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A review by princessrobotiv
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
2.0
I'm monumentally disappointed in my response to the final installment of the Shades of Magic trilogy.
I think a portion of that disappointment stems from what I hoped the novel would accomplish. I had become so attached to the world, and to Kell and Rhy especially, that my bar was admittedly high. Especially after my lukewarm reception of [b:A Gathering of Shadows|20764879|A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)|V.E. Schwab|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429627728s/20764879.jpg|43242915].
But it also cannot be denied that the novel fell short in many different ways. Most noticeably: execution and pacing.
In many ways, I think this book suffered from errors made in the second volume. The problem with pacing in this book resulted from the fact that the second book wasted significant page time lingering on frivolous details that didn't matter. Almost all of Holland's (enjoyable) backstory could have been included in volume two, and it would have made for a more well-balanced narrative. Though the cliffhanger at the end of book two was dramatic, it became obvious after beginning book three that the entire rescue would have better fit into the prior installment. Was the Essen Tasch a cool concept? Absolutely. Did we really need a blow-by-blow account of it? Absolutely not. In fact, I believe it made the series weaker.
Execution, on the other hand, isn't something I can explain away. This book needed serious editing. I don't know if Schwab got a pass because this was the last volume in a very popular series or if her editors really believed the construction to be on par with her previous books. Regardless, it wasn't great. The run-on sentences became stifling after just a few pages. It felt like Schwab couldn't decide how best to describe her scenes, so she settled on adding every freaking descriptor that came to mind. So instead of saying something like "Lila ran through streets slicked with rain," it became "Lila ran through streets slicked with rain, with the blood of the fallen, with soot and ash and swirling debris." Used sparingly, this sort of sentence structure can add tension or a sense of chaos to a scene. But when that same sentence structure is repeated upwards of five times per page, it becomes cloying. It feels unforgivably sloppy.
This doesn't mean it was a bad book! Almost every major character arc found gratifying and well-orchestrated resolution, and many secondary characters became deeper and more interesting versions of themselves in this volume: Sol-in-Air, Cora and Col, Lenos, Tuttle - even King Maxim and Queen Emira (though in the case of the Red London rulers, this isn't saying much; they were such ugly caricatures of themselves in book two).
I was particularly impressed with the evolution of Lila and Holland. Their two storylines were, in my mind, most clearly defined and the resolutions most impactful.
The tragedy of Holland's circumstances - the endlessness of his captivity as he found himself cycled between one master and another, longing all the while for autonomy and dreaming of a gentler world - was quite beautiful. The final scene with him in White London was strikingly and sorrowfully serene.
Likewise, Lila really grew into her character in book three. To see her process the trauma resulting from Barron's death and overcome her own instinctual fear of loss and abandonment (as expressed through prickly isolationism) was very satisfying. That moment when she says "Let's go home" gave me the warmest of fuzzies, let me tell you.
The Kell/Rhy soulbond found . . . decent resolution. But I do want to say that I'm so entirely pissed that Schwab decided to construct these novels in such a way that encouraged reading their closeness as romantic. And yeah, it was intentional. Because there simply isn't any other explanation for Kell's intense, prolonged, violent, and unmistakably jealous hatred of Alucard Emery. There wasn't any reason to include so much goading banter referencing Rhy and Alucard's sexual exploits, brandished in Kell's face and met with an immediate, oftentimes physical, response. There wasn't any reason for Alucard to say, so far into the novel - as if only just realizing it - that it was "easier" if he thought of Kell as "Rhy's brother." Like, excuse me? Was this not implied?
Ugh, anyway. It was just so gross, and I'm angry that Schwab doubled down on that ridiculous, incest-adjacent nonsense just to . . . What? Create some nasty, overwrought tension? It wasn't even interesting.
Anyway, while I doubt I'll find myself re-reading these again anytime soon, I'm glad I got to experience the world Schwab created. The cast of characters was vivid, the worldbuilding and magic system well-constructed, and the plot unique.
