Reviews tagging 'War'

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

24 reviews

kenzibir's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

Really enjoying the series and this author 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cicizzy's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I really liked the worldbuilding and the characters. I need to read less romantasy this was really refreshing to read.

But the writing style bothered me. I can’t even say what it was, maybe I was just too tired to but I felt like I had to focus a lot more than usual while reading. Maybe it’s just that it felt like there are no “unnecessary” sentences. If you miss a sentence you can actually miss important information. There were no drawn out descriptions of places or longer conversations. Everything was short and to the point. I think when it comes to that so would have liked to see a bit more of the worlds and Londons. The lack of description could make it feel a bit “flat” at times and I think it was a bit of a wasted potential. But it is also just the first volume and I hope that the worlds will be explored a bit more in the future volumes. 
It also didn’t exactly feel like the early 19th century for me but Gray  London also didn’t play a big role. 
I‘m looking forward to the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Physical abuse, Trafficking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

_teoeo's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: War

Minor: Sexual assault

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

valerian_honeybee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol and War

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.

nat20charisma's review against another edition

5.0

The setting was exciting with parallel Londons. I loved the main characters Kell and Lila (who I found out shares my birthday). I’d love to know more about the magic system! 

This book had a satisfying conclusion, but I know it’s a trilogy. I’m curious where the second book is going to take off…

Would not recommend for anyone with a history of self harm. The magic system requires users to cut themselves and use their blood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Blood

Moderate: War

Minor: Rape

Attempted Rape at the beginning of the book, and a mention of an attempted rape that ended in murder. Neither is descriptive and each is short. Magic is blood magic; lots of mentions and descriptions of blood and cutting.

eabecker05's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and War

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

meetmeinheaven's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

What a masterpiece…V.E Schwab never disappoints and this is one as well. 
I will jump straight into the next book, but before i leave to the world of Londons i have to say a bit more. 
This story is addictinggg ahhhhh…
I loved the slight banter between our two main characters and i loved the world building. It is such a unique concept of traveling and magic.
I have to say in the beginning i was sometimes not really sure,where i was but with time it got better and more destinctive.
Loooooovveed this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War