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

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I like this series as a whole and enjoyed seeing these characters again, as well as the new characters that were introduced. They were basically the only reason I stuck through this book. It felt quite superfluous in relation to the first book, and was basically just all set up for the last book in the trilogy, which is frustrating. It’s not bad by any means, VE Schwab’s writing itself is great here, but nothing that happened felt all that necessary aside from the last part which establishes what the next book is going to be about. Will definitely still continue the series, and I really like this world as a whole, but this book is definitely a major lull in the pacing of the trilogy.