Friday, July 28, 2017

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab








A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1)




Most people only know one London; but what if there were several? Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel Londons. There’s Grey London, dirty and crowded and without magic, home to the mad king George III. There’s Red London, where life and magic are revered. Then, White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. But once upon a time, there was Black London...








My Review:

Delicious. Even though not all the ideas in this book are original, the world-building, characters and magical system make up for anything we might have seen or heard before. Victoria (V.E.) Schwab's almost lyrical writing style is very pleasant and the pages seem to turn themselves in this must-read book!

The use of blood-magic, alternate Londons, and the creation of doors to reach these alternate worlds might remind us of plenty of other books, but the author puts her own twist on this, making for a very pleasant and thrilling read.

The characters are believable and well thought out and the two main characters (Kell and Lila) seem to have a chemistry that I hope will continue in future books.
The world building is spot on and the descriptions the author uses to describe the various Londons, placed me right in the action and I was able to 'feel' as if I was there.

White London and the Danes were definitely my favorite and I wish we could have spent a little more time there and found out a little bit more about this monarchal duo. I also wish I'd been given more info on the Holland's character, and of Vitari. I'm hoping that my questions regarding Vitari and Holland will be answered in the subsequent books.

All in all, a very entertaining and lovely dark read. The author succeeded on placing an original spin on ideas that have already happened before in other books. The dark and gritty feel of this story is certain to please readers across a wide range of genres. I look forward to reading the second book in this trilogy, 'A Gathering of Shadows', very soon. Happy Reading!


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