A Gathering of Shadows by V E Schwab

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

by V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last magicians with the ability to travel between parallel universes, linked by the magical city of London. It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into his possession and he met Delilah Bard. Four months since the Dane twins of White London fell, and the stone was cast with Holland's dying body back into Black London.Now Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila. And as Red London prepares for the Element Games-an international competition of magic-a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life. The balance of magic is perilous, and for one city to flourish, another must fall...

Reviewed by Berls on

5 of 5 stars

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4.5 stars.

I enjoyed this so much. I took a while to get to the meat of the story, with the real danger only fully presenting well after the halfway point. That was totally okay though, because there were other, smaller conflicts happening from the get-go, with established characters that I already loved and was invested in. I love Lila Bard, she's one of my favorite characters I read all year.

We meet some new characters too and I quickly fell for them. I was suspicious of Alacard, but mainly because I didn't like the potential romance brewing between him and Lila (I want her for Kel). We also get to know some of the crew on Alacard's ship and the new guards on Kel. All very interesting characters.

Finally there's the deeper exploration of magic in this book - how it works, its dangers, its beauty, its evil. And magic is a character all it's own in this book... one that leaves you hanging on the edge of a pretty good cliff at the end. Just be ready to pick up book 3 as soon as possible. You've been warned :)

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  • Started reading
  • 15 November, 2020: Finished reading
  • 15 November, 2020: Reviewed