Reviews with content warning for Cursing - A Gathering of Shadows

It's the second book in this trilogy but I have to say I liked the first one more.
A gathering of shadows is a medium paced book. I'd like to say that pretty much 2/3 of the book is rather slow moving. Not much really happens and it was hard to keep focus on the book. But the end of it did pick up pace and threw some twists and turns.
And don't even get me started on that cliffhanger ending! All the time I kept hoping it wouldn't end like that. But here we are, in a need of the third book because we can't leave them hanging like that!

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saurahsaurus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Character development, we love to see it. I got everything I could have wanted in this sequel. Lila and Kell circling around each other in romantic angst, a queer relationship, a mind-controlled villain, epic magic battles...what more could I ask for? I was very satisfied with the introduction of our favorite new character, Allucard

Spoiler

who turns out to have a connection to our favorite Red London princes

. He is incredibly charming and any scene with him is a fun time. We get to spend a bit of time with each character exploring how the events from the previous book affected them. Kell and Rhy are having a hard time dealing with how interconnected their emotions and pain is. The king and queen start restricting Kell more causing him to feel trapped and frustrated and also creating some strain in their relationship. In turn, this affects Kell's relationship with his brother as well. Lila is at sea avoiding dealing with her emotions. Everything comes to a head when the characters are eventually reunited, albeit under unusual circumstances.

This book felt a lot more fun with the previous installments. There were further glimpses into the versatility of the magic in Red London. Additionally, the boundaries of what was thought possible are pushed further than before. The ending was frustrating, but in the best way possible. I finished it and just wanted to continue reading. This installment felt a bit slower than the previous installment, but that's probably because I was anxiously waiting for all of the characters to reunite again. I don't think that is necessarily reflective of changes in the writing itself. I am looking forward to the final installment in this series. Will definitely be picking it up soon.

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blueberry0531's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

No plot.

This book suffers from “middle book syndrome”. The magician games served absolutely no purpose to the overall story, it’s just filler. Kell and Delilah don’t even meet back up for the first time in 4 months until about 80% into the book. It isn’t until 95% into the book that action actually starts happening that moves the plot forward. The rest of the book is just fleshing out the characters, Lila on a ship with mischevious pirates, Kell & Rhy navigating their new bond and then the magician games.

For an audio book that is over 16 hours long, how did nothing happen until literally the last 30 minutes? I’m both astounded and amazed that Schwab can write such a long book where literally nothing happens until the very, very end.

Side note: the two narrators did an amazing job, they were both so good and super engaging. I feel like if they hadn’t been so amazing, I probably would have DNF’d this book.

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reddeddy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i am just *inhales*……Delilah Bard…..you are insane….but you’re also a fucking badass…..i had some issues with this book through the middle and towards the end, but that ending….i’m kinda shook…..that final line gave me literal chills.

overall a solid sequel, and im so looking forward to the last one, especially after that cliffhanger…i mainly had issues with some of the character development, especially Lila, because i feel like she doesn’t get the same kind of nuance as Kell or even Rhy, especially with everything going on, it feels like she doesn’t ever get the same emotional depth the others do, but hopefully in the next book she will!

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I appreciate the way that VE Schwab builds on the world in this book, giving us more about the magic system. Especially how it relates to other areas outside of London. The magical tournament was probably my favorite aspect of this story. While magical tournaments aren't new, I enjoyed the way it was written in this, and Lila's determination to join even if she isn't the most skilled magician.

Rhy might be my favorite character in this; I just think he is one of the most interesting and complex. Kell and Lila aren't terrible, but I found Lila to get a bit repetitive towards the end of this book. Becuase I didn't really realize how long this book was!

Overall, I do think this book suffers a bit from second book sydrome, especially at the beginning. It felt like it was a little longer than it needed to be, but I guess there is some build up for the third book. Which I'll definitely be reading, because I still need to know how it ends!

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creepypiespice's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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