Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - A Darker Shade of Magic

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

105 reviews

moonchild_cos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

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cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

I really liked this book!
The plot was good, the characters were good, and I really like its pace.
Especially in the end, I felt like some of the battles were a bit short and shallow? However, I am aware that this is a trilogy, and will give the end game a chance to be tension I'm looking for.

I would very much recommend this to any fantasy fan who likes a bit of a blood bath and very interesting world-building. There's elemental magic, alternative worlds, humorous dialogue, and a small romance sub-plot that doesn't take up tedious space at all.

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donatio's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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

5.0

This was a reread and even though I already knew what I was in for and knew how things would end, Schwab managed to catch and drag me into the worlds.
She is one of my favourite authors and in my opinion just a master of storytelling, I can picture clearly in my head what happens and feel with the characters who feel a little like home by now.
This is a book for the ones who like elemental magic, multiple POVs, thieees and adventures.
100% recommend

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Shades of Magic is quite the beloved series here on Goodreads, but I couldn’t give the first book, Four Shades of Magic, more than 3.5 stars. I had the feeling that the premise of this novel was so great, but the execution left a lot to be desired for me.

In this story, the first character we follow is Kell. Kell is one of the two people being able to wander between the four different Londons that each have a different relationship with magic. The second main character is Lila, a thief from the normal London. After getting an artefact she isn’t supposed to have, they both have to work together to save the world.

A big problem I had with Four Shades of Magic was its pacing. Almost the first half of the novel is just exposition, leading to a very slow beginning. Only after the half when the event mentioned in the synopsis happened, it got more interesting, and the story finally had a direction it was going in. Also, even though I hated the ending of the series, Foundryside executed the plot point of a thief stealing a magical object she wasn’t supposed to have much better.

Furthermore, there were some things happening that I didn’t fully understand, and it was so cliché how the villains explain their plans in big detail to the main characters. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending as well;

Spoiler

Athos and Astrid just dying was a bit boring, and I really don’t like that Kell and Rhy are bounded to each other, this is just a plot point I personally don’t enjoy

This all sounds quite critical if I’m honest, but I still liked the general plot and there were some great and impactful moments here and there, like

Spoiler

Barron’s death or Lila first being alone in White London, not knowing what she should do

. In general, there were quite a lot of deaths but there were just too many so that I started to not care about them anymore.

Like I’ve said, the book is definitely carried by its settings and the world building. The different Londons are so interesting, and I liked the historical setting, even though it could’ve been utilized more, same goes for places besides London that were barely mentioned. The elemental magic was nothing to special but nice, nevertheless.

At the beginning, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the MCs, Kell and Lila. They both are quite edgy and arrogant which made them a bit cringe and unlikable in my eyes. Only later, I started to appreciate them more, but I felt not such a strong connection to them like I felt to Addie. It was nice that we had no romance between them (yet?), and I enjoyed that Lila was more tomboy-ish. I’m wondering though if she’s

Spoiler

an Antari as well, we’ll see

. Another character that made me cringe was Rhy; his overly sexual nature was just a bit too much. In comparison to them, I really liked all the villains. The twins are so brutal and such great villains, but Holland is an interesting character as well.

Even though I’m a bit critical towards the plot and the characters in Four Shades of Magic, I’ll read the next books of the series since the world is so interesting and creative.

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zoeelora's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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saholland's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

I always want to like her books more than I actually do …

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asiaunique's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.5

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olenvasynyt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

This book is everything I have been looking for in a fantasy story. I feel like the best way to describe this book was a really good dungeons and dragons campaign. Not only is the writing fantastic, but the worldbuilding and the magic system are both comfortingly familiar and totally unique at the same time. The magic involves traveling across worlds, spoken words and the bending of elements, and it’s done well because of the restrictions and the different amounts of magic for every person and every world. It adds to the worldbuilding because the different worlds have different amounts of magic which leads to them interacting with and using magic differently and it’s just really well thought out.

The characters! There are not a whole lot of main characters in this book (I feel like with some fantasy books there can be way to many) so you’re really able to follow everything well. As I said, this book gave me DND vibes and the main reason was the characters, especially Lila! Pirate / rogue / ninja vibes from her. She reminds me a lot of Celaena from TOG; I didn’t like Celaena in the beginning because she was kind of just a really brash, reckless and borderline rude girl, but as I learned more about her and saw how and why she fought I liked her a lot more. I definitely think when I learn her backstory I’ll fall in love with Lila just as I did with Celaena.

It is usually very hard for me to like a villain in a lot of fantasy books because they’re never as dark as I want them to be or they’re written as dark but they just come across as cheesy. But *oof*, I loved the villains in this book so much! Spoilers,

Spoiler

I will say the ending was a little lackluster to me mainly because I was upset with the twins dying because of how much I loved them as characters and villains. But Holland is for sure still alive, I refuse to think otherwise, (I say that now but I’ll probably jinx it because I really liked him too lmao) and I know if the first villains are this good then the ones that are coming will be even better.

This was the first book and I think it was just a such a good way to set up a series because of how well the world was portrayed and how the main plot began. It was simple because it was the pacing I think, but it was still exciting and you know the plot will just continue to unravel and mysteries will be solved. I’m so excited to continue reading this series!

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caseyreads998's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

I'm not uninterested in the sequels but if I have to read one more "not like other girls" internal monologue from Lila I might snap.

I'm not sure how exactly to warn since it's all but one case scant mention but Lila is in threat of sexual assault so many chapters it blends together, so proceed with caution if that's a factor with weight.

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stargazer_ley's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm quickly finding Schwab to be an author I enjoy reading. After finishing the Villious duology and seeing the blurb for this book in Vicious, I decided I had to read this one and I'm glad I did. Kell and Lila are as compelling as the mystery of the black stone. I'm quite interested in reading the rest of the trilogy.

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