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

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What an amazing read! I was too curious about Kell's coat on the covers and picked it up. Couldn't keep it down afterwards.

The world -- or rather, worlds -- were so beautifully written they seemed both realistic and magical at the same time. And Victoria Schwab's writing!! The way she describes things is simply wonderful. It's like she breathes life into everything that her words touch. That woman could write about paint drying on a wall and I would eat that up.

The characters are loveable of course. Rhy is such a sweetheart I wanna protect him from all harm. Kell is nice to read about. He's intriguing and I wanna know more about his past and also give that boy a hug. Lila, I'll admit, I found her boring and annoying and she came across as I'm-not-like-other-girls at first. Her POV was the only chapter that actually made me put the book down after starting. But she really, really grew on me and now I love her. As of now, the characters feel not as fleshed out as they could be, especially considering there's only very few main characters, but as this is only the first of a series I'm hoping it's explored more in the upcoming books. 

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because the ending felt sort of rushed? Almost as if the book couldn't decide if it wanted to be a standalone or a series. Too many threads tied up too tidily and yet leaving room for a sequel. 

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