A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
The first book set up the idea of the different Londons: magic-less grey London, vibrant red London, starving and desperate white London, and decimated, dead black London. Each built upon a foundation of London but developed in completely different fashions. Their cultures, religion, speech, manner and being is so unique in each world.
It was a really intriguing way to build the world and immediately fascinated me. Good world building is so important to books because it is immersive, it pulls you in and makes you forget that it’s not real. You are living the story with the characters. She even created languages that were utilized by characters from different places, from the magic language of the Antari to the flowing words or harsh tones of the neighboring lands. It shows a passion for authenticity and true love of what she has created.
I love the characters. Rhy with his charm always brightens the room (or a scene). Lila is cunning, ruthless, ambitious and a thief. She doesn’t need anyone and she would never admit to needing anything. She takes or does what she wants, no matter the cost with no regrets. She is tough as nails and her grit is inspiring. Her first instinct is to protect herself above all.
Many people may not agree with me, but Lila was probably my least favourite of our main characters. She was smart and tough, but a little too ruthless for my taste. Kell was the character that I liked/related to the most, even though he was a powerful magic user he seemed the most down to earth.
Not only does she introduce us to unique main characters, but she brilliantly gives depths to those in the background. There are some supporting characters that at times I liked even more than some of our leads.
Overall the story is more of a slow-burn/build rather than quick action packed scenes. I think that it worked really well for this story and have no complaints. Highly recommended for adult or young adult/teen readers who enjoy fantasy or magic books with characters that have very diverse personalities/outlooks on life and great world-building.
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