A Darker Shade of Magic

I've read a lot of fantasy in my time. But little compares to the pure brilliance of V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic. Gorgeous, clever, addictive and unique, I am just so very in love with this book. So please be warned: fangirling ahead."I'm not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying here." She swept her hand over the room, the tavern, the city. "I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still."Kell is an Antari – a rare magician with the ability to travel between worlds. He lives in Red London – a vibrant place where magic and people both thrive, where Kell is raised by the King and Queen. Grey London is the world that has forgotten all about magic. White London is a world hungry for magic, starving for it, a place leeched of colour. Once there was Black London, but there magic devoured the people, leaving the world dead...Kell is running a typical message between worlds when he is asked to deliver a mysterious package. He accepts, despite his reservations (and the fact that this is so very against the rules), and is then ambushed upon arriving in Red London. Inadvertently, he has brought a forbidden relic to his world – a relic that could destroy them all. He flees to Grey London and is found by Lila Bard, a thief, wanted (wo)man and pirate at heart.Together, they must return the relic to where it belongs. Together, they must save the remaining worlds from the curse of the lost one...I honestly don't know where to start with this review. Because I just love A Darker Shade of Magic and Victoria herself so freaking much. Both are just amazing – brilliant, fantastic, wonderful, magical, vicious... Just... wow.This review would go a hell of a lot better if I could just get over the blown-mind after effects... But since I don't see that time coming any time soon, I'll just get on with it anyway.Kell... Kell was a brilliant hero. Brave, good, strong and also so very flawed, he managed to be both incredibly powerful and yet vulnerable all at once. He didn't always make the smart decisions, he focused a little on the whole woe me at times and he was occasionally a little daft – and it all just made him even more loveable.And Lila was just amazing! Vicious and blood thirsty and obsessed with knives! I mean, this is really just my kind of girl. She was just so cool and funny and sharp and I loved her to pieces. I have my favourite crush in the series – and it's the swashbuckling, badass Delilah Bard.I loved watching Kell and Lila together – they were funny and brilliant together. There was next to no romance in this book – maybe there will be in the next book, because ships were definitely hinted at, just not fully realised. I'm intrigued to see where this goes next because I just love these two together!I also really loved seeing Kell with Rhy, his brother. Rhy was just the sweetest – silly and flirtatious and funny, he was so much more than the rich playboy he first appeared to be and I just loved him for that. Plus his relationship with Kell was just so sweet – they really did love one another, despite the brotherly conflicts.The Danes were bloody terrifying! They literally sent tingles of fear up my spine whenever they were around – they were so damn scary!As much as I adored the characters, the world just blew them all out of the water. Bloody hell, it's amazing. Just the very idea of these four unique Londons, all so different and so wonderful... Mind-blowing. My mind is officially and irreparably blown. I am just in awe of Victoria. It's hard enough to contrast a single fantasy world – she made three! Three utterly unique, beautiful and horrible Londons – four, if we're counting the lost Black London. Each London was so unique and detailed and amazing. Red London was definitely my favourite – it was the thriving, alive London. Grey London was a magic less, more historically accurate, place ruled by a mad King. And White London...well. Let's just say I'd avoid White London at all costs. I just can't believe how much work and detail Victoria put into these worlds and I just can't wait to explore them more. Amazing – just incredibly, wonderfully, perfectly amazing.Unsurprisingly, the Slytherin queen of magic was a true wizard when it came to her writing. Gorgeous, witty and beautiful, she sucked me in from the very first sentence and had me utterly hooked from that same line. I adored how we switched between Kell and Lila and then a few...added extra POVs. I loved exploring all the Londons, seeing them through Kell's well travelled eyes and Lila's almost-as-new-as-our eyes.And god, I just adored the storyline. The idea of a quest across worlds, an evil stone, crazy rulers and brilliant characters – I mean, what's not to love? I loved the race, the battles, the quest. I loved the excitement, the adventure, the adrenaline-pounding pace and suspense... I just loved all of it and cannot wait to get my hands on A Gathering of Shadows to find out what happens next!So, if you haven't gathered, I loved A Darker Shade Of Magic just a little bit. Ok a lot bit. A bloody ginormous bit. Victoria is my Slytherin queen and she has crafted a truly magical and amazing book here, one I love to absolute pieces. It has magic, pirates, adventures, backstabbing, blood, drama, excitement and just so much more. I am seriously struggling to find the words to do A Darker Shade of Magic justice – I just can't find the words to explain how much I bloody adored it.Here's another attempt:A Darker Shade Of Magic had me falling in love from the very first page. I fell for the worlds, for Kell and Rhy and Lila, for Victoria's writing, for just about every damn thing. I have read a lot of fantasy and I can say with certainty that this series is in the top five of my favourites – I just love it so damn much. I honestly can't recommend it enough. Just read it. Read it, get your own mind blown, and then shove it into another person's hands. Let's spread A Darker Shade of Magic like the black fever (you'll get the reference after you read the book)!Now I'm off to read A Gathering Of Shadows because I gots to know what happens next! Happy reading, Grey Londoners!

