juuuuuuuuuust a little to allow for another set of adventures in the future.
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Gore and Hate crime
Minor: Homophobia, Death, Cursing, and Death of parent
mpbookreviews's review
- 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
Moderate: Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Gore, Death, Murder, and Violence
kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Grief, Death, Child death, Torture, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Confinement and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide and Slavery
jessicaludden's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. When I started this series I wasn’t sucked in right from the start, but I’m glad I stuck with it because I really liked this last book. My biggest complaint with the other books in the series was the pacing. I felt like they focused too much on the mundane things that characters did causing it to get really slow before it finally picked up. But I think the pacing was amazing with this book which surprised me considering that it’s 600 pages. Do I think it needed to be that long? No, but there was never a moment when I thought the story was dragging. It was very much a typical high fantasy book where the characters are fighting the big bad and there’s a lot of moving parts. The highlight of this book for me was Rhy. I liked him before, but this book made me love him so much. I loved how his character, along with many others touched on grief and how to live with it. What I loved most about this book was the ending. With so many characters we got to see many different point of views. It was a typical bittersweet goodbye at the end where the characters we love are splitting up but we know they’ll see each other again. Overall, I enjoyed this series and I’m glad I grew to love it.
Minor: Torture, Death of parent, Suicide, Body horror, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, and Grief
alicew4k's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Homophobia
lavenderbluestories's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Torture, and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content and Self harm
alexiab's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
God, I’ve been crying over that ending for about half an hour. I don’t know how to cope with goodbyes but this one just keeps squeezing my heart whenever I think about it.
I can’t imagine a more perfect ending. this is hands down one of my favourite trilogies. It’s brilliant start to finish, it has SO much love and adventure and magic, and I love these characters so, so dang much.
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
bella_izzy_gabby's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Torture
Minor: Vomit
creepypiespice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, Outing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide
some_random_person_hi's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Child death
Moderate: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Acephobia/Arophobia, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Minor: Gore