Synopsis:
It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Prince Rhy was wounded, and since the nefarious Dane twins of White London fell, and four months since the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift–back into Black London.
Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games–an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries–a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.
And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall.
Review:
With Schwab’s books, I can never deny the quality. Everything is truly there, it’s just a matter of the characters and plot for me.
First of all, I definitely liked A Darker Shade of Magic better. However, the concept of the Element Games intrigued me, so I enthusiastically read more. The Element Games themselves were some of my favorite parts of the book, but everything leading up to it just felt like it was only there to lead up to it. I read one review saying that it took three hundred pages to get interesting and thought, “It’s interesting where I am!” In case you’re wondering, I was over three hundred pages in.
Next, the characters. My favorites were Holland, Rhy, and Alucard, mainly because they were the only ones I liked. I would absolutely read an entire book about Rhy and Alucard, but Kell and Lila? To me Kell is impressive but a little boring and Lila needs to stop referring to herself as “one of a kind”. We understood that a while ago. I was so happy to see Holland again because he seems to be the character with the most substance.
Even though I’ve said all of this, I still really liked it. I’ll definitely be reading the final book, A Conjuring of Light, and Schwab’s short story about Rhy and Alucard in A Universe of Wishes. I would certainly recommend it to people who liked Kell and Lila in A Darker Shade of Magic or want Rhy to be a little more relevant.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.
The Fiction Feature 