I think a portion of that disappointment stems from what I hoped the novel would accomplish. I had become so attached to the world, and to Kell and Rhy especially, that my bar was admittedly high. Especially after my lukewarm reception of [b:A Gathering of Shadows|20764879|A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)|V.E. Schwab|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429627728s/20764879.jpg|43242915].
But it also cannot be denied that the novel fell short in many different ways. Most noticeably: execution and pacing.
In many ways, I think this book suffered from errors made in the second volume. The problem with pacing in this book resulted from the fact that the second book wasted significant page time lingering on frivolous details that didn't matter. Almost all of Holland's (enjoyable) backstory could have been included in volume two, and it would have made for a more well-balanced narrative. Though the cliffhanger at the end of book two was dramatic, it became obvious after beginning book three that the entire rescue would have better fit into the prior installment. Was the Essen Tasch a cool concept? Absolutely. Did we really need a blow-by-blow account of it? Absolutely not. In fact, I believe it made the series weaker.
Execution, on the other hand, isn't something I can explain away. This book needed serious editing. I don't know if Schwab got a pass because this was the last volume in a very popular series or if her editors really believed the construction to be on par with her previous books. Regardless, it wasn't great. The run-on sentences became stifling after just a few pages. It felt like Schwab couldn't decide how best to describe her scenes, so she settled on adding every freaking descriptor that came to mind. So instead of saying something like "Lila ran through streets slicked with rain," it became "Lila ran through streets slicked with rain, with the blood of the fallen, with soot and ash and swirling debris." Used sparingly, this sort of sentence structure can add tension or a sense of chaos to a scene. But when that same sentence structure is repeated upwards of five times per page, it becomes cloying. It feels unforgivably sloppy.
This doesn't mean it was a bad book! Almost every major character arc found gratifying and well-orchestrated resolution, and many secondary characters became deeper and more interesting versions of themselves in this volume: Sol-in-Air, Cora and Col, Lenos, Tuttle - even King Maxim and Queen Emira (though in the case of the Red London rulers, this isn't saying much; they were such ugly caricatures of themselves in book two).
I was particularly impressed with the evolution of Lila and Holland. Their two storylines were, in my mind, most clearly defined and the resolutions most impactful.
The tragedy of Holland's circumstances - the endlessness of his captivity as he found himself cycled between one master and another, longing all the while for autonomy and dreaming of a gentler world - was quite beautiful. The final scene with him in White London was strikingly and sorrowfully serene.
Likewise, Lila really grew into her character in book three. To see her process the trauma resulting from Barron's death and overcome her own instinctual fear of loss and abandonment (as expressed through prickly isolationism) was very satisfying. That moment when she says "Let's go home" gave me the warmest of fuzzies, let me tell you.
The Kell/Rhy soulbond found . . . decent resolution. But I do want to say that I'm so entirely pissed that Schwab decided to construct these novels in such a way that encouraged reading their closeness as romantic. And yeah, it was intentional. Because there simply isn't any other explanation for Kell's intense, prolonged, violent, and unmistakably jealous hatred of Alucard Emery. There wasn't any reason to include so much goading banter referencing Rhy and Alucard's sexual exploits, brandished in Kell's face and met with an immediate, oftentimes physical, response. There wasn't any reason for Alucard to say, so far into the novel - as if only just realizing it - that it was "easier" if he thought of Kell as "Rhy's brother." Like, excuse me? Was this not implied?
Ugh, anyway. It was just so gross, and I'm angry that Schwab doubled down on that ridiculous, incest-adjacent nonsense just to . . . What? Create some nasty, overwrought tension? It wasn't even interesting.
Anyway, while I doubt I'll find myself re-reading these again anytime soon, I'm glad I got to experience the world Schwab created. The cast of characters was vivid, the worldbuilding and magic system well-constructed, and the plot unique.