Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Conjuring of Light

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

111 reviews

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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? No

5.0

5 ⭐ CW: Violence, blood, torture, self-harm, enslavement, death

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab is the third and final book in the Shades of Magic trilogy. This book was such a chonker, but it was worth every page. This was the perfect wrap up to this story. Schwab has such a beautiful way of marrying character moments with plot. Nothing feels wasted, only enriches. Warning for potential spoilers for the previous books ahead.

We pick up from that doozy of a cliffhanger last book, just in time for Lila to finally get to Kell and remove the collar, ultimately also saving Rhy. Osaron is running amuk in poor Holland's body until he leaves his body to become more "godlike." Red London is consumed by his curse.

This whole book was made up of a bunch of character moments. It was all about that character development for Rhy, Alucard, Lila, Kell, and Holland. We finally get to see more of Alucard's backstory and a fleshing out of his relationship with Rhy. Holland's arc is the most harrowing and interesting, in my opinion. That man has never not been a victim or been enslaved. All Holland wants is peace, and everyone just wants to kill him or use him. It's made very clear that Holland may have started out as the antagonist, but he is certainly not a villain in the same way Osaron is. It's also fascinating that Holland is the strongest of the three Antari, because the difference between strength and power is control.

There was so much packed in these pages! I have loved the world building in these books and the magic system. I will definitely be reading The Fragile Threads of Power in the future.

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skillyillian's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

i debated on lowering the score because some moments of this felt a bit slow, but they weren't even that slow, and even then i loved the slow moments so much that i decided i'm sticking with five stars. schwab's writing is ethereal. they write like delilah bard says her name. i loved this book from start to finish, from character development to problem solving to the way schwab is still worldbuilding down to the very last chapter, there was not one single sentence where i went "eh, take it or leave it" throughout this whole read.

i had moments where i was seriously frustrated with the characters, but it made me love them all the more, bc they were doing things that perfectly fit them and just showed how fleshed-out these characters really are. lila's my favorite fictional character of all time at this point. kell, alucard, rhy, and holland are all the great loves of my life as well but no one can top lila. i'm also biased bc we're birthday twins, but that didn't affect my rating. probably.

the romance subplots were phenomenal. the magic system was as stunning and fantastical as in the first two books. an absolutely incredible, thrilling finale to my new favorite series. i immediately bought the fragile threads of power and can't wait to dive back into this world. i cried for the characters, i cheered for them, this book ran me through a whirlwind of emotions and i will be recovering for a long time to come. even the slower parts, like the flashbacks, still captivated my attention and had me craving more. that might not sound like it makes sense but if you read it you'll get it. and you should absolutely read it. there was not one thing in this book that i felt like didn't belong.

i read this series through KU, bought the paperbacks to annotate, and got the collector's edition box set. schwab is my new favorite author, this is my new favorite series, and i'm never changing my mind. i will recommend this series, and all of their books, until the day i die.

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bootrat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.0

Probably my least enjoyed book of the trilogy to be honest.

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bessadams's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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barda's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

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alysereadsbooks's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Listened to the audiobook and throughly enjoyed it. The author knows how to create a thoroughly hateable villain.

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rheagoveas's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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kathrynok's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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emily_zylstra02's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.0

The Shades of Magic series has honestly been a disappointment to me, and A Conjuring of Light is no exception. The magic and the world had so much potential but were held back by the unlikable characters and slow and uneventful plot.

Like I’ve said, the plot was progressing so slowly. It contains only one important element: the search for an object to defeat the great villain that was revealed in the last book of the series. In the first 200 pages, our main characters do nothing against him. Only after 300 pages, they start looking for this object. I can’t even tell you anymore what happened in those first pages besides some annoying banter between the main characters. This is so unfortunate since the world with the three Londons had so much potential. Sadly, we barely see any travelling between those worlds in the course of the story and spend most of the time in Red London.

The second half of the book was a bit better, but still rather uneventful, besides this random twist(?) that

Cora is a traitor and kills the queen and the king together with her brother

. This came so out of the blue and was a bit unbelievable. Additionally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending because it’s wrapped up a bit too quickly;

they just defeat Osaron and not one of the main characters dies. The random explanation of Alcuard towards the end felt a bit misplaced as well

The characters are still the biggest problem I have with the series because I liked none of the main characters. I felt no connection for them which became clear when

Alucard’s sister died, and I felt no emotions

. The dynamic between them, especially Alucard and Kell, should probably be funny, but I was just annoyed by it. I also found it cringe that the characters drink a lot of alcohol and clean their nails with their knives just to show how cool they are.

I still can’t stand Lila; her “not like other girls” demeanour is so annoying and she’s just a boring character because she never fails at anything. Many things about her past and her as a person remain unexplained, just like Kell’s past. Besides Lila, there are just no female characters that play an important role which is so unfortunate. I also didn’t like the villain Osaron, he was so cliché and his POV was just cringe with him talking about wanting to be a god. The only character I liked was Hastra but everyone was so unnecessarily mean to him? Furthermore,

it was so predictable that he would die because none of the main characters could die, of course

The A Darker Shade of Magic series had so much potential, and I had high hopes for the series after enjoying Addie so much. It had an interesting concept with different worlds but after the first book, they barely play any important role and are not utilized. Instead, it focusses on its characters that were often too edgy and hence cringe for my taste and just rather unlikable. For the worldbuilding, the plot is just too simple as well which is all very unfortunate.

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