Reviews - Темный оттенок магии

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Темный оттенок магии

V.E. Schwab, V.E. Schwab

4.05 AVERAGE

kaida_daughterofdragons's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Fantasy - 3.15 🌟

Overview - The first installment in a trilogy, this book has an “old school” fantasy vibe that I can’t quite describe but which felt very nostalgic. The plot is fairly straightforward, but the setting & magic were interesting. Despite the characters occasionally feeling younger than they are, the tone of the book is fairly dark.
Unfortunately one of the characters bothered me enough that I won’t be continuing this trilogy, but I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys Alternate Universe fantasy settings & despicable villains.

Plot&Pacing - 3.25 🌟 - Premise: Kell is Antari, one of the few individuals gifted with the unique magic that allows him to cross between worlds. Although Kell loyally serves the Crown of Red London, he also acts as a smuggler of inconsequential items between the various Londons. When Kell comes into possession of an illegal & dangerous magical object, he finds himself hunted across worlds. He crosses paths with Lila, a cynical pickpocket who dreams of grand adventures, and the two form an unlikely team.
The book has a slower start, with the protagonists not meeting until about a quarter of the way into the novel. The first quarter was actually my favorite part of the book, however, as I think it does a good job establishing the different Londons, the characters, and the marvels & limitations of magic. The set up was so promising, but I felt the follow-through was not as good as I would have hoped.

Setting - 4 🌟 - There are multiple worlds that are connected by a single point: a city named “London.” I liked the details the book gives about the different nations, languages, technologies, & cultures across the various worlds. The magic itself was interesting: both how humans are able to access & utilize it, and the different philosophy that each London has towards magic & how that shapes their society.

Characters - 2 🌟 - The antagonists are the most interesting characters in this book, and I honestly wish we saw more of them. I also liked several minor characters, but I struggled with the two protagonists.
Kell feels kind of generic as a protagonist, but the opening scenes, especially with his brother Rhy, do a good job establishing Kell’s virtues & vices. Even if he is at times a bit naive, he has a good heart, and I found myself rooting for him. Kell also grows as a character: when challenged by Holland or Lila about his privilege, he considers their words and reflects both on his life and on how the historical actions of his home city negatively impacted the other Londons.
On the other hand, we have Delilah (Lila) Bard. I was intrigued when her character was first introduced; I liked the idea of a non-magical but clever & more worldly protagonist to balance Kell. Seems like the makings of a fun dynamic duo. Except I COULD NOT STAND Lila! I don’t think that characters have to be likable to be well-written, and I admit I can see how Lila (in theory) complements Kell in both perspective & skills, but it felt like her whole personality was just, “I like knives and stealing. I’m so badass!”
I know Lila had a hard life, and I wanted so badly to be on her side, but we learn that she had people who cared about her, and she rejected that because “Lilah would rather steal a thing outright than be indebted to kindness.” Also, Kell confesses to her that he’s essentially a SLAVE to the royal family of Red London and her response is, “Oh boo-hoo. What do you want from me, pity?” Lilah is the WORST kind of “strong female protagonist,” and I was honestly in disbelief that her character was written by a woman.

Themes - 3.5 🌟 - The corrupting influence of magic/ power is the main theme of the novel. While I don’t think the conclusion of the story did anything unique or astounding with this theme, I did really like how the different Londons, and the characters who call those cities home, have different philosophies on magic/ power, leading to conflict between characters who might otherwise have been allies.

Personal Enjoyment - 3 🌟 - It’s been a while since I’ve felt like I was dragging myself across the finish with a book. I usually DNF if I get to a point where I’m not enjoying it, but this was a shorter book & I enjoyed the first quarter of it so much, I really wanted to give it a chance. In the end, I felt like it was just fine. I liked some things about it, heavily disliked others, and then was ambivalent about the rest. I admit, I’d heard a lot about this series and was disappointed. I don’t think it’s a bad book, necessarily, but it’s just not a book for me and I won’t be continuing the series.