anne
Written on Sep 4, 2018
- ISBN10 125089123X
- ISBN13 9781250891235
- Publish Date 13 June 2023 (first published 23 February 2016)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint St Martin's Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 528
- Language English
Reviews
alindstadtcorbeax
Written on Sep 1, 2018
04/02/19
Erm... about those .5 stars taken off... Some parts of the plot just... frustrated me SO much- but believe me, everything else makes up for it :-)
That said, I made an update to my review a few days ago (March 30th, 2019), because it was previously a non review- a RTC with extra words haha, which drove me nuts. And TODAY (April 2nd, 2019), I have made sm’mr additions! enjoyz!
So; THE ACTUAL NOVEL
I’ve not shied away from expressing repeatedly in my updates that this novel is all kinds of
Incredible !
Fantastic!
Wondrous!
Otherworldly Fantalicious!
Magicalicious (Series-Title-Status-CONFIRMATIONALICIOUS)!
Swoonalicious!
I’m feeling pretty sure you know my stance ;-)!
This has to be one of my favorite series of all time; honestly, & this baby (book 2-Just clarifying) had me HOOKED.
It had me dancing in the street, guys; it’s just the bees knees.
Sigh. Just so vivid & lush & fresh & dark & fantastical & witty & snarky & full of love & redemption & everything I love in a novel. Schwab’s writing itself is equally as beautiful as the story as a whole. The timing was impeccable (she really does love to torture us, guys) in relation to events as well as her beautiful world building & character development.
( Just FYI- IMO this was more a NA read rather than YA... and the first book may be a slow burn for hardcore YA readers. I say give it another chance though ! Once you actually fall in, everything is just wild. The pages come alive. It’s so very good, and this follow up is even better.
Even so, I do think the majority of YA fantasy lovers will like/love/run away with this. For those who don’t, maybe try a re-read ? Am I pushing too hard? Haha I’m sorry I just I can’t even imagine not like/love/ wanting to run away with this entire series. But; to each their own !
kalventure
Written on Aug 16, 2018
Four months have passed since the end of A Darker Shade of Magic and I have to say that I loved the beginning! Honestly the first 100 pages that showed what Lila and Kell have been up to since parting ways was amazing, and I was so excited that my friends who said the series picks up in this installment were right. Alas, after the first 100 pages I found myself bored and disinterested with little desire to finish. The fact that I read this entire 508-page book in one day is a testament to the fact that I a) was hoping it would get better, and b) wanted to finish it as soon as possible so it wouldn't be an albatross around my neck. No such luck. I think the most infuriating thing is that I abandoned my TBR because I have had quite a few disappointing reads lately and wanted to read something I was sure to like. HAHAHA, Past Kaleena. Fun prank.
This is largely a character-driven plot, and unfortunately for me I found myself not really liking characters that I adored in ADSoM. The 'not like everyone else' trope rears its ugly head full force here with Lila, who constantly thinks, tells, and acts as if she is special and can do no wrong. In the first book I loved her strength and self-assuredness, but here she is obstinate and acts all-knowing in a world that she has been a part of for four months. She went from acting like an adult to an obstinate child that believes she knows best, and her actions are not only rash by put people in danger - things she doesn't consider or even think she did wrong. This is so unlike the Lila from the first book and I struggled with this shift in character for her. I think that a lot of this can be attributed to the narrative choice of telling instead of showing: she and everyone are constantly talking about how special she is, how unlike other girls she is, how smart she is; yet she does very little to support those claims and for me fell into the Mary Sue trope.
The events in AGoS are largely surrounding the preparation for a big Magic Games (think like the Olympics but for the magicians. Seriously it was like 300 pages of preparation for this, Lila and Kell daydreaming about one another constantly (UGH).
For a universe that has 4 Londons, I am disappointed by how 90% of this story takes place in Red London. The glimpses to the White and Black Londons where so intriguing but short-lived, and I wish more of that had played a role in this installment. Everything just feels inconsequential in the Red London storyline until the last 50 or so pages and it felt unbalanced for me.
I really appreciated the additional bits of worldbuilding that we got - especially the anecdotes from Lila about the cultural differences between Grey and Red London (yes, Grey London is our world) and I enjoyed the discussion on religious beliefs and tolerance of other beliefs. Politically I found the Element Games to be interesting but honestly I didn't find them important to the story being told and was bored with that entire section (and annoyed).
I can see why people love this series, but unfortunately I am still not sold. While I adore Schwab's flowery and descriptive writing, I found this book to be 200 pages longer than it needed to be and didn't really add much. It read like a really long introduction to the third book, which for second-in-series is kind of unforgivable in my opinion. Honestly I am so annoyed that despite the massive cliffhanger ending I am not overly motivated to pick up the 624 page finale (holy crap WHY?!). I know I will finish this eventually but it might be awhile.
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abookishblether
Written on Feb 11, 2018
A Gathering of Shadows ★★★☆☆
You might see this rating and think I’m crazy. You might think I hated this book. That isn’t exactly the case, because I found the book incredibly readable and I thoroughly enjoyed every page.
