Scan barcode
artmuseam's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
currently at a loss for words right now after that ending. i genuinely believe ve schwab is one of the greatest writers of this entire universe and her books will never fail to leave me utterly speechless and yearning for more whenever i finish them! okay, first i will admit that the beginning was a bit slow and it took me a while to adjust having the new characters in the picture since i wanted to gatekeep the returners and always get a bit annoyed when new people take the spotlight (weird habit of mine, i know). BUT once things started kicking off, especially after 1/3 of the book, i was hooked. my love for the shades of magic world exponentially increased during this read and i found myself literally holding my breath in the last parts of the book. trust me, this book is something you do not want to miss!! time to distract myself with other books while i wait for the sequel to come out :,) 4.5/5 stars <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Torture, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing
maddiebusick's review
adventurous
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Mental illness, Murder, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Confinement
martinatan's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.75
I am so so glad I got a hold of this at my library! What an electrifying return to one of my favorite series. I loved that we got the perspectives of known characters and new ones with a really interesting plot that delves further into this universe’s magic and politics. The writing style is just endlessly compelling and one of my favorite things about the fantasy genre crossed with these characters. They’re so dramatic and sharp-witted!
My favorite character coming out of this was Tes though I’m a long-time Lila stan. I really enjoyed her personality and the choices she made that felt true to her background. There were so many intriguing hooks for the next installment to build on and I am really interested to see where everyone ends up—hopefully coming together to overcomesome combination of The Hand + some more sinister eldritch magic power as alluded by Holland’s speech and the door to the space between worlds ? Or is that too cliche?
Some things I’d really like to see developed in the next book:What Holland’s actual physicality and presence is made of. How is his spirit and supposed ongoing life mission still intact and developing if he is … dead ??? How much is he just a part of Kosika’s head? Can he live on in her through his magic? I am sure this could be addressed if Tes and Kosika were to ever meet.
Also, something I was a little dissatisfied with at no real fault of the author is the “disabled guy gets healed” plot that played out with Kell’s arc this book. I am much more satisfied these days by stories that don’t post the potentially forever-injured hero as someone who needs to be cured. It felt wrong to see Kell sort of revert to his normal power at the end—even if he went through such undeserved and intense pain throughout the book. More to the point of what disability could look like in this amazing world Schwab has created, what does it look like for an Antari to never be quite physically recovered from a traumatic event? I hope we explore more of the consequences and changes to Kell’s outlook, since it would also feel wrong for him to not have learned anything about himself or how he thinks about magic from having lost his own powers.
That kind of leads me to one last thing I liked along the lines of disability/neurodivergence in this book: Tes! She really resonated with me as a character because of how neurodivergent-coded she was. It hit me so hard when I read one line about her devising techniques over the years to mask her own power—and then to have her suddenly recognized for that gift, albeit by very powerful and ambitious people who perhaps are reluctant to release or distribute their power (royalty kind of sucks that way). I am interested to see if Schwab picks up on any of these narrative themes that interest me because they hold so much space in my head in the real world. I don’t need to see a complete replication of all the power dynamics in my world in this one, but it is a really fun thought exercise for me to imagine how social justice and disability representation would play out.
Anyway great book! I love fantasy dawg
My favorite character coming out of this was Tes though I’m a long-time Lila stan. I really enjoyed her personality and the choices she made that felt true to her background. There were so many intriguing hooks for the next installment to build on and I am really interested to see where everyone ends up—hopefully coming together to overcome
Some things I’d really like to see developed in the next book:
Also, something I was a little dissatisfied with at no real fault of the author is the “disabled guy gets healed” plot that played out with Kell’s arc this book. I am much more satisfied these days by stories that don’t post the potentially forever-injured hero as someone who needs to be cured. It felt wrong to see Kell sort of revert to his normal power at the end—even if he went through such undeserved and intense pain throughout the book. More to the point of what disability could look like in this amazing world Schwab has created, what does it look like for an Antari to never be quite physically recovered from a traumatic event? I hope we explore more of the consequences and changes to Kell’s outlook, since it would also feel wrong for him to not have learned anything about himself or how he thinks about magic from having lost his own powers.
