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msradiosilence's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: War
Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy
donatio's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
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
5.0
This one was long. Like the other two before this was a reread, although I had less memory of how they actually get rid of Osaron.
Sometimes the book felt a bit too long, especially the first hundred pages or so but that does not take much from Schwab's writing style, it is just easy to forget that the scene cover barely a week and not, say, two.
On the other hand there are some things I forgot that had me shocked when I remembered.
I do wish we would have known what happened with Kelly's parents.
Every plotline had a logical and satisfying ending.
Recommend for being one of my favourite series.
Sometimes the book felt a bit too long, especially the first hundred pages or so but that does not take much from Schwab's writing style, it is just easy to forget that the scene cover barely a week and not, say, two.
On the other hand there are some things I forgot that had me shocked when I remembered.
Every plotline had a logical and satisfying ending.
Recommend for being one of my favourite series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content
chronicacademia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
grrr8_catsby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
A Conjuring Of Light is the last entry in the original Shades Of Magic trilogy (with rumors of a brand new Shades Of Magic trilogy on the horizon). While an improvement over its predecessor, A Conjuring Of Light suffers from being a sequel.
Part of the charm of A Darker Shade Of Magic was it's self-contained story; while the stakes in A Conjuring Of Light are considerable higher, it feels like an inorganic extension of A Gathering Of Shadows. In fact, A Conjuring Of Light literally opens where A Gathering Of Shadows left off. This second part of the Shades Of Magic series (both A Gathering Of Shadows and A Conjuring Of Light) is a massive story to tell, totaling 1,133 pages. However, it feels as if the story was cut in two segments and padded for length. There are some legitimately exciting sequences in this book, but there are also several that drag on; pacing has been a major issue for these last two installments.
Contrary to what you have read already, I really did enjoy A Conjuring Of Light; in fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed Shades Of Magic overall. It is my willingness to point out the things I didn't like that would change this from a book that I really enjoyed to a book that I loved.
Peripheral characters are finally given sections that help flesh out their characterization, but this is nothing compared to the major salvaging that certain characters receive. Both Lila Bard and Holland receive wonderful character work in this entry, and turn from annoying main characters to important (and, more importantly, enjoyable) pieces of the story. Again, the magic system feels fresh and exciting, and it is thrilling to see characters display mastery over the elements. Battle and action is fast, detailed, and reads as a major motion picture or video game should.
The ending of Shades Of Magic concludes satisfactorily, while, of course, leaving the door open juuuuuuuuuust a little to allow for another set of adventures in the future.
Part of the charm of A Darker Shade Of Magic was it's self-contained story; while the stakes in A Conjuring Of Light are considerable higher, it feels like an inorganic extension of A Gathering Of Shadows. In fact, A Conjuring Of Light literally opens where A Gathering Of Shadows left off. This second part of the Shades Of Magic series (both A Gathering Of Shadows and A Conjuring Of Light) is a massive story to tell, totaling 1,133 pages. However, it feels as if the story was cut in two segments and padded for length. There are some legitimately exciting sequences in this book, but there are also several that drag on; pacing has been a major issue for these last two installments.
Contrary to what you have read already, I really did enjoy A Conjuring Of Light; in fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed Shades Of Magic overall. It is my willingness to point out the things I didn't like that would change this from a book that I really enjoyed to a book that I loved.
Peripheral characters are finally given sections that help flesh out their characterization, but this is nothing compared to the major salvaging that certain characters receive. Both Lila Bard and Holland receive wonderful character work in this entry, and turn from annoying main characters to important (and, more importantly, enjoyable) pieces of the story. Again, the magic system feels fresh and exciting, and it is thrilling to see characters display mastery over the elements. Battle and action is fast, detailed, and reads as a major motion picture or video game should.
The ending of Shades Of Magic concludes satisfactorily, while, of course, leaving the door open juuuuuuuuuust a little to allow for another set of adventures in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Gore and Hate crime
Minor: Cursing, Death, Homophobia, and Death of parent
mpbookreviews's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement and Alcohol
Minor: Slavery and Suicide
jessicaludden's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
“Pain reminds us that we’re alive.”
I really enjoyed this book. When I started this series I wasn’t sucked in right from the start, but I’m glad I stuck with it because I really liked this last book. My biggest complaint with the other books in the series was the pacing. I felt like they focused too much on the mundane things that characters did causing it to get really slow before it finally picked up. But I think the pacing was amazing with this book which surprised me considering that it’s 600 pages. Do I think it needed to be that long? No, but there was never a moment when I thought the story was dragging. It was very much a typical high fantasy book where the characters are fighting the big bad and there’s a lot of moving parts. The highlight of this book for me was Rhy. I liked him before, but this book made me love him so much. I loved how his character, along with many others touched on grief and how to live with it. What I loved most about this book was the ending. With so many characters we got to see many different point of views. It was a typical bittersweet goodbye at the end where the characters we love are splitting up but we know they’ll see each other again. Overall, I enjoyed this series and I’m glad I grew to love it.
I really enjoyed this book. When I started this series I wasn’t sucked in right from the start, but I’m glad I stuck with it because I really liked this last book. My biggest complaint with the other books in the series was the pacing. I felt like they focused too much on the mundane things that characters did causing it to get really slow before it finally picked up. But I think the pacing was amazing with this book which surprised me considering that it’s 600 pages. Do I think it needed to be that long? No, but there was never a moment when I thought the story was dragging. It was very much a typical high fantasy book where the characters are fighting the big bad and there’s a lot of moving parts. The highlight of this book for me was Rhy. I liked him before, but this book made me love him so much. I loved how his character, along with many others touched on grief and how to live with it. What I loved most about this book was the ending. With so many characters we got to see many different point of views. It was a typical bittersweet goodbye at the end where the characters we love are splitting up but we know they’ll see each other again. Overall, I enjoyed this series and I’m glad I grew to love it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
alicew4k's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia
lavenderbluestories's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Self harm and Sexual content
alexiab's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
TEN STARS. TWENTY STARS. A HUNDRED STARS.
God, I’ve been crying over that ending for about half an hour. I don’t know how to cope with goodbyes but this one just keeps squeezing my heart whenever I think about it.
I can’t imagine a more perfect ending. this is hands down one of my favourite trilogies. It’s brilliant start to finish, it has SO much love and adventure and magic, and I love these characters so, so dang much.
God, I’ve been crying over that ending for about half an hour. I don’t know how to cope with goodbyes but this one just keeps squeezing my heart whenever I think about it.
I can’t imagine a more perfect ending. this is hands down one of my favourite trilogies. It’s brilliant start to finish, it has SO much love and adventure and magic, and I love these characters so, so dang much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia