A Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwab

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

by V.E. Schwab

Most people only know one London; but what if there were several? Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel Londons. There's Grey London, dirty and crowded and without magic, home to the mad king George III. There's Red London, where life and magic are revered. Then, White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. But once upon a time, there was Black London...

Reviewed by Beth C. on

4 of 5 stars

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I've waited a while to read this - and I'm glad I did, because that means that I can read all three quickly :) I wasn't really sure what to expect, never having read any of Schwab's books, but the world-building in this one was excellent. Even more so when you consider that there are not one, but THREE separate worlds to keep track of, each of them unique and yet...not.

Characters were also quite well done. Even those in the book for shorter periods of time than the main characters had...personality. Life. Meaning. As an avid reader, I've seen that it can be hard to write extra characters well - it seems that they get less effort and attention precisely because they aren't around very long. Not the case here, which truly made a difference in the overall story.

Basically - I can't wait to read #2 :)

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 August, 2017: Finished reading
  • 19 August, 2017: Reviewed