Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - A Darker Shade of Magic

This book was just very average YA fantasy. I understand how people can love it, but to me, there was nothing special about it. Like I don’t think I’ll even continue the series. The premise was interesting, and it was well explained and not too complicated. But my main problem was with the characters. The White London twin rulers were such corny villains, and not at all intimidating.
The main characters, Kel and Lila, were very one dimensional, and yeah they were entertaining, but they were not the most interesting protagonists.
I also had a huge issue with Rhy. The book did not do much at all to develop him or let the reader get attached to him. You seriously learn more about him from other people than from him.

This resulted in me feeling no emotions when he kind of died. I felt no attachment to the character and did not feel sad or stressed about it.

Overall this book was really average.
Listened to on Libby.

Content Warnings

witcheep's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

Pika-arvostelu: Kerronta on viipyilevää, miljöötä ja henkilöitä kuvaillaan paljon. Jos pitää eläväisestä kuvailusta ja uuteen moniulotteiseen fantasiamaailmaan tutustumisesta, kirja miellyttää varmasti. Jos taas kaipaa nopeatempoista toimintaa ja isoilla panoksilla pelaamista, sitä saa odottaa ensimmäisten sadan sivun ajan. Sitten kuitenkin myös juoni ottaa enemmän tuulta siipiensä alle.

Fantasiamaailman rakentuminen: Magian syvempi sävy esittelee kiinnostavan ajatuksen rinnakkaismaailmoista, joissa Lontoosta on olemassa neljä eri versiota, kukin eri suhteessa magian olemukseen ja käyttöön. Eri maailmojen välillä voivat matkustaa vain vahvat, mutta harvinaiset verimaagit eli antarit. Heidän voimansa ei periinny suvussa, vaan on arvoitus, miksi jollakin henkilöllä on tämä voima. Tämä rinnakkais-Lontoiden universumi on rakennettu niin tarkasti aina taikuuden toimintaperiaatteista eri maailmojen omiin kieliin, että uskon antareista paljastuvan vielä lisää tietoa jatko-osissa.

Henkilöt: Päähenkilö Kell esitellään voimakkaana verimaagina, joka virallisten kuninkaallisten tehtäviensä ohessa tekee sivubisnestä salakuljettajana. Tähän nähden hän on kuitenkin hämmentävän hyväuskoinen ja toistuvasti kävelee vailla epäilyksiä ansoihin kuin neito hädässä.

Sen seurauksena Kell on useamman kerran vähällä menettää henkensä tai joutua orjuutetuksi, mutta onneksi on Lila pelastamassa päivän.

Henkilöiden välisille suhteille annetaan kirjassa huomiota, mutta niillä on vielä paljon tilaa kehittyä eri suuntiin jatko-osissa.

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kiala'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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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moondragon8's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I'm putting the TL;DR up at the top, because I tend to ramble. TL;DR: Would probably be an excellent book for other people, unfortunately only a fairly good book for me.

I'm gonna be honest: I picked this one up mostly because I dabble frequently in Fallen London, and the premise of more Weird Londons seemed very in line with my taste. Unfortunately, this was not nearly as Londony as I had hoped, despite the high rate of Londons per London, and I had forgotten I kinda hate high fantasy.

Okay, hate is a strong word. To the book's credit: the prose is strong, there's a few really beautiful lines, and the worldbuilding is very solid and interesting, and conveyed in a way that isn't overwhelming but doesn't leave you in the dark. However, to me it seemed that the focus given to the (very rich and engaging!) world meant that the characters were sort of left to the wayside.

That's not to say there weren't some fun characters. Lila, the top hat wearing wannabe-pirate, was very fun, and arguably had a little character arc. I also liked the rakish Prince Rhy, when we saw him, and there were a couple very classically Londony side characters. (The weird (Danish?) regents of White London were good villains but deeply unpleasant characters– they gave me Game of Thrones vibes, which is a part of the British literary canon I could do without. Also, vaguely weird that they're Fantasy Danish and their magical attack dog is named Holland?? Were there Implications there I wasn't getting?)

Kell, though, was kind of a blank slate, which was a bit disappointing. He did spend a good portion of the book

being possessed by a One Ring-esque chunk of rock

, and like 90% of it bleeding (really remarkable that the poor guy had any blood left by the end), and I guess that if I can't find any actual character in a main character, him being fucked up and covered in blood is a decent substitute. (I'm not kidding about this. I have rather weird tastes.)

My final note is that I was initially a bit concerned to see that this was a trilogy, but in the end was quite satisfied with how all the plot threads wrapped up. This book was a fun step outside my comfort zone, but it didn't force me to keep reading if I wasn't feeling it, which I really appreciated. I was a little disappointed to

never get to see Black London, and that they killed off Holland like that (or did they?? unclear, but his treatment both in-universe and narratively still left a bad taste in my mouth)

, but I'll live.

Lila's pirate adventures seem fun to read about, and

I'm glad those who enjoyed this book will have more to read in this world, but I'm happy to leave it here.

(...Actually, I just realized they do leave one mystery hanging— something about Kell's special knife having K. L. on it, and the mystery of his origins, is mentioned at the beginning and then kinda dropped throughout and never explained or even brought up, which is probably why I didn't recall it until literally just now. Ah well.)

Content Warnings

neverlandingonabook's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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vagorsol's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-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

5.0

Content Warnings

bean_7088's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

That was fun. Loved it.
I also loved that even though Kell was supposed to be 21, the narrator read him like an gruff 50 yead old man and it was fun.

I really hope nothing romantic develops between Kell and Lilah in later books, I like them being friends.

I'm learning this is my kind of book.

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bessadams's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious fast-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

4.5

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