A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) in knightly novels

Dec 19, 2020 andrea hartmann rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf, best-reviews, disliked

Today I woke refreshed on my first day of winter break and I thought to myself, "why are you still reading 'A Darker Shade of Magic'? Clearly, you don't like it very much and it's simply dragging for you." So I got up, went to Goodreads, and shelved this book as 'dnf'. Something my dad always says when I tell him a book is kinda bad is "well, the good thing about a book is that you can just put it down and back onto the shelf or into the trash if you want if it sucks." so I took that initiative. Today I woke refreshed on my first day of winter break and I thought to myself, "why are you still reading 'A Darker Shade of Magic'? Clearly, you don't like it very much and it's simply dragging for you." So I got up, went to Goodreads, and shelved this book as 'dnf'. Something my dad always says when I tell him a book is kinda bad is "well, the good thing about a book is that you can just put it down and back onto the shelf or into the trash if you want if it sucks." so I took that initiative. Well, I didn't throw it in the trash, but I put it in my shelf.

I know this book is mostly marketed towards adults, however, I picked it up anyway as a gift for someone, and then I realized it was marketed towards adults so I kept it for the beautiful cover. I don't think my distaste for the book had anything to do with the fact that it is an adult book and that I read it at the wrong time. This is because it was pretty easy to understand, besides a few confusing marks. Plus, there are people younger than me who loved it, so I think it might just be a matter of personal preference. I was actually entertained for a while before it just went all downhill eventually.

This might fare as an unpopular opinion, but I didn't like the writing style. Not to say that V.E. or Victoria Schwab is just not for me, as I will read more of her books later on. I just think this book had a little too much of a monotonous narrator and the whole magic system in general just wasn't for my liking. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone without knowing their tastes first because this book is very unique in the sense of its world and its magic. I applaud Victoria Schwab for being able to create a fantasy story totally new to the worlds of fantasy.

At the point I am in this book (48%), I just found myself very bored. I don't have much negative to say of the plot besides it was just a bit bland and boring. It was actually kind of cool, how this whole story unfolding, again, as I will be repeating for like the fiftieth time now, it just wasn't for me.

I do have an actual opinion on the characters. Kell was boring. Holland was boring. Astrid and Athos, well, I just hated them. Rhy was annoying. The King and Queen were con artists. Lila had flavor, which was cool, I guess, but she was a bit annoying impulsive and I kinda wanted to punch her because she ruined practically everything for poor Kell, who was just living his life and trying not to get killed. Also, why can't a strong self-confident main female character EVER, and I mean EVER think she is beautiful. There are always those beautiful strong female characters off not the side getting hated on by the insecure main character, and I think we need less of that.

There was an awkward scene where there was some unneeded sexual tension between Holland and Athos, and it was some Stockholm syndrome thing so it made me a little uncomfortable. I am curious though, who would have ended up together if I ended up continuing the series because clearly, I will not. So maybe just leave those in the comments with a spoiler block.

I'm sorry about this crappy review. It consisted of me feeling bad for hating this book based on what I like in a book, rather than its overall quality, but I think I deserve that. So thanks for reading! ...more

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Aug 19, 2022 Domitylle (can only update books rn. sorry) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, i-own

This book was great! It's full of action, plot twists, magic and incredible characters! I loved reading this book, I love the concept of it, it was amazing!

Tropes you can find in it:
🗹 parallel worlds
🗹 enemies to partners (to maybe lovers)
🗹 use of forbidden magic
🗹 royalty
🗹 element n°5
🗹 multiple povs
🗹 battle of bad vs. good
🗹 adopted into royalty

Quotes I liked:
- For the ones who dream of stranger worlds.
- Some people steal to stay alive, and some steal to feel alive. Simple as that.
- A lif ...more

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