Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack)'s Reviews > A Darker Shade of Magic

“I apologize for anything I might have done. I was not myself.”
“I apologize for shooting you in the leg,” said Lila. “I was myself entirely.”

Actual Rating: 4 1/2 Stars, but honestly every time I round this down I end up putting it back up a day later. So you may notice this book is kind of polarizing within the adult sff community; a little bit And for me personally it is.... such a fave. I keep returning to this world and these characters and I doubt I’ll ever stop.

For the approximately five people who don’t know, A Darker Shade of Magic is about a world with four parallel worlds, all very different but sharing the same London. There’s Grey London, aka our world. Red London, a land of magic and peace. White London, a land of turmoil and war and an overuse of magic. And Black London, the land where magic went wrong and burnt out. Only a few people can travel between worlds, and when one of the only two left, Kell, discovers a magic stone that could destroy his world, he and non-magical Lila go on a journey to put it back.

Let's get the problems out of the way - the plotting is a mixed bag. Pro: fast-paced and never boring. This book is a 400-page wild ride. Con: literally no driving force behind the plot. The characters don't even have a quest until around page 200, and it makes the entire book feel just a bit messy. This is a problem Victoria Schwab tends to have a lot [she’s my favorite author so I’m allowed to say this], where her characters just meander around in search of an end goal. This.... kills her series conclusions. Like, it’s killed both of the series enders I’ve read by her for me personally, and this is coming from the bitch who has five starred every single other book I’ve read by her. But it doesn’t really hurt the plot that much here, so it’s fine, and we’ll just address that more in the ACOL review.

“What are you?” she asked.
“A monster,” said Kell hoarsely. “You'd better let me go.”
The girl gave a small, mocking laugh. “Monsters don't faint in the presence of ladies.”
“Ladies don't dress like men and pick pockets,” retorted Kell.
Her smile only sharpened. “What are you really?”
“Tied to your bed," said Kell matter-of-factly.
“And?”
His brow furrowed. “And in trouble.”

The main thing I always come back to about this book is that it is deeply, deeply magical . It was nigh-impossible for me to not be engaged in this story. The writing style is SO GOOD, lyrical and gorgeous and with a really nice flow to it; one of my good blogger friends discussed her sentence structure, and it is so fantastic. The worldbuilding is creative and intriguing and perhaps best of all, makes a surprising amount of sense for such a wild concept.

Also, I would die for these characters. Oddly, they didn't totally grow on me until like... 2/3 of the way into the book? While I could recognize from the beginning that the leads were well-developed and interesting, it took me a while to feel as if I had a concrete concept of who they are. And then we got to the ending and I was screaming in agony at the thought of these characters dying, and I was like "oh shit" and realized how much I love Kell and Lila and Rhy and how much I care about their relationships. V.E. Schwab does a lot of showing, not telling, which makes the character development a bit more subtle; these characters are based off their motivations perhaps even more than their actual traits. And both of these things mean you’re less invested in the beginning and then.... more invested in the end. Slow start, flawless payoff.

I actually want to talk a little more specifically about these characters because when I think back on this series, they are always what come to mind. Kell is a grumpy child who we love anyway. Lila is a fucking badass genderfluid thief with a soft side and I love her. Rhy is a bisexual prince [literally] who spends half his time dragging people. Even Holland, the sort-of-villain, is a super dynamic and intriguing character.

Oh, and then the relationships: Kell and Lila, y’all. Kell and Lila are my ride-or-die book couple and I love their dynamic and I love how they’re constantly dragging each other and just. fuck. I love them. I also really really like Kell and Rhy’s relationship, which is so ridiculously loving and caring? They are perhaps two of the most different people ever and they love each other so much it's beautiful.

I also kind of love that 98% of the dynamics in this book kind of read like everyone has dated everyone else and it’s now Really Awkward [this is both Kell & Holland and also Rhy & Holland and it later becomes the canon dynamic of Rhy & Alucard, and it's hilarious]. If anyone wants to come for me about this, I point to That Time Victoria Schwab Said That Every Character In This Series Should Be Read As Queer. No, that is not the only reason why I like this series, and yes, they’re all bi icons and you can’t take that away from me.

Anyway. Super highly recommended for fans of creative, engaging fantasy.

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