A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab – Book Review

Kell is one of the last Antari, a rare magician who can travel between parallel worlds: hopping from Grey London — dirty, boring, lacking magic, and ruled by mad King George — to Red London — where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire — to White London — ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne, where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back — and back, but never Black London, because traveling to Black London is forbidden and no one speaks of it now.

Officially, Kell is the personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see, and it is this dangerous hobby that sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to take her with him for her proper adventure.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save both his London and the others, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — a feat trickier than they hoped.

The cover of A Darker Shade of Magic is what first intrigued me enough to pick it up. Look at the stunning cover! I recently bought the second book and the pair go so nicely together *swoon*.

The story follows two characters: a male character, Kell, who lives in Red London as a part of the royal family and is one of only two magicians who can travel between worlds; and then there is Lila, a somewhat androgynous female thief who wants to travel the world. The narrative switches between their viewpoints, starting with their story lines being separate and having the main conflict bring them together and open up Lila’s eyes to the world she had always been waiting for but never imagined truly existed.

The multiple Londons are written so well and Red London, with all of its magic and people being able to wield different element, was written so beautifully I fell in love with it. I do also have to say that, as I am currently halfway through the sequel, the world building gets even better and the I’m loving the second book even more than the first. White London is really creepy and depressing, matched in darkness by its ruling King and Queen (a twin brother and sister).

I enjoyed the main plot line quite a bit, having magic itself basically becoming a character with its own motivations. So far, the sequel is only further expanding on the conflict from A Darker Shade of Magic and is diving even deeper into the origins of magic, the balance between power and control, and the various Londons (including going to Black London, which is not explored in the first book).

I really enjoyed this book and am already whipping through the second book. Highly recommend for fans of fantasy, magic, and multiple universes.

Rating: 4.25/5

Similar Books: Throne of Glass by Sara J. Maas, Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

The Magicians – TV Show Review

I had been wanting to read The Magicians by Lev Grossman for a while after hearing that it was like a darker, dirtier, and more grown-up version of the Harry Potter series. Unfortunately, after reading reviews of the series and hearing about it from the book obsessed people close to me I was very skeptical as the consensus seemed to be negative. So, when Syfy released that they were turning it into a TV show that was the perfect solution for me! I still get to dive into this world of magic where people are learning to master spells at a university for magic, but in smaller chunks and with less of a commitment. Watching it on television is also nice because whenever I read magical books I always dream of the day I can watch them on screen.

Characters Margo, Julia, and Penny

Since I have not read the books I won’t be able to comment on any changes from book to screen or compare the tone of whether the show is better than the books. I’m just going to focus on how much I’m enjoying the show. For real though, this show has me completely hooked so far. The first two episodes start out by slowly introducing our main characters, Quentin and Julia, pulling them into the world of magic while still leaving us with loads of questions about their past and their relationship. I find the slow yet intriguing pace of the show quite refreshing, as it’s rare nowadays for shows not to have an episodic layout when produced for a cable network. The pacing of the show allows for multiple character storylines to be explored more deeply and for a very dark and mysterious overarching plot to be laid out.

Characters Alice, Quentin, and Eliot

The characters are complex and are being created in shades of grey rather than just good or evil, which I enjoy as it’s more realistic. The characters you root for make mistakes and don’t always do the kind or even smart thing. Also, I just like the intense awkwardness of Quentin’s character and the girl he befriends at magic school, Alice. My god they are major adorable awksauce together. Defs ship them.

My favourite favourite FAVOURITE thing about the show though has to be the crazy cool gestures the characters use to cast spells. The show’s creators went all out and intensely researched ‘finger tutting’, which involves making geometric shapes and sharp angles with your hands and arms to imitate Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. The creators of The Magicians hired ‘finger tutting’ experts to create an entire language from ‘finger tutting’ specifically for spell casting on the show. So freaking cool, right?! I may or may not have been trying to imitate their hand movements… Haha.

So far I’m loving it and I’m just hoping this trend continues.

Rating: 4.5/5

Interested yet? Well, here is the trailer: