Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm between a 4 and 5 star! I really really enjoyed this book!!! But ugh it could have been a bit better! If the story was a bit more dense I would have rated it 5/5 stars but it was a bit lacking.

LOVED the characters Kell, Lilah, Rye, Holland, etc. Kell is a very mysterious and interesting main character. And Lilah bring in the wild, open and honest, free thinking attitude that pairs really well with Kell's seriousness and lack of excitement.

The world building is very interesting and immersive. I find myself escaped to another world while reading. There's basically parallel universes that Kell can use his magic and go through. Learning about the worlds is interesting. Learning about magic and the Antari is super interesting. I'm still intrigued about Black London.

Dare I say this book kinda reminded my of my favorite author Patrick Rothfus's book The Name of The Wind. Kell being the main character; mysterious, interesting, smart and also has red hair like Kvothe. And Lilah being like Bast, Lilah is Kells companion, Bast is Kvothes companion; they're both free spirited, wild and rash.

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I was hoping the book would end by Kell and Lilah going to Black London but that all got side tracked to the next book. And now the stone is dead. I found Kell fighting the Vitari slightly cheesey, how can you fight "Magic" because Vitari means magic. But maybe I'm misunderstanding and there was some magical demon that was in the stone idk.

The ending was action packed with murders but I felt it was rushed and not fully necessary, Schwab just needed to end this book and create an exciting ending. The whole thing with the twins just felt like inserted into the story, not really belonging in there but more so a side quest of sorts. Kell killing the twins could have been saved until after Kell goes to Black London.

Ever since I learned that Lilah has a glass eye and she didn't explain the back story of it I was almost certain she's an Antari yet isn't aware of it yet. And later on that's why she can jump to other worlds with Kell. Also the healer guy (forget his name and am too scared to google in fear of spoilers) told her that Lilah has untapped magic in her. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

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