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A review by rheamoloo
The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
V.E Schwab described writing this book as coming home and that's honestly what it felt like. Though, I did finish reading A Conjuring of Light a month before this one, so that may be a little dramatic.
75% of the book was build-up. The main action only happened in the last 25%; which I feel is quite typical for V.E.S, however, the character work was phenomenal. I loved seeing Kell, Lila, Rhy and Alucard as adults, I just wish we got more of Rhy in this book!
The jumping back and forth between worlds and timelines got a bit confusing at times, but otherwise was done very well, and I enjoyed how fleshed out and built up the characters were; not only the original characters from Shades, but also all the new characters - Nadiya Loreni, Tes and Kosika.
I loved having Holland back, but I'm confused as what he is. Is he a ghost or just a figment of Kosika's imagination? I hope we get to learn more about this later.
I loved Tes but wasn't too satisfied with her ending. I hope that we get to see more of her and maybe a return to London in the future books. And maybe even more of her family! Are they looking for her? Will she ever see her mother, or other sisters again? And she didn't even get to say goodbye or explain anything to Nero; I would love to see more of those two, how they met, etc. Speaking of Nero, I want to see more of him and his bone magic; it's something we haven't touch on much (except Lila, but she's Antari).
Ren is absolutely adorable and I loved her scenes in the book. Nadiya, on the other hand was slightly underutilised and I hope we get to dive deeper into her background and her side of things in the following books; she's such an interesting take to other scientist, relatively harmless side-kick characters I'm used to in popular fantasy media (e.g. Henry Branwell, Christopher Lightwood, David Kostyk, and even to an extent - though not a side-kick, Nikolai Lantsov).
I'm so glad Kell got his power back, but also, it was so much build-up and so much emphasis, on Kell learning how not to rely on magic and who he is without his powers only for none of that to be important at the end. I am a bit sceptical on this and am wondering whether him being healed comes with any side effects.
I enjoyed the political intrigue with the Hand and am excited to see more of it in the followup books.
The Fragile Threads of Power, was a great start to the sequel series and keeps the magic of Shades trilogy alive and well! Can't wait for the rest of the books.
75% of the book was build-up. The main action only happened in the last 25%; which I feel is quite typical for V.E.S, however, the character work was phenomenal. I loved seeing Kell, Lila, Rhy and Alucard as adults, I just wish we got more of Rhy in this book!
The jumping back and forth between worlds and timelines got a bit confusing at times, but otherwise was done very well, and I enjoyed how fleshed out and built up the characters were; not only the original characters from Shades, but also all the new characters - Nadiya Loreni, Tes and Kosika.
I loved having Holland back, but I'm confused as what he is. Is he a ghost or just a figment of Kosika's imagination? I hope we get to learn more about this later.
I loved Tes but wasn't too satisfied with her ending. I hope that we get to see more of her and maybe a return to London in the future books. And maybe even more of her family! Are they looking for her? Will she ever see her mother, or other sisters again? And she didn't even get to say goodbye or explain anything to Nero; I would love to see more of those two, how they met, etc. Speaking of Nero, I want to see more of him and his bone magic; it's something we haven't touch on much (except Lila, but she's Antari).
Ren is absolutely adorable and I loved her scenes in the book. Nadiya, on the other hand was slightly underutilised and I hope we get to dive deeper into her background and her side of things in the following books; she's such an interesting take to other scientist, relatively harmless side-kick characters I'm used to in popular fantasy media (e.g. Henry Branwell, Christopher Lightwood, David Kostyk, and even to an extent - though not a side-kick, Nikolai Lantsov).
I'm so glad Kell got his power back, but also, it was so much build-up and so much emphasis, on Kell learning how not to rely on magic and who he is without his powers only for none of that to be important at the end. I am a bit sceptical on this and am wondering whether him being healed comes with any side effects.
I enjoyed the political intrigue with the Hand and am excited to see more of it in the followup books.
The Fragile Threads of Power, was a great start to the sequel series and keeps the magic of Shades trilogy alive and well! Can't wait for the rest of the books.