A Darker Shade of Magic

I've read a lot of fantasy in my time. But little compares to the pure brilliance of V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic. Gorgeous, clever, addictive and unique, I am just so very in love with this book. So please be warned: fangirling ahead. "I'm not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying here." She swept her hand over the room, the tavern, the city. "I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still." Kell is an Antari – a rare magician with the ability to travel between worlds. He lives in Red London – a vibrant place where magic and people both thrive, where Kell is raised by the King and Queen. Grey London is the world that has forgotten all about magic. White London is a world hungry for magic, starving for it, a place leeched of colour. Once there was Black London, but there magic devoured the people, leaving the world dead... Kell is running a typical message between worlds when he is asked to deliver a mysterious package. He accepts, despite his reservations (and the fact that this is so very against the rules), and is then ambushed upon arriving in Red London. Inadvertently, he has brought a forbidden relic to his world – a relic that could destroy them all. He flees to Grey London and is found by Lila Bard, a thief, wanted (wo)man and pirate at heart. Together, they must return the relic to where it belongs. Together, they must save the remaining worlds from the curse of the lost one... I honestly don't know where to start with this review. Because I just love A Darker Shade of Magic and Victoria herself so freaking much. Both are just amazing – brilliant, fantastic, wonderful, magical, vicious... Just... wow. This review would go a hell of a lot better if I could just get over the blown-mind after effects... But since I don't see that time coming any time soon, I'll just get on with it anyway. Kell... Kell was a brilliant hero. Brave, good, strong and also so very flawed, he managed to be both incredibly powerful and yet vulnerable all at once. He didn't always make the smart decisions, he focused a little on the whole woe me at times and he was occasionally a little daft – and it all just made him even more loveable. And Lila was just amazing! Vicious and blood thirsty and obsessed with knives! I mean, this is really just my kind of girl. She was just so cool and funny and sharp and I loved her to pieces. I have my favourite crush in the series – and it's the swashbuckling, badass Delilah Bard. I loved watching Kell and Lila together – they were funny and brilliant together. There was next to no romance in this book – maybe there will be in the next book, because ships were definitely hinted at, just not fully realised. I'm intrigued to see where this goes next because I just love these two together! I also really loved seeing Kell with Rhy, his brother. Rhy was just the sweetest – silly and flirtatious and funny, he was so much more than the rich playboy he first appeared to be and I just loved him for that. Plus his relationship with Kell was just so sweet – they really did love one another, despite the brotherly conflicts. The Danes were bloody terrifying! They literally sent tingles of fear up my spine whenever they were around – they were so damn scary! As much as I adored the characters, the world just blew them all out of the water. Bloody hell, it's amazing. Just the very idea of these four unique Londons, all so different and so wonderful... Mind-blowing. My mind is officially and irreparably blown. I am just in awe of Victoria. It's hard enough to contrast a single fantasy world – she made three! Three utterly unique, beautiful and horrible Londons – four, if we're counting the lost Black London. Each London was so unique and detailed and amazing. Red London was definitely my favourite – it was the thriving, alive London. Grey London was a magic less, more historically accurate, place ruled by a mad King. And White London...well. Let's just say I'd avoid White London at all costs. I just can't believe how much work and detail Victoria put into these worlds and I just can't wait to explore them more. Amazing – just incredibly, wonderfully, perfectly amazing. Unsurprisingly, the Slytherin queen of magic was a true wizard when it came to her writing. Gorgeous, witty and beautiful, she sucked me in from the very first sentence and had me utterly hooked from that same line. I adored how we switched between Kell and Lila and then a few...added extra POVs. I loved exploring all the Londons, seeing them through Kell's well travelled eyes and Lila's almost-as-new-as-our eyes. And god, I just adored the storyline. The idea of a quest across worlds, an evil stone, crazy rulers and brilliant characters – I mean, what's not to love? I loved the race, the battles, the quest. I loved the excitement, the adventure, the adrenaline-pounding pace and suspense... I just loved all of it and cannot wait to get my hands on A Gathering of Shadows to find out what happens next! So, if you haven't gathered, I loved A Darker Shade Of Magic just a little bit. Ok a lot bit. A bloody ginormous bit. Victoria is my Slytherin queen and she has crafted a truly magical and amazing book here, one I love to absolute pieces. It has magic, pirates, adventures, backstabbing, blood, drama, excitement and just so much more. I am seriously struggling to find the words to do A Darker Shade of Magic justice – I just can't find the words to explain how much I bloody adored it. Here's another attempt: A Darker Shade Of Magic had me falling in love from the very first page. I fell for the worlds, for Kell and Rhy and Lila, for Victoria's writing, for just about every damn thing. I have read a lot of fantasy and I can say with certainty that this series is in the top five of my favourites – I just love it so damn much. I honestly can't recommend it enough. Just read it. Read it, get your own mind blown, and then shove it into another person's hands. Let's spread A Darker Shade of Magic like the black fever (you'll get the reference after you read the book)! Now I'm off to read A Gathering Of Shadows because I gots to know what happens next! Happy reading, Grey Londoners!

