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A Darker Shade of Magic A Novel Shades of Magic Victoria Schwab 9780765376459 Books

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A Darker Shade of Magic A Novel Shades of Magic Victoria Schwab 9780765376459 Books

"Death comes for everyone . . . I'm not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying here . . . I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still."

"I'm not going to die," she said. "Not till I've seen . . . everything."

What do you get when you mix equal parts magic, inter-dimensional travel, strong female characters, and criminal activity, with a hint of romance? A Darker Shade of Magic, of course! I was drawn to this book because 1) it's been super popular among the Instagram reader community, and 2) there is not one, but four Londons (mega points for creativity, Schwab).

What did I like about this book? Well, the whole premise was highly original. Kell, the main character, can travel between 4 Londons—White London, Red London, Black London, and Grey London. Each London has a different relationship with magic, whether they embrace it, worship it, kill for it, or don't believe in it (not in that order). But Kell and one other character are the only ones able to travel between the Londons, which means they are messengers and ambassadors for the leaders (which leads to some interesting problems).

I also liked that the book wasn't all about romance—there was very little. Lila and Kell worked as a team. The book also dealt with brotherly relationships and caring for family, even if they are not your blood relatives. It also tackled the age-old question of "what do you do if you come into a lot of power, but it's an evil power," which naturally includes character motive investigation, willpower, and self discovery.

However, as with many hyped books, this one fell a little short of my expectations (hence, 3.5 stars). What went wrong? Let me share:

1) Dialogue – I didn't feel like it flowed naturally and was a tad cliche.

2) The Strong/Independent Female Main Character Trope – Lila Bard is a cool character, but I'm just a little tired of the whole tough girl characters who don't need a man or anyone else and don't embrace their uniquely feminine strengths. Why does a girl have to act like a man to get attention in the literary community? Why can't she be feminine and strong? *steps off soapbox*

3) Character/plot originality – Although the premise was unique, much of it felt like other YA lit fantasy that I had read before and that was better executed (e.g., Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and the Grisha trilogy).

4) World building – I wanted more details. I can never have too much solid world building, and I think it's essential for fantasy to connect with the reader.

Overall, a fun read, but not quite a 4-star rating.


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A Darker Shade of Magic A Novel Shades of Magic Victoria Schwab 9780765376459 Books Reviews

It wasn't bad. I listed to the audio book and found the narrator, Steven Crossley, trying too hard to be Jim Dale and not being successful. The voices he did were kind of annoying, and he overacted sometimes. Lila was already an annoying character, as someone else mentioned in their review, and the voice he did made her even more so. As for the story itself, it's good. Nothing spectacular. It took a while for me to get into it. It was nothing that I haven't read yet. 'His Dark Materials' or the 'City and the City' have done this concept first and are much more engaging. Maybe if I was still a teenager, when I discovered the wonderful world of fantasy, I would have been more engaged, but I have read so many other works similar to this, that I think I will recommend other books before I read this one. The writing is good, the world building is complete, and the story is told well, it's just not really original and Lila is an annoying character. And if you do choose to read this, READ it, don't listen to the audio book!
This book had so much potential. There's a lot to like but it just didn't quite deliver.

PROS
- V.E. Schwab has a really nice writing style. It flows effortlessly and you can fly through the pages. Her descriptions paint a solid picture.
- The world building is well done. I liked the different Londons and their back stories were interesting. There were plenty of scenes I enjoyed quite a bit.
- The Blood Magic/Elemental powers are cool.

CONS
- The 2 main characters Kell & Lila are both very clichè and uninteresting. Lila was actually very annoying most of the time. She was being very immature at times despite the situation being very serious. She's made out to be a strong female character, which I like, but she always needs to be saved by Kell. Kell complains a lot for no reason. He's also not always honest when he should be.
- The Pacing was a little too slow for me at times. There weren't enough epic moments or tense situations to keep me very interested. Once I got more than half way through, I wanted it to just end.
- I felt like the Author was very close to blowing me away but she never really did. I don't want to continue the series.

I read Six of Crows right before this and that impressed me in every way that this book didn't.
"Death comes for everyone . . . I'm not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying here . . . I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still."

"I'm not going to die," she said. "Not till I've seen . . . everything."

What do you get when you mix equal parts magic, inter-dimensional travel, strong female characters, and criminal activity, with a hint of romance? A Darker Shade of Magic, of course! I was drawn to this book because 1) it's been super popular among the Instagram reader community, and 2) there is not one, but four Londons (mega points for creativity, Schwab).

What did I like about this book? Well, the whole premise was highly original. Kell, the main character, can travel between 4 Londons—White London, Red London, Black London, and Grey London. Each London has a different relationship with magic, whether they embrace it, worship it, kill for it, or don't believe in it (not in that order). But Kell and one other character are the only ones able to travel between the Londons, which means they are messengers and ambassadors for the leaders (which leads to some interesting problems).

I also liked that the book wasn't all about romance—there was very little. Lila and Kell worked as a team. The book also dealt with brotherly relationships and caring for family, even if they are not your blood relatives. It also tackled the age-old question of "what do you do if you come into a lot of power, but it's an evil power," which naturally includes character motive investigation, willpower, and self discovery.

However, as with many hyped books, this one fell a little short of my expectations (hence, 3.5 stars). What went wrong? Let me share

1) Dialogue – I didn't feel like it flowed naturally and was a tad cliche.

2) The Strong/Independent Female Main Character Trope – Lila Bard is a cool character, but I'm just a little tired of the whole tough girl characters who don't need a man or anyone else and don't embrace their uniquely feminine strengths. Why does a girl have to act like a man to get attention in the literary community? Why can't she be feminine and strong? *steps off soapbox*

3) Character/plot originality – Although the premise was unique, much of it felt like other YA lit fantasy that I had read before and that was better executed (e.g., Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and the Grisha trilogy).

4) World building – I wanted more details. I can never have too much solid world building, and I think it's essential for fantasy to connect with the reader.

Overall, a fun read, but not quite a 4-star rating.