Source: Goodreads
Four months after the events of A Darker Shade of Magic, Kell and Rye prepare for the international magic tournament known as the Essen Tasch, while Lila sails dark seas in search of a new version of herself. In another London, long gone magic is brewing, threatening to upset the balance that has kept Red London safe.
OH MY GOSH, VICTORIA. Pardon my language, but having read the last half of the book in nearly one sitting today, my emotions are in pieces. It’s not just the cliffhanger, I swear. I have the final book, A Conjuring of Light, sitting next to me, waiting for me to finish typing this review before I dive in (and presumably drown).
As hard as I found A Darker Shade of Magic to get into, A Gathering of Shadows is the utter and complete opposite. You’re thrown right in, the worlds you met in the first installment bright and welcoming alongside everything you never knew. The action is near non-stop, what with the tournament and the enemies plotting, and Kell and Lila’s constant dancing around each other’s feeling that is only amplified by Rhy’s own issues bubbling to the surface.
The writing is superb, dragging you along in its current as if you were drowning in the Isle. I was reading in a Starbucks one morning and had to leave because I kept laughing, squealing, and gasping with every sentence. I’ll admit that just about everyone felt a little flat in the first book, but not anymore. It’s as if they’ve all been hooked up to air pumps and made into 3D. I feel like I haven’t breathed since I started reading at 8 am this morning. I only took a break because it’s Sunday and I had to go the church (it’s really hard to concentrate on God when all of your favorite characters’ lives are in potential peril). And then I came home and haven’t left my room since. This book. Everything about it is brilliant. It has easily cemented its place on my 2017 favorites list, and my family and friends can now expect it to be shoved down their throats in the very near future. Also, Delilah Bard is my favorite human.
HHC Rating: 5 Stars
Other reviews in this series: Book #1 – A Darker Shade of Magic Book #3 – A Conjuring of Light