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A review by meganchristine
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
4.0
4 stars!
This was such a great fantasy read! I haven’t read fantasy in quite some time, so I was a little nervous going into this book. However, the world building, magic system, and storyline was really easy to follow! I was instantly engulfed in the story from the first section! The main plot line started almost immediately, which I loved. It kind of info dumped right off the bat, so it was fairly easy to refer back to the section on world building if I needed too!
The characters were a lot of fun to follow! Kell was such a fun MC and Lila was just so strong and inspiring! I started off not liking Lila that much, but she definitely grew on me the minute she met Kell. I think they definitely complimented each other. Kell being a sort of protector and Lila being a selfish thief created a great tandem for saving the worlds! I also liked how they included a pirate aspiration! That is something you don’t see in a lot of books with magic in it! Also, Is it weird that I really liked Holland? I relate Holland to the Corinthian in the Netflix show “SANDMAN” for some reason. So I think that definitely helped his cause! I also really liked the twin rulers. I thought they were great villains! I just wish they would have talked a little more about what they would have done with the dark magic, rather than just having us assume. I am a little nervous to follow these characters threw three whole books… but I have faith in Schwab enough to make it worth it!
The magic system was very simple considering Kell and Holland were really the only ones wielding any sort of immense power. I would have liked a little bit more magic, however the mysterious artifact was enough to keep me happy. I loved how the different London’s saw magic differently. It almost made magic it’s own character throughout the story! I mean you can’t go wrong with a dark magic character and a good magic character! (Red London vs. White). I also really liked the reasoning behind why white London did what they did. It wasn’t just “I want the power… So I get it”. Instead, they had a valid political and geographical reason as to why they felt they deserved it! This made the story a lot more believable and interesting!
The reason this wasn’t a 5 star read for me was because I didn’t like the romantic subplot between Kell and Lila. It was the tiniest little blurb throughout the book, which was great! However, when she met Rhye… WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?! I was a little annoyed! However, it did open up the next couple of books to a bigger romantic plotline! I also thought the confrontation was a little rushed! Something so powerful being destroyed in the way it did seemed to easy! Anyway, I am so excited to continue with this series! I don’t have the slightest idea of what V.E. Schwab has planned in the next two… but holy cow I am excited!
This was such a great fantasy read! I haven’t read fantasy in quite some time, so I was a little nervous going into this book. However, the world building, magic system, and storyline was really easy to follow! I was instantly engulfed in the story from the first section! The main plot line started almost immediately, which I loved. It kind of info dumped right off the bat, so it was fairly easy to refer back to the section on world building if I needed too!
The characters were a lot of fun to follow! Kell was such a fun MC and Lila was just so strong and inspiring! I started off not liking Lila that much, but she definitely grew on me the minute she met Kell. I think they definitely complimented each other. Kell being a sort of protector and Lila being a selfish thief created a great tandem for saving the worlds! I also liked how they included a pirate aspiration! That is something you don’t see in a lot of books with magic in it! Also, Is it weird that I really liked Holland? I relate Holland to the Corinthian in the Netflix show “SANDMAN” for some reason. So I think that definitely helped his cause! I also really liked the twin rulers. I thought they were great villains! I just wish they would have talked a little more about what they would have done with the dark magic, rather than just having us assume. I am a little nervous to follow these characters threw three whole books… but I have faith in Schwab enough to make it worth it!
The magic system was very simple considering Kell and Holland were really the only ones wielding any sort of immense power. I would have liked a little bit more magic, however the mysterious artifact was enough to keep me happy. I loved how the different London’s saw magic differently. It almost made magic it’s own character throughout the story! I mean you can’t go wrong with a dark magic character and a good magic character! (Red London vs. White). I also really liked the reasoning behind why white London did what they did. It wasn’t just “I want the power… So I get it”. Instead, they had a valid political and geographical reason as to why they felt they deserved it! This made the story a lot more believable and interesting!
The reason this wasn’t a 5 star read for me was because I didn’t like the romantic subplot between Kell and Lila. It was the tiniest little blurb throughout the book, which was great! However, when she met Rhye… WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?! I was a little annoyed! However, it did open up the next couple of books to a bigger romantic plotline! I also thought the confrontation was a little rushed! Something so powerful being destroyed in the way it did seemed to easy! Anyway, I am so excited to continue with this series! I don’t have the slightest idea of what V.E. Schwab has planned in the next two… but holy cow I am excited!