A Darker Shade of Magic
- Downloads：5941
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-05 14:52:55
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：V.E. Schwab
- ISBN：1783295406
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Librarian note: An older cover for this edition can be found here: 27-Feb-2015。
Kell is one of the last travellers–magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city。
There’s Grey London， without magic and ruled by the mad King George III。 Red London–where magic is revered， and where Kell was raised alongside the heir to the empire。 White London–where people fight to control the remaining magic and magic fights back。
And once there was Black London…
Kell is one of the last travellers–magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city。
There’s Grey London， without magic and ruled by the mad King George III。 Red London–where magic is revered， and where Kell was raised alongside the heir to the empire。 White London–where people fight to control the remaining magic and magic fights back。
And once there was Black London…
Reviews
Tess Barnes
，
Audio。 I didn't love the reader but loved the book， Can't wait to listen to the second book。 Audio。 I didn't love the reader but loved the book， Can't wait to listen to the second book。 。。。more
iris。nm
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I might be biased because I am in love with Lila Bard
Kayla Rose
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Oh yes。 I kept putting off starting this series， waiting for a perfect time。 I am so happy I finally took the plunge。 This was everything I hoped it would be。 Kell and Lila were such fun characters to follow。 They had great ambition， personality， and gusto。 Seperate they were great; together there were phenomenal。 The world was also fascinating。 the 4 Londons on a linear plane worked and made the fantasy world still unique but easy to grasp。 The pacing of the plot never waned and I never lost in Oh yes。 I kept putting off starting this series， waiting for a perfect time。 I am so happy I finally took the plunge。 This was everything I hoped it would be。 Kell and Lila were such fun characters to follow。 They had great ambition， personality， and gusto。 Seperate they were great; together there were phenomenal。 The world was also fascinating。 the 4 Londons on a linear plane worked and made the fantasy world still unique but easy to grasp。 The pacing of the plot never waned and I never lost interest。 I am so excited to see what these characters get up to next。 Prediction: I have thoughts about Lila's eye。。。 。。。more
Olivia Sun
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I swear， VE Schwab never misses， this is one of the most magical books I've ever read and unlike many other books， I actually enjoyed the world building and the slower pace in the beginning。 It was an amazing read but it is not my favorite VE Schwab book。A problem I encountered while reading this was that I couldn't help comparing this to one of my favorite books of all time， This Savage Song。 The two had a few similarities， the most prominent being the exact personalities of August Flynn and Ke I swear， VE Schwab never misses， this is one of the most magical books I've ever read and unlike many other books， I actually enjoyed the world building and the slower pace in the beginning。 It was an amazing read but it is not my favorite VE Schwab book。A problem I encountered while reading this was that I couldn't help comparing this to one of my favorite books of all time， This Savage Song。 The two had a few similarities， the most prominent being the exact personalities of August Flynn and Kell Maresh。 They are the same， and Kate being my favorite protagonist of all time （because I deeply relate to her） made me have expectations for Lilah that she did not meet。 I found Lilah to be extremely immature and reckless， driven fully by her emotions and being stubborn in the most inconvenient circumstances。 One of the reasons why I wanted to rate this lower （I did not because of my love for VE Schwab） was because I was not attached to the characters and did not have the attachment I have to the characters of This Savage Song。 The characters were fine， I don't get why everyone loves Lilah so much， and I just couldn't relate to Kell。 I loved Holland and his story is so tragic。 He was my favorite character and I am just a sucker for morally gray characters with a tragic backstory。 Lilah upset me at many points， one being invalidating Kell's feelings about feeling like a possession and prize and never truly being family。 Lilah has struggled， but in my opinion， she should of comforted him and not bring up her own sob story in that moment。 There were just moments like these that really annoyed me。 Kell was great， I just couldn't relate to his struggles and insecurities， so I was not attached to him。This world was great and very complex， I loved this magic system and adventure so even though I am talking about the things I didn't enjoy， don't be fooled， I loved this book so much。 I did not like the romance with Lilah and Kell， it seemed forced and there was absolutely no chemistry。 Unlike This Savage Song， this seemed like it was supposed to have a romance element， but I just couldn't vibe with this。 SPOILERS AHEAD！！！ I found the death of Athos and Astrid extremely underwhelming， they were so powerful and make a simple trip up that they don't even have a chance to fight against？ It didn't fit the story in my opinion and was not logical。 Athos was killed in one hit by the serpent and Kell， who was greatly injured and weakened at that point， easily killed the serpent in one swing？ Athos was outplayed in the most simple way and he didn't survive the initial attack of the serpent even though he was made out to be clever and powerful the entire book。 Athos seemed like a ridiculous fool before his death。 I didn't like this at all and just couldn't let this go。 Astrid's death was not realistic either， throughout the book Astrid has always had a backup for her more risky moves， when Lilah attacked her in the room with the pillars， and when she possessed Rhys and outwitted Kell to nearly kill Rhys， but she had no backup for being caught by Kell while looking like Lilah。 It's entirely possible that they seemed more powerful in my mind， but I just can't stand when the villains seem powerful the entire book and turn into a fool right when the hero is about to lose。I had to rate this book high nonetheless because of the complexity of this story and world。 I loved Holland a lot and found his story extremely compelling。 I loved the adventure and loved how I felt like I have lived an entire life outside of my own。 I recommend this book to everyone and it was just an amazing book。 。。。more
Lusy Adams
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4。5 stars
Lauren Bryans
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Totally understand the hype， the story is great， I just couldn't stay engaged。 Totally understand the hype， the story is great， I just couldn't stay engaged。 。。。more
Javiera Cáceres
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No sé por qué me demoré mil en leerlo si es muy bueno xd pero aún habiéndolo leído cortado me encantó， TREMENDO MUNDO que se sacó V。E Schwab。
Alex Wong
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ooo magic i like :）
Jenna
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More like a 4。7。 WOOW I absolutely loved this。
EmmaPorzee
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The books are totally deserving。 I loved them， and I think they are must read。 If you have some great stories like this one， you can publish it on Novel Star， just submit your story to hardy@novelstar。top or joye@novelstar。top
E
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Good！ Always good to find a book with a strong female character that doesn't rely on the crutch of romance to keep things interesting。 Good world-building。 Good！ Always good to find a book with a strong female character that doesn't rely on the crutch of romance to keep things interesting。 Good world-building。 。。。more
Juliette Celis
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This book really takes you on an adventure and was so easy to read。 The characters are unique and really likeable and the fantasy and world building is phenomenal。 I would recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy。 The plot is so fun and the book itself is so easily readable you can definitely finish it in a couple days。 Wonderful book :）
Веселинa Жековa
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4，5/5
nebulax
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DNF。It just wasn't for me。 DNF。It just wasn't for me。 。。。more
Lynsey
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I’ve heard a lot of great things about this book and was honestly kind of disappointed。 It’s a very slow start but I understand it is needed for the world building （which is complicated）。 I am looking forward to the next book and I hope things pick up。
kels
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*4。75 i waited WAY too long to read this holy shiti loved everything - the writing， the world-building， the magic， the characters （lila is the loml）。。。v e schwab you’ve done it again（pls i’m scared to give this 5 stars bc idk how it’ll compare to the rest of the series lol so watch this rating change）
sara;
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 ALLORA INTANTO COME HAI OSATO FAR MORIRE HOLLAND。 NON SE LO MERITAVA COME OSI。 COME TI PERMETTI。 LO VUOI CAPIRE CHE LO AMAVO？ EH？ non te la perdonerò mai。
LadySofia
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This was not the right book for me。 I couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters really。 At first Lila seemed really interesting but she was a bit too focused on "not being like other girls" at times。 A cross dressing thief should be everything I ever want in a book but it sadly wasn't here。 She just felt so sure in herself it bordered on stupid at times and her attitude was more annoying than endearing。 （Sorry for the tirade， I really wanted to like her）。 Kell was just。。。 Boring。 This was not the right book for me。 I couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters really。 At first Lila seemed really interesting but she was a bit too focused on "not being like other girls" at times。 A cross dressing thief should be everything I ever want in a book but it sadly wasn't here。 She just felt so sure in herself it bordered on stupid at times and her attitude was more annoying than endearing。 （Sorry for the tirade， I really wanted to like her）。 Kell was just。。。 Boring。 The world didn't interest me too much， there was too much explaining about how it all worked， and too little actually living in it。 Or in all four I guess。 We didn't really get to see too much of them all， in a whole 400 pages。 In general， there was so much explaining that I just didn't get to bond with the characters。 They felt like they were just there to give me history and magic lessons in the first half of the whole book。Whelp， I learned again to not listen to hype。 I would have expected less without it and maybe would have enjoyed it more。 。。。more
Zara
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Just couldn't get into it and didn't feel any attachment to the characters。 Just couldn't get into it and didn't feel any attachment to the characters。 。。。more
