A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab -- A Review

Summary: Blood magician, Kell can hop between 3 out of 4 different Londons. Kell likes to sneak things between world and it gets him into a bunch of trouble. Delilah Bard also likes to steal things. Together they must return a bad thing to a bad place before bad people kill them both.


4.5 out of 5 stars! (you weren't expecting that, were you? Haha)

What?! A favorable book review!? For real!?
Yup! I finally read a book that was good and that I had a lot of things to say about it! So with that being said, let's get into it!!

First of all, I want to start off by saying that I listened to this on audiobook from Overdrive. Not only will I be reviewing the book, but I will also be reviewing Stephen Crossley's narration! Like usual, we'll start off with the good stuff, which is actually a lot this time!

What I liked:

I really liked the world that Schwab built...or should I say worlds? I felt like the world was really well fleshed out and each London felt like its own place. I don't remember a time where I was confused about which London we were in. I think the narrator did a good job of making sure we knew which London we were in, but I'll go into that later. The author spent a good chunk of the book just describing the worlds as Kell, and later Delilah (Lila) moved through them. I think I noticed the plot pick up at about 50% into the book. Now, normally that would bother the hell out of me. But to be perfectly honest, I didn't mind it at all. I was really enjoying learning about the worlds and the people who lived in them. Yeah, sometimes it got a bit tedious, but this is a pretty deep fantasy series for only being three books, so keep that in mind when you get bored of all the build up. That just means less world to have to build in the other two books, right? 

I also really enjoyed the characters that we were introduced to. Kell is our main character (until we meet Lila anyway) and he is flawed as heck. He doesn't really have super protagonist syndrome that some YA/Adult fantasies have. You know the type...Good at everything, annoying as fuck, most people love them...except for the bad guys. Kell is well loved, but he is also hated by a lot of people too. He gets bored easily and likes to move items between worlds, which is illegal. This ultimately gets him into a lot of trouble. Lila, is a bit more protagonist-y than Kell is. I feel like she might have a 'chosen one' cliche coming in the later books and I'm already cringing...but let's stay positive! For now. I found all of the other characters to be pretty interesting. Nobody really annoyed me all that much..which is a rare occurrence, as you all probably know if you have been reading these posts for a while. Also when it came to decisions the characters would make, I felt like they were all developed enough that we would be able to immediately notice that a character made a choice that didn't follow what the author had led us to believe. You know, sometimes you read a book and are led to believe a character is a certain way and then all of a sudden they make a decision and you are like, "....WHAT! YOU WOULDN'T SAY/DO THAT?!" (*cough* *cough* Harry Potter in the Cursed Child). I find it incredibly annoying when they do that. But I can say, I didn't really see that happening here. It was kind of refreshing!

I also really REALLY enjoyed the use of languages in this book. As you may or may not know, I'm really into language, so any book that creates a language gets an up vote from me..but 3?! Yes. 

Besides Grey London, none of the other Londons use English as their main language. Yes, they know how to speak it (or some do), Red and White London both have their own languages! How fricken' cool is that?! There is also a language that blood magicians use to get their spells to work. The use of language was amazing to me and I'm surprised that no one has mentioned it in any of the reviews that I have seen. Red London is a rich and cultural London, so their language has to match it, and I think it did. The language was smooth and soothing. White London is a harsh and cruel place, and their language also sounded harsh and aggressive. Even the language of the blood magicians fit extremely well. It was forceful but also mysterious. I think the languages were my favorite part of the book...Kind of weird, I know...but I really thought it was well done.

Another thing that I enjoyed about this book was the fact that there was no romance in it. You would think that because the main characters are together (though they hated each other most of the time) they would eventually fall in love. THEY DIDN'T! I like romance, but I think it is severely over done. Authors feel like they have to put it in all of their books, and 9 out of 10 times it isn't even a good romance. I want more books like this. There WAS a romance hinted at, but it's not between the main characters, and I like that. I approve of the ship and I want it to sail. Haha!

