Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Die Beschwörung des Lichts by V.E. Schwab

112 reviews

rinku's review against another edition

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

2.0

The Shades of Magic series has honestly been a disappointment to me, and A Conjuring of Light is no exception. The magic and the world had so much potential but were held back by the unlikable characters and slow and uneventful plot. 

Like I’ve said, the plot was progressing so slowly. It contains only one important element: the search for an object to defeat the great villain that was revealed in the last book of the series. In the first 200 pages, our main characters do nothing against him. Only after 300 pages, they start looking for this object. I can’t even tell you anymore what happened in those first pages besides some annoying banter between the main characters. This is so unfortunate since the world with the three Londons had so much potential. Sadly, we barely see any travelling between those worlds in the course of the story and spend most of the time in Red London. 

The second half of the book was a bit better, but still rather uneventful, besides this random twist(?) that
Cora is a traitor and kills the queen and the king together with her brother
. This came so out of the blue and was a bit unbelievable. Additionally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending because it’s wrapped up a bit too quickly;
they just defeat Osaron and not one of the main characters dies. The random explanation of Alcuard towards the end felt a bit misplaced as well
. 

The characters are still the biggest problem I have with the series because I liked none of the main characters. I felt no connection for them which became clear when
Alucard’s sister died, and I felt no emotions
. The dynamic between them, especially Alucard and Kell, should probably be funny, but I was just annoyed by it. I also found it cringe that the characters drink a lot of alcohol and clean their nails with their knives just to show how cool they are. 

I still can’t stand Lila; her “not like other girls” demeanour is so annoying and she’s just a boring character because she never fails at anything. Many things about her past and her as a person remain unexplained, just like Kell’s past. Besides Lila, there are just no female characters that play an important role which is so unfortunate. I also didn’t like the villain Osaron, he was so cliché and his POV was just cringe with him talking about wanting to be a god. The only character I liked was Hastra but everyone was so unnecessarily mean to him? Furthermore,
it was so predictable that he would die because none of the main characters could die, of course
. 

The A Darker Shade of Magic series had so much potential, and I had high hopes for the series after enjoying Addie so much. It had an interesting concept with different worlds but after the first book, they barely play any important role and are not utilized. Instead, it focusses on its characters that were often too edgy and hence cringe for my taste and just rather unlikable. For the worldbuilding, the plot is just too simple as well which is all very unfortunate. 
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arwen_ds's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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takarakei's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.5

The best of the series for sure! A strong conclusion to the trio. The characters are still the best part so this book being a convergence of a lot of the characters plot wise made it so fun to read. The world has and always will be fascinating to read about. The villain was good, but a bit repetitive. Audio narrators for book 2 and 3 are good. 

Schwab is so fucking smart, leaving the story with Anoshe :')
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purplepenning's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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iamkiaraayleen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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emmakhend's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

This is my favorite book of the series! The build up to the final climax is amazing. The romance and intimacy in the book is stunning. Genuinely one of my favorite fantasy books/series.
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madmadmaddymad'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? Yes

5.0

What a fantastic conclusion to an epic series.

I had to put the book down for a few weeks after Anisa died, but I’m glad I picked it back up again. I needed to know how the journey would finally end.  And the loss of so many characters really hit me, but the loss of Anisa for whatever reason hit me so damn hard. 

I loved the relationship between Kell and Lila finally getting somewhere! And likewise, Rhy and Alucard were similarly easy to root for. 

I’m also surprised at how much I came to love Holland’s character throughout the course of this book.

If you think bout it, the first book is Kell’s book, the second book is Lila’s, and this book is Holland’s, and I was rooting for him so hard. 

I’m gonna have quite the book hangover after this incredible series. Thank you, V.E. Schwab, for being an incredible author and for taking me on this adventure. 

Anoshe.
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wanderonwards's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny sad slow-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

4.0

I love this series, these characters, and Schwab's writing but
I didn't care for the sheer number of character deaths. For almost all of them I found myself asking "Was this really necessary? There was no way to write yourself out of this?"
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chronicacademia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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