Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

111 reviews

blueberry0531's review against another edition

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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


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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

No plot. 

This book suffers from “middle book syndrome”. The magician games served absolutely no purpose to the overall story, it’s just filler. Kell and Delilah don’t even meet back up for the first time in 4 months until about 80% into the book. It isn’t until 95% into the book that action actually starts happening that moves the plot forward. The rest of the book is just fleshing out the characters, Lila on a ship with mischevious pirates, Kell & Rhy navigating their new bond and then the magician games.

For an audio book that is over 16 hours long, how did nothing happen until literally the last 30 minutes? I’m both astounded and amazed that Schwab can write such a long book where literally nothing happens until the very, very end.

Side note: the two narrators did an amazing job, they were both so good and super engaging. I feel like if they hadn’t been so amazing, I probably would have DNF’d this book.

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reddeddy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

i am just *inhales*……Delilah Bard…..you are insane….but you’re also a fucking badass…..i had some issues with this book through the middle and towards the end, but that ending….i’m kinda shook…..that final line gave me literal chills.

overall a solid sequel, and im so looking forward to the last one, especially after that cliffhanger…i mainly had issues with some of the character development, especially Lila, because i feel like she doesn’t get the same kind of nuance as Kell or even Rhy, especially with everything going on, it feels like she doesn’t ever get the same emotional depth the others do, but hopefully in the next book she will!

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I appreciate the way that VE Schwab builds on the world in this book, giving us more about the magic system. Especially how it relates to other areas outside of London. The magical tournament was probably my favorite aspect of this story. While magical tournaments aren't new, I enjoyed the way it was written in this, and Lila's determination to join even if she isn't the most skilled magician.

Rhy might be my favorite character in this; I just think he is one of the most interesting and complex. Kell and Lila aren't terrible, but I found Lila to get a bit repetitive towards the end of this book. Becuase I didn't really realize how long this book was!

Overall, I do think this book suffers a bit from second book sydrome, especially at the beginning. It felt like it was a little longer than it needed to be, but I guess there is some build up for the third book. Which I'll definitely be reading, because I still need to know how it ends! 

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bookaholic_in_wonderland's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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krijemseoddusana's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-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

5.0


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awreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5


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wiktoria88's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

5.0


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creepypiespice's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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toorsdenote's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Definitely lower stakes than the first book, which was a bit of a disappointment. More Hunger Games than A Darker Shade of Magic. A+ love triangling though.

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