Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

26 reviews

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Grief

Minor: Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

luxxltyd's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Grief

lisa07xie's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I would give it free point five stars and I really like the story itself it does have a different view of Magic then over books. It was kind of hard to get into for me because the beginning was Just Not for me but after some time I began to enjoy it and I accustomed to the writing Style which was really descriptive and it is in 3 Person but we get to see the pov from so many small Characters even which I think is quite rare. But the romance was lacking I was told it has a romance subplot which I think is really untrue the romance in this book was a whole sentence long which was quite disappointing... But I did like the Characters and the story it was something different

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jelkebooks's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.0

The thing I loved most about this book was the world. I thought the parallel worlds was so incredibly interesting,  and I loved learning more about it. Especially the history between these worlds is so interesting, and I don't think we've graced the tip of the iceberg. It was easily my favourite part of the book. The magic system is also just so incredibly interesting as well. I can't wait to see more of it in future books.
I also quite liked the main characters. Lila did get on my nerves a couple of times, but overall I did really enjoy the characters. Especially the dynamic between Kell and Lila was great. They were a bit one dimensional overall but it wasn't the worst case I've ever read. It also didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book.
The real reason this wasn't rated as highly as one might expect is because the story just felt extremely simple. I don't know. It didn't feel as high stakes or important as I felt like was needed in a world like this one. I just hope it might be because V.E. Schwab wanted to spend more time setting out the world and magic system so the story just might have needed to take a backseat. I'm just hyped to continue with this series, and see it grow.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Grief

cozy_tea_reader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mobymaize's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

A lovely romp through multiple Londons, similar to, but not the same as, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Super exciting and felt like a very well done HBO mini series in the best way possible :)
Planning on reading the sequels at some point!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Main character uses magic by through self harm. Just a heads up.

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Genocide, Sexual content, Excrement, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Alcohol

melist6's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual violence

kwichris's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

I've not read the first book from an author in a while that immediately had me hungry for more in some time. Schwab created a very interesting magic system that unfurls more as you and one of the characters (Lila) continue to explore the worlds with Kell. The way in which multiple realities (or worlds as they're referred to here) is tackled is quite unique in that there's a set limit but infinite possibilities in each depending on each world's relationship with magic. Schwab provides plenty of colorful imagery for the reader with plenty of room for imagining your own view of the world's she created. Seeing the worlds from multiple perspectives without feeling forced, helps the reader relate to our main characters and better understand their motivations and growth. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an unique take on magic as a concept and how different people use (or abuse) it, or how it may use them instead. Plus there's some interesting shenanigans with thievery, realm traveling, and tense fight scenes, so what's not to love?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Self harm, and Torture

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

_marycappiello3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

I love Delilah bard 🖤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Grief and Fire/Fire injury