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

1.0

DNF at about 25% of the way in.

i read the first book in this series about six months ago at the recommendation of several friends/mutuals. i cannot attest to the pacing in the first book (which is my main issue here and why i'm cutting this one short) because i read it entirely on a plane, where even a badly paced book becomes god tier entertainment. i didn't really connect with all the characters - they were fun, tropey, just not the tropes i usually vibe with - but the world building and magic lore was REALLY well done, so i grabbed the sequel. and y'all..........

the characters i already wasn't super interested in became unbearable - lila is fine, but repetitious and i think her not like other girls shtick reveals more about v.e. schwabs probable internalized misogyny than it does about her ability as a writer. i have ZERO interest in rhy, for being apart of the main catalyst of the first book, you're never given much of a reason to love him, so this book starting out riding on the back of rhy/kell's conflict is incredibly boring. i do love kell, i think when schwab wants to, she lets him be really interesting, but his personality is pretty inconsistent and while him being so tightly restrained is apart of this books plot, it makes his scenes sooo dull.

i saw schwab on here mention that the first few parts of this book were actually originally intended as separate, short stories and god can you tell. tons of reviews and conversations with people who recc'd this book to me ended in someone saying "the plot doesn't really take off until around page 300".. ... girl................. who has the time??

i mean, like, clearly me because i'm writing a multiple paragraph review, but still.

also, the world building and magic i loved about the first one fell absolutely flat here, and definitely was heavily overshadowed by things from popular media around the time this book was published that schwab took for inspiration. which, hey, we all do it, but there's a sweet spot between subtle homage and something leaving you just wanting to watch/read the thing it was inspired from instead.