Goodreads Synopsis:
Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
My Review:
I had heard this book was amazing, but I wasn’t totally confident. I was so wrong. Just from the simple slices of life in the first parts of the book, each of the characters is firmly established. I loved that the characters seemed consistent, but not predictable. Their reactions and opinions were a great insight into their characters, especially Kell and Lila’s views on the token and how they progress as more comes to light.
I was iffy at the worldbuilding at first because so much seemed to be open to interpretation, but by the end most things were clear or soon to be clarified. The magic and alternate Londons really drew me in and I was really interested in the way that Kell said they were layered and the history of it all. V.E. Schwab really seemed to know well what she wanted her world to be and the execution was wonderful.
I would definitely recommend this book to people who like fantasy, but not necessarily the traditional type. I would say I’d die for Rhy or Lila but they seem to be in the line of fire a lot so I’d rather stay safe. I really loved a lot about this book and I’m dying to read the others and V.E. Schwab’s other books.
Overall, I would rate this book…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.
The Fiction Feature 