A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)

by V.E. Schwab

[Quirky Cat]

A Gathering of Shadows, written by V.E. Schwab, is the second novel in the Shades of Magic Series. It's a series that I took far too long to read, and yet it has utterly enchanted me.

Four months ago, Red London fell into chaos and danger. Four months ago, Kell and Delilah stood against the worst odds, and managed to save the day. Now, Kell is trapped in the castle, which to many wouldn't feel like a prison, but to Kell it does. All while Delilah is off who knows where, doing who knows what.

What's more, the city is about to celebrate, as The Element Games are occurring once again. This is the rare opportunity for those with talents to showcase them, and it draws people from all over the world for the competition. Including a few surprises.

“Whatever I am, let it be enough”

Guys, I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed A Gathering of Shadows. It was fast-paced, thrilling, and frankly, I loved every minute of reading about Delilah and Kell. My only regret came when the book concluded.

The first novel in this series had me kicking myself about not reading it sooner. On the bright side, that does mean I was able to binge the whole series in one go. And binge I did! In fact, I literally picked up A Conjuring of Light immediately upon finishing this book. So to me, the events in both kind of flowed together. Ah, the problems of a book worm, right?

A Gathering of Shadows was brilliant for a variety of reasons. The building tension between Kell and Delilah, the tension surrounding Alucard, the dynamics revolving around the King, Queen, and Princes.

Oh! And don't forget the Element Games, which gave us more opportunities to see the magic of the world, and the creative ways in which they can be used for battle. My only regret here is that we didn't get to see more of the fighting (and really, we did see quite a lot of it).

“I know where you sleep, Bard." She smirked. "Then you know I sleep with knives.”

The antagonist of A Gathering of Shadows is...divine sounds like a weird word to use here, but it works. It was shockingly complex, and that made it all the more difficult to process. Ironically, it is far from being a black and white situation, and I loved that so much.

This novel does end in a bit of a cliffhanger, which is part of the reason why I dove right into A Conjuring of Light. Still, I have no regrets in that department (and yes, I did finish it).

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks