Reviews

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

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bria_and_books's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

justcwen's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced

5.0

deluciate's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this book from the first lines about Kell's unusual coat. V.E. Schwab is excellent at world-building. I am excited this is the first in a series; was a little worried that there would be a cliffhanger ending, but the resolution was satisfying. I put the next book on hold at the library before I finished this. I particularly would like to read more about Lila and where her adventure takes her.

hannahe1's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

samanthajpina's review against another edition

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Honestly I liked the first two books a lot - it was just enough fantasy with story but I couldn’t get into this one. I don’t know if i was burnt out of VE Schwab’s writing style and couldn’t get back into or what. I didn’t finish this but I may go back and give it another go.

mparish33's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

timinbc's review against another edition

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3.0

I was going to give this 4 stars, but a strange force dragged my hand to the three point.

On the surface, this is indeed a good book, as many here feel. SO why does it leave me feeling so unexcited about it? I like parallel-London stories: Neverwhere, Un Lun Dun, and others (and I admit that it's not fair to pit Schwab at this point against Gaiman and Miéville). This one falls a bit short.

The parallel worlds don't really fall into the "yes, of course, how has no one thought of this?" category; it's more "yeah, well, OK."

I liked that Kell wasn't usually very certain of himself.
I liked what Schwab did with Holland - sorry, no spoilers from me.

I didn't like Lila's straight-ahead-all-the-time approach; you have to be Doctor Who to do that.

Didn't care for the nyah-hah-hah we're-so-evil Bad Guys. Too easy, too simple. Making them torturers doesn't take them out of the fairytale level.

The development of what the stone was up to was quite good, although far too soon it tells us where the plot is going to have to go. In fact, that may be my main problem. Didn't you know VERY early on that this book was going to end with

Spoiler

Lila on her very own pirate ship?

Didn't you know quite early that the final faceoff was going to be as it was?

Finally, I was disappointed - as I am all too often in recent books - that the great big mean nasty villain was taken out rather easily by doing a "wait, what?" thing that quickly led to a "wait, what?" ending.

I want a fantasy author to keep surprising me with things that then make me go, "oh yeah, of course, that would have to happen, wouldn't it?" This one does only the last part. The developments made sense, but they didn't ever make me think, "ah yes, well played, Schwab."

Nevertheless, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see Schwab write a real corker within the next few years.