This second book follows on four months from the first, and concerns the triwizard tournament of Red London (which is a basic description of the plot, and is missing the nuances, but will suffice for the review). Lila Bard, who is aboard a vessel with her new captain, travels back to London for the tournament.
Without going into spoilers my issue with this book is that there are no stakes or plot relevance until the last 20%. It all really goes down after the tournament ends. Which means the book could have been condensed and the series made into a duology without loosing plot. I can see why this was a book in and of itself as it builds some new relationships and shows the progression of time over the previous four months for one key character in particular. But that key character only had about 20% of the “screen time” and the relationships were not so complex or explained in such a detailed way that it required an entire 500 page book to discuss it.
Aside from the fact that this book felt like it was entirely filler though, I found the writing to be just as fantastic as last time. I adored every page and if I wasn’t expected a plot filled middle book in a trilogy, I would happily read 5000 pages of filler if it was written by V E Schwab. I gave it three stars because it wasn’t the book I felt it should be, but if I ignored my issues with the lack of plot it would easily be a four or five star book.
writehollydavis
Written on Sep 10, 2017
leahrosereads
Written on Mar 6, 2017
10/5/19
I stand by the above review for sure. I still absolutely think this is a stronger book than the first one. The character development here is great, and I really enjoyed seeing glimpses of Rhy and Alucard's past. The competition was fun but wasn't my favorite part of the story. I get that it was pretty much to make sure all of characters were together for the meat of the story.
Still, absolutely love all my favs - Kell and Lila. Didn't love the King and Queen, but I understood where they were coming from, even if I didn't agree with it.
Just yes to all of this! I'm sure I'll be re-reading it again and again and again.
Joséphine
Written on Mar 1, 2017
Initial thoughts: Schwab has a way of putting words to a page that is incomparable to other authors. The wit that underpins her snarky characters is first class, and Lila is a prime example. What makes it so great is that Lila doesn't try hard — it's who she is. A Gathering of Shadows increased my love for her, Kell, and Rhy manifolds, and also sucked me right into the spheres of Alucard and Tieren. Lila, Kell, Rhy and Alucard each have massive flaws, and yet, I couldn't help but root for them. Their levels of recklessness are mind boggling but it's that which makes the plot unpredictable and all the more entertaining.
Before picking up A Gathering of Shadows, I saw many exclaim over the ending. Given the sinister undercurrents that were building up on the sidelines, I fully expected the outcome. Still, I must say, it especially demonstrates Schwab's ability to tell the pressing story while keeping in mind the larger picture of a series. With regards to the overarching tale, however, there were some things that confused me a little. My questions will probably be answered in the next book but I did find myself rereading some sections, wondering if I missed out on some details.
inlibrisveritas
Written on Oct 27, 2016
Full review to come!
elysium
Written on Aug 10, 2016
I usually write the review right after reading the book and now it’s been some time I finished but still wanted to write few things about it.
First of all, that ending was evil! And it’s so long before book 3 comes out. I just hate cliffies…
I’m still not a huge fan of Lila. She’s bit less annoying here than in the last book but still. She’s arrogant and too reckless without thinking if anyone else gets hurt. She meets the pirate captain Alucard whom I liked. Hope we see more of him in the future.
Rhy and Kell aren’t doing too well after the events in the last book. Kell is out of favor with the king and queen. I really wanted to hit them, king and queen I mean.
Rarely book 2 is as good as book 1 but this really was. Loved this and can’t wait for book 3. I need book 3!
Artemis
Written on Jun 2, 2016
Schwab has done it again. I was so excited to pick up A Gathering of Shadows and jump back into the worlds of Red, White, Grey and Black London. A Gathering of Shadows takes place four months after the events of A Darker Shade of Magic. Lila is off living life for herself, exploring the world and seeing it all. Kell, still recovering from his experiences in the last book, feels trapped by his "family" now more than ever.
For me Lila actually developed some life into her. In my first review of this series, I found her so flat and uninteresting. In this installment she has a little more life and blood to her. Since the story is essentially split between Kell and Lila (until they reunite at the Essen Tasch), I was worried about getting bored with Lila's story. Instead I found myself looking forward to her chapters and very involved in her story. I also loved the additional characters - Alucard Emery (and Rhy!) and Ojka. Hopefully we will see more of them in the next book!
The story itself was slow building, but what annoyed me in the first book I definitely appreciated more in the second. The only thing I was a little disappointed in was the Essen Tasch. It almost felt like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where there is tremendous lead up to the Triwizard Tournament, and then some quick action and the book ends. I'm not sure what exactly I wanted from the Essen Tasch - just more.
Schwab spends a great deal building the London's further. I have to say I wanted more of Holland and White London/Black London. It was definitely enough development to pursue the (anticipated) angle for A Conjuring of Light but I wanted more. And that is probably be just being greedy. Fantasy is a genre that really needs readers to be patient while these worlds develop, and Schwab did a fantastic job in A Darker Shade of Magic and even better job in A Gathering of Shadows. I yearn for more of this world.