A Gathering of Shadows – V. E. Schwab

Raji

Title: A Gathering of Shadows
Series: Shades of Magic #2
Author: V. E. Schwab
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Published: February 23rd, 2016 (Tor Books)
Goodreads

Synopsis:

It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Prince Rhy was wounded, and since the nefarious Dane twins of White London fell, and four months since the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift–back into Black London.

Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games–an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighbouring countries–a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall.

Review:

Four months after the events of A Darker Shade of Magic, and the dust has mostly settled. Preparations for the Essen Tasch, the Element Games, are in full swing in Red London, and the international contest between magicians brings faces both old and new from around the world to the heart of the Maresh Empire. Now severely restricted in his travels, Kell is growing more restless by the day as he and Rhy struggle to cope with their new bond. Lila Bard sailed off to become a pirate, but as the Games approach, she finds her path leading back to London too. But while Red London is enthralled by the Games, trouble is brewing and another London is returning to life.

I had my doubts about reading this second book, which is why I put it off for nearly three months, but I’ve never been able to leave a series unfinished and was too curious to know what happens next. The world-building continued to be amazing and I’m still so fascinated by this concept which is honestly my favourite part about this series. The focus is mostly on Red London and Kell doesn’t do as much travelling, but we do get some glimpses of the other three Londons as well and how the events of the first book have affected them.

This was clearly a more character driven book, and that worked really well in some ways and in others, decidedly not. It was interesting seeing how the events of the first book have affected Kell and Rhy in different ways and how it has changed their personalities. As for Lila, she was literally the same annoying, reckless character whose selfish actions made her extremely unlikeable. I don’t know how popular or unpopular of an opinion this is, but where Delilah was merely stubborn and annoying in the first book (and it worked pretty well, in this book, her actions and attitude no longer felt like that of a protagonist. It was only due to Alucard that her chapters were even readable, and for me, disliking a main character makes a book that much harder to get through.

I won’t say I had very high expectations for this sequel, but even so, this was kind of a letdown. The plot was painfully slow. The real excitement didn’t start until around the 70% mark and all that fuss about the games pretty much just felt like background noise. Basically, this book felt like filler and just a bridge to get to the real action in the next book – this is typical second book syndrome and the only reason I struggled through all 500+ pages was because this was by V. E. Schwab and I’ve read enough of her writing to know that the plot had to take a turn at some point.

However, the ending was really good – good enough to redeem the absolute bore that was most of the rest of the book. The 3.5 star rating is mostly because I’m still annoyed I had to sit through the boring parts but I’m hopeful that book 3 will be more interesting. I have to say that considering this book alone, I’m not very impressed, but looking at the series as a whole thus far, I’m still enjoying it and would continue to recommend it for fantasy fans.

Have you read this book? Let me know in the comments below!
Other reviews in this series:

24 thoughts on “A Gathering of Shadows – V. E. Schwab”

  1. Aspen Hite March 14, 2021 / 9:40 pm

    GREAT review. I always appreciate honesty and realness in a review. That being said, I have added book one to my TBR list….sounds good. Book 2 does too, but I can’t possibly start with the sequel. 😉 Thanks for the review!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Raji (@journeyintofantasy) March 15, 2021 / 4:36 pm

      Thank you! I hope you enjoy it. Book 2 was problematic in some ways, but I like where the story is heading and I’m really excited to read book 3!

      Like

      Reply
  2. CristinaR March 15, 2021 / 10:36 am

    This was a great review! I still have to read the first book but it’s been up on my TBR and after reading this, I really can’t wait to pick this up! Thank you for sharing x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Stephanie March 15, 2021 / 10:57 am

    Oof. You really don’t like Lila haha! She’s one of my favorite female book characters, so I have a tough time seeing what you’re talking about when it comes to her traits, but I’m sorry you don’t like her and that makes reading her chapters so difficult for you. This is one of my favorite series of all time, so I hope at least the last book redeems things for you haha.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Raji (@journeyintofantasy) March 15, 2021 / 4:40 pm

      Lol yeah, I figured this might be an unpopular opinion. I liked Lila well enough in the first book, I just didn’t enjoy how her character progressed in this one. I have really high hopes for book 3 though, so it’s good to hear this is one of your favourites!

      Like

      Reply
  5. I'm All Booked Up YA March 15, 2021 / 11:31 am

    Sorry you were disappointed. We understand how frustrating it can be when the action doesn’t start until the second half of the book.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Raji (@journeyintofantasy) March 15, 2021 / 4:43 pm

      Thanks for reading! Yes, a more even pacing would have made this book so much more enjoyable. I’m hoping book 3 will be better though!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  6. Marta the Monogamist Reader March 15, 2021 / 12:16 pm

    I absolutely felt the same when I was reading book two and I thought “Well, now I need to see the end of this”. Book three was definitely better.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. ISHA | paperbacktomes March 15, 2021 / 12:41 pm

    This book is on my TBR. I’m waiting to read it since December. I love ADSOM and have heard the second book isn’t that good. Sad to know that this book was mostly boring but great review anyway.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Raji (@journeyintofantasy) March 15, 2021 / 4:46 pm

      Thanks, hope you enjoy it! It’s largely the pacing that was the issue, but I’ve heard really good things about the third book, so it’s hopefully worth it.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • ISHA | paperbacktomes March 18, 2021 / 12:17 pm

        I really want to enjoy it because ADSOM is my fav book. So I won’t mind the pacing but I hope it’s not dragged though. Hope you enjoy the third book.😊

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  8. Anika May March 16, 2021 / 6:53 am

    Always a shame when a book has boring parts but I’m glad the ending seemed to make up for it. Seems to happen quite often with sequels, hopefully the next book is way better for you! Great review.

    Anika | chaptersofmay.com

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Alice Myles March 16, 2021 / 12:38 pm

    I’ve been meaning to pick up this series for YEARS! I loved the monsters of verity series and addie larue but for some reason I haven’t ever gotten round to this one despite all the great things I’ve heard!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Raji (@journeyintofantasy) March 21, 2021 / 7:03 pm

      I started reading this author’s books with those two as well! Hope you enjoy this series whenever you read it!

      Like

      Reply
  10. Kiddwrites March 16, 2021 / 4:34 pm

    Great review! You do an excellent job of balancing the story’s flaws with the elements that make the tale unique.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. Sunshine with Savannah March 16, 2021 / 5:07 pm

    Great post and excellent review! You’ve definitely peaked my interest in this series and I’d love to learn more. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s