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perfektionaise's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
maddox22's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
shimauchiha's review
4.0
Read this if/when you want:
-A book like [b:A Darker Shade of Magic|22055262|A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400322851l/22055262._SY75_.jpg|40098252].
- Post word world war II London, with magic.
- Incredibly extroverted, friendly and slightly naive protagonists.
- Heartwarming bromances (that don't get enough screen-time!)
- Interesting magic systems.
Don't read this if/when you don't feel like reading:
- One more bisexual character who wants to sleep with everyone.
- A (very) gruesome scene
- Religious main characters.
- Unconvincing insta-loves.
My thoughts:
I picked this up on a whim, not having heard anything about it at all, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's a well-written, well-plotted, fun book with (mostly) lovable characters (who you'll occasionally want to slap).
Paul and Thomas are recently graduate cloth mages riding the tube for free, dodging loan sharks (some of whom are absolute sweethearts) and trying to find work, except Paul's plans are less along the lines of a graduate career and more set on becoming the court magician, the single most powerful magical position in the society.
What's so refreshing in this book is that Paul is not your typical fantasy protagonist, eager to throw a punch and make enemies. Instead, his problem is that he is slightly too eager to make friends and sometimes said friends turn out to be psychopaths. Paul is also bisexual and a devout catholic.
The catholic part might have put me off reading this book if I'd known it before. I don't like reading about religious characters (unless the religion itself is made-up). That being said, in this case, it didn't bother me. It didn't feel like the author was only using the character to educate the reader on the principles of religion, and it was presented as the character's worldview rather than the universal truth. Besides, you don't often get religious LGBT representation in fantasy, which I appreciated.
Now I'm never gonna say no to more bisexual representation, however, it is slightly worrying when the bisexual character seems to want to sleep with absolutely everyone on his path. It was a fine line in this book though because Paul did actually have chemistry with absolutely everyone (funnily enough, except the one person he ended up with). I was mostly stuck between enjoying all the flirty scenes, and still knowing that they were reproducing a harmful bisexual stereotype. It got much worse towards the end when Paul was basically attracted to whichever of his romantic interests were closer to him at the moment, which, if not downright cheating, was still just unpleasant to read.
So the book wasn't without problems, however, overall, the great pacing, interesting setting and magic system, and fun characters won me over. The whole thing was very reminiscent of [b:A Darker Shade of Magic|22055262|A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400322851l/22055262._SY75_.jpg|40098252], not only because of the London setting and the historical aspect of it, but also because of the fantastic brother-bond at the heart of the book. If you liked that series, give this one a try.
-A book like [b:A Darker Shade of Magic|22055262|A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400322851l/22055262._SY75_.jpg|40098252].
- Post word world war II London, with magic.
- Incredibly extroverted, friendly and slightly naive protagonists.
- Heartwarming bromances (that don't get enough screen-time!)
- Interesting magic systems.
Don't read this if/when you don't feel like reading:
- One more bisexual character who wants to sleep with everyone.
- A (very) gruesome scene
Spoiler
where someone is skinned alive.- Religious main characters.
- Unconvincing insta-loves.
My thoughts:
I picked this up on a whim, not having heard anything about it at all, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's a well-written, well-plotted, fun book with (mostly) lovable characters (who you'll occasionally want to slap).
Paul and Thomas are recently graduate cloth mages riding the tube for free, dodging loan sharks (some of whom are absolute sweethearts) and trying to find work, except Paul's plans are less along the lines of a graduate career and more set on becoming the court magician, the single most powerful magical position in the society.
What's so refreshing in this book is that Paul is not your typical fantasy protagonist, eager to throw a punch and make enemies. Instead, his problem is that he is slightly too eager to make friends and sometimes said friends turn out to be psychopaths. Paul is also bisexual and a devout catholic.
The catholic part might have put me off reading this book if I'd known it before. I don't like reading about religious characters (unless the religion itself is made-up). That being said, in this case, it didn't bother me. It didn't feel like the author was only using the character to educate the reader on the principles of religion, and it was presented as the character's worldview rather than the universal truth. Besides, you don't often get religious LGBT representation in fantasy, which I appreciated.
