A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab Book Review

“‘That said, do try not to get us both killed.’

Kell groaned, and Rhy chuckled.

‘To clever plans,’ said Kell, toasting his brother. ‘And dashing princes.’

‘To masked magicians,’ said Rhy, swiping the wine.

‘To mad ideas.’

‘To the Essen Tasch.'”

(pg. 330)

About

Author: V.E. Schwab

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Series: The Shades of Magic Book 2

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Other Shades of Magic Series Book Reviews

A Darker Shade of Magic

A Conjuring of Light (coming soon!)

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

Spoilers Contained Below

To all the magicians,

Another day, another V.E. Schwab book ✌🏼.

Not going to lie, I’m proud of myself for finally reading this series after five years of having the books on my shelf 😂.

My gosh.

But now that I’ve started, I’m fully going for it and am currently in the process of reading the third book, but this is the second book review, so no spoilers here.

What was interesting about A Gathering of Shadows was how A Gathering of Shadows took place four months after we last saw Kell and Lila—Kell going back to his palace life and Lila free to figure out what being in Red London meant for her.

In those four months many things happened.

I liked how we had the time jump to establish Lila’s new life in Red London and the aftermath of everything that happened in White London because we got to see our characters in a different mindset. I don’t know if that makes sense; but you know how most young adult fantasy books take place over the course of days or maybe we leap a year forward, but we’re still in the thick of the plot. The time jump in A Gathering of Shadows felt different because as said in my A Darker Shade of Magic book review, I felt like the first book felt like it could have been just one book, so the second book almost felt like starting over. I say almost because there was still a lot of unknown, but a lot we could work with because there was this time and space for these characters to do other things then be stuck in the same plot.

In those four months, Lila created quite a name and life for herself.

The Bard, the thief of the Night Spire—the ship we saw at the end of A Darker Shade of Magic.

It absolutely does not surprise me the way Lila nestled her way into the crew of the ship she wanted to still. You know, Lila may have grew up with next to nothing, but you cannot say she didn’t grow up with a backbone. Sis saw what she wanted and got it. I think it was kind of ironically funny how Lila didn’t even know that the person she trailed that night in London was the thief on the Night Spire, and how she would end up replacing him on the crew.

I liked hearing about Lila’s relationship with the different members on the Spire, especially Alucard Emery.

Alucard Emery was an interesting character that I quite liked.

He had the confidence and cockiness of any sarcastic privateer you would read about, but there was a gentleness I liked. He wasn’t ruthless or as cut throat as you would think a privateer or a pirate to be because he was of a noble descent; he truly could have had Lila killed, but instead, he took this strange woman onto his ship and under his guidance. I enjoyed reading the glimpses of Lila and Alucard’s slow-to-warm friendship in understanding each other because he didn’t know who Lila was, but was interested in this unfamiliar woman who didn’t seem like she was from there. I liked how they bonded over speaking in the royal language—English–and how he taught her some Arnesian words as well as how to manifest and control her magic.

That was a big thing going into A Gathering of Shadows that I wanted to explore more—Lila’s magic and who she was. From the snippets I read in the beginning, it sounded like Lila could create golden fire magic. There were also backstories of the time in those four months where Alucard trained Lila how to summon her magic in different situations so she was ready for anything. It was really interesting how Lila didn’t seem to have reign over just one element, but she explored different elements and her capacity/strength with each one. She definitely was different, and I could tell that she wanted more power or to do more with her power than just to instigate a simple spark. There was one scene where the whole crew was docked at Sasenroche.

Sasenroche sounded like a very cool place to be; Sasenroche was in the middle of all three empires—Vesk, Faro, and Arnes—touched—so it was the place where many objects or things from the three empires got smuggled. Sasenroche was the true black market compared to the pawn shop that Fletcher owned. When Lila was exploring Sasenroche, she stumbled upon this store that had mirrors. One