Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

72 reviews

littletiramisu'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

5.0


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artmuseam's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-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

5.0

brilliant ending to a brilliant series. i’m actually freaking out from how amazing this last book was and the emotional rollercoaster it put me through. first off, i was actually really happy to see this story being told in so many perspectives and i loved how schwab brings up an adventurous and harrowing experience in a beautifully written way. following kell and lila through this finale was way too much fun and im truly sad that this series has now come to an end :( i will miss this so much!!

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loxeletters's review against another edition

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adventurous
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0


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enbae's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I really wish that 1) there were more books of this series and 2) that more books would have characters who are black, disabled and/or LGBTQ and nobody making a big deal out of it in the story!
Also reading it was so worth it for Alucard alone 😍🥰

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incrediblemelk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Having picked up A Darker Shade of Magic at random a few years ago and enjoyed it, I borrowed the sequel A Gathering of Shadows from the library and found it very gripping to the point that when I got to the cliffhanger ending, I ran straight to the library and borrowed  this, the final book in the trilogy.

I read it in several long luxurious binges. It’s very dramatic and I enjoyed the worldbuilding. The ultimate ending was never in doubt but I found myself sometimes surprised by some of the plot twists. Schwab isn’t afraid to kill off characters to raise the stakes.

That said, this is a very chunky novel and I found myself noticing some of the schlockier moments that pad out the writing. eg people don’t have ‘hair’ when they can have ‘curls’

and there’s a lot of lavish description of the colours and textures of things, and that trope which always annoys me in fantasy fiction of people’s eye colours changing like mood rings.

I don’t think we really needed chapters from Osaron’s perspective as it (he?) was a dull character with only one motivation – consuming power. And it felt like several threads in the novel (to take up the ‘threads of magic’ metaphor that was riffed on again and again here, having never been a major focus of the previous two books) weren’t followed through, eg the Grey London plotline was squared away very briskly and the questions about Kell’s and Lila’s mysterious pasts were brushed over.

Which I guess is fine – I am always complaining that people need every tiny thing in a story explained away to them and so it’s good that some things are left mysterious for the reader to ponder.

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s_teichman'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
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


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greenrequiem's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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ten_telegrams's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0


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sofiadanielle'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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Ah, the world of Shades of Magic completed and done. I’m honestly saddened by the loss, but so entirely grateful to have read the series. 

For me, A Conjuring of Light was definitely the strongest book of the trilogy. Schwab makes 600+ pages fly by- almost in a way that I wish I could slow it all down. 

I think I’ll remember this story for a very long time; I’ll hold these characters close with me. 

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marine2907's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0


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