A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E. Schwab
I’ve been meaning to read this book since it first came out — I even had a preview a while before it came out, and was really excited. And then I got distracted and didn’t get round to it for ages and ages. Still, I took it on my flights from Belgium to Canada, and I’d finished it before long at all; it was a quicker read than I was even expecting.
It was less serious/epic than I was expecting, actually. There’s an element of just swash-buckling fun about it — Lila Bard wants to be a pirate captain, Kell’s a prince, etc. I was surprised by how simple it was, in a way; I’d been expecting something on a grander scale. Which… is there, but it’s resolved in a single book, so it doesn’t seem that serious. I’m wondering what the next book is actually going to bring.
In terms of world-building, it’s pretty cool; I guess more is going to come of Black London, and we haven’t seen the last of that issue just because Kell managed to get rid of the artefact from it. And Lila and Kell aren’t done, and I hope Rhy isn’t done either — I wanted to know more about him. (Though the name throws me; Rhys would be the Welsh name, which I kept expecting when I saw it.) I’m looking forward to the next book, but maybe this was a bit too hyped up.
Rating: 4/5
I was curios about this book Thanks for the review.
It’s fun! Just maybe not everything I expected from the hype.
I thought this was okay, though I definitely still preferred Vicious. We’ll see with book two if it changes my feelings on this series 🙂
I thought it was fun, but not… substantial? I dunno, I felt like I missed something!
“It was less serious/epic than I was expecting, actually. There’s an element of just swash-buckling fun about it — Lila Bard wants to be a pirate captain,…”
What are you saying about people who want to be a pirate captain? Are you suggesting that isn’t serious or epic?
Oi!
*I* want to be a pirate captain!!! Who doesn’t?!?
This is true… I just felt like Lila would be a bit too delighted if she could dress up like Captain Hook!