That kind of leads me to one last thing I liked along the lines of disability/neurodivergence in this book: Tes! She really resonated with me as a character because of how neurodivergent-coded she was. It hit me so hard when I read one line about her devising techniques over the years to mask her own power—and then to have her suddenly recognized for that gift, albeit by very powerful and ambitious people who perhaps are reluctant to release or distribute their power (royalty kind of sucks that way). I am interested to see if Schwab picks up on any of these narrative themes that interest me because they hold so much space in my head in the real world. I don’t need to see a complete replication of all the power dynamics in my world in this one, but it is a really fun thought exercise for me to imagine how social justice and disability representation would play out.
Anyway great book! I love fantasy dawg
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Ableism, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Medical content, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Grief, Biphobia, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing
Moderate: Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Gore
Minor: Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Death of parent, Vomit, Child abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol
vermidian's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.0
It was a lot of fun to be back in the world of many Londons. I was very much looking forward to seeing how this series would play out, considering I didn't think that there would be a whole new series to come when I finished the original trilogy. I'm not sure where this series is leading, but I'm interested in taking the ride at the very least.
I'm not sure I liked this one as much as I liked the original trilogy. The time jumping was a little frustrating at times. I very much would have preferred to read some of those chapters in the order in which they would have happened, even if it was every other chapter or so. But that's an artistic choice and I respect Schwab for making it even if it wasn't to my preference. I almost wish that it had been its own section of the book, or perhaps its own novella, but it is what it is. I hope the next book is able to move forward without quite so much time jumping.
Tes was a fun new addition, who offered a very different perspective than our other characters. She was refreshingly not used to having to fight for her life regularly, which was occasionally quite funny. Her power was definitely neat. However, I found Lila to be a much angrier character than I remembered, which might just be a natural progression of settling into a life rather than being someone ready to run when things get hard like she was in the original trilogy. Kell was still very much Kell, though I enjoyed seeing him pick up new skills out of necessity. Alucard as a consistent main character was fun, although he was a bit of a sad boy in this one. I do not trust the queen in any way, shape, or form. She seems like the kind of person who would do a vivisection just to know what it's like and she's concerning, but I love her for it. She's a neat character and I think she'll be very important going forward.
I look forward to seeing how the plans laid out in this book unfold in the next installment.
I'm not sure I liked this one as much as I liked the original trilogy. The time jumping was a little frustrating at times. I very much would have preferred to read some of those chapters in the order in which they would have happened, even if it was every other chapter or so. But that's an artistic choice and I respect Schwab for making it even if it wasn't to my preference. I almost wish that it had been its own section of the book, or perhaps its own novella, but it is what it is. I hope the next book is able to move forward without quite so much time jumping.
Tes was a fun new addition, who offered a very different perspective than our other characters. She was refreshingly not used to having to fight for her life regularly, which was occasionally quite funny. Her power was definitely neat. However, I found Lila to be a much angrier character than I remembered, which might just be a natural progression of settling into a life rather than being someone ready to run when things get hard like she was in the original trilogy. Kell was still very much Kell, though I enjoyed seeing him pick up new skills out of necessity. Alucard as a consistent main character was fun, although he was a bit of a sad boy in this one. I do not trust the queen in any way, shape, or form. She seems like the kind of person who would do a vivisection just to know what it's like and she's concerning, but I love her for it. She's a neat character and I think she'll be very important going forward.
I look forward to seeing how the plans laid out in this book unfold in the next installment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Self harm, and Violence
leedolee's review
adventurous
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
A masterpiece as always.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Torture, and Physical abuse
achay91's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Death
Minor: Alcohol and Kidnapping
nukie19's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Revisiting a series can be a tricky endeavor for an author but Schwab absolutely nails it with this one. It was such a treat to return to the Londons to check in on all our favorite characters from the original series. The introduction of the new characters was excellent too - they get their own time to shine but interwoven with Kell, Delilah, and the gang from the original Shades of Magic series. I can't wait to see where those characters will take us through Red and White (and maybe more of Black and Grey?) London in future books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Cursing
littletiramisu's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Self harm, Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
stormeno's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gore, Torture, Blood, and Child abuse
Minor: Cursing and Alcohol