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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
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder
Minor: Self harm, Sexism
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
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Murder
Minor: Self harm
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Murder
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Murder
Minor: Self harm, Violence
I got 23% in but I didn't enjoy the set up and the general direction this was taking. Reading this felt like a chore and neither the book nor audiobook helped change that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved a lot of this book, and I thought it really showed all of the characters weaknesses in thoughtful ways that made sense from the previous book, I was worried that some of the characters would stay one dimensional. was really worried about Rhy tbh but it felt good and felt like enough character development for me to care when he did start feeling Kell's pain at the end.
I was worried about Alucard and about him feeling shallow but he didn't, I do wish we had more moments with him and Rhy in this book but from what I remember from the next book there's more.
Lila is still good, she's wore a dress in this and I thought okay so we are seeing less hatred for women who are fem instead like her, she still has some leftover not like other girls. but to be fair she isn't, I really love all her magic bits and her bonding with Alucard even if it felt really wrong when they kissed.
Will say it annoyed me at some points when the king and queen acted certain ways but its kind of expected for the story, I just also want Kell to have parents that like him.
if you love dramatic anime with many filler episodes that eventually pull off and into something very interesting you'll probably like this because that's all I could think about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Self harm