A Darker Shade of Magic

holy shit i loved this so much- (and why the fuck do i not have the next book?

Whenever I hear people talk about the books by Victoria Schwab or V.E. Schwab as she sometimes uses they always have really great things to say. Whilst I am intending on reading many more of her series the one that piqued my attention the most is her Shades of Magic trilogy and this is why I chose to make my first V.E. Schwab novel A Darker Shade of Magic.

Having heard other people talk about this book I'd managed to gather that it was a story of different versions of London, each with different levels of magic within them. Our lead character Kell comes from Red London, where magic exists and is utilised for good. We also have Grey London, effectively the London we all know where magic has disappeared and is mostly unknown. Also, there exists White London where magic is king and it is dark and threatening and used to control. We also learn there once existed Black London where magic became so powerful it destroyed the city and led to it being shut off from the other London's and to the other London's becoming shut off from each other. Before the closing of the doors people could move freely between the different London's but now only special people known as Antari can do so and our main character Kell is one such Antari who carries messages from the different rulers of each London to ensure that things remain peaceful.

The first thing I loved about this book is the journey we go on in this book learning about each of the different variations of world that exist, each defined by the level of magic within it and how that magic has shaped the politics, wealth and customs surrounding it. Through Kell's eyes we delve into the different rulers and their agendas from the Mad King George III in Grey London to the sinister and evil twins who rule over White London with their controlling magic. Each of the different variations reflects its colour and it makes it an exciting journey for us a readers to experience the worlds as they unfold and how they connect to one another.

The second thing about this novel is the wonderful characters we meet along our journey. Kell, the magic Antari of Red London who travels on behalf of his King and Queen to the other realms delivering their political messages is a wonderful master of ceremonies and clearly is a believer in using his magic gifts for good. He is, however, an avid collector of objects from the different worlds he visits and although he knows he is not supposed to carry objects between the realms he does so and this leads to the grand adventure Schwab takes us on in this novel.

I loved Lila, the ragamuffin orphan Kell meets in Grey London who joins him on his adventure across the realms. Her wonderful carefree personality and search for adventure make her a great sidekick to Kell and I have a feeling there is much more of her story we have yet to learn as the following 2 books progress.

I have heard that this book is very much a world builder, it sets the scene for the following two books that then blow the whole cross realms world wide open. I am therefore delighted to think what joys await me as I move into books 2 and 3. I loved Red London best and I cannot wait to return and find out what new adventures await Kell and Lila in the rest of this series.

This is one of the best books I have ever read.
I looooooove Rhy, and I actually really really like Holland

I can't believe this book is so good! It was sitting on my shelf, waiting patiently, for when I'd finally pick it up. I knew I was going to enjoy the book from the blurb and the thousands of fantastic reviews here on Goodreads, but I was nervous it would be more YA than I prefer.

What a daft worry now I've thought about it. I don't like YA books and while Victoria Schwab writes YA, V. E. Schwab decidedly does not. I think the book is well designed and fits together perfectly. Each of the characters feel like full, interesting people that I enjoyed reading from the perspective of.

There's not a single part of this book I'd change, as far as I'm considered its a perfect book.

Updated September 2018, as of re-reading:
While I agree with my previous comments regarding how much I enjoyed this book and in particular the character of Kell, my feelings about the book overall have changed a bit. I personally feel like the world could have comfortably been up to 200 pages longer to flesh out the world and the characters established relationships and give the world a more three dimensional feel.

I confess that this books cool cover was the first thing that drew me in. Then seeing that it was highly rated among thousands of Amazon users... And then finding out that the sequel was also highly rated... And of course the cool premise. Namely that there are four Londons that our protagonist, Kell, can navigate between. These Londons are all capitals of different countries with different monarchs. Grey London has very little magic and is ruled by George III. Red London (which Kell calls home) is the seat of the Maresh empire and is flush with magic. White London is ruled by the psychotic Dane siblings, Athos and Astrid, and is losing magic fast. And Black London, which no one talks about and has been largely cut off since magic went wild there. Trouble starts when Kell comes into possession of a dangerous magical artefact from Black London. Story moves briskly and I has to read the final hundred pages all at once.

