A Darker Shade of Magic

Unpopular opinion here.

The world building and the magic system are awesome. But it took more than 200 pages to actually get into the plot. I didn't like any of the characters (maybe Rhy, just a tiny bit), so I didn't care about what happened to them. Besides, all ended so well that it‘s like an standalone. I'm not sure if I'll continue reading the series because I see no point in doing so.

Even I didn't know at first I got hooked with the main characters and the possibilities the world(s) the author created, is an fast and easy read (even though it took me a while). I can easily recommend this to anyone how likes fantasy novels, but I'm gonna wait until I read the entire saga, the next book is already on its way.

4.5
The ending was perfect for the first book.
There is hardly anything I didn't like about this book.
The beginning was pulling, Kell is an interesting character, it was an amazing journey to get to know him and this world, although I felt there were things about the world that should have been explained, maybe in the next two books . Lila was good too, for some reason I'm not liking much, I do love her conversations with Kell, and I think they're a good fit, I like how V.E. Is not rushing their relationship, and not making it all about romance which is refreshing to read . I also like Rhy and how Kell cares about him so much, he'll do anything to save him

Reasons I thought I would like this book:

• fantasy/magic
• Kell's magical multi-sided coat.
• multiverse, travel between parallel worlds
• magic doors between worlds
• quest
• snark/wittty banter
• strong female character who wants to be a pirate

Reasons I did not actually like this book:

• torture, violent and bloody = not for me
• too grim & depressing (I have no desire to re-read The Hunger Games series for the same reason)
• not big on the historical fiction or historical fantasy stuff for the most part
• it takes a really long time to get to the plot and I got bored. (Lila and Kell don't even meet until over 1/4 through the book.)

This is one of those books that you simultaneously can't put down yet you never want it to end. It was so well written, the concept was amazing, and the characters were awesome. I grabbed this book on a whim at work and I'm so glad I did! Amazing read, can't wait for the next one!

8 july 2019
A Darker Shade of Magic is one of those books I picked up and put down a few times and before finally finishing it, and that is because I wanted to make sure I could COMMIT to it. The Darker Shades world is so incredibly vivid and intricate that I wanted to be able to absorb every aspect of it. I loved the two MCs as well as the world building!!! Plot wise, I also thought it was excellent. I have the next two books and will definitely be finishing off the trilogy very soon.
______________
30 june 2019
tbh this is the third time ive picked this up and the ONLY reason i put it down is bc i wanted to be able to DEVOTE MY LIFE to this world and unis over so i can do it now :-)))

My six-year-old has developed this very polite habit of calling things she doesn't like “not my thing.” This was “not my thing.” It's hard to say quite why: I like fantasy and strong female protagonists and good world building, but. Here's the good: the world building was amazing. I loved the idea of the four Londons, and it felt truly original – each felt real and whole. Schwab really excels at invoking a feeling of a place. But. The protagonists fell flat. There was too much violence – pretty much anyone named and not protected by plot armor died within the chapter, and when that happens it's hard to get attached. The plot felt flimsy.

Also, I know it's itself derivative to accuse a fantasy book of being a Lord of the Rings derivative, but the MacGuffin was an amazingly powerful malevolent artifact that enervated the users, but whose possession and use was addictive. Using the MacGuffin (primarily to be invisible) allowed the enemy to spy on them. The main quest was to return the MacGuffin to the place where it was made in order to destroy it.

Yeah, not my thing.

I really liked this book. I liked the idea and the way the magic worked in the story.

This is such an interesting and creative story. It seems a very unique story. Well worth the read

Olipas kerrassaan herkullinen fantasiatarina. Kiehtovat rinnakkaismaailmat, mielenkiintoiset päähenkilöt ja vaikka kyseessä on trilogian ensimmäinen osa, tarinaa ei jätetä mitenkään kesken, vaan tämä on ihan kokonainen, omilla jaloillaan seisova teos. Taustalla on selvästi paljon maailmanrakentelua, joten jatko-osiinkin löytyy varmasti paljon mielenkiintoista kerrottavaa.

I ran a Twitter poll, asking what I should read next with a few options that people had recently recommended to me. ADSOM won, so here I am, writing this after spending about 4 hours of my life reading it. To be honest, I wasn't as awe-struck as I thought I was going to be...

