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

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

TLDR: I'm on my way to get the rest of these books cuz GODDAMN I love them so much! You should read them, do you like fantasy? Cool magic? Great world building? Read these books.

Plot: Okay, I'm going to try to not give anything up for the plot of this book because the plot is amazing and complicated and the players in the main web of the narrative are not all known from the jump which I think is just so neat. I think one of my favorite things in this is that VE Schwab will not even tell you who someone is you will just get a new section or chapter with a name of a person doing something in a new place and you just pick up the plot and go. The magic in this world! OMG! I love a cool magic system and this one is complex but so beautiful and well described. I also love that the different Londons have their on relationships with magic. I want everyone to read this book because I just want to talk about it. Also, this is the first book in a trilogy but it also doesn't end on a cliffhanger and I have never seen that before!

Characters: All amazing! Kell is so powerful and yet he has clear and consistent things he can and cannot do with his power set. I also love that he is complicated and he doesn't always make smart or good decisions. Lila! I love Lila! She's so messy! She's such a good representation of how dressing a certain way doesn't change how you need to identify and she is just so herself all the time, so brave, so badass, and so powerful in a different way than Kell! They are so great. And there are so many more people you meet Holland (UGH) and Rhy (<3) and so many more that you fall in love with and know for mixed amounts of time. I LOVE THIS BOOK.

World building: Being able to construct 3 different worlds that feel so different and interesting in one book is truly a gift. Having Kell jump around through the 3 Londons throughout this book is cool. Touchstones like smell, colors, and even temperatures was such a grounding way of distinguishing the worlds from each other throughout the narratives. Also the magic and capacity for magic was so different in all of them. The feeling of the world in this book is so good, so immersive, and to have there be 3 equally immersive worlds is just so cool. Please read this book, and the rest of the series honestly.
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