One last thing to say before I go into my positives about the narration. I think it is important to note that this book could be a stand alone if you wanted it to be. The book wraps up in a way that if you are intimidated by the next two books, you can just skip them! I won't be doing this, but I thought it would be a good thing to mention if large fantasy books scare you.

Ok, narration positives! Crossley, I think, did an amazing job narrating this book. At first, it was difficult to get used to his voice. He is an older British man, and while it was a nice voice to listen to, I felt like it didn't fit the 20 year old characters. That being said, his narration grew on me and I almost miss him more than the characters. I am also extremely disappointed that he didn't do the next two books...

Things I didn't like:


This is going to be a much shorter list than I usually make. So, for starters after the plot really got going, it started to become predictable. You could just see the future set up coming a mile away. Like, it was eye roll worthy. "I wonder why that happened? Oh! Duh! Obvious set up for the future!" And I always felt like I knew what was going to happen. I didn't want to believe things would go the way I thought they would...but they usually did. I'm not the kind of person who tries to guess the ending or what is going to happen, I really like to be in the moment with the characters. Discover things along with them, that way it is a surprise to both of us when something happens. That being said, if I am able to figure it out right away, that really isn't something to be proud of. Like, a good chunk of this book was face palm worthy. 

I guess my only other negative was a narration choice. This is obviously specifically for the audiobook. Like I had mentioned earlier, Crossley did an amazing job narrating this book and through his narration, he made it easier to tell which London we were in...You know...just in case you forgot. Each London had an accent. The accent, I believe, was supposed to kind of match up with the native language that each of the Londons spoke. It would make it cohesive and just flow better. In theory it was a great idea, and for the most part it worked out really well...except for one. Let me explain better.



In Grey London: Grey London had a turn of the century/industrial revolution kind of feel to it. Lots of pick pockets and bar brawls. Really dirty and grimy. So, he gave Grey Londoners a Cockney accent. It really fit the characters and it sounded great on Lila.

Red London: This is a rich city/country. There is magic everywhere, people seem to be doing well for the most part and it just gives off a really wealthy vibe (even if that is not the case for everybody). He gave them a more of a posh English accent. And for those who weren't royal, he gave them a bit of a non-determinable accent, but it was still a smooth accent and it fit with the world Schwab had built.

White London on the other hand...Oh boy...So, White London is harsh and cruel. Mean, sadistic and extremely cut throat. So...what accent could the narrator possibly give them that would fit that persona and match the language Schwab chose for them?
I will let you guess.

I'll give you a second.















.......................................German.

Now, I'm not one who is easily offended and I wasn't offended when he started speaking for the Dane siblings in White London. I actually burst out laughing in the middle of the break room at work when I realized what was happening. Then I realized it was probably bad taste to make the villains speak with a German-like accent. Yeah...woops!

So, yeah! I really enjoyed this book! I know it is super rare for me to write a good review or a non-DNF review, but yeah! Sometimes I have a lot to say about bad things and rarely anything to say about good things! It's weird, I know, but sometimes it's easier to say more about things you hate instead of things you like. I want to try and get more positive book reviews on this blog. I think I have one more super positive one planned out and one meh review as well. Those should be coming out in the next two weeks!

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Until next time! Ciao!~

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Rhy and Lila 

 

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard--Another Super Salty DNF Review

In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch. (Taken from Goodreads.com)

DNF'd at 120 pages

Ugh.  I was so into the hype because she was Sarah J Mass' friend and I loved the idea of reading a fantasy book that was about friendship. Now, because I didn't finish it, my review is going to be a bit....limited....but I do have a lot to say about it.

My friend and I read it together and we both had the same problems with it. The names of places and characters were hard to read because I wasn't really sure how to pronounce them, I didn't really understand what anything was because nothing was really explained and the book seriously could have benefited from a glossary. The world was extremely flat and so were the characters. I had such a hard time caring for anyone because I didn't really have a reason to. Things happened to them and I was like, "why is this important? What does this even mean? I have no reason to care because I don't even know what's going on?!" People were mad or mopey for reasons I couldn't even understand. There were entire chapters where I would just roll my eyes or yell at the book for not giving me information.

