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zoeelora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Violence, and Vomit
skillyillian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
Spoilers abound ✨
I love so many things about this book. Kell, love of my life. Lila, love of my life. I need more rhy and alucard. Hastra is #1 cinnamon roll and I'd give my life for him. Calla is the ultimate mom, I adore her. The characters are so wonderful.
I feel like Lila as a person didn't develop a ton, although her talents certainly did. I love how much of a badass she is, give no fucks and take no prisoners is so stellar when it's done right and with her it definitely is.
Kell's frustration with feeling trapped and held accountable when no one else really was is such an older sibling vibe. God it was so frustrating to read, but in the way it was meant to be. It was extremely relatable for me and made me support him even more.
I loved this book, but I also had issues with it. Someone online introduced me to the idea of "bridge books" where a novel in a series is basically just a bridge to get from one major plot point to the next and doesn't do a ton for the story in and of itself besides giving context for the next big thing. This kind of felt like that? Not terribly, but it was noticeable. Like the biggest things we needed were Kelly getting back to white London and Lila discovering her powers. Everything else felt, not as important. Which is fine, not every plot point should have the same level of importance, but it did make a lot of the rest of the story feel like it dragged on. There wasn't a lot of vital stuff that happened in the first half of the book, it was mostly drama and kind of "where are they now". The only reason I didn't dock more off my score was because it's Schwab, so even when it felt kind of like filler, it was still really well done and held my attention.
Once things picked up though, they definitely went off. The Essen Tasch was a blast, I definitely caught myself grinning a few times throughout. Schwab builds tension in a way that makes it hard to pull out of once you're there and it's addictive. Truly one of my favorite authors 🖤
I adored this book despite it feeling a little bit like filler at some points so we could get to the third installment. The cliffhanger ending was insane, the characters are lovable af, and the magic system grows ever more interesting. I can't wait to dive into the third one, I love these characters so damn much 😮💨🖤
I love so many things about this book. Kell, love of my life. Lila, love of my life. I need more rhy and alucard. Hastra is #1 cinnamon roll and I'd give my life for him. Calla is the ultimate mom, I adore her. The characters are so wonderful.
I feel like Lila as a person didn't develop a ton, although her talents certainly did. I love how much of a badass she is, give no fucks and take no prisoners is so stellar when it's done right and with her it definitely is.
Kell's frustration with feeling trapped and held accountable when no one else really was is such an older sibling vibe. God it was so frustrating to read, but in the way it was meant to be. It was extremely relatable for me and made me support him even more.
I loved this book, but I also had issues with it. Someone online introduced me to the idea of "bridge books" where a novel in a series is basically just a bridge to get from one major plot point to the next and doesn't do a ton for the story in and of itself besides giving context for the next big thing. This kind of felt like that? Not terribly, but it was noticeable. Like the biggest things we needed were Kelly getting back to white London and Lila discovering her powers. Everything else felt, not as important. Which is fine, not every plot point should have the same level of importance, but it did make a lot of the rest of the story feel like it dragged on. There wasn't a lot of vital stuff that happened in the first half of the book, it was mostly drama and kind of "where are they now". The only reason I didn't dock more off my score was because it's Schwab, so even when it felt kind of like filler, it was still really well done and held my attention.
Once things picked up though, they definitely went off. The Essen Tasch was a blast, I definitely caught myself grinning a few times throughout. Schwab builds tension in a way that makes it hard to pull out of once you're there and it's addictive. Truly one of my favorite authors 🖤
I adored this book despite it feeling a little bit like filler at some points so we could get to the third installment. The cliffhanger ending was insane, the characters are lovable af, and the magic system grows ever more interesting. I can't wait to dive into the third one, I love these characters so damn much 😮💨🖤
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Cursing
msradiosilence's review against another edition
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Torture, Death, Cursing, and Confinement
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Kidnapping and Grief
theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Self harm, Blood, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
ten_telegrams's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Alcohol, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, and Cursing
vaguely_pink's review
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Confinement
Moderate: Self harm, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Classism, and War
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Abandonment, Vomit, and Gore
hannaws's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It's the second book in this trilogy but I have to say I liked the first one more.
A gathering of shadows is a medium paced book. I'd like to say that pretty much 2/3 of the book is rather slow moving. Not much really happens and it was hard to keep focus on the book. But the end of it did pick up pace and threw some twists and turns.
And don't even get me started on that cliffhanger ending! All the time I kept hoping it wouldn't end like that. But here we are, in a need of the third book because we can't leave them hanging like that!
A gathering of shadows is a medium paced book. I'd like to say that pretty much 2/3 of the book is rather slow moving. Not much really happens and it was hard to keep focus on the book. But the end of it did pick up pace and threw some twists and turns.
And don't even get me started on that cliffhanger ending! All the time I kept hoping it wouldn't end like that. But here we are, in a need of the third book because we can't leave them hanging like that!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol and Murder
Minor: Cursing and Death
saurahsaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Alcohol, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing, Confinement, Violence, Torture, Slavery, and Physical abuse
ashlightgrayson's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Character development, we love to see it. I got everything I could have wanted in this sequel. Lila and Kell circling around each other in romantic angst, a queer relationship, a mind-controlled villain, epic magic battles...what more could I ask for? I was very satisfied with the introduction of our favorite new character, Allucard who turns out to have a connection to our favorite Red London princes . He is incredibly charming and any scene with him is a fun time. We get to spend a bit of time with each character exploring how the events from the previous book affected them. Kell and Rhy are having a hard time dealing with how interconnected their emotions and pain is. The king and queen start restricting Kell more causing him to feel trapped and frustrated and also creating some strain in their relationship. In turn, this affects Kell's relationship with his brother as well. Lila is at sea avoiding dealing with her emotions. Everything comes to a head when the characters are eventually reunited, albeit under unusual circumstances.
This book felt a lot more fun with the previous installments. There were further glimpses into the versatility of the magic in Red London. Additionally, the boundaries of what was thought possible are pushed further than before. The ending was frustrating, but in the best way possible. I finished it and just wanted to continue reading. This installment felt a bit slower than the previous installment, but that's probably because I was anxiously waiting for all of the characters to reunite again. I don't think that is necessarily reflective of changes in the writing itself. I am looking forward to the final installment in this series. Will definitely be picking it up soon.
This book felt a lot more fun with the previous installments. There were further glimpses into the versatility of the magic in Red London. Additionally, the boundaries of what was thought possible are pushed further than before. The ending was frustrating, but in the best way possible. I finished it and just wanted to continue reading. This installment felt a bit slower than the previous installment, but that's probably because I was anxiously waiting for all of the characters to reunite again. I don't think that is necessarily reflective of changes in the writing itself. I am looking forward to the final installment in this series. Will definitely be picking it up soon.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Cursing, Murder, Confinement, and Kidnapping
blueberry0531's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Addiction, and Self harm
Minor: Cursing and Kidnapping