Book shade: a review

All my friends said it was really cool, so I finally joined Goodreads. Apparently, I've only read four books since I've joined, which is kind of disappointing - though not as disappointing as setting a book target of 40 for the end of the year, then realising a few weeks later that I REALLY had to lower my expectations...

While writing my first review, it hit me how hard it was going to be to review this book without major spoilers. Luckily, I had figured out how to do the codes to hide spoilers and then went to town on them, because well! I had some intense feelings about this book.

Something I didn't mention in my review but probably should have: A Darker Shade of Magic ticks all the checkpoints for diversity, so if you're looking for a fantasy book that's not just straight white men, you might like this.



A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The magic in this book was startling, and the character's drive - Lila's especially - helped carry me through the book. For the most part, I enjoyed it: that's why I gave it 4 stars. It was an enjoyable journey, with many an unexpected plot twist. However, I didn't understand (view spoiler)[the Black London shadows moving through the worlds - did the one that was in Grey London get to Red London? There was a part in the book that suggested it did... but how? (hide spoiler)] Reading that, it brought me out of the book's world and it was a while before I could return to it.

And when I did return, it was with critical eyes. Kell, Lila or especially Rhy should have (view spoiler)[died (hide spoiler)]. Especially Rhy, who was (view spoiler)[bleeding out (hide spoiler)] and then actually did (view spoiler)[die (but was brought back to life by Kell) (hide spoiler)]. The fact that the main characters (view spoiler)[survived (hide spoiler)] while everyone else around them (view spoiler)[died (hide spoiler)] seemed like a cop-out of a writer who was all ready to write a gritty fantasy novel, but chickened out because she couldn't (view spoiler)[kill off her most beloved characters (hide spoiler)]. Weirdly, that was what made a story about magic, parallel universes and made up languages feel unrealistic.

There was also the matter of certain bits of information being thrown into the story without any explanation. Kell's back story, for one, and Lila's (view spoiler)[glass eye (hide spoiler)], for another. Why mention these things as if they're not huge parts of the characters and then neglect to fill me in on the details? Seems like a ploy for me to read the sequel.