Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Zgromadzenie cieni

Honestly, I enjoyed The Gathering of shadows way more than The Darker Shade of Magic. I was really struggling to get into the first book, but this one swallowed me up. I appreciate that Schwab showed how the characters and the relationships between them were impacted by the events in The Darker Shade of Magic. Also, I love the way Lila is presented in this book - one of the things that got on my nerves in Darker Shade of magic was how low-key misogynistic she sounded?, like girl I know you are not like everybody else (you are the Delilah Bard after all) BUT THAT'S TOO MANY SLICES. Another thing that I appreciated was that Schwab didn't rub the romance in our faces. We all know that Lila and Kell are into each other (in their way) but thank you for not making the whole book solely about it. (Also, Rhy & Alucard- appreciate the representation) Another major plus for me was the Essen Tasch because your girl loves a good fantasy tournament (my obsession with The Hunger Games never really ended iykwim)

It might be controversial but I'm kinda happy that neither Kell nor Delilah won the Essen Tasch - I guess it would be a little bit cliché for me?

On more negative note though, can we talk about how the King and Queen treated Kell here. Like are you really THIS mad he saved your only son's life? And their attempts to justify it were awful - Rhy will be a king this, Rhy will be a king that, you need to pay for what you did or you will see. *sighs*
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think it had quite a nice undertone of figuring out what you want to do with your life /what you want out of it, and how you can get it. I am not even mad about the cliffhanger - can't wait to grab A Conjuring of Light!

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sofiadanielle's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

Definitely enjoyed A Darker Shade of Magic more, but I can’t say I didn’t like this book. Took me awhile to get through it, and I don’t love a cliffhanger ending *but* at least I’m driven to finish the last book of the series :)

As always, V.E. Schwab writes in a way that is easy and quick to read. I found the pacing to be a little bit odd (with the peak of action being at the end), but I suppose I’ll have all my answers and such about the peak in the next book.

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trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

THAT ENDING!!!! ;-;

Okay so plot-wise pretty much nothing significant happens other than the Essen Tasch and it was quite slow and mostly felt like a filler book but MY GOD did I enjoy this more than I thought I would. The writing is beautiful as expected from Schwab, the characters are so loveable and relatable and I love that their personalities were so much more explored in this one.

Lila is a badass and I'm totally in love with her. Rhy is still a sweetheart and I wanna protect him with my life. Kell, oh, Kell, I still wanna give you a hug, you poor boy. I can't make up my mind if Alucard has an ulterior motive or not. I like him nonetheless. Absolutely adore Rhy and Kell's dynamic.

I was so proud of Holland's come back but then he had to go ahead and ruin it ://

Terrified but also excited to start the next one after that cliff hanger of an ending.

Spoilers for the Grishaverse:

I was thinking just how much Alucard reminded me of Nikolai Lantsov -- aka the prince turned ~~pirate~~ privateer -- what with how those two are so annoyingly charming but also how Alina/Lila describe how they wear different faces for different occasions. I really should've known Alucard would also be royal with the way he was so fluent in High Royal, but somehow I totally wasn't expecting that lol

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