Rate: 3.5/5
Medium: KindleBook
Overview (No Spoilers): Torn and indecisive. The aforementioned terms pretty much sum up my feelings regarding A Darker Shade of Magic when composing this review. I want to love it and I’m a huge fan of the concept/worlds, however I really did not develop a significant connection with the characters. The main characters (Kell, Rhys, Delilah, and Holland) were all shrouded in mystery and veils almost to a fault. While veils of mystery are crucial to the development of the story, however enough of those shrouds need to fall in order to make needed connections with the main characters. While the surface problems were sufficiently dealt with and lead to some pretty spectacular battles or sequences, very little of the underlying mystery were unveiled. Overall, the four worlds that comprise the Shades of Magic series are cleverly designed and I’m curious enough from the potential to keep me eagerly looking toward reading the sequel.
Additional Insight (May contain spoilers):
- Delilah obviously must be an Antari. She has a glass eye, she could travel between worlds and of course she contains magic that has yet to be revealed. Who are her parents? For that matter what is Kell’s history and why did he have his memories erased? My guess is that the dressmaker that Delilah ran into knows more of the story, as well as the King and Queen. A long stretch, but what if he and Delilah are siblings?
- How will Kell and Delilah fix the worlds to allow for the flow of magic again? That has to the ultimate plot line of the series.
- What happened in the Black City? When will Kell make his own trip to the Black City?
The Critiquing Chemist 
I just bought this book to read with my Book Club! Pretty excited to give it a go!
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Oh, let me know what you end up thinking about the book! It is a very interesting and fun world to read about. The fault I had with A Darker Shade of Magic lie with the character personalities.
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[…] Gathering of Shadows is the second book in the Shades of Magic Series. I’d read the first book, A Darker Shade of Magic back in March and upon revisiting my review, I was surprised to find that I could, more or less, […]
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Thanks for liking my last post! I just finished this book and plan to write about it soon. I had much the same reaction. I really wanted to like this book but it just didn’t strike a chord with me. I really don’t think Schwab is going to make them siblings. He said near the beginning that Antari are born into families at random, so you can’t breed a line of Antari magicians. Therefore, I don’t think who her parents are really matters.
I’m hoping the second book is better. I look forward to reading what you have to say about the sequel after I’m done with it.
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Thanks for reading my post! I agree! There was so much potential for this book! Let me know what you think of the next book!
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[…] that Schwab created holding so much conceivable developmental possibly. In the previous two novels, A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows my reoccurring grievance lie in the lack of connection felt with the […]
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[…] directing me to The Demon Cycle series by Peter V. Brett, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab and The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. The Black Prism was the most recent series […]
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