Happy Thursday Everyone!
Today I am reviewing A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab! This book has been on my TBR list for a very long time and has been recommended to me by so many people! As soon as I read the description I knew it was a book I wanted to read and I am excited to share my review! So here we go!
Synopsis
Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
Plot
I really enjoyed this book! I thought the concept was interesting and the characters were compelling! So much thought was put into the four different London’s and I thought that made the book that much more interesting.
The only negative for me was that it took a very long time for the book to really get going. I felt as if the first 3/4 of the book was just exposition and setting up the story. I liked that VE Schwab took the time to build the world but I felt it took too long. Besides that, I really enjoyed the book once Lila and Kell got to Red London and felt the book moved much quicker after that!
Characters
Our two characters come from very different backgrounds. Kell is considered royalty in Red London because of his specific magic abilities, and Delilah is a thief roaming the streets of Grey London with no ties whatsoever.
Although I didn’t enjoy how long Schwab took to set up the book, it gave me a chance to really learn about the characters and their motivations.I felt that when Kell and Delilah meet, we already knew about their personalities so it was more interesting to see how they interacted together.
Last Thoughts
Overall once the book started really moving along, I couldn’t put it down! I really enjoyed Kell and Delilah’s quest to return the black magic back to Black London and the conspiracy with White London. Things seemed to get pretty resolved by the end of this book so I am interested to see what will happen in the next two books of the series! I hope we get more of Rhy!
Rating
I give this book
What were your thoughts on this book? Do you agree with my review or have a different opinion?
XOX Shelby Grace
