Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab

33 reviews

rinku's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Shades of Magic is quite the beloved series here on Goodreads, but I couldn’t give the first book, Four Shades of Magic, more than 3.5 stars. I had the feeling that the premise of this novel was so great, but the execution left a lot to be desired for me. 

In this story, the first character we follow is Kell. Kell is one of the two people being able to wander between the four different Londons that each have a different relationship with magic. The second main character is Lila, a thief from the normal London. After getting an artefact she isn’t supposed to have, they both have to work together to save the world. 

A big problem I had with Four Shades of Magic was its pacing. Almost the first half of the novel is just exposition, leading to a very slow beginning. Only after the half when the event mentioned in the synopsis happened, it got more interesting, and the story finally had a direction it was going in. Also, even though I hated the ending of the series, Foundryside executed the plot point of a thief stealing a magical object she wasn’t supposed to have much better. 

Furthermore, there were some things happening that I didn’t fully understand, and it was so cliché how the villains explain their plans in big detail to the main characters. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending as well;

Athos and Astrid just dying was a bit boring, and I really don’t like that Kell and Rhy are bounded to each other, this is just a plot point I personally don’t enjoy

. 

This all sounds quite critical if I’m honest, but I still liked the general plot and there were some great and impactful moments here and there, like

Barron’s death or Lila first being alone in White London, not knowing what she should do

. In general, there were quite a lot of deaths but there were just too many so that I started to not care about them anymore. 

Like I’ve said, the book is definitely carried by its settings and the world building. The different Londons are so interesting, and I liked the historical setting, even though it could’ve been utilized more, same goes for places besides London that were barely mentioned. The elemental magic was nothing to special but nice, nevertheless. 

At the beginning, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the MCs, Kell and Lila. They both are quite edgy and arrogant which made them a bit cringe and unlikable in my eyes. Only later, I started to appreciate them more, but I felt not such a strong connection to them like I felt to Addie. It was nice that we had no romance between them (yet?), and I enjoyed that Lila was more tomboy-ish. I’m wondering though if she’s

an Antari as well, we’ll see

. Another character that made me cringe was Rhy; his overly sexual nature was just a bit too much. In comparison to them, I really liked all the villains. The twins are so brutal and such great villains, but Holland is an interesting character as well. 

Even though I’m a bit critical towards the plot and the characters in Four Shades of Magic, I’ll read the next books of the series since the world is so interesting and creative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, Blood, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Police brutality

Minor: Death of parent and Kidnapping

zoeelora's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual harassment, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Misogyny, and Violence

sirenricobooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Torture, Violence, War, Cursing, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death

__rasberry__'s review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Sexual harassment and Kidnapping

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

Minor: Kidnapping

cskye's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Death, Misogyny, and Torture

Minor: Sexual assault and Self harm

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Blood, Physical abuse, Confinement, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault and Police brutality

Minor: Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

dododenise's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Schwab writes beautifully. Truly, her writing style sweeps me away every time.
Unfortunately, this story wasn’t for me. While it has a great construction and the pieces are put together masterfully, they didn’t sweep me away. I didn’t care about the plot. The characters didn’t catch me interest. Kell bored me and Lila annoyed me.
I simply didn’t enjoy myself all that much while reading, although I really hoped to love it. Alas, this book wasn’t able to make me care about its story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Minor: Torture

alexijai98's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t incredible. The biggest issue I had was that the characters came off as quite flat, even with interesting back stories. The plot was unique in concept but felt surface level, and almost as if Schwab was plodding through and waving a hand to resolve conflict. This book is worth a read, and I’m going to continue with the series, mostly because the premise is fascinating and I think there is potential for me to really like it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

lainiereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

I really enjoyed this! I was constantly being caught off guard with the plot twists, it felt like everything that happened was the worst case scenario. But it was still fun to read! I love Lila so much I want to read the rest of the series just for her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping and Death

Minor: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Self harm