Tori
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4，5/5
Katty Le
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Tenía muchas ganas de leer a esta autora y esta trilogía me llamaba mucho la atención， tanto por su sinopsis como por sus maravillosas portadas。 Y vaya inicio de trilogía más interesante， el worlbuilding y la explicación del funcionamiento de la magia me ha encantado y me ha mantenido pegada a sus páginas de principio a fin。 Los personajes también están muy bien construidos y empatizas enseguida con Kell y Delilah， además que los personajes antagonistas y secundarios son también muy sólidos e in Tenía muchas ganas de leer a esta autora y esta trilogía me llamaba mucho la atención， tanto por su sinopsis como por sus maravillosas portadas。 Y vaya inicio de trilogía más interesante， el worlbuilding y la explicación del funcionamiento de la magia me ha encantado y me ha mantenido pegada a sus páginas de principio a fin。 Los personajes también están muy bien construidos y empatizas enseguida con Kell y Delilah， además que los personajes antagonistas y secundarios son también muy sólidos e incluso te da pena por lo que están pasando。 Estoy deseando seguir leyendo más， así que no creo que tarde mucho en leerme el segundo para ver cómo avanza todo。 Muy bueno。 。。。more
Roxyy
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Tenía las expectativas muy altas con este libro y me ha parecido un poco meh La idea me parece muy original pero el desarrollo de la trama no tanto
John
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Thoroughly entertaining fantasy。The setting， of four alternate Londons， occupying the same space in different dimensions and the way magic works is quite different。The time period， notionally 1820s， feels a bit off （feels more late 17th/early 18th century swashbuckling than post Napoleonic） but it doesn't really get in the way。It takes about a quarter of the book to really get going as the author concentrates on world building， but the two main characters are lively and entertaining。Once it kick Thoroughly entertaining fantasy。The setting， of four alternate Londons， occupying the same space in different dimensions and the way magic works is quite different。The time period， notionally 1820s， feels a bit off （feels more late 17th/early 18th century swashbuckling than post Napoleonic） but it doesn't really get in the way。It takes about a quarter of the book to really get going as the author concentrates on world building， but the two main characters are lively and entertaining。Once it kicks into gear there's plenty of action and adventure and a smidgen of romance 。Would recommend it 。 。。。more
anahita
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3。5✩It was an interesting story and all， but I just didn't feel super connected to any of the characters enough so I wasn't able to really get into it。I might try re-reading this but as a physical/ebook because I was listening to it as an audiobook and sometimes important parts get lost in translation （y'know what I mean？） 3。5✩It was an interesting story and all， but I just didn't feel super connected to any of the characters enough so I wasn't able to really get into it。I might try re-reading this but as a physical/ebook because I was listening to it as an audiobook and sometimes important parts get lost in translation （y'know what I mean？） 。。。more
Sena
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I really enjoyed this。 I LIVE for the brotherly bond between Kell and Rhy。 I can’t wait to see what happens with Lila and also if Holland is gonna come back。 I’m excited！
Harriet
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Absolutely loved this book， it was so intriguing， and the characters made me smile
Val
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no me atrapó mucho el mundo mágico pero los personajes lo son todo， amo la hermandad entre rhy y kell， y lila es una diosa
Shannon Hogan
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Took a while to get into it and get attached to the characters。 I enjoyed the last quarter of the book the most。
Shana Kennedy
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Really enjoyed this！ Compelling and original。
Cherry
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I had really enjoyed my time with this book。 Was it flawless？ No。 However， more or less， it was my cup of tea。 The reason for my 4 star review is quite simple。（view spoiler）[It was Lila's character。 I hoped maybe through out the book I will start to warm up to her character but no。 Lila's whole plot could have been enjoyable if not for her whole character/personality。 Because of how I detest Lila， I wish that V。E。 Schwab didn't wrote this romance between her and Kell。 I really detested any sligh I had really enjoyed my time with this book。 Was it flawless？ No。 However， more or less， it was my cup of tea。 The reason for my 4 star review is quite simple。（view spoiler）[It was Lila's character。 I hoped maybe through out the book I will start to warm up to her character but no。 Lila's whole plot could have been enjoyable if not for her whole character/personality。 Because of how I detest Lila， I wish that V。E。 Schwab didn't wrote this romance between her and Kell。 I really detested any slight hint of it。 （hide spoiler）] I know I didn't really voice my reason in detail but writing my feelings isn't my strong suit。 Do I recommend this book？ Sure， give it a try。 Be aware that it's focused more on the story than it's characters though！ 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=A Darker Shade of Magic
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=A Darker Shade of Magic&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft