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A review by lbarsk
A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
4.0
Man, okay, I was so excited to read this! And I will start by saying that it was still a Good Read (lol website title pun), but I think I'm finding flaws in the series now that I was perhaps blinded by in the first book.
The biggest issue? It's kind of irksome to me that Lila is constantly like "I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS." I liked her a lot in the first book for her Literal No Morality and for being a great foil to Kell, but in this book her characterization as someone who is constantly contrary and isolationist and ~*~*~fuck normal girls*~*~ was a little exhausting. And exhausting in the same way that, in Harry Potter, JKR's insinuation that girls like Parvati and Padma Patil, Lavender Brown, and Cho Chang were "worse girls" somehow than Hermione or Ginny. Like, WE GET IT LILA, YOU'VE HAD A HARD LIFE. YOU LIKE WEARING DUDE'S CLOTHES AND ARE BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO THAN MOST MEN. But to constantly put down women in such a way is KIND OF TIRESOME. Why, V.E. Schwab? Why? Also, Lila's trust and abandonment issues are SUPER REAL and understandable, but to constantly have them shoved down our throats with every Lila POV got a little overworn.
Aside from that, everything that I liked about the first book was still present here! Kell and Rhy KILL ME EVERY MINUTE, we got some interesting new side characters, when Lila's not "I'm A Cool Girl"-ing it's great to see her come into her own, and WOW LITERALLY FUCK HOLLAND but at least we get a villain who's motivated for pretty three-dimensional reasons instead of just your typical "I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME, MY PRETTYS" fantasy guy.
Also, pretty good world building? At least moreso than Assassin's Curse, my god, and the development of the Four Londons is still spectacular even if that's where most of the worldbuilding is focused.
I also didn't mind the cliffhanger at all -- there was no way the book could've ended in any other fashion. GO LILA GO SAVE YOUR MAN. I am looking forward to the third book, and I want to see how this all resolves, AND overall I think it's a REALLY fresh take on Urban Fantasy / Magic / The Whole Nine Yards, but I think I was just really surprised at Lila's tone throughout this book, which is a shame.
The biggest issue? It's kind of irksome to me that Lila is constantly like "I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS." I liked her a lot in the first book for her Literal No Morality and for being a great foil to Kell, but in this book her characterization as someone who is constantly contrary and isolationist and ~*~*~fuck normal girls*~*~ was a little exhausting. And exhausting in the same way that, in Harry Potter, JKR's insinuation that girls like Parvati and Padma Patil, Lavender Brown, and Cho Chang were "worse girls" somehow than Hermione or Ginny. Like, WE GET IT LILA, YOU'VE HAD A HARD LIFE. YOU LIKE WEARING DUDE'S CLOTHES AND ARE BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO THAN MOST MEN. But to constantly put down women in such a way is KIND OF TIRESOME. Why, V.E. Schwab? Why? Also, Lila's trust and abandonment issues are SUPER REAL and understandable, but to constantly have them shoved down our throats with every Lila POV got a little overworn.
Aside from that, everything that I liked about the first book was still present here! Kell and Rhy KILL ME EVERY MINUTE, we got some interesting new side characters, when Lila's not "I'm A Cool Girl"-ing it's great to see her come into her own, and WOW LITERALLY FUCK HOLLAND but at least we get a villain who's motivated for pretty three-dimensional reasons instead of just your typical "I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME, MY PRETTYS" fantasy guy.
Also, pretty good world building? At least moreso than Assassin's Curse, my god, and the development of the Four Londons is still spectacular even if that's where most of the worldbuilding is focused.
I also didn't mind the cliffhanger at all -- there was no way the book could've ended in any other fashion. GO LILA GO SAVE YOUR MAN. I am looking forward to the third book, and I want to see how this all resolves, AND overall I think it's a REALLY fresh take on Urban Fantasy / Magic / The Whole Nine Yards, but I think I was just really surprised at Lila's tone throughout this book, which is a shame.