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 sa090 on

4 of 5 stars

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I didn’t expect that the sequel to the first book would be this good, usually it falls under the second book syndrome, but I’m glad that there was nothing of the sort here.

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I love it when an author takes me through different parts of their world, even better when it’s as interesting as this one. I did have a brief idea of a tournament taking place in this book, but I didn’t think for one second that the tournament wouldn’t happen for a long while. I’m definitely not complaining because this gave me the chance to reunite with the characters, see what they were up to after the ending events of A Darker Shade of Magic and meet some new ones as well. One of the things I really appreciate in this is how much Ms. Schwab sticks to the image she painted of her characters, if someone is cutthroat then they ARE cutthroat for example. Her characters are also extremely appealing for me, Lila is just so fun to be around with the amount of trouble and adventuring she ends up getting herself into.

That being said, the main highlight when it comes to characters though is probably the parallel shown with Rhy and Kell. Bound forever, but, unable to follow what they really want for different reasons. That internal struggle is fun to read about, not just because of them feeling shackled because of it, but more so because it made them do some interesting things to try and forget all about it. That’s not where there the interesting characters end though, the fact that there is a tournament in red London where so many foreign characters from their version of the world arrive to participate makes the fantasy fan in me way too giddy.

I do wish that V. E. Schwab built the world a little bit more when it comes to the foreign lands, or rather made them a bit more memorable since I do know the different characteristics to different groups of individuals, but at the top of my head, I can’t for the life of me tell you where each of them came from in the red world with confidence.

That aside, the plot in itself starts off pretty slow this time around. We don’t immediately jump into the tournament, but are actually given a broader look on what the characters are getting up to before they gather back in Arnes for the main event. And what an event that was! I absolutely enjoyed seeing the different practices and applications to magic, what a certain someone is willing to do to be in said tournament and what kind of doors that might open in the future for the plot.

The ending was definitely insane for me, I’m itching to just jump into a conjuring of light but my set TBR for the month is holding me back. Definitely for June, if I don’t start it after I finish my last book. I want a live action version ASAP with someone who will do it justice because seeing this adapted properly would be so fun.

Final rating: 4/5

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 17 May, 2019: Finished reading
  • 17 May, 2019: Reviewed