Scan barcode
A review by ana_rjord
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
5.0
This is going to be loooong and filled with spoilers at the end so watch out!!
First of all, wow. Just. Wow. I wish I could give this much more than five stars. I wish I could forget everything just to read it again for the first time. I am not ready to let this go. V. E. Schwab, you are the true mage here. This trilogy hooked me like very (and I mean very) few others did. The writing, the pacing, the amazing worldbuilding, the aesthetics, the characters... just flawless. I honestly don't remember reading a series of books this fast. I could talk about how much I absolutely LOVED everything in detail, but I will focus in what made me crazy about these books and how they earned a special place in my heart by becoming one of my all-time favourite series.
First of all, I love the idea of multiple Londons with magic. I love the colour schemes, the aesthetic. I love how different all the Londons look and how I could visualize them so clearly in my head.
Also, I love how magic works. I love the concept of the Antaris, travellers betwen worlds, carrying the messages of Kings and using powerful magic with blood.
And, from the very first line, I loved Kell and his amazing coat, his needs to belong and his mysterious past. And then I loved Rhy, and then Alucard too.
But there is one character of whom I could talk endlessly. That I can afirm, with a lot of conviction, had become one of my all time favourite characters from his very first scenes: Holland Vosijk.
THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS FROM NOW ON!!! DON'T KEEP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED ACoL!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay, here we go. I never hated Holland, not even in the first book like many people do. To be fair, I instantly knew he would become one of my favourite characters. I saw him as the victim he was. The victim of violence, corruption and power. And I absolutely love these types of characters, these are the ones who enter my list of favourites. The grey ones, the humans ones who have flaws, who suffer and lose their way when the world treats them badly, but cling onto their humanity in spite of everything they might have done when they had no choice, or when their vision of what was right was clouded. The characters who make terrible, fatal mistakes, who reach rock bottom and, when all seems hopeless, when they are all alone and hopeless, they rise again. Because they have a true chance of redemption, they hold dear that one dream, that one goal they strive for, that wish to break free and make things right. That's how real humans look like. And Holland Vosijk is all that. He is a victim and a dreamer. The two perfect ingredients for a tragedy. And, the more I read, I only loved his character more and more.
Then we look at his character arc. And here is where the "reader me" and the "writer me" fight each other, leaving this bittersweet taste in my mouth.
I have this very annoying history of having my favourite characters killed at the end. And usually, I find many reasons to complain about their arc and how their deaths were lazy or served nothing to the plot (apart from also being heartbreaking of course).
It is a little different this time.
The "reader me" is devastated. Until the very end I hoped he would live, I really did. I wanted him to be happy, find his peace and try to live a good life now that he was free from all the chains. I wanted to see him as the kind King he could be, trying to make a better place out of White London. The "reader me" is sobbing and screaming "he deserved so much better!!! He suffered the whole book to die like that, sacrificing himself like none of the others did and not even being able to see how his death cured his world!" It made me kinda look down on the other characters sometimes. He lost everything to save all of the Londons, not only his own. He was controlled, enslaved, betrayed, almost killed by people he trusted, saw his best friend be brutally murdered in front of him. And, apart from Astrid and Athos, he never resented those who wronged him. For him, Alox and Talya acted the way they did because of the corrupted world they grew up in. Holland didn't blame them, he forgave them.
He undersrood, because he killed many people himself for the same reasons, but kept count of them to shame himself, even though most of the times he wasn't killing at his own will. He was nearly killed and thrown into a hopeless place with evil magic by Kell only to be able to survive again, have another chance of doing the right thing. But he still didn't have that choice, not really. He had one choice only and he took it. Because he is a survivor. Holland isn't a man full of poor life choices. He is a man whose choices had already been made for him. And that's why his death is heartbreaking. Because it's a consequence of his own choices when he finally gets to make them.
But I would be lying if I said I didn't see it coming. And here comes the "writer me" into play. His last scene was beautifully sad, poetic. Because analysing his character arc, he indeed got everything he wanted in the end. He never wanted power, he wanted healing. And in the end he was the someday king he always dreamt about. He saved his world, he was free, he fought against Osaron because he chose to do it. He became the true hero of the whole trilogy, doing and sacrificing more than anyone else. And if some part of me is looking desperately for ways that he could return so I can read more of him in Threads of Power, there is another part that says it ended in a correct way too. It's bittersweet, yes, but as a writer myself, I understand Schwab's choice. He deserved better, but his arc came to a satisfactory closure and for the first time I find no reasons to complain apart from the fact that it devastated me to see such an amazing character go.
That's pretty much it and thank you if you were brave enough to reach the end of this review. Now I will be standing here just anxiously waiting for Threads of Power.
