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

V.E. Schwab,

Victoria Schwab

Start date: September 1, 2016

Finish date: September 30, 2016

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What Members Thought

Jan 22, 2016 mina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A light and quick read.

Nice worldbuilding. There are 4 Londons stacked side-by-side: Grey, Red, White, and Black Londons: the sequence shows the increasing influence of magic. Once there were doors in between, but now there aren't. The story focused on one of 2 (male) persons (named Kell) who can travel between these Londons, and 1 cross-dressing girl thief (Lila) who got caught in the middle, just because she had unluckily pickpocketed him. And of course, since this is London we are talking ab ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2017 Wealhtheow rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

There are multiple worlds: the Black, where magic is wildly powerful, the White, where battles over magic lead to people eating other magic users and carving sigils into their own flesh, the Red, where humans use magic for pleasure and trade, and the Grey, where magic is all but forgotten. Kell is one of the few magicians with the power to step into each of these worlds. When items from one world start causing trouble in others, Kell and his newfound ally, street thief Delilah Bard are the only ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2015 Kdawg91 rated it it was amazing

this was terrific top to bottom, if you havent read it, go buy it and read it soon.

I will be back to more longform reviews once I get more stable surroundings and internet.

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2018 Tani rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018-novels, fantasy, female-author, ya-fantasy, sff-2018, sff-ladies-2018, sff-explorer-2018

This was a surprise gift from my husband, who is a cheerful enabler of my vices. I'd seen so many mixed reviews of this book and series that it wasn't something I would have chosen for myself, but I ended up glad that he'd bought it for me. Although I wasn't blown away by this book, I ended up enjoying it, and will certainly be continuing with the series.

There's not a lot I can say about this book that hasn't already been said. I liked the setting a lot, and I hope that later books in the serie ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2019 Natalie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

This book was a fun romp through various Londons led by an interesting main character and strong supporting characters. The pacing of the plot was good and the characterization strong. My only fault with the book is it's disturbing how the main character has to use his blood to work his magic.
In the book, the mc has found a magical stone and must travel to different Londons to unravel what the stone is and who it belongs to. He successfully defeats his rival and saves the prince and a young gir ...more

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