I went straight into this book not really knowing much about it other that a character in the book can travel between different versions of London. Honestly that premise had me sold as soon as I heard it and I just knew that I had to read this book. This book follows protagonist Kell and he is one of the last travelers-magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes. I absolutely adored Kell! He was my favourite kind of character that was morally grey, and very well developed.Something that I am very intrigued by is Kell's family style relationships with the King, Queen and his brother Rhy, but I feel like we've only just scratched the surface and I can't wait to see what is to come in the next couple of books.“Sure I do,” countered Lila cheerfully. “There’s Dull London, Kell London, Creepy London, and Dead London,” she recited, ticking them off on her fingers. “See? I’m a fast learner.”While in Grey London Kell first crosses paths with Delilah Bard. I found their first couple of encounters hilarious to read and really enjoyed the banter between both of them, I think that it was done really well. I also really enjoyed the fact that they both were almost like different sides of the same coin and their interactions were very interesting to see unfold. I'm not really sure why but I loved the conversation between them about their upbringing's in the different Londons. I think that the fact that they were basically arguing who had it worse was really funny and Schwab did an amazing job of making light of the very deep and heavy situations.“I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”The Magic in this book is very original and different than any other kind of magic systems that I have read about before and I liked that while Kell was very gifted in all kinds of magic, Rhy wasn't and really struggled with it but is still the heir to the thrown and I thought it was a great contrast. It's almost realistic in a way because its like saying that not everyone can be good at everything and that was brilliant.“He would see her again. He knew he would. Magic bent the world. Pulled it into shape. There were fixed points. Most of the time they were places. But sometimes, rarely, they were people. For someone who never stood still, Lila felt like a pin in Kell's world. One he was sure to snag on.”In terms of the plot I feel like there is a lot that has yet to be revealed and I am excited to see whether or not Lila actually has magic of her own. I really hope that she does. She was really bad-ass in this book and I think that if she does have magic there will be some amazing things that could happen. So far I'm torn on what my thoughts and feelings are. I felt like quite a lot of the plot was predictable but I feel like this book was just an introduction in a way. I really hope the next books expand on the world and we see more character development and more plot twists.“But the thing about people, Kell had discovered, is that they didn't really want to know. They thought they did, but knowing only made them miserable.”Overall I thought that the characters were extremely well thought out and found the world building and development to be beautiful. I feel like the more I think out these characters and the amazing world that V.E. Schwab has created I seem to love it even more and I can see so much potential for the next books. The plot was very fast paced and Schwab's writing seemed to flow really well and was so easy to get lost in, it was really phenominal! I can't wait to get dug into A Gathering of Shadows and A Conjuring of Light.4.25/5 Stars!

Loved the world of the this book! Makes me think of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy and Peripheral. Don’t understand how this hasn’t been turned into a show or movie series!

Very interesting worlds with great characters, very well-written, as it can be expected from V.E. Schwab. Would recommend to anyone who likes supernatural stories.

esse livro não foi uma das fantasias mais revolucionárias que já li. em alguns pontos é parecidos com outros livros e o desenvolvimento de personagem não é tão marcado quanto em And I Darken, por exemplo. mas fiquei muito cativada com os personagens e com a narrativa. tem bastante ação e toda hora acontece algo. você nem vê o livro passar de tão rápido. e achei engraçado que tem um final satisfatório no primeiro livro. há um fechamento aqui, mas também tem abertura pra continuar, expandir o mundo e ressuscitar um certo vilão. Recomendo e estou curiosa pela continuação!

Dévorer en quelques jours, la mythologie du monde est passionnante, l'univers et les personnages sont bien recherchés, avec un système de magie qui change.

Divertido. Dificil de dejar. Una fantasia y magia para adultos.