Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Published February 27th 2015

Our March Book of the Month!

“Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London – but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her ‘proper adventure’.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.”

Taylor’s Review

I absolutely loved A Darker Shade of Magic! I loved everything about it and this whole review is just going to be me gushing about one of my new all time favorite books.

Right from the beginning, this book had my complete attention. The way V.E Schwab is able to write is so outstanding. Each word is carefully selected and strung together in such an elegant and magnificent way. It was almost poetic. This is the first book by V.E Schwab that I’ve read but it definitely won’t be the last.

I was able to fully picture everything that was going on and I could place myself in the story with Kell. I felt like I was on an adventure. And it was incredible.

I loved the characters! Kell is such an interesting character and I couldn’t get enough of him. He’s so complex and had a lot of different sides to him. He’s so magical and kind and just so wonderful!

Lila was just as interesting as Kell. At times I felt like she was just nuisance to both Kell and me. But at other times I could relate to her. She wants to go on an adventure, she’s a wanna-be pirate. She is so fierce and could handle anything that was thrown at her. She’s kind of forceful and sometimes mean but I’ve never read of a character like her in any other book. Her and Kell are both completely original characters and can hold their own.

The concept of this book has blown my mind. How V.E Schwab was able to think up such a book, I’ll never know. It’s just completely amazing how unique this book is.

Overall, I could go on and on about how much I loved this book. The second I finished it, I wanted to start over just I could stay in the magical, beautiful world that V.E Schwab created. Everything about this book is memorable. This is by far on of the best books that I’ve ever read and I’ll be rereading it soon. I highly, highly recommend this book to everyone.

Stephanie’s Review

I have to agree with Taylor whole-heartedly. I’ve never read a V.E. Schwab book, but my goodness, there wasn’t a part of this book where I wasn’t struggling to put it down. The worlds and the whole concept was something I never even would consider coming across before.

I have to say that Kell is probably my absolute most favorite character I’ve ever read about in a very long while. There was always that kind of hint of mystery and not always knowing what was going on with Kell that made him my favorite, not all of his cards dealt at once. Which was something refreshing in a way. Lila on the other hand, at time I felt was somewhat bothersome but still very strong as a female character (I tend to get annoyed with female characters quite easily).

Lila was someone who I kind of just wanted to be, I guess you could say I placed myself in Lila’s shoes and went about the story through her point of view, alongside Kell. Which I know sounds kind of weird, but in a way I think it’s a fairly ingenious way of V.E. Schwab’s writing style which made the book so great. It was something you wanted to be in, an adventure you yourself wish you could take.

I don’t think I had one single complaint about A Darker Shade of Magic. It was amazing, a book I couldn’t put down and I absolutely loved every aspect of it, the turns, the absolutely wonderful writing style, the worlds that were built. I think A Darker Shade of Magic is probably one of my ultimate favorite books of this year for sure.