Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive."
Hi, Guys. Sorry for not uploading in a while. Had a bit of a family emergency and not much reading was happening.
A Darker Shade of Magic had great potential. The world V.E. Schwab created is fascinating, full of magic, blood and politics. There is Kell, an Antari, a blood magician who can travel between parallel universes, and Lila, a street thief who wants to become a pirate and experience great adventures, and when their fates intertwine, they are the only ones who can save all three London's from the tainted magic that destroyed the forth. I mean, it sounds pretty amazing, doesn't it.
I personally loved the world building in this story. The different attitudes toward magic in the different London's was fascinating and the different political structures where complex.
I can't say that the execution failed me, because I was all too eager to read Kell and Lila's story, to turn the pages and fight and travel and discover the mysteries of the powerful obsidian stone and uncover conspiracies and secrets. But in the end I was unsatisfied. I expected something more and my expectations were not met because I couldn't connect with the characters. They were superficial and I was detached. I didn't care about their fates, I didn't find in them the depth I wanted and the pang of enthusiasm I usually feel when I start a new series. I was just a silent observer, witnessing their story unfold without finding the spark of magic that would make me an active participant and cheer for them, worry for them and eventually love them.
I don’t care for having one-dimensional characters just for the sake of faux-representation. Prince Rhy is well, a prince, but he’s also bi/pan/sexual…. and that’s about it. Sure he is our MC’s best friend/adopted brother and serves some purpose in the story, but he’s mostly a token character since there is nothing more to him. Our second case of pandering comes from our female MC, Lila. She’s a tough female protagonist with a dark past that shuns and distains femininity, because we’ve never seen that before. *eye roll* I get that audiences need strong female characters and are sick of Mary Sues, me being one of them, but Lila reads like a stock character. She’s tepid and boring and a little patronizing.
Over all wonderful, wonderful world building. I would suggest reading it just for that.
Age Rating 13+. Nothing overly untoward.
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