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imaginaryalchemist's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.25
The Shades of Magic Trilogy comes to a close in A Conjuring of Light. It was a fun fantasy ride!
I'll start with the things I did like. First, I love the characters. They had good chemistry and played off each other well. I enjoyed the banter between Kell and Alucard. I know some people didn't like Lila, but I did, I thought she was fun and pretty badass. I saw the romance between her and Kell coming a mile away but I still enjoyed it. I thought they were good together.
Speaking of romance, I loved the subplot with Rhy and Alucard. I feel VE Schwab handled it tastefully. Speaking as a queer person, queer romance often feels like it's pandering to us.
I really wanted more time with these characters. In my opinion, Schwab's character writing is pretty strong. They felt like they could be real people, even the background characters. Rhy ended up being my favorite. I nearly started crying when his parents died, I felt so bad for him. I wanted to reach into the book and give him a hug. My boy suffered so much.
Now for some of my criticisms. For the story, I enjoyed it overall but felt it dragged at some points. The ship voyage in particular seemed to go on for a bit too long.
I also had a lot of unanswered questions at the end. I was hoping Kell would naturally remember his past - since he was told the memory spell should wear off over time and he burned the note on how to remove it. I wanted to know where he actually came from, and what his birth name was. I also don't recall Lila's missing eye being fully addressed. I had a theory that the black stone that appeared in book one would end up being the eye. I haven't read the sequel trilogy so I don't know if the question is answered there.
So, overall I really liked this trilogy! It was the first thing I'd read from VE Schwab and I'll definitely read more of her work in the future.
I'll start with the things I did like. First, I love the characters. They had good chemistry and played off each other well. I enjoyed the banter between Kell and Alucard. I know some people didn't like Lila, but I did, I thought she was fun and pretty badass. I saw the romance between her and Kell coming a mile away but I still enjoyed it. I thought they were good together.
Speaking of romance, I loved the subplot with Rhy and Alucard. I feel VE Schwab handled it tastefully. Speaking as a queer person, queer romance often feels like it's pandering to us.
I really wanted more time with these characters. In my opinion, Schwab's character writing is pretty strong. They felt like they could be real people, even the background characters. Rhy ended up being my favorite.
Now for some of my criticisms. For the story, I enjoyed it overall but felt it dragged at some points. The ship voyage in particular seemed to go on for a bit too long.
I also had a lot of unanswered questions at the end.
So, overall I really liked this trilogy! It was the first thing I'd read from VE Schwab and I'll definitely read more of her work in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Confinement, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Death, Violence, War, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcohol and Cursing
smkoontz's review
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and War
Moderate: Child death, Violence, Murder, Body horror, and Death
zoeelora's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Alcohol, Violence, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Medical content, and Death
skillyillian's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Sexual content, and Self harm
Minor: Confinement, Alcohol, and Kidnapping
msradiosilence's review
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Classism, Death of parent, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: War
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content
rinku's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Alcohol, Blood, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, and Sexual content
donatio's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
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
This one was long. Like the other two before this was a reread, although I had less memory of how they actually get rid of Osaron.
Sometimes the book felt a bit too long, especially the first hundred pages or so but that does not take much from Schwab's writing style, it is just easy to forget that the scene cover barely a week and not, say, two.
On the other hand there are some things I forgot that had me shocked when I remembered.
I do wish we would have known what happened with Kelly's parents.
Every plotline had a logical and satisfying ending.
Recommend for being one of my favourite series.
Sometimes the book felt a bit too long, especially the first hundred pages or so but that does not take much from Schwab's writing style, it is just easy to forget that the scene cover barely a week and not, say, two.
On the other hand there are some things I forgot that had me shocked when I remembered.
Every plotline had a logical and satisfying ending.
Recommend for being one of my favourite series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Murder, Confinement, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Torture, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
purplepenning's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Self harm, Slavery, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Torture, Death, War, Murder, and Self harm
Moderate: Sexual content and Body horror
Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Classism, Suicide, Homophobia, Alcohol, Cursing, Confinement, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
jessicaludden's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
“Pain reminds us that we’re alive.”
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Minor: Torture, Death of parent, Suicide, Body horror, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, and Grief