A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab: I may have bought it

A Darker Shade of Magic 

by 

V. E. Schwab

              Here’s a doozey for you there’s actually four different londons. And I don’t mean different cities that are called the same name. I mean there are four different worlds and each one has their own London. There’s Grey London, Red London, White London and Black London. Or at least that’s what Kell calls them. As one of the few people who can cross between the four worlds he’s the only one who has bothered to give them names to differentiate them.

              Born and raised in Red London Kell considers himself as more of a glorified errand boy than a blessed magician able to cross to a world most people will never see. As such he makes a game of smuggling trinkets to citizens of other Londons in a (admittedly childish) display of defiance. In the grand scheme of things it’s not a very dangerous hobby, until he smuggles something over that he shouldn’t have. Que a whole bunch of running about and a good bit of stabbing sprinkled on top.

Characters

Kell: what do I even say about Kell? He kicked-butt and sassed but he had a personality which is more than I can say about some protagonists. He has this unknown past (which is awesome) and freak magical powers (which is also awesome). And he was clever! I can legitimately say that he’s a character that made every ‘right choice’ (meaning not the stupid one) and got in worse trouble for it every time. 

Lila: I wasn’t sure that I was going to like Lila at first. It was probably the conversation about the first person she killed that put me off her a bit. After all she didn’t show much remorse for taking somebodies life (hey I’m not saying that you shouldn’t defend yourself. There’s just a line between doing what you have too and taking pride in it) but she grew on me. I’d wager she’s a little softer than she pretends to be. Did I mention that she’s awesome? Because she’s awesome.

Rhy: admittedly not my favorite. 

I get that unapologetic flirts are a popular character archetype these days but I’m not fond of the trope. Call me crazy but they just make me uncomfortable. Rhy was great when he was being a brother and jokester but otherwise I wasn’t that interested in him being there.

Holland: Okay he’s an antagonist but I just had to mention how sad he made me. Without spoiling anything I’ll just say that he wasn’t an evil guy because he wanted to be and it was a tiny bit heartbreaking to watch him playing the main Villain.

Likes

Magic Londons! I’m sorry but the universe in this book was so fabulous! V. E. Schwab was amazing at making each London distinctive and extremely realistic. She even managed to do it without going into paragraphs of description that try to bury you under an info dump. And the magic! It was supremely unique, not only as a magic system in general but also between each world (or at least the different attitudes towards the same magic). I can’t wait to learn more about it.

Lila and Kell are adorable: so, they tried to kill each other when they met big deal. And the best part was that the book didn’t linger on the romance. Believe me I’ve been put of by romances more often because of too much romance than too little. yes, the same goes for romances that I initially liked. A Darker Shade of Magic hit the spot with the romance and I am so thrilled about that.

Can I talk about the cover real quick: because it is beautiful! Really! When I first bought the book I got home and sat down at my computer to get some work done. Then promptly got up and grabbed the book to set up by my computer so I could admire the cover while I worked. I hadn’t even started it yet!

Tiny side note on Kell’s coat: I need a coat that can change it’s sides! Except I’d probably loose so much stuff in the pockets. Still want it.

Dislikes

Blood magic is a tiny bit off-putting: And I totally recognize that this is a personal issue so I’m not going to make a big deal about it. Basically, Kell’s magic comes from his blood so whenever he has to cast a spell he has to cut himself. Which is really unique and made some great plot things happen but it kinda, sorta, grossed me out a little bit. Which I think was the point after all- 

 but there you go.

              When I first got this book from Barnes and Noble (who of course charged an arm and leg for it) I was a bit annoyed at having to buy it. In my mind, nothing good could come out of buying the first book of a trilogy. I was kind of right. Because now I’m going to have to go out and buy the next two! Or find a third library. I suppose that’s always an option.