I'm a little late to this series, but I read A Darker Shade of Magic for the first time recently and I really enjoyed it! I'm actually planning to start in on the second book very soon (I already have it checked out of the library).

It was nice to have a canonically lgbtqia character, Rhy, but he also felt like a negative bisexual stereotype. One of the most prevalent stereotypes about bisexual people is that they're greedy and will sleep with anyone and that's basically 90% of Rhy's personality. All we really see him doing is flirting with people or talking about flirting with people and it's heavily implied (if not outright said, I didn't write the quote I'm thinking of down so I can't remember) that he'll sleep with essentially anyone. Like, that's basically how his character is introduced. And that's pretty much all I remember about him, except for some important plot stuff toward the end.

Overall, the plot was good. The writing was good. I definitely had a good time reading this book. I gave it four stars instead of five because it just didn't pull me in like a five star book. I'm intrigued to see where the rest of the trilogy goes and I'm glad y'all got me to read it!

This book is AMAZING!
I have this weird habit of refusing to continue reading a book if I love it from the bottom of my heart because I just adore the book so much and don't want it to end. “A Darker Shade of Magic” was definitely one of these books for me!
Everyone, who appreciates a wonderful writing style, a freaking stunning magic system, a breathtaking plot and characters you love so much that you just want to adopt them, should totally read this book! <3

I am so glad that I picked this book up. The characters, the magic, the world(s)...all so amazing. I can't wait to read the next two books.

A fantasy novel for the Read Harder Challenge. Not a category I am especially fond of, but this book was pretty exciting and has the appeal of a strong female lead. It is clearly meant to be the first in a series, but the immediate story wraps up in a satisfying way.

Short Review: This is multiverse historical fantasy centered around victorian London that exists in four worlds all with different understandings of magic. The concept is good. The characters are decent, but a little flat in the first book (the second is out, the third comes out in Feb 2017).

The story is straight forward and maybe a bit too simple on its face. I enjoyed it as I was reading (I alternated between the audiobook and the kindle book), but after I am finished and sat with it for a week, it seems more fluff. There is a quest to return an evil magical object that wants to destroy the three good Londons but the actual resolution was mostly a series of fights.

There is some moral quandaries about if and how dark magic can be used to save others and/or destroy dark magic. But they exploration of them is too simple at least in this first book.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/darker-shade-of-magic/

loved kell and his coat, lila bard can punch me in the face any time and i'd thank her & and i need more Brotherly Banter

Fast paced, fun magic, good character work in a short span of time. Felt a little slight, villains felt underwritten.

I liked this well enough, it just felt lacking in some way. Once the stone appeared in the story, it felt like things happened very quickly with no time to process it - though that could be because I listened to it and it wasn't holding my attention for processing.
I like the world building so would pick up the second book for that alone - kind of similar to The Long Earth series with Kel as the only stepper, and magic :)

Originally published on Unravellations.

WOW I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THIS BOOK.

I began this book with very high expectations and it didn't fail me for the first half. But for some reason, my attention and interest started wavering around the middle and I was stuck on it for a really long time - I felt no urge or excitement to pick it up and continue, but I didn't want to abandon it either. I'm trying to cultivate a habit of not abandoning books halfway unless it really called for it, which this book, thankfully, didn't. I finally sat myself down on a gloriously empty Sunday afternoon and finished the second half of the book in one sitting. The thing is, when you're actually reading it, it's not too difficult to get the momentum going.

Anyhow, A Darker Shade Of Magic is the first of the Shades of Magic trilogy by author V. E. Schwab and introduces a fascinating magical world that caught my attention and interest the moment I read the synopsis. It introduces a universe where there are 4 alternate universes: Grey, Red, White and Black (not official names, just the nicknames given to them by the main magician, Kell). Each London has varying degrees of magic flowing through it, Black being the one that had been so consumed by magic (a powerful force with a mind of its own, but that is delightfully neither good nor bad, and one that had to be wielded and dealt with with caution), White being almost like a troubled, chaotic and parched world, Red being a thriving “goldilocks zone” and Grey (our human world) being the one with the least/no magic at all. As different as those worlds can be, they have certain fixed points within them that change minimally throughout the 4 dimensions - one of them being the city of London.

Kell hails from Red London, but being Antari, a special and rare breed of magicians that are born with magic in their blood (non-genetically inherited), he is able to move between the different Londons, carrying messages and other things. Things go to shit when he is tricked into picking up a dangerous artifact and an equally foolhardy street urchin from Grey London, Delilah Bard. They spend the rest of the book attempting to dispose of said artifact a la Lord of the Rings, Mount Doom, “THROW IT INTO THE FIRE, MASTER FRODO” style.

This book thread a fine line and could've sank into a cliched sort of plot line but it always narrowly misses that, which I appreciate. Despite some criticism about Lila, I didn't find her characterization overly annoying or stupid. Yes, there were times when she needed saving, but so did Kell and every other major character in the book. Whatever sexual tension or romantic interest may have been breeding in the book was kept to a very subtle minimum and didn't feel too much like insta-attraction. I thought some things about Lila could've been improved or explained (was she a kleptomaniac?) but she didn't fall into the usual pitfalls that would've made me give up on or dislike this book immediately.

Kell was suitably mysterious as the main character. I sometimes found him a little over-dramatic about things, and too much in a rush to (attempt to) kill himself for the sake of others. He's proven that he's smart enough, so why doesn't he think of alternative plans to save everyone which don't involve him dying in the process? But oh well, I guess he won't be in a rush to be killing himself any time soon after what happens at the end of the book.

The action was all right, although I guess it got a little draggy in the middle. I'm not sure what it was about it - I simply felt no urge to know what was going to happen at the end. It felt a little - predictable? I knew something had to happen to the stone for it to be gotten rid of by the end of the book, and even though I couldn't tell whether Kell was or was not going to go along with it, I couldn't find it in myself to care. To be fair, by the time I reached the end, it did upheave some of my expectations and things turned out slightly different from what I thought it would be.

Would I recommend this book? If you're a huge fan of period-setting magical worlds and fantasy, yes. It has its flaws but it was a much better-written work than many others out there. But as a point of note, this book doesn't quite hold back when it comes to violent deaths, of which there are many. Would I continue reading the trilogy? Maybe, I don't know. I realise that the next book is going to be set on Lila's adventures, and I'm not sure if I'm interested enough to know more about what's going to go down with her. The short excerpt of the next instalment didn't really excite me either.

And now, for the spoiler section!

One of the foremost things in my mind right now is: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WITH HOLLAND? I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that Kell simply put the stone into Holland's hand and basically Portalled him out into Black London. THAT IS SUCH A BITCHTASTIC THING TO DO. I actually thought Holland might have some redeeming factor - I mean, yes, he killed Barron (though I didn't buy into the whole Lila sentimentality thing so I didn't really care) and he tortured Kell and all that, but Schwab spends a lot of Holland's on-page time talking about how he was compelled to do all these nasty things and all that. He was even described as looking "relieved" when Kell finally decided to kill him, which I think breaks his soul seal or something and releases him from the spell that the Dane twins cast on him?? Anyway even if it didn't, Kell had already killed the Dane twins so I assume that would've broken the seal too? So Kell basically sends a barely-alive Holland who had the potential to regain his health and consciousness and MORALITY into the abyss of Black London along with the stone?!?!?!?! I don't know, but Holland could've at least restored some balance to White London????? What was Kell thinking????? WHAT?That bit made me so uncomfortable and bewildered.I also really enjoyed Rhy and Lila's bantering at the end, but being a mainstream junkie like I am, I still kinda hope Lila and Kell would end up together.I was secretly hoping Lila would remain a magic-less Grey Londoner but be able to somehow wield her barren magic state into an interesting puzzle piece within the magicky Red and White Londons. I thought that perhaps that was the reason why she didn't seem infected with the black stone's magic. Like how fire can set many things alight but won't affect stone much? I was even a little disappointed when Tieran told her that she had unnurtured magic within her. I feel like we need some characters who really and truly possess nothing to come into their own with the people who appear to have been born with everything (like Kell), instead of abruptly discovering that they had a well of talent buried in them all along.

