A review by kazoo
A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

adventurous challenging emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I didn't expect to rate this higher than I had before but surprisingly for me the second book is 5 stars, instead of the 4 that it was from my first read. simply because the ending after all the build is so fucking gut punchy. 

I loved a lot of this book, and I thought it really showed all of the characters weaknesses in thoughtful ways that made sense from the previous book, I was worried that some of the characters would stay one dimensional. was really worried about Rhy tbh but it felt good and felt like enough character development for me to care when he did start feeling Kell's pain at the end. 

I was worried about Alucard and about him feeling shallow but he didn't, I do wish we had more moments with him and Rhy in this book but from what I remember from the next book there's more. 

Lila is still good, she's wore a dress in this and I thought okay so we are seeing less hatred for women who are fem instead like her, she still has some leftover not like other girls. but to be fair she isn't, I really love all her magic bits and her bonding with Alucard even if it felt really wrong when they kissed. 

Will say it annoyed me at some points when the king and queen acted certain ways but its kind of expected for the story, I just also want Kell to have parents that like him.


if you love dramatic anime with many filler episodes that eventually pull off and into something very interesting you'll probably like this because that's all I could think about.
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