Dévorer en quelques jours, la mythologie du monde est passionnante, l'univers et les personnages sont bien recherchés, avec un système de magie qui change.

I should start this review by stating this, I have heard so much about V. E. Schwab before I read the book that I was slightly intimidated to read it. Whenever anything too much hype comes my way, my immediate reaction to be wary of it, to try to find faults with it. My mind doesn’t want to admit that it might just be that good. In a way, it’s a good thing but in other ways, it’s a hindrance more than a good thing. When I read the synopsis, I was really intrigued because it offered something different and I wasn’t disappointed at all. To those rare people who are unfamiliar with the series, it has parallel worlds with almost no places being common. For some reason, every world has London and there are four of them. There’s Gray London (almost like our world), Red London (where magic and peace coexist), Red London (where magic is overly used and almost on the verge of extinction and violence rules) and then there’s Black London (a place where magic won and infected everything). I have had reservations about this book and some of them were proven right. I will get into them now so that I can then rave about the good things of which there are many. The thing is, I am not too sure if there was a proper plot for the first maybe 200-250 pages? I mean, sure, we get introduced to many characters and we get to see Kell being magical, Lila being badass but I didn’t really see an actual plot point till things started to really move plot-wise around near the halfway mark. It didn’t feel right, there was no goal in sight for a long while because there was no actual problem for the characters. It’s one of the things that bothered me which is why this is not a five star read. Yes, I realise I only talked about one flaw but that one is a major one, ok? Now onto good things! The pace of the book is seriously good, the short chapters, the snappy dialogue and just the descriptive language makes my cold heart warm. Seriously. The magic system was cool, too! I absolutely love Kell’s cloak and please, can someone gimme one of those, pretty please? The details of each London are so different and the worldbuilding for each was so wonderfully done. Some people steal to stay alive and some steal to feel alive. The characters! Since I haven’t yet managed to read the next two books, I can only say what I think about them right now. Kell as one of the main characters worked really well, he’s grumpy, he’s spoiled in his own way without realising it, and most importantly, the way the relationship between the two brothers is shown is so good! Rhy plays a minor but important role in the book and I can’t wait to read more of him because I think he has the potential to be an amazing character later on and I just want more Rhy, ok? Lila Bard is just so good, I mean, she’s not the best person but she’s had hardships and she’s learned from them. I sort of see Vin from the Mistborn trilogy in Lila, tell me what you think of that! She felt irritating at first but as the story progressed, I really started to like her. She also feels like she’s genderfluid? From what I have read so far, her internal dialogue was interesting to say the least. I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still. Holland is such an interesting character too! At first, I wondered if Rhy and Holland had had a thing but then, that thought was sort of wiped out of my mind as the story went on. I felt sort of bad for Holland then I was so angry and disappointed with him then I felt bad for him again. It was a wild ride for me, ok? I was clearly emotionally invested in that man. Ugh! One of the best/ worst thing V. E. Schwab did was to make me feel like secondary (or maybe they were tertiary?)characters were out of danger but damn if I didn’t feel bad when those guards died. Ugh. Thanks for that. Overall, a fast-paced, interesting read and I can’t wait to read more of it. If you are a fan of fantasy (urban fantasy) and like to not count on the author on character deaths then this is the book for you. Yeah, I am still bitter about them deaths. Thanks.