Another problem I had with the book was that I felt things were happening just for something to happen. It was like, "let's insert drama here because we need to move this non moving story forward and get people excited or nervous for the characters." But I refer to a former problem, I didn't care about the characters, so why would I care about these crazy happenings?

I made it about 120 pages in and decided it wasn't for me. I consulted my friend, who has pretty much the same taste in books as me, and she told me it wasn't worth it, that it didn't get better. So I DNFed it. I am not saying at all that Susan Dennard is a bad writer, she just isn't for me, I guess. This book has gotten rave reviews, people love this book! I am in the minority of people who weren't sold on it. You can't like everything. ^^'' I really wanted to like this book...

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks--A Long Winded Salty DNF Review

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death. (Taken from Goodreads.com)

I DNF'd this book at chapter 15, page 116.

I had soooo many problems with this book. Where to start...

The world, for one, was flat. The author name dropped place after place and didn't really give us a reason to care. I didn't even know where our story was taking place! I looked at the map several times and still wasn't sure which "C" country we were living in. They would talk about the Warrens, but we never got a good description besides shitty and shitty (literally). I think this author is obsessed with the way things smelled. So many different descriptions and mentions based on the way things smelled. It was too much...the world has more than just scent.

The characters were also flat...and tropey as F***. Cardboard has more personality than the characters in this book. I love books about assassins, ESPECIALLY the ones that have no feels (even if they eventually show that they have feels). But Durzo...boring. Azoth/Kylar (Really...Kylar (KILER))...boring. I don't even know who else I met, but 10/10 times...boring. So much so that I can't even remember meeting them. ^^' I could barely keep track of anyone either. Name drop after name drop...and no reason to care. We are introduced to Doll Girl in the beginning (I believe she becomes important later), and some horrible stuff happens to her...but I didn't care. Jarl, Azoth's friend, has some horrible stuff happen to him....didn't care. Azoth does some stuff...didn't care and Durzo, the emotionless killer with a heart of gold, had some stuff happen to him...still didn't give two shits. Also I didn't feel it was necessary to make every female a whore (with a heart of gold) (or a virginal wonder, as I found out in some of the reviews I read). It's just...blah.

The politics...I don't even know what is happening. I don't know the world or the characters, so this makes zero sense.

Magic...I didn't get that far....I know it was a thing that exists in this book, but I didn't really understand what I had read. Does not everyone know that magic exists in this world? Durzo talks about talents and mages, and I'm guessing not everyone has magic, but they must know it's a thing....right? I mean, I understand being an assassin and not flaunting whatever power/talent you have, but NO ONE has made any mention of ANYTHING! O-o Had I not known that there was some magic in this book, I would have had no bloody ideal. I know it's a low fantasy (or I believe it is), but wow. It's like he threw it in there to make it more fantasy or something. I dunno.

All in all, this book is not for me. I could see people who are new to fantasy enjoying this. I have heard that the beginning is kind of rough, but it really picks up in the middle. I have heard that it is a page turner and that it has some cool magic and some awesome plot twists, but seeing as I don't really care about the characters, this doesn't really excite me. I definitely seem to be in the minority when it comes to disliking this book, but in doing some research, those who didn't like it had the same problems I had. The book is a giant fantasy trope with zero character development, confusing politics and nonexistant world building. If you aren't going to give me an interesting world, give me good characters. I don't care if the plot is the most amazing thing I have ever read or if the action is orgasmic, if the characters suck, who cares about what happens to them. Light them all on fire, gut and murder them all with out any mercy, see what I care.

I know this review was super salty and maybe I missed something...I know I probably did...but yeah. This book was not for me. No hard feelings though. Will just move on to something else. That's just how I do.