A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Hello,
It took me ages to read this book. I went away for a few days and didn't take the time to read. Then I was busy with important things and couldn't concentrate on the book. But I've finished it! Finally! I really liked this book but I didn't love it. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab is the first book of a trilogy. Victoria has written quite a few books already and is quite successful. And she happened to be in my hometown recently! I went on instagram and she'd posted a picture of la tapisserie de l'Apocalypse that is in my hometown. Turns out she has family not too far from where I live! Anyway without further ado let's get into the review.
What the blurb says:
Kell is one of the last travellers - magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city. There's Grey London, without magic and ruled by the mad King George III. Red London - where magic is revered, and where Kell was raised alongside the heir to the empire. White London - where people fight to control the remaining magic and magic fights back. And once there was Black London...
What I say:
Kell is one of the last Antari, he can control blood magic. One of his eye is normal, the other is completely black. Only one other person is like him, Holland who lives in White London. Kell was raised by the king and the queen of Red London and he now works for them. He travels to the different Londons to deliver messages. But he also smuggles artifacts from one London to another. One day, a woman asks him to smuggle a parcel from White London to Red London and he does so. He soon realises it was a mistake. The artifact comes from Black London which was disconnected from all of the other Londons as it was dying. On the way to save his life and get rid of the object, Kell meets Delilah Bard, a thief and cutthroat from Grey London. Together they will try to do what's right for the greater good.
My opinion:
I love the cover. It's a detail but I love it.
The book is made of 14 books. Each book has several chapters. Each book isn't too long so I usually read a book at a time. The chapters aren't too long which I appreciate since I can't stop reading in the middle of a chapter. I liked the writing. The reading experience was smooth and just really nice overally.
I don't really have a bad opinion on this book but I will explain why I'm not giving it 5 stars a bit later. We're going to start with what I liked.
I liked the romance - if we can call it that. There's a little teeny tiny bit of ambiguity between Kell and Lilah but it's very subtle which I like. I sometimes like romance but I usually like it when it's the centre of attention of the book. I prefer a toned down/not mellow romance in a book in which there's action. Here things are so ambiguous that I'm not even sure there would anything going on between them in the other books.
I liked the idea that there are levels to magic - Antari being the most powerful because they can control any kind of magic. I also liked the different Londons and their relationship to magic. I thought it was a really interesting take on magic and its consequences. I also appreciated that you can't go from one London to another as you like. They are orderly connected. Grey London, then Red London, then White London and Black London to finish. You cannot go from Grey London to Black London without going through Red London and White London. Make sense?
I liked the plot in general. I thought things were well thought out and put together. There was a nice blend of 'easy' and 'hard' when it came to obstacles. I really liked the book but I wasn't passionate about it. I can't really explain but the story didn't grab me the way I like. When I'm really into a book I usually can't put it down but this one I liked but didn't feel the need to read it as fast as possible.
With that being said I would read the next 2 books if I came across them. This one was lent to me by a friend and if she buys the others I would ask her if I could borrow them but I don't know if I would buy them. Maybe in the future but right now I would rather buy other books. The reason why I'm not in the hurry to read the rest is because the end of the book could just be it by itself. If there wasn't 2 other books following the story would still make sense. My friend worldsapart - the one who lent me the book - said the same thing and apparently the author likes to end her books without cliffhangers in case the book series isn't a success. I understand why she does that but in a series of books I prefer cliffhangers that make me want to read the sequel.
Nonetheless I can tell that there are unanswered questions that could be solved in the sequels. What happens to Holland? What happens after everything in general? Who is Delilah? - her conversation with Tieren about her eye definitely says a lot about who/what she is.
Conlusion:
A good read that I recommend to anyone who loves alternate universes and magic.
Rating: ★★★★☆