A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)

by V.E. Schwab

[nannah]

Well

This ended up being my biggest disappointment of 2015.

I was really looking forward to reading this one (goes without saying), and the beginning had so much promise. Kell's multiple-sided coat had an old(ish)-fantasy charm that reminded me of Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and there was great atmosphere-building early on that seemed tangible and authentic.

That allure wore off as soon as the "pure magic stone" came into play.

After that things fell into one too many cliches. I get that every story is 5 or 100 other plots told in new ways, but this really started to sound less new and more stale really fast:

- emphasis on balancing magic and humanity

- "the damage this talisman could manage in the wrong hands. [. . .] His own skin sang for the talisman, thirsted for it, and that scared him more than anything. [. . .] No, the stone had to be destroyed. But how? It wasn't like other relics. It wasn't a thing to be tossed in a fire or crushed beneath an ax. [. . .] I have to take it back."

- the magic stone representing "bad" or "dangerous" magic

I also began to have a personal problem with Lila, the other main character. She's your standard Strong Female Character, the current fad attempt at Good Representation for Women, complete with the "I'm not like other girls" mindset and a dislike and disrespect for other women. Nearly every other girl in the book was put there to deserve Lila's scorn.

The other characters aren't much better (though Rhy stood out more than the rest; he's my favorite). They're largely one dimensional, on the page to propel the plot but serving no further purpose. Their changes and developments are explained through inner monologue, not experienced or shown.

A Darker Shade of Magic honestly seems like a long YA novel with cheesy dialogue, a (surprisingly) young MC, and an unoriginal plot.