Ich habe mich für dieses Buch wegen des günstigen Preisen im Kindle Shop (Damals um die 3 Euro) entschieden. Und habe ein mittelmäßiges Buch erwartet. Ha! Falsch gedacht. Dieses Buch ist toll ! Gesammteindruck: Das Buch ist sehr rund und in sich geschlossen. Wenn man möchte kann man hier aufhören oder aber den 2. Teil lesen. Das Lesen war ein wirkliches Vergnügen. An einigen Stellen merkt man, das es von einem britschem Author stammt. Es ist wirklich intelligent. Die Motivation der Charaktere sind zu 100% verständlich. Es macht Spass der Geschichte zu folgen, da sie klar struktiert und gleichzeitig spannend ist. Zur Story: Ich versuche nun nicht zu spoilern und es gleichzeitig kurz zu halten. Es gibt vier Welten: rot,schwarz, grau, weiss. Der 22 Jahre alte Kell ist einer von 2 Leuten der zwischen den Welten wandern kann mithilfe von Blutmagie. Es spielt im Jahr 1819 und unsere Welt ist die "langweilige" graue Welt. Kells Job ist es, Nachrichten zwischen den englischen Königshäusern der Welten auszutauschen. Jedoch läuft auf einmal etwas furchtbar schief. Etwas, was alle Welten in Gefahr bringt. Kell muss daraufhin durch alle vier Welten gehen um das schreckliche Schicksal abzuwenden. Auch wenn die einzig mögliche und tragische Lösung damit endet, dass Kell für immer in einer der Welt gefangen ist. Es ist ein Abenteuer wie Kell von Welt zu Welt reist. Immer wieder stellen sich ihm dabei Feinde in den Weg, die er bekämpft. Kell kämpft mit Kraft und Magie, jedoch muss er gleichzeitig die Intrigen und Beweggründe der Feinde durchschauen. Positiv: Besonders gut finde ich, wie schön bildlich man sich wirklich jede einzelne Szene vorstellen kann. Ich habe seit a darker Shade of magic 10 weitere Bücher gelesen, aber dieses ist am stärksten im Gedächnis geblieben. Wenn ich alles Positive aufzähle, dann schreibe ich 30-60 Zeilen. Lesst stattdessen das Buch ! Negativ: Ich hätte es ganz nett gefunden wenn die Dialoge etwas witziger geworden wären, oeder noch etwas interessanter. Aber das ist nur mein persönlicher Geschmack.

Sono DAVVERO DAVVERO felice di aver dato una chance a V.E. Schwab (più conosciuta, tra i lettori del genere YA come Victoria Schwab). Dopo essere stata delusa molte volte da video di youtube che elogiavano libri mediocri, difficilmente mi fido e decido di leggere un libro dopo che lo vedo sparso su tutto il reame booktubiano. Ma questa volta ho fatto decisamente bene. Partendo da una premessa interessante, che ricorda un po' un misto tra Il Castello Errante di Howl (Howl's Moving Castle, di Diana Wynne Jones) e Nessu Dove (Neverwhere, di Neil Gaiman), siamo trasportati nel mondo di Kell, un esponente della famiglia reale della Londra Rossa e uno degli unici due Antari viventi. Il suo lavoro ufficiale è quello di emissario, dal momento che gli Antari sono gli unici che possono viaggiare tra le diverse Londre, grazie al fatto che sono in grado di utilizzare la magia del sangue. Ufficiosamente, è un contrabbandiere di oggetti provenienti dalle diverse città: attività, questa, illegale e che sarà la causa di molti suoi problemi. Mi dispiace davvero che Victoria Schwab non sia ancora pubblicata in Italia: seriamente, che state aspettando? Questo libro è tutto ciò che si può volere da un fantasy: il mondo è costruito alla perfezione, e l'approccio alla magia è sicuramente nuovo. La magià è un'entità viva e forte, e pervade tutti gli esseri del mondo creato dall'autrice. I personaggi sono realistici, abbastanza misteriosi per essere interessanti, ma non troppo, in modo tale da essere credibili. E la narrazione scorre che è un piacere: si viene trasportati in questo mondo senza troppe difficoltà, i momenti descrittivi sono ben bilanciati dalle scene d'azione. Non è un libro complesso come può essere la saga de Le Cronache del Ghiaccio e del Fuoco, ma è ben scritto e ben orchestrato. Come stile di storia/narrazione ricorda molto Neil Gaiman o anche la saga di Bartimeus (che è meravigliosa), quindi se vi piace quel genere di libro sicuramente apprezzerete questo!