From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1)

V.E. Schwab,

Victoria Schwab

Start date: January 2, 2016

Finish date: January 31, 2016

Discussion: Books of the Month

Why we're reading this: Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy BOM.
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What Members Thought

Aug 26, 2017 Lesa Divine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-it, i-own, 2017, favorite-list, 2018, botm-selection, september-2023

First time reading 8/2017.... 5 🌟
I'll admit it was a bit of a slow start at the beginning with the audio book plus I was confused listening to this story. 151 pages into the audio. I decided this audio just isn't for me so I grabbed the book went starting from like page 60 to reread some of what I heard to make sense of the story. Then I was able to get into it with no confusion at all. I started flying through the story.
Loved it to the point I'll like to finish the series.
Kell a traveler to dif ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 13, 2019 Rachel N. rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019, london, fantasy, magic

Kell is an Antari, one of only two known people who can travel between worlds. He resides in Red London but can travel to Grey and White London. Black London was sealed off from the others when the magic there became too powerful. Kell also smuggles artifacts between worlds which is illegal. When Kell ends up with a forbidden artifact he flees to Grey London and runs into pickpocket and aspiring pirate Delilah "Lila" Bard. It took awhile to set up the different worlds but once Lila enters the pi ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 20, 2019 Jenn rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2019-finished

I understand the hype around this book. The magic world in this book is like none other. Right from the get go this book had me engaged. It was easily readable yet full of detail. A very fast paced novel that didn't get bogged down with too many details, yet provided me with plenty of information on the world, magic system, and the characters.

Kell and Lila are the main characters and they took me through their journey. I loved discovering Kell's life. Lila, on the other hand, tended to irritate ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 02, 2019 Cora rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, kindle, historical-fantasy, europe, audible, london, england, magic, 1st-in-series, alternate-universes

I liked this book. The worlds were interesting and unique and I really liked the characters. The story kept my attention, but it did not seem as deep as I would have liked. The evil characters are very evil and the good characters are mostly very good. It seemed to check all the boxes for a fun fantasy adventure but did not go beyond that. I will definitely continue the series as I found it a fun read, I just thought it could have been a lot more.

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 11, 2019 Savi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, favourites, read-in-2019, author-nb, lead-lgbtqia, lead-multi

This is a new favourite for me. I loved almost everything about it; the characters are well written, the plot pacing was amazing and the concept of multiple Londons grabbed me right from the start. My only regret is that I let it sit on my tbr for this long without reading it.

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Dec 25, 2015 Leslie King rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-suggest

Just finished the collector's edition. I feel like I got the "deleted scenes" version. And feel special and included with the editor/author conversation. The cultural references and feels about self spoke to my heart. ...more

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