Reviews with content warning for Murder - A Gathering of Shadows

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

70 reviews

samchase112's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Whew, what a ride! The second in the Shades of Magic trilogy… I have been waiting years to get to finally read this book, and I'm so so glad I stuck to it (and just bought the damn box set). This world, these characters, are so much freaking fun to read about. Lila is a devilish, crazy character, while Kell… Kell! I just love him. And their world, their banter, their connection, their adventures — it's all the fantasy goodness I crave. The first 70% of this did drag a bit, without Lila and Kell's interaction; I said in an update that the buildup was sweet — and it was, but only for so long, until it became overkill and I was sitting there waiting for fireworks. Good thing the ending 1000% delivered on those promised explosions, and left me itching for the final book. So, yes, A Gathering of Shadows (a perfect sequel name; shadows appeared in bk 1, gather in bk 2, and explode in bk 3) suffered from the sophomore slump/sequel slump/book-two-of-a-trilogy slump… and yet it was still oh so good.

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hannaws's review against another edition

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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!

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jessicaludden's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

“Call me crazy, but I think we do the best living when the stakes are high.”

The ending convinced me to give this 4 stars instead of 3.5 but really there’s no reason this book needed to be 500 pages and I can’t even fathom the next book being 600. I didn’t start really enjoying this book until the last 200ish pages when the tournament started. I couldn’t tell you anything that happened before that, so was it that important? Probably not. But I will say, even though it did take a while, it was worth it. The action of the tournament and the magic was so cool. I even started to like Lila and Kell a lot more. I loved all the Holland content. And that cliffhanger? Come on. So good. Overall I really enjoyed this, I just wish it didn’t take so long to get to the good stuff.

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saurahsaurus's review against another edition

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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

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lucygraham_27's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

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theslowreadernumber5's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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oliverreeds's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

4.25

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sandrabooks's review against another edition

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adventurous 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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ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

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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.

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escapismforlife's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This book. THIS BOOK.

Can you hear me almost falling to grab the third off my shelf?

I haven't felt like this since reading the Legend trilogy Marie Lu back in high school. Or even finishing Ember in The Ashes Series just last year. I've got through this series quicker than both. It's taken me a month. And I am eager to see what happens. Though I think its already been told shown to me in this. <spoiler >Something to do with a dark Lila shown to her. By a dark mirror in a illegal market.

Anyways, I'm wrecked because of the ending. Delilah Bard is the true antihero/thief/magician of London. And the fact she's the strong one in the kind of relationship with Kell is the best thing ever. I love seeing an average woman do extraordinary and dangerous things. And I'm ready to see things take a left turn for once.

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