Full review at A Reading Brit

4,5 sterretjes
Victoria Schwab deed het weer! Weer schreef ze een bruisende wereld tot leven, schiep ze innemende en menselijke personages en creëerde ze een meeslepend en uniek verhaal.
Dit boek is echt meesterlijk geschreven. Het behekste en hypnotiseerde, zoals ik gewoon ben geworden van mevrouw Schwab. Ik ben echt fan van haar schrijfstijl.

As Travars! Reis.
Dit is de catchphrase van dit boek en ik reisde met plezier mee. Ik rook bloemen, baadde in het rode licht van de Isle, voelde de kilte van Wit Londen en jaagde met Lila mee op goedgevulde zakken om te beroven.
Haar personages voelen ook nu weer echt aan. Het enige puntje kritiek, en de reden waarom ik een half sterretje aftrok, is dat ik soms niet echt met hen meevoelde. Het is vreemd uit te leggen. Enerzijds leef je enorm mee met bepaalde gebeurtenissen in het boek, en anderzijds zijn er ook momenten waar ik iets zou moeten voelen, maar dat niet doe. Eerder observator ben, dan meelever. Raar.

Dit eerste deel van de trilogie zit barstensvol verhaal. Het bevat meer verhaal dan ik verwacht had in een eerste deel en het eindigt zelfs, alsof het boek eerst niet bedoeld was een vervolg te hebben. De hoofdverhaallijn wordt mooi in een strikje afgebonden, maar dat strikje heeft nog zo'n lange staarten dat er gemakkelijk nog tientallen verhalen kunnen worden verder verteld. Hoe zit dat met Kell, van waar komt hij? Wie is Lila? Wat is er gebeurd in Zwart Londen? Wat was die zwarte steen precies? Op naar deel twee voor wat antwoorden!

Listened to it in the car. Took me a bit to get into it, but once it got rolling and the characters were a bit more fleshed out, I enjoyed it. Found the lead ‘baddy' to be highly annoying.

TLDR
+ well written, good enough plot and characters
. unique idea of multiple worlds not explored well enough
- rushed, stereotypical ending

Summary

Kell is the most powerful wizard in a 17th century London where magic is commonplace. He is one of the only two people capable of traveling to alternate planes of existence, where other London exists as well.

Each London has a varying degree of magic present, from none to a-world-destroyed-lot. During his day to day affairs as an emissary to the kings of the different London, Kell stumbles upon a dangerous artifact, that grants its wielder great magical powers. But in increasing the level of magic from the world, you risk bringing it to the same fate as the London that was destroyed.

There are people after this artifact as well, and they don't mind the consequences. Kell must at the same time prevent them from getting the artifact and resist the urge to use it himself. He is joined in this task by Delilah, a street-raised thief from a London with no magic.


Analysis

Some of the minor things that bothered me:

- you get a magical sword, somehow you feel it's evil, with the potential to destroy the world. You resist the urge to wield its power and you get rid of it... by throwing it out of the window. 10 for intention, 0 for execution :-)

- The whole world is filled with magic, but that doesn't come come across too much in the story. The idea of alternate ‘realities' is barely developed.

- The main character is a wizard, one of the two most powerful wizards in the ‘worlds'. Yet he basically looses a brawl in an alley, and is ridiculously weaker then the other one.

The major thing I disliked was the last part of the book. It felt like the whole book was slowly building up the story and characters, and then they fight, the hero who is much weaker then the villain, somehow wins.The villain has a fortified castle, elite guards, magical traps. He drops the castle bridge, order the guards to stand down and disable the traps, just because.The

I liked the alternate worlds idea, but it felt too much unexplored. Also, the I freely reinterpreted some parts of the book to better fit what I tough was most logical. The hero wasn't responsible to bring his world to a near destruction, as he kept blaming himself for. For me, he was just bored out of his mind and decided to make things more interesting whenever he could, in order to have some fun and to improve his abilities.

The antagonists got a hold of this fact and exploited it to their advantage. In my mind the hero basically had no blame in the matter, as he wasn't even necessary for the event to happen. He was just chosen as an emissary because the villains wanted to have some fun as well.

3.5

A shaggy dog story.

