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

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A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

73 reviews

alyssadavis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.25

“I gave him my life, but you cannot ask me to stop living.”

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valeria_gzz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

4,5 because it was slow at first.

OH MY GOSH I TOTALLY SAW THAT COMING BUT THE EXECUTION WAS AMAZING!!!

I’m glad there was more Rhy and his relationship with Kell, I still really like Kell and I like that we got to meet Alucard BUT I didn’t like the way Lila was written sometimes

(now I see why she had to be written as an “I’m not like most girls” character though so I won’t count points off for that).

I definitely teared up a little on page 284.

BUT WOW WHAT AN AMAZING ENDING and I totally saw that coming as soon as it was mentioned that she had a fake eye.

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cardanwine's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.5

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burnsie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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jenny_librarian's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book very much suffers from middle-book syndrome. If you take out the games, nothing really happens in the plot until the very end. It's mostly character and relationship development for Rhy, Kell and Lila.

However, THE TENSION between those three (and Alucard now)! If you're a Kell/Lila shipper - why wouldn't you be - you're in for a lot of barely missed encounters, stolen moments and hate you/love you outbursts. And I can guarantee you won't be able to resist Rhy and Alucard.

As I said, not much happens to the main plot. We see scenes of White London and the aftermath of Holland's demise in Black London, but it's just bits and pieces in the backgroun until the last 50 pages. The action is firmly centred on the games, which are kind of magic olympics. It's quite interesting, but if you expect to see Kell and LIla travel between worlds the way they did in book 1, you'll be disappointed.

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lolaslalaland's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.5

Sequel to A Darker Shade of magic in the Shades of Magic trilogy.

In this second book we mainly follow Delilah Bard in her adventures through this unknown world; as a thief aboard a privateer ship, as a novice mage, and as a girl with trouble trusting anyone due to a harsh past. Lila is a thrill seeking adrenaline addict so it comes as no surprise that when the Element Games come around, she attempts to sneak into them. But she isn't the only one illegally participating in the tournament.

Kell and Rhy face their own troubles with their linked predicament. I found Kell's dilemma in this book to be very emotional for me and truly heartbreaking. The amount of strife he endured was just... sad and lonely and I wish I could give him a hug.

Of course, we encounter a myriad of new characters that are fabulously diverse. Coming from all corners of this fictitious Red London world with different kingdoms. Through the magical games we understand the basic and fragile relationship all the kingdoms have with each other. As someone who enjoys fantasy with political intrigue, I would have wanted a little bit more on this part, but this book isn't about the delicate standing of fantasy politics.

This book is about its characters and a problem that has never quite gone away. But this book isn't about our characters facing it, it's about the set up. And for that reason, I sometimes found it to be slightly lacking in the plot department. There is a lot of background and some truly heartwarming and wrenching moments between our cast, but not a lot of action other than of course the magical games (which I sometimes felt there wasn't enough) and Kell's PoV.

Overall, A Gathering of Shadows was another extremely enjoyable book and I know I would reread it and absolutely love it. V.E. Schwab's writing is by far my favorite thing to read and I cannot wait to get to the third book in this trilogy!

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