A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Welcome to Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, with one mad king - George III. Then there is Red London, where life and magic are revered, and White London, a city slowly being drained through magical war, down to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was a Black London...but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler - one of the last magicians who can travel between the worlds - acting as ambassador and messenger between the Londons, in service of the Maresh empire. Unofficially, he's a smuggler, which is a dangerous hobby for him to have - as proved when Kell stumbles into a setup with a forbidden token from Black London.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cutpurse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

Hello friends! I've had this book sitting on my shelf FOR YEARS, and have been told to read this book for even longer! This has been a book that made its way through the reading communities since its publication in February 2015, and has since died down considering the series is now finished and the author has moved onto newer and more exciting things.

I'll be the first to admit that the reason I got this book and the reason I had such an itch to read it was mainly due to everyone telling me how awesome it was and further telling me how much I would enjoy reading it. Considering I trusted a good many of those saying so, its stayed as a part of my TBR list and I have now finally made my way through it and can check it off and toss it aside.

I'm going to be completely honest though guys, I took a day to digest and think about my response to this book, because unfortunately...I really wasn't that impressed by it.

The story is wonderfully unique, taking on this new idea of parallel worlds that connect to one another and have a shared history. Thanks to time and the decisions of man, a lot of that history has been lost, particularly when it comes to Black London. We get a decent understanding of what happened, that magic became so powerful that it took over the humans trying to wield it and they rotted away, leaving the rest of the worlds to close themselves off and to seal Black London away in hopes to quell the power. For the better part of the book Kell and Delilah are trying to take the Black London token back to where it belongs to try and prevent the rest of the worlds from the same fate, but unfortunately, that never comes to pass. I wanted so badly for them to get to Black London in this book, but I assume that they will get there within the rest of the series.

And that's my biggest fault with this book in and of itself, it didn't deliver a strong performance knowing full well that nothing gets revealed in this book about the history of the world, the history of the magic, or how the Londons even knew how to pass through each other; there is just SO MUCH that we don't know!

I particularly wanted to know how Kell grew up and grew into his powers as an Antari (a magician who had the power to travel through the Londons regardless of the pathways being closed off) and why he is so special. What really pissed me off is that he can control all the elements and should be a total badass, and in the end, I felt he was pretty useless on multiple levels. Being someone who is in a sense "all-powerful", he relied so heavily on Delilah for any resolution to take form, that I got angry with his instability and...well, lack of sensibility. He has power but is afraid to use it, and when he does use it he doesn't use it effectively or wisely.

Besides Kell, I wanted to know more about Delilah, as her surface self really got on my nerves. Her biggest motivation is to simply get out of her surroundings and go on an "adventure" somewhere, but we don't get much if anything about her past and why it's such a big motivation for her. She was edgy, a complete hardass, and a character I instantly tend to enjoy being a lady thief who wants to become a pirate with a ship and sails to set off into the unknown. But, without knowing the conviction behind those needs and wants, and seeing her vulnerabilities take shape and how much certain choices take a toll on her or not, left me really wanting more from her and so at the end, I didn't really care about her.

For myself, this book just simply wasn't enough. My overall rating sits at a 3/5 since I was able to finish it without any problems, relatively enjoyed the story and the characters, and wouldn't mind continuing on so that I could learn more, but have no motivation anytime soon to tack it to the top of my list. If I were given the books then yes I would read them. Does the concept intrigue me and do I want to learn more about the power system and the worlds and how everything will end? Yes, I do, but I don't see myself doing so.

I love V.E. Schwab as an author and as a person, she is hustling like nobodies business and I know her work is amazing, this one just didn't hit me the right way. I encourage everyone who finds interest in this book and series to definitely pick it up because it does have so much potential and for the right person/people, it's a great choice.

But for myself, I'm going to sign off and move on. Until next time my dudes...