First of all, wow. Just. Wow. I wish I could give this much more than five stars. I wish I could forget everything just to read it again for the first time. I am not ready to let this go. V. E. Schwab, you are the true mage here. This trilogy hooked me like very (and I mean very) few others did. The writing, the pacing, the amazing worldbuilding, the aesthetics, the characters... just flawless. I honestly don't remember reading a series of books this fast. I could talk about how much I absolutely LOVED everything in detail, but I will focus in what made me crazy about these books and how they earned a special place in my heart by becoming one of my all-time favourite series.
First of all, I love the idea of multiple Londons with magic. I love the colour schemes, the aesthetic. I love how different all the Londons look and how I could visualize them so clearly in my head.
Also, I love how magic works. I love the concept of the Antaris, travellers betwen worlds, carrying the messages of Kings and using powerful magic with blood.
And, from the very first line, I loved Kell and his amazing coat, his needs to belong and his mysterious past. And then I loved Rhy, and then Alucard too.
But there is one character of whom I could talk endlessly. That I can afirm, with a lot of conviction, had become one of my all time favourite characters from his very first scenes: Holland Vosijk.
THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS FROM NOW ON!!! DON'T KEEP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED ACoL!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay, here we go. I never hated Holland, not even in the first book like many people do. To be fair, I instantly knew he would become one of my favourite characters. I saw him as the victim he was. The victim of violence, corruption and power. And I absolutely love these types of characters, these are the ones who enter my list of favourites. The grey ones, the humans ones who have flaws, who suffer and lose their way when the world treats them badly, but cling onto their humanity in spite of everything they might have done when they had no choice, or when their vision of what was right was clouded. The characters who make terrible, fatal mistakes, who reach rock bottom and, when all seems hopeless, when they are all alone and hopeless, they rise again. Because they have a true chance of redemption, they hold dear that one dream, that one goal they strive for, that wish to break free and make things right. That's how real humans look like. And Holland Vosijk is all that. He is a victim and a dreamer. The two perfect ingredients for a tragedy. And, the more I read, I only loved his character more and more.
Then we look at his character arc. And here is where the "reader me" and the "writer me" fight each other, leaving this bittersweet taste in my mouth.
I have this very annoying history of having my favourite characters killed at the end. And usually, I find many reasons to complain about their arc and how their deaths were lazy or served nothing to the plot (apart from also being heartbreaking of course).
It is a little different this time.
The "reader me" is devastated. Until the very end I hoped he would live, I really did. I wanted him to be happy, find his peace and try to live a good life now that he was free from all the chains. I wanted to see him as the kind King he could be, trying to make a better place out of White London. The "reader me" is sobbing and screaming "he deserved so much better!!! He suffered the whole book to die like that, sacrificing himself like none of the others did and not even being able to see how his death cured his world!" It made me kinda look down on the other characters sometimes. He lost everything to save all of the Londons, not only his own. He was controlled, enslaved, betrayed, almost killed by people he trusted, saw his best friend be brutally murdered in front of him. And, apart from Astrid and Athos, he never resented those who wronged him. For him, Alox and Talya acted the way they did because of the corrupted world they grew up in. Holland didn't blame them, he forgave them.
He undersrood, because he killed many people himself for the same reasons, but kept count of them to shame himself, even though most of the times he wasn't killing at his own will. He was nearly killed and thrown into a hopeless place with evil magic by Kell only to be able to survive again, have another chance of doing the right thing. But he still didn't have that choice, not really. He had one choice only and he took it. Because he is a survivor. Holland isn't a man full of poor life choices. He is a man whose choices had already been made for him. And that's why his death is heartbreaking. Because it's a consequence of his own choices when he finally gets to make them.
But I would be lying if I said I didn't see it coming. And here comes the "writer me" into play. His last scene was beautifully sad, poetic. Because analysing his character arc, he indeed got everything he wanted in the end. He never wanted power, he wanted healing. And in the end he was the someday king he always dreamt about. He saved his world, he was free, he fought against Osaron because he chose to do it. He became the true hero of the whole trilogy, doing and sacrificing more than anyone else. And if some part of me is looking desperately for ways that he could return so I can read more of him in Threads of Power, there is another part that says it ended in a correct way too. It's bittersweet, yes, but as a writer myself, I understand Schwab's choice. He deserved better, but his arc came to a satisfactory closure and for the first time I find no reasons to complain apart from the fact that it devastated me to see such an amazing character go.
That's pretty much it and thank you if you were brave enough to reach the end of this review. Now I will be standing here just anxiously waiting for Threads of Power.