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Jamie (Books and Ladders)'s Reviews > The Darkest Magic
The Darkest Magic (Spirits and Thieves, #2)
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Looking for my review of Falling Kingdoms? Click here!
I have died. I'm dead. Like super dead. This book, this series, this world, they all slay me. I have a good chance of being revived in time for Crystal Storm and then dying again after I finish that one. But man! I love getting the backstory to Falling Kingdoms in The Darkest Magic. It makes my reading of these books that much more interesting. I had a few issues with this one but otherwise I am THOROUGHLY SATISFIED.
The Bad:
One thing about the way that these books are written is that there is instalove everywhere. You meet someone and three days later you are super in love with them. And that's fine, except it's not that believable -- especially when you read it about every single character. It's basically like: Person A meets Person B and three days later they are a couple and soul mates. Which is fine if you're into that sort of thing, but I am not. I think the most realistic relationship in this one is between Crystal and Farrell and I am not even a fan of them together.
The Good:
Literally everything else. Like, adults were a part of this! They told the kids what they needed to know but were there for (most of) the steps to solving the problem. But the kids were still kids! They snuck out! They tried to solve the problem on their own and failed! It was excellent. I also liked that the adults were just as wrapped up in the events as the kids were. Too often with fantasy books the kids think they can just solve the problem on their own and parents are oblivious (or in a magical coma) so they don't ask for help. But Crystal asked for help and received it. She also wanted to be in the know and the adults trusted her (to some extent). It was wonderful. And Becca was able to grow in this one a lot more than in A Book of Spirits and Thieves because she was given her own point of view. I'm not going to lie, when I saw she had her own point of view, I thought (view spoiler) but it was refreshing to see how the magic worked with her and that she was her own person instead of just Crys's sister or Maddox's BFF/Crush/True Love.
I loved being in Maddox's mind because I love Mytica SO MUCH. I could spend forever in this fantasy world (and trust me, I spend a lot of time rereading the FK books) so having this addition and a portal to our present day world? Hello, let me find that please! I feel like Maddox has grown so much over the course of the story and I am really excited to see where he is going to go next. (view spoiler)
I am still not a fan of Farrell. I think he is a lot of things that if I wrote them out I would have to ** and !$@ the letters so you don't see what I'm saying. I don't think he is a good guy and I don't think he has room for a redemption arc. I feel like the ending is going to change him a lot though so LET'S SEE. But I don't think Crys and him are a good match. Nope nope nope. I'm nope-ing out of there. HOWEVER, I did quite enjoy their ballroom scene and I am such a sucker for those tbh.
I am so excited to see how the plot develops both in Toronto and in Mytica. I feel like this has so much potential for explosive and danger, but also sweet and sentimental. I love this series and I will PUSH IT ON PEOPLE FOREVER (looking at you Dani) so START BOTH THIS AND FALLING KINGDOMS ASAP!
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
I have died. I'm dead. Like super dead. This book, this series, this world, they all slay me. I have a good chance of being revived in time for Crystal Storm and then dying again after I finish that one. But man! I love getting the backstory to Falling Kingdoms in The Darkest Magic. It makes my reading of these books that much more interesting. I had a few issues with this one but otherwise I am THOROUGHLY SATISFIED.
The Bad:
One thing about the way that these books are written is that there is instalove everywhere. You meet someone and three days later you are super in love with them. And that's fine, except it's not that believable -- especially when you read it about every single character. It's basically like: Person A meets Person B and three days later they are a couple and soul mates. Which is fine if you're into that sort of thing, but I am not. I think the most realistic relationship in this one is between Crystal and Farrell and I am not even a fan of them together.
The Good:
Literally everything else. Like, adults were a part of this! They told the kids what they needed to know but were there for (most of) the steps to solving the problem. But the kids were still kids! They snuck out! They tried to solve the problem on their own and failed! It was excellent. I also liked that the adults were just as wrapped up in the events as the kids were. Too often with fantasy books the kids think they can just solve the problem on their own and parents are oblivious (or in a magical coma) so they don't ask for help. But Crystal asked for help and received it. She also wanted to be in the know and the adults trusted her (to some extent). It was wonderful. And Becca was able to grow in this one a lot more than in A Book of Spirits and Thieves because she was given her own point of view. I'm not going to lie, when I saw she had her own point of view, I thought (view spoiler) but it was refreshing to see how the magic worked with her and that she was her own person instead of just Crys's sister or Maddox's BFF/Crush/True Love.
I loved being in Maddox's mind because I love Mytica SO MUCH. I could spend forever in this fantasy world (and trust me, I spend a lot of time rereading the FK books) so having this addition and a portal to our present day world? Hello, let me find that please! I feel like Maddox has grown so much over the course of the story and I am really excited to see where he is going to go next. (view spoiler)
I am still not a fan of Farrell. I think he is a lot of things that if I wrote them out I would have to ** and !$@ the letters so you don't see what I'm saying. I don't think he is a good guy and I don't think he has room for a redemption arc. I feel like the ending is going to change him a lot though so LET'S SEE. But I don't think Crys and him are a good match. Nope nope nope. I'm nope-ing out of there. HOWEVER, I did quite enjoy their ballroom scene and I am such a sucker for those tbh.
I am so excited to see how the plot develops both in Toronto and in Mytica. I feel like this has so much potential for explosive and danger, but also sweet and sentimental. I love this series and I will PUSH IT ON PEOPLE FOREVER (looking at you Dani) so START BOTH THIS AND FALLING KINGDOMS ASAP!
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
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Reading Progress
May 26, 2016
– Shelved
May 26, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 14, 2016
–
Started Reading
June 14, 2016
–
11.74%
"yes Becca, what a good idea, just let a spirit out of where it's trapped. *eye roll*"
page
50
June 14, 2016
–
33.8%
"I kinda want Crystal and Angus to hook up??? I like him a lot more than Farrell"
page
144
June 14, 2016
–
34.27%
"okay but will destroying him also kill Farrell because I see Crystal having an issue with this (and even though I am like not #TeamFarrell, I still don't want him to die??)"
page
146
June 14, 2016
–
35.68%
"I'm secretly super excited for this ball scene. Typically they are boring and predictable but this one smells like danger."
page
152
June 14, 2016
–
38.97%
"No!! I wanted this to be more about the ball!!!!! *quickly reads Maddox's section*"
page
166
June 14, 2016
–
55.87%
"I'm getting teary-eyed at the references to FK because SO LONG TO WAIT FOR CS."
page
238
June 14, 2016
–
60.56%
"so one thing I'm kinda loving about this is that the adults are really involved and the kids aren't like "LOL WE DON'T NEED ADULTS!!!" because there is definitely a need for adults."
page
258
June 14, 2016
–
Finished Reading
