A review by claudiamacpherson
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

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

4.0

 Lila Bard is a thief and a loner, stealing what she needs to survive on the streets of London. But her life is turned upside down when she pickpockets the wrong person. Kell also lives in London, but he is from Red London, a city in the same place as our London (known as Grey London), only it’s in another world. Kell is an antari, born with one eye that is completely black and the ability to travel between worlds. Though Kell is not supposed to carry objects from one world and another, he sometimes ignores the rules...and so a dangerous black stone is brought to Red London and threatens to destroy everything Kell holds dear. He and Lila must work together to get the stone back where it belongs: Black London.

I have been weirdly into the idea of the multiverse this year, so I liked how this story deals with worlds stacked on top of each other, with a few fixed points. It would be hard not to love Kell and Lila. I love how they work together and balance each other, Kell’s calm logic protecting Lila while her daring pushes him. Often I am turned off by characters that are entirely motivated by selfishness, but Lila treads the line perfectly because, though she is motivated by self-preservation and independence, she can’t help but care about a few people (against her better judgement, of course).

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):
Cliffhanger-y, which comes as no surprise and left me wanting to get my hands on the next book ASAP!
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