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kamilamel92 's review for:
A Darker Shade of Magic
by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
dark
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:
No
Creative, quick-paced, and packed with ambience. A journey across parallel Londons that feels extraordinary, unique, and vicious. You won’t be able to stop.
We have a magician, Kell, who can travel between parallel Londons each with their own relationship with magic. He is a royal messenger between all the monarchs with the urge of smuggling items (curious about “muggle” things, we have another Mr. Weasley). Eventually, his bad habit stumbles upon a powerful talisman (“my precious”) that can tip the balance between all Londons; at this point he also meets reckless Lila, who wishes for adventure and goes for the ride.
The novel has a good balance between character development and the right dosage of world-building without going overboard. The pacing was appropriate depending on the scenario, unhurried when the characters are building relationships and fast-paced when action calls for it. The major themes focuses on survival, power, responsibility, identity, ambition, duty, and freedom.
Although, the magic system could have been elaborated its enough to understand some of the foundations. I am confident that the second novel will venture towards further details of the magic system in this series.
I simply enjoyed the story and felt like I was opening wardrobes to other worlds. Thank you V.E. Schwab for giving me nostalgia to a time when I was a child who often got lost in other worlds.
Rating System:
Characters: 7
Atmosphere: 9
Writing: 9
Plot: 9
Intrigue: 8
Logic: 9
Enjoyment: 9
Total: 60/7=8.57
We have a magician, Kell, who can travel between parallel Londons each with their own relationship with magic. He is a royal messenger between all the monarchs with the urge of smuggling items (curious about “muggle” things, we have another Mr. Weasley). Eventually, his bad habit stumbles upon a powerful talisman (“my precious”) that can tip the balance between all Londons; at this point he also meets reckless Lila, who wishes for adventure and goes for the ride.
The novel has a good balance between character development and the right dosage of world-building without going overboard. The pacing was appropriate depending on the scenario, unhurried when the characters are building relationships and fast-paced when action calls for it. The major themes focuses on survival, power, responsibility, identity, ambition, duty, and freedom.
Although, the magic system could have been elaborated its enough to understand some of the foundations. I am confident that the second novel will venture towards further details of the magic system in this series.
I simply enjoyed the story and felt like I was opening wardrobes to other worlds. Thank you V.E. Schwab for giving me nostalgia to a time when I was a child who often got lost in other worlds.
Rating System:
Characters: 7
Atmosphere: 9
Writing: 9
Plot: 9
Intrigue: 8
Logic: 9
Enjoyment: 9
Total: 60/7=8.57