4.5 *

Decided to jump on the bandwagon and read this, as its been raved about a lot in fantasy circles. I did really enjoy it, it was fast paced, interesting, the characters were likable and the worlds were intriguing. Having said that I didn't fall in love with it though. I don't know what it was exactly that kept me from giving it the lofty perch of awesome, but although it was an enjoyable read, it just didn't resonate on a deeper level I guess. I would still recommend it and think it is worth reading and would say there isn't anything wrong with it per se, so definitely check it out, but for me I've started to reserve my five stars for books that hit me in the feels department personally, and although this was a good book, it just didn't hit that particular mark. BUT don't let that steer you away from reading it, because it is still definitely worth reading if you like magic, realms of magic and interesting and fun characters to root for along the way.

loved it, i though it was entertaining and creative, i want to know more about the world and the characters, i am curious to see where the story goes in the next two books.

I liked it, but I wasn't blown away by it. The characters were pretty believable, but the story in my opinion had a little bit too little to it, there were no subplots.

This one is fabulous!
I've been meaning to read this book for a while now, but kept putting it off– but finally I bought it and then when I felt the need to read it come upon me, I dug in.

I loved the world-building. I mean, there are three worlds here, but I think they were all adequately described and given feeling. Through the writing I was able to feel comfortable in the worlds and understand what was going on. Honestly, the writing swept me away.

The characters– I LOVE THEM ALL! Have literally have a soft spot for everyone, except the siblings from White London. I feel so bad for Holland, and I think he'll play a big part in another book so I'm a bit sad about it...if what I think will happen does. Kell is adorable, Rhy is fun, and Lila is awesome. I can't pick a favorite, but I do know I want more!

What else can I say... I can't think of anything negative to say about this book– and I feel like it is a gift of mine to find all the negative aspects. I mean, I'm not craving or in need of the next book, nor was I jumping up and down from the greatness of this one, but reading it put a smile on my face, ‘oh no' was mouthed in dire moments, and when I finished I thought “wow, what a great book” and I don't know if I could even ask for more!

I'll read the next one eventually, but I'm glad I can wait–I've got much to read beforehand.
I'll definitely be recommending this book to others :) People who like fantasy, but perhaps don't want it bogged down in romance.

Actual rating 3.5 veering towards four.

I enjoyed this book. The idea of the various London's was intriguing. I liked the characters and the storyline. There are more things I want to know so I'll be picking up the second book.

This is by far, hands down, the best book about magic that I've read. The magic exists but it's not overpowering. We have people who can do elemental magic, blood magic, people trying to bind what little magic they have left, and then there's people who've lost the ability to do magic.

A world where magic thrives, another where magic is dying, a third where magic is dead and a fourth where the magic consumed the world. Then we have two rare people- Antari, who can travel between said worlds but are bound by the rulers of their worlds and forbidden to travel without permission as they're considered precious and dangerous.

This book was more than just fancy spells and charming magicians. The characters were so complicated. Each struggling with their own demons, inside and out.

The book described Lila more than Kell. Her want to run away and find an adventure, to not be attached, to feel alive and to be free of places and people that bind you was something I felt myself relate to.

Holland's whole backstory was tragic. Made me feel bad for him and compare him to Kell who is at least surrounded by good people. How circumstances can make or break you. A person who can exercise his free will but is not allowed to and feels like a prisoner. While on the other hand the second person is an actual prisoner, spell bound and soul bound, and both trying to be free in their own ways.

The idea of all 4 Londons existing side by side in a straight line was novel, instead of randomly jumping between them. You had to traverse in a line. That's why it makes sense that Red London survived and flourished, while Grey lost it's magic and White had to struggle all on its own.

And it didn't end on a cliffhanger. Read it like a standalone book. This book will now be the baseline for all magical books. Also, love Kell's coat. I want it! It seems like the coat has a mind of its own as new sides keep appearing and old unused ones disappear. And how Kell keeps losing things in the pockets of his coat. 😆

I loved it.
I have never had a book to have me thinking about it when I wasn't reading it, with the exception of self help books.
I was totally engaged. I felt anger towards the enemies of Lila and Kell. I wanted them to feel all the pain. Lol.

On to book 2 in the series.