Reviews with content warning for Self harm - A Gathering of Shadows

This is a fantastic sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic and just gives us more of everything I loved in the first book. The worlds get even richer and more fleshed out, our characters are facing more complex inner struggles that are so unrelatable yet entirely relatable at the same time, and there is action and adventure and just a nice undercurrent of romance lying under it all. The only thing that is keeping it from being a full 5 stars for me is this book, despite being great and immensely enjoyable, felt a lot like set up for the third book. And I remember once the pivotal plot device/events of the book started happening, I noticed there really weren't many pages left and I just found myself thinking the whole time "how is V.E. Schwab POSSIBLY going to have this resolve in any satisfying way with what time she has left?" It's because it wasn't going to resolve, it was set up for the next book. The ending is an ABSOLUTE cliffhanger so I'm very glad I am reading this when the trilogy is already complete and I can get my hands on the next book right away.

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l3xi3'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? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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fixxon's review against another edition

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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

4.5

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willowbiblio's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

"'Strength and weakness are tangled things,' the Aven Essen had said. 'They look so much alike, we often confuse them, the way we confuse magic and power.'"
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I'm really glad I chose to stick with this series, because this was so much better than book 1. Lila lost a lot of that "I'm not like other girls" nonsense that made her so insufferable. The inclusion of several more POVs, and shifting through all more continuously/seamlessly kept the narration interesting. I also enjoyed seeing the different cultures even within Red London's world. I enjoyed the way Lila's burgeoning power was explored and that we had several flashbacks to support an ongoing narrative instead of random info dumps.

There were still some aspects that were odd to me- how did no one recognize Kell in the tournament? He's such a *known* figure in that world/city. Additionally, it seemed odd that there was so much tension amongst a family (the royals) that was previously so close. I also felt like it was odd that no one besides Tieren recognized Lila as an imposter.

I enjoyed seeing what became of Holland and getting established a bit in Black London/ the way things can go wrong with magic. This was a massive improvement in all areas and I'm looking forward to finishing the series now.

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pidgepodge's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

5.0

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zoeelora's review against another edition

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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

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