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A review by inking_thinking
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
4.0
⭐️ 4 stars ⭐️
SPOILERS AHEAD! BEWARE!
Oh. My. Gosh. This book had me shook! I LOVED everything about this book from the plot, characters, worldbuilding, and system of magic! This book had me at the edge of my seat wanting to know what would happen next!
THE CHARACTERS
The main characters, Kell and Lila were great and different from many other characters you see in other books. These characters are deeply flawed and make mistakes. This is actually good because we get to see the human in them and we can connect to them on a personal level. They have pasts that we only get hinted at that possibly have some trauma that made them who they are. I can't wait to see more of that expanded in the next book!
Kell
I wasn't sure what to think of Kell at first, but the farther I got into the book I really enjoyed his character. He was great to enjoy when you see more of his caring side towards his relationship with Rhys. We are told at the beginning that Kell is this great magician, but we finally see this at the end, and this shows us how powerful he is. The more we discovered about Kell's status among the royal family about being an asset, I felt so sorry for him.
Lila
I feel like Lila was the star of this book! All her scenes are great! She's daring, funny, and very brave. She is a very strong girl and has an adventurous spirit. I loved when she interacted with Kell, I think they paired up very nicely and I enjoyed reading these scenes. I wanted to learn more about Lila's past because several times we are hinted at it in the book. Like when Kell's tutor asked what was up with her eye. I also can't wait to see the development of her magic and see what type of powers she possesses.
Holland/ Astrid + Athos
These characters were so creepy. (Especially Astrid + Athos when they asked Holland to pour his blood into their cups. EWWW!!!) Holland is such an interesting character and I would have loved to learned more about him. He just had a presence to him that made you want to know everything about him but I'm glad in the end that he was able to finally rest. Astrid + Athos, I hated the whole time, but also I was intrigued by them. This is because of how they presented themselves, by their dialogue and how they carried themselves.
WORLDBUILDING
Let me tell you this might be some of the coolest and well-written worldbuilding I've ever read. The construction of the different Londons was one of my favourite elements of this book! There is something so real about each one of them and they are so thought out. All of them are given introductions equally and one London doesn't get overshadowed by the other. I was able to visualize every world because the writing was so detailed in describing the Londons.
You have RED LONDON, a prosperous and beautiful place, that has great respect for magic, this is where Kell lives.
You have GREY LONDON, where not many people believe in magic and in some ways it's kind of like our world, this is where Lila used to live.
You have WHITE LONDON, full of danger where people crave magic and are ruled by a brother and sister who have dominated through fear and magic.
And then you have BLACK LONDON, which has been destroyed by people who craved magic but the magic ended up corrupting them.
I can't wait to see these worlds and characters be expanded upon in the next book! This was a great way to start off a series, and this book blew me off my feet. If you haven't picked this book up, I would recommend you do!
SPOILERS AHEAD! BEWARE!
Oh. My. Gosh. This book had me shook! I LOVED everything about this book from the plot, characters, worldbuilding, and system of magic! This book had me at the edge of my seat wanting to know what would happen next!
THE CHARACTERS
The main characters, Kell and Lila were great and different from many other characters you see in other books. These characters are deeply flawed and make mistakes. This is actually good because we get to see the human in them and we can connect to them on a personal level. They have pasts that we only get hinted at that possibly have some trauma that made them who they are. I can't wait to see more of that expanded in the next book!
Kell
I wasn't sure what to think of Kell at first, but the farther I got into the book I really enjoyed his character. He was great to enjoy when you see more of his caring side towards his relationship with Rhys. We are told at the beginning that Kell is this great magician, but we finally see this at the end, and this shows us how powerful he is. The more we discovered about Kell's status among the royal family about being an asset, I felt so sorry for him.
Lila
I feel like Lila was the star of this book! All her scenes are great! She's daring, funny, and very brave. She is a very strong girl and has an adventurous spirit. I loved when she interacted with Kell, I think they paired up very nicely and I enjoyed reading these scenes. I wanted to learn more about Lila's past because several times we are hinted at it in the book. Like when Kell's tutor asked what was up with her eye. I also can't wait to see the development of her magic and see what type of powers she possesses.
Holland/ Astrid + Athos
These characters were so creepy. (Especially Astrid + Athos when they asked Holland to pour his blood into their cups. EWWW!!!) Holland is such an interesting character and I would have loved to learned more about him. He just had a presence to him that made you want to know everything about him but I'm glad in the end that he was able to finally rest. Astrid + Athos, I hated the whole time, but also I was intrigued by them. This is because of how they presented themselves, by their dialogue and how they carried themselves.
WORLDBUILDING
Let me tell you this might be some of the coolest and well-written worldbuilding I've ever read. The construction of the different Londons was one of my favourite elements of this book! There is something so real about each one of them and they are so thought out. All of them are given introductions equally and one London doesn't get overshadowed by the other. I was able to visualize every world because the writing was so detailed in describing the Londons.
You have RED LONDON, a prosperous and beautiful place, that has great respect for magic, this is where Kell lives.
You have GREY LONDON, where not many people believe in magic and in some ways it's kind of like our world, this is where Lila used to live.
You have WHITE LONDON, full of danger where people crave magic and are ruled by a brother and sister who have dominated through fear and magic.
And then you have BLACK LONDON, which has been destroyed by people who craved magic but the magic ended up corrupting them.
I can't wait to see these worlds and characters be expanded upon in the next book! This was a great way to start off a series, and this book blew me off my feet. If you haven't picked this book up, I would recommend you do!