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

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 505 topics — 19,050 comments total

Series

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

last updated Aug 12, 2025 07:32AM

* New Series- The Princess Trials
By Bailey · 10 posts · 59 views

last updated Aug 27, 2025 04:41PM

showing 10 of 11 topics view all »

What Members Thought

May 13, 2015 Kevin Xu rated it it was ok

This is one of the most popular books I have seen in a while, especially on Youtube with the Booktuber YA crowd other than Brandon Sanderson (as his last few books have also been bad). This might be because the author wrote a series of YA novels, before she started on writing adult books to add to the hype.

I should have known and expected this book to be bad, if the YA Booktuber crowed loved it and this book had hype, but I decided to read it anyway to see if the hype lived up, expecting anythin ...more

34 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2021 aikaterine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: physical-read, series-started, heroines

A Darker Shade of Magic , the book I've had on my shelves for about 4 years but never before read. I know how hyped people are about this series, and it always intimidates me a bit when I'm reading a book so many people love. And, even if it's not my favorite book or anything, I ended up enjoying this story so much.

Blog ∙ YouTube ∙ Instagram ∙ Facebook ∙ Twitter

ADSOM revolves around Kell, a powerful magician who can travel between the 3 Londons, Red, Grey and White, and Lila, a cross-dres ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2017 Megan rated it it was amazing

“Looking for trouble, he'd say. You're gonna look til you find it.
Trouble is the looker, she'd answer. It keeps looking till it finds you. Might as well find it first.
Why do you want to die?
I don't, she'd say. I just want to live.”

I was hesitant about this book. You see, I have had a long string of "sci-fi/fantasy" books that have been complete busts. I really enjoy stories where the author has to create completely new worlds, and sometimes it just doesn't work for me. It can get too complicated “Looking for trouble, he'd say. You're gonna look til you find it.
Trouble is the looker, she'd answer. It keeps looking till it finds you. Might as well find it first.
Why do you want to die?
I don't, she'd say. I just want to live.”

I was hesitant about this book. You see, I have had a long string of "sci-fi/fantasy" books that have been complete busts. I really enjoy stories where the author has to create completely new worlds, and sometimes it just doesn't work for me. It can get too complicated where I have no idea what I'm reading or they spend so much time painting the world for you, they lose the story. After having this book in my "to read" shelf on Goodreads, I decided to finally give it a try.

Oh my goodness it was much better than I expected it to be. The world building was spot on and there was still a story that I couldn't get enough of. This story is set in a place where 4 different Londons exist. Grey, White, Red and Black. Each have different qualities and have different levels of magic. The story focuses on 2 main characters. Kell from Red London, who is an "Antari" (basically a person who possess magical powers) and Lila from Grey London, a thief who wants so desperately to be a pirate who is constantly on adventures.

Red London has a King and Queen and so does White London. Except White London is ruled by a crazy, power hungry twin brother and sister who are extremely powerful. Kell comes to posses a stone from Black London (which has fallen, or so they say) and it causes a bunch of problems everywhere. The rulers of White London are trying to take control of this stone

Now that I'm writing this it sounds way more complicated than I remember it being. It was slightly difficult to keep the different Londons straight, but once it all clicked it was incredible. It has magic, with a bit of adventure and phenomenal world building. Definitely an author I need to read more from.
Likes: The world. I like that she took a real life place and added her twist to it.

Dislikes: I honestly can't think of anything. It kept me up late at night reading and I instantly wanted the next book when I finished.

10/10

For more reviews: https://soulmeetsbooks.wordpress.com/ ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 17, 2019 Caitie (caitiegirlreads) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-reads, my-bookshelf, beat-the-backlist-2019

4 Stars - ADSOM ended up being a much faster read than I anticipated, the characters, world and story are very unique in some unexpected ways. 4 London’s all touching each other like books on a shelf - and only 2 people in all those realities able to travel between them. Each London has more or less magic than the last, and Black London has been closed off altogether. Add a mysterious black magic rock, a thief, sadistic royals, and a lovable, powerful and somewhat naive magician and you have the ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 12, 2018 Sherry Rampey rated it really liked it

For those who like the HP books, this is a comparable read. Kell is dark, mysterious. and a loner. Delilah is brash, obstinate, and adventurous. Put the two together, and bang you have a fun witty adventure with two characters who get on each other’s nerves. I wish the author had put more of a story on a secondary character, but perhaps that’s another book.

Like · see review

Jun 14, 2016 Paula S rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I really loved everything about this book - the interactions between the main characters, how the magic works, the overlapping Londons, ... It's one of those books where I'm afraid to read the sequel because how could that possible be just as good? ...more

Like · see review