A Gathering of Shadows
A Gathering of Shadows, (Shades of Magic Trilogy, Book 2), by V.E. Schwab
Blurb: Kell is plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, he is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila. As Red London prepares for the Element Games – an extravagant international competition of magic – a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning. Black London has risen again – and so to keep magic's balance, another London must fall.My Review Firstly, I'm going to talk about what I loved in this book... V.E. Schwab's writing is amazing, as is her world building and, just like the first book, I was drawn straight in and didn't want to leave. Then there are the characters; they are all so well written and developed. I like Kell and his emotionally struggle is very well written and my heart was breaking for him at the end because he basically looses the only family he'd ever know. However, this book felt like Lila was more of the main character, which was fine with me because although I really liked Kell, I love Lila! She's the heroine I've been waiting for. I mean, she has questionable morals but she's also totally badass and she knows it! She listens to no one! I can't wait to see what she gets up to in the next book. Also, anyone who read my review of the first book will know I was hoping Rhy would get more air-time in this book and be more developed, which he was and I'm really interested to see where his relationship with Alucard ends up. (I also loved Alucard, by the way, his sense of humour and charm was brilliant!) Finally, Holland... I don't know what to say... He's not dead, which I had guessed/hoped anyway, but he's also looking less and less redeemable, but I guess I'll read the next book and find out! So, basically for me this was a very character driven book; there wasn't as much action as in the first book and to be honest very little actually happens. Obviously, there are parts in this book that are absolutely necessary to the development and movement of the story - Lila's powers, Hollands return and Kell's kidnap being the most important - however, I feel like this book was written for the simple purpose of getting you from point A (book 1) to point B (book 3). All in all, it was a good book, simple because I love the characters, but if you're expecting the same thing we got from the first book, it's a bit of a let down. However, now with such an amazing set up (the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat!) I'm expecting great things from the last book! 
My favourite quotes from 'A Gathering of Shadows': 'Walking away had been easy. Not looking back was harder.''Well would say it was impossible. What a useless word, in a world with magic.''... Grey-worlders sealed away their dead, trapping the discarded shells in gold and wood and stone as if some remnant of who they'd been in life remained. And if they did? What a cruel punishment.' 'Nature is made of cycles, and we are made of nature. What is unnatural is believing in an infallible man and a nice place waiting in the sky.' '... a memory with edges still to sharp to touch.''Everyone's immortal until they're not.''... he understood that approving of something and allowing it were not always the same thing.'
Blurb: Kell is plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, he is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila. As Red London prepares for the Element Games – an extravagant international competition of magic – a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning. Black London has risen again – and so to keep magic's balance, another London must fall.My Review Firstly, I'm going to talk about what I loved in this book... V.E. Schwab's writing is amazing, as is her world building and, just like the first book, I was drawn straight in and didn't want to leave. Then there are the characters; they are all so well written and developed. I like Kell and his emotionally struggle is very well written and my heart was breaking for him at the end because he basically looses the only family he'd ever know. However, this book felt like Lila was more of the main character, which was fine with me because although I really liked Kell, I love Lila! She's the heroine I've been waiting for. I mean, she has questionable morals but she's also totally badass and she knows it! She listens to no one! I can't wait to see what she gets up to in the next book. Also, anyone who read my review of the first book will know I was hoping Rhy would get more air-time in this book and be more developed, which he was and I'm really interested to see where his relationship with Alucard ends up. (I also loved Alucard, by the way, his sense of humour and charm was brilliant!) Finally, Holland... I don't know what to say... He's not dead, which I had guessed/hoped anyway, but he's also looking less and less redeemable, but I guess I'll read the next book and find out! So, basically for me this was a very character driven book; there wasn't as much action as in the first book and to be honest very little actually happens. Obviously, there are parts in this book that are absolutely necessary to the development and movement of the story - Lila's powers, Hollands return and Kell's kidnap being the most important - however, I feel like this book was written for the simple purpose of getting you from point A (book 1) to point B (book 3). All in all, it was a good book, simple because I love the characters, but if you're expecting the same thing we got from the first book, it's a bit of a let down. However, now with such an amazing set up (the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat!) I'm expecting great things from the last book! My favourite quotes from 'A Gathering of Shadows': 'Walking away had been easy. Not looking back was harder.''Well would say it was impossible. What a useless word, in a world with magic.''... Grey-worlders sealed away their dead, trapping the discarded shells in gold and wood and stone as if some remnant of who they'd been in life remained. And if they did? What a cruel punishment.' 'Nature is made of cycles, and we are made of nature. What is unnatural is believing in an infallible man and a nice place waiting in the sky.' '... a memory with edges still to sharp to touch.''Everyone's immortal until they're not.''... he understood that approving of something and allowing it were not always the same thing.'
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