From the Bookshelf of Addicted to YA…

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

V.E. Schwab,

Victoria Schwab

Start date: May 1, 2016

Finish date: May 31, 2016

Discussion: Series

Why we're reading this: Won the poll for the series BOTM
[close] Won the poll for the series BOTM

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Series

* Continuing Series- Nightbane
By Bailey · 4 posts · 30 views

last updated Aug 12, 2025 07:32AM

* New Series- The Princess Trials
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last updated Aug 27, 2025 04:41PM

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What Members Thought

Aug 26, 2017 Lesa Divine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-own, read-it, favorite-list, 2017, 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

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Feb 28, 2015 Lisa rated it it was amazing

WHAT DID I THINK???

That I am going to devour every word that dribbles off this author's pen.

I don't know what it is about her way of telling a story that captivates me so. Maybe it's the characters and their flawed natures? Yes--I think that's it. Schwab's characters are unique and complex and three--dimensional. Her imagery is original to the point that I can feel my neurons expanding and stretching like they've been to yoga.

She is what writing is all about.

Hail to my new queen!

So what about ...more

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Jul 29, 2020 Michelle DeFields-Gambrel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, six-star-books

Amazing! This pushes every other book I’ve read this year (and last year) down the list, taking its place as best book read this year (as of 7/29/20). Why am I only reading this series now?! What rock have I been under?

Reading this story felt like reading Harry Potter and watching Dr. Who all at the same time. Not that ADSOM is anything like those two, but “the feels”, you know what I mean?

V. E. Schwab can Write, with a capital “W”. Her ability to suck the reader into her creation is on par wit Amazing! This pushes every other book I’ve read this year (and last year) down the list, taking its place as best book read this year (as of 7/29/20). Why am I only reading this series now?! What rock have I been under?

Reading this story felt like reading Harry Potter and watching Dr. Who all at the same time. Not that ADSOM is anything like those two, but “the feels”, you know what I mean?

V. E. Schwab can Write, with a capital “W”. Her ability to suck the reader into her creation is on par with almost no other. I’m ready for the cons! Where are the ADSOM cons?! And how can I make a coat with more than two sides to it so that I can go as Kell? My mind is furiously working on that. I am glad they haven’t made a movie out of it yet - it would suck in comparison to the book. Nothing could be that good.

This story is so tight, there are almost no holes in the plotting or the writing, except for one particular scene that left me very confused until I’d read it over about five times. No spoilers, but there is a scene where the antari (blood magician) Kell, the MC, is asked to take something to another of the Londons. Grammatically, it is written in a way that suggests he needs to take it to Black London, which we know is impossible, and makes clear what London he goes to only about three pages later—it was Red London. Maybe I’m the only one, but it left me confused for quite a while.

That little wobble in the story would probably have dropped a point from almost any other book, but ADSOM is so good, it really deserves more than 5 stars, so it didn’t dim my enjoyment of the book enough to matter.

The main characters (Kell, Holland, and Lila), were well fleshed out and deep, while the secondary characters were a little more flat, but, honestly, I don’t mind a truly evil villain with no backstory. Some of the tertiary characters had more characterization than the villains, but it worked somehow.

There were no slow spots in the book; it maintained momentum right through the book with no “middle” slump that a lot of books suffer from.

While it is the first book in a trilogy, it felt “finished”. I am definitely going to read the other two books, but if someone doesn’t like series, they could read only the first one and feel like it has a satisfying ending. Of course, I think they’ll decide to read on.

While there is a lot of violence and fighting in the book, it was never graphic. Even with all of that, V.E. Schwab somehow managed to make the book feel “fun”!

Read it, you won’t be sorry! ...more

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