Now I'm never gonna say no to more bisexual representation, however, it is slightly worrying when the bisexual character seems to want to sleep with absolutely everyone on his path. It was a fine line in this book though because Paul did actually have chemistry with absolutely everyone (funnily enough, except the one person he ended up with). I was mostly stuck between enjoying all the flirty scenes, and still knowing that they were reproducing a harmful bisexual stereotype. It got much worse towards the end when Paul was basically attracted to whichever of his romantic interests were closer to him at the moment, which, if not downright cheating, was still just unpleasant to read.
Spoiler
The fact that Tonya and Verity were the first person might have been both incredibly convenient and completely predictable, but it didn't null the fact that Paul didn't know they were the same persona and seemed perfectly happy to swap one for the other.So the book wasn't without problems, however, overall, the great pacing, interesting setting and magic system, and fun characters won me over. The whole thing was very reminiscent of [b:A Darker Shade of Magic|22055262|A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400322851l/22055262._SY75_.jpg|40098252], not only because of the London setting and the historical aspect of it, but also because of the fantastic brother-bond at the heart of the book. If you liked that series, give this one a try.
jessethereader's review
3.0
I enjoyed this one quite a bit! The foundation of this book can be found on the character dialogue and that honestly worked well for me. I could've done with more descriptions in terms of the background, but the book takes place in London so it's not like I couldn't paint up everything on my own. There was a scene at the end of this one that was SO HARD TO READ because of how gruesome it was. There is a build up to this specific scene and it's not one that just comes out of nowhere, but man I could've never prepared for how uncomfortable it would make me feel. It wasn't necessarily a stand out book for me, but it was still an enjoyable read!
starkva's review
5.0
I LOVED THIS BOOK. Yeah, there were Americanisms in the dialogue that didn't fit the British characters and setting, and it was very idealised - but it's fiction! The worldbuilding, in relation to the way magic works in particular, was innovative and so exciting. I can't wait for more queer historical urban fantasy! Everything about it was just great to read. The book is graphic in places, and I agree with other reviewers that it was hard to read - but I felt that that made it more involved. I felt sickened, because of how well-written it was. I really really rate this book.
whatabetty's review
it sounded so good on paper and there are some interesting concepts introduced but it did not deliver. the main guy SHOULD have been more engaging given his background and what's going on. it was all so hokey and i found myself wishing he were different and that i could see the POV of other characters.
farfromginger's review
mysterious
2.0
Lots of books are for someone and this book just wasn’t for me. Wanted to DNF but mama didn’t raise no quitter. Kinda wish she had.
eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review
4.0
4 stars. This was an interesting world and magic system. I liked the characters. I wanted to see more cloth magic and book magic than actually appear. I wondered if there were other schools of magic. There are enough loose ends to make the book feel a bit incomplete, so I wasn't quite satisfied at the conclusion.
jennipho's review
3.0
I see a lot of comparisons with HP but the MC is fresh out of college (so no school tropes) and this the world building is very unique.
It's an interesting book, there's some weird sections where it is just plot driven. Imo the addition of LGBT and other subjects were dealt with fine, even though they have no relevance in the story. The story was overly violent as well, not a fan of that.
Will be reading the next book though, how magic is defined in this world is very interesting.
It's an interesting book, there's some weird sections where it is just plot driven. Imo the addition of LGBT and other subjects were dealt with fine, even though they have no relevance in the story. The story was overly violent as well, not a fan of that.
Will be reading the next book though, how magic is defined in this world is very interesting.
edievdo's review
1.0
I normally give all books a chance, especially those from the fantasy genre, but I couldn’t even make it past chapter 3 in this book. The characters had no appeal, the magic system was weird, (the main characters are fashion mages.. really?) and the storyline was not interesting and seemed convoluted. Just didn’t seem worth it to try to see it to the end.