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tephtowers's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
The weakest installment of the trilogy, but still a fantastic read. I love these characters so much, and I always struggle with leaving them behind.
This story meanders a bit more than necessary (the whole docking at the pirate port side quest was mostly unnecessary, we had POV from a few too many side characters at times), but as a whole, the story is beautiful and heartbreaking and unpredictable. Ultimately, though, this story is Holland's redemption arc, and it is a perfect redemption. Although this book is 3 of 3 of the trilogy, book 1 can serve as a stand alone, whereas books 2 and 3 are one continuous story. This book picks up right after book 2 ends, and I'm glad that it does.
Kell, Emery, Rhy, Delilah, and Holland are multi faceted characters with so much depth that we have followed for 3 books... But this book also added much needed dept to King Maxim, Queen Emira, Master Tieren... VE Schwab truly writes the best characters.
Now that I have re-read the series, I am excited to read the new book 🤩
This story meanders a bit more than necessary (the whole docking at the pirate port side quest was mostly unnecessary, we had POV from a few too many side characters at times), but as a whole, the story is beautiful and heartbreaking and unpredictable. Ultimately, though, this story is Holland's redemption arc, and it is a perfect redemption. Although this book is 3 of 3 of the trilogy, book 1 can serve as a stand alone, whereas books 2 and 3 are one continuous story. This book picks up right after book 2 ends, and I'm glad that it does.
Kell, Emery, Rhy, Delilah, and Holland are multi faceted characters with so much depth that we have followed for 3 books... But this book also added much needed dept to King Maxim, Queen Emira, Master Tieren... VE Schwab truly writes the best characters.
Now that I have re-read the series, I am excited to read the new book 🤩
gabbyorsomething's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.25
breadffy's review against another edition
2.0
may contain spoilers proceed at your own risk. i'll try to be as vague as possible though.
this was relatively more entertaining than the snoozefest that was book 2. it's got issues with repetitiveness, pacing, and predictability. a lot of the side characters were cannon fodder they all either died or were introduced then left on the side which felt like a waste of my time and didn't make me care for them.... now, the characters that i DID develop attachment to.....sigh....the thought running through my mind while reading this was "i wonder how this one is going to die" because, well, isn't that the fate they all eventually reach? how depressing.
the resolution followed a predictable pattern like we all knew our main characters were going to win and defeat the villain. there were soooo many questions (and mysteries) raised yet none answered and i wish we could've explored those. characters' origin and backgrounds?? king george's possession? we are simply going to ignore that and end the book there with them sealing the bad guy and throwing him in grey london so that this human would watch over it ?????? wow. okay whatever.
this was relatively more entertaining than the snoozefest that was book 2. it's got issues with repetitiveness, pacing, and predictability. a lot of the side characters were cannon fodder they all either died or were introduced then left on the side which felt like a waste of my time and didn't make me care for them.... now, the characters that i DID develop attachment to.....sigh....the thought running through my mind while reading this was "i wonder how this one is going to die" because, well, isn't that the fate they all eventually reach? how depressing.
the resolution followed a predictable pattern like we all knew our main characters were going to win and defeat the villain. there were soooo many questions (and mysteries) raised yet none answered and i wish we could've explored those. characters' origin and backgrounds?? king george's possession? we are simply going to ignore that and end the book there with them sealing the bad guy and throwing him in grey london so that this human would watch over it ?????? wow. okay whatever.
abbymetro's review against another edition
5.0
Book 2 was slow but absolutely worth it to get to this end to end delight.
mweld's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
annijk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
specialk3782's review against another edition
4.0
The 3rd installment in the shades of magic trilogy. I think the trilogy improves as it goes on and I really enjoyed the last book. The pacing was faster, the stakes were higher and since you already know the worlds and the characters a lot more attention could be paid to the plot.
Through the series there were a few thing I can look back and say I really liked. I loved Kell’s coat; it added a bit of whimsical magic that was fun for me. I also liked the idea of Kell being able to travel between London’s and having comparable pubs, similar to The Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter. I enjoyed the relationship between Rhy and Alucard, their romance was flawed but sweet and a nice positive light in the midst of a lot of harder things going on.
The last book for me is a 4.5* with an overall series rating of 4*
Through the series there were a few thing I can look back and say I really liked. I loved Kell’s coat; it added a bit of whimsical magic that was fun for me. I also liked the idea of Kell being able to travel between London’s and having comparable pubs, similar to The Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter. I enjoyed the relationship between Rhy and Alucard, their romance was flawed but sweet and a nice positive light in the midst of a lot of harder things going on.
The last book for me is a 4.5* with an overall series rating of 4*
solseit's review against another edition
4.0
I was less in love with this book than book 2, I have to admit.
What I loved about [b:A Conjuring of Light|29939230|A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, #3)|V.E. Schwab|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1464017758s/29939230.jpg|44752519] was the attention to the characters, the strength and the difficulties they were going through. [a:V.E. Schwab|7168230|V.E. Schwab|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459096054p2/7168230.jpg] has a great ability to flesh out the characters in a way that is relate-able. This is an amazing skill to have and I am genuinely interested in reading other of her books.
I even found myself very interested in Holland, my favorite character here. Lila kept being a great character (too bad that I did not really like her in book 1).
Yet, the plot felt a bit thin. Sure, ideas were there (a great number really) yet I felt that the story line was a fairly easy story line. I did not feel there was much going on there. Ultimately, it might be a good thing considering that the characters are the focal point of the story.
Ultimately, I would say this book deserves a 3.5!
What I loved about [b:A Conjuring of Light|29939230|A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, #3)|V.E. Schwab|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1464017758s/29939230.jpg|44752519] was the attention to the characters, the strength and the difficulties they were going through. [a:V.E. Schwab|7168230|V.E. Schwab|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459096054p2/7168230.jpg] has a great ability to flesh out the characters in a way that is relate-able. This is an amazing skill to have and I am genuinely interested in reading other of her books.
I even found myself very interested in Holland, my favorite character here. Lila kept being a great character (too bad that I did not really like her in book 1).
Yet, the plot felt a bit thin. Sure, ideas were there (a great number really) yet I felt that the story line was a fairly easy story line. I did not feel there was much going on there. Ultimately, it might be a good thing considering that the characters are the focal point of the story.
Ultimately, I would say this book deserves a 3.5!