A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) by V.E. Schwab

Photo from goodreads.com

Summary from goodreads.com




Title: A Darker Shade of Magic

Author: V.E. Schwab

 Rating: * * * * *









Kell is one of the last Antari, a rare magician who can travel between parallel worlds: hopping from Grey London — dirty, boring, lacking magic, and ruled by mad King George — to Red London — where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire — to White London — ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne, where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back — and back, but never Black London, because traveling to Black London is forbidden and no one speaks of it now.
Officially, Kell is the personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see, and it is this dangerous hobby that sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to take her with him for her proper adventure.
But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save both his London and the others, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — a feat trickier than they hoped.

My Thoughts

I really liked Kell.  He was different from everyone else, a rare breed, an Antari.  There was one other in the world, but Kell was still is own person.  He used his powers for good, not for evil like the other Antari.  The hero in the book, he wanted to protect the other London's from the darkness of Black London.  He does have a downside in which he smuggles artifacts from the other Londons which is illegal.  Not only that, but when he unknowingly ends up in possession of an artifact of Black London which leads him to more danger.  Will Kell survive Black London to return the black stone that was given him?

 In a way I feel that I could relate to Kell.  Always wanting to do good and have others trying to stop me.  From experience, I've learned that people will hate on you because of what you do for the good and try to stop you for doing so because they feel that they are better than everyone else.

 The cover of the book alone shows how Kell travels between the worlds.  We see him traveling from Black London, the one that people aren't known to return from, to Red London which is Kell's home.  This cover depicts the major points of the story very well.

Closing

I hope you enjoyed the second Book Review.  The next book I will be reviewing is Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon Book 2 of the Outlander series.  Stay tuned for that one coming soon.


   

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