This book is crying out for a movie adaptation. And I'm going to champion for Eddie Redmayne to take the character of Kell, and Tilda Swinton the character of Astrid Dane.

Good fun 3.5

Loved it! Great characters, great story– just an overall fun and exciting read!

Delightful. L adore Lila and desperately wish for her to find a ship. Kell is a lovable lug and the world of magic and the multiple Londons captivated me. Well done!

Executive Summary: I liked this book, but didn't love it. I'll likely continue on to the next one, but I'm in no rush at this point.

Full Review
This was my first book by Ms. Schwab. Apparently she's better known for her YA work. There was a big debate about if this book is YA or not. Personally I don't think it matters very much. To me it's about whether I connect with a book, and not how it's marketed.

This books started out pretty strong for me. We're introduced to Kell and his awesome fashion accessory, and the idea of “parallel” Londons, where he is one of a very few who can travel between them. Soon after we meet a thief in one of the Londons named Lila.

Both have interesting premises, but I had a hard time connecting with them(or any character for that matter). I found most of the early part of the book slow and relatively uneventful. I wasn't bored, but it felt as though very little happened at times. While I tend to prefer character-driven stories like this, it requires caring for the characters more than I did here.

The world building is interesting, but I found the description misleading. To me the concept of “alternate” Londons made me think they would share more in common with each other than a name. They are vastly different. It didn't feel like alternate versions of the same city at all. Still, I found the idea of world hopping magic appealing, and the history of how each developed varied enough.

The magic “system” is almost non-exist. I tend to prefer well-defined magic systems, and this feels underdeveloped. Considering the Antari are so rare, I'd have been interesting in exploring this aspect more than it was. Hopefully that will come in the later books.

Once the story got going near the middle I was a lot more interested. However I felt like after taking too long to start, the ending was rushed. I probably would have liked this one a bit more with different pacing.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and will continue on with the series, but I'm not in a rush to do so.

This book has a pretty cool concept, but I just never connected with the delivery. The idea of parallel Londons, each one with different degrees of magical content is a interesting, but I think at the end of the book, that's about all I took away. The main characters are pretty flat and occasionally make such obviously bad choices as to be frustrating and neither of them stand out enough from the slew of mages and rogues before them to really make an impact. The villains are villainous, the heroes are heroic, and if that's about all there is to it.

It does have a couple of elements I really enjoyed: openly bisexual characters whose sexuality isn't a plot point, women characters choosing and being allowed to choose traditionally male dress, and a multi-sided coat for all occasions. I have a coat fetish, okay? However, the actual plot felt really contrived with characters being invented just to save the day all the time and an ending that just sort of happens.

I guess in the end I give the book a solid ok. If you're looking for simple, straightforward fantasy, it's a quick read though I think it'll be pretty forgettable on my shelf.

LOVED this. Delilah Bard is my patronus. I need the sequel yesterday. Full review to come!

REVIEW:

So first of all, I don't read a whole lot of Adult Fantasy—but wowwww this was so so so good and I'm glad I stepped out of my usual reading because I loved it. The pacing at the beginning was a little slower than I tend to like (but expected, given that it's an Adult Fantasy), but I was still totally interested while reading because of the characters and world building. The layered Londons makes for such an interesting (and complicated!) setting, and I loved seeing the differences between them, from the access of magic, to the physical setting, to the people and the languages they spoke.

The magic system itself was really interesting to read, and I very quickly connected with Kell, Lila, and Rhy. Kell and Lila made for especially interesting point of view characters, and learning about their motivations and desires and what makes them tick was totally fascinating.

And! I was so drawn to Lila, like whoa. From her snark, to her gritty (and stubborn) determination, to her masculine style, Lila's character really resonated with me—probably more than I've experienced from an AFAB (assigned female at birth) character ever. I can't wait to read more about her (and Kell and Rhy, of course!) in A Gathering of Shadows, which I don't have on hand yet, but absolutely will because THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD.

I also want to make a note about the antagonists because I loved (and loved to hate two of them) so much. I won't name them, since at least one is kinda spoilery, but I will say my favorite characters extended being the main three. I kind of loved every character for a different reason, which is super rare for me with books.

A+ character development, A+ world building, A+ need more right now—this book was an easy five star rating and I honestly cannot recommend it more to fantasy lovers. If you haven't read it already, you need it like yesterday.

Diversity note: Major character Rhy is openly bisexual, and Lila is pansexual and genderfluid.

Really enjoyed this well imagined world of Londons, yes Londons. Characters are quite well drawn and the plot is zippy. Good stuff and I recommend it.

when will Delilah Bard marry me

???A life worth having is a life worth taking.???

woowowooowowowowowowoowoowowo so good .

the world the characters the everything.
the world building ? the world building . its the epitome of world building . ( did I use that word right ? hopes)
the characters were unforgettable !!!!
lets see ;
Kell aka a certain Magic Boy springs to mind . his narration + whole entire being , and especially his words of wisdom ( wow boy , some magic !) just made me love him eveen more.
Rhy , oh my sweet precious Rhy . prince of all princes ( looking at you prince charming ) , loved by all
( my self and various others too i guess ) and bae of all kingly baes . ( yess i have a list for kingly baes okay ?) .
Lila. shall i try ? i shall . here goes :
piratey
me
pirateyness in her blood
thief of all thieves ( stole my heart did she )
pirate ?
adventourness to another level
me af
life
love
badass
oh and i forgot one things (s):
piratey / buccaneer
hilarious

loving those lists , ooh fancy !


overall my love for fantasy was 10000000035245245% + more fed to beyond usual limits. the book back to front , in from out did a lot , and i mean a lot . soo yep :)

i thank you , and goodnight . ( or morning/day/evening, love me some evenings )

one small tiny ant sized request :
please , please please give the book a shot . by that i mean eat it. all .
love , bookishwolf x
/ 2018 re-read :
Kell is a moody ginger cat .
Rhy is such an actual prince !!
Just thinking about how Holland???s character develops in the next books :???) makes me sob

This book was wonderful and magical. The characters were great. They felt so unique and you could tell why they did what they did!

Not bad. I really like the concept of the multiple Londons and how that world was built, but none of them got particularly fleshed out or realized. The characters were alright, but I didn't feel much connection with either of the protagonists by the time the book ended. I think the narrative arc could've used a bit more restraint – some pauses, some time to get to know the setting and the characters. It felt like a pretty standard YA arc, where something propels the characters on some half-explained adventure, generally fraught with nondescript streets and halls full of faceless bad guys and some general sense of evil, building up with few twists until the final confrontation. The concepts that were introduced were fun and interesting but I think the author was afraid to let up for a minute, which left me at the end less invested or interested in the whole story. Not that it was particularly chaotic, it just felt like the story lacked ... texture?

Part of this may just be due to the audiobook format in which I experienced it. I'd recommend you read it rather than listen to the audio, either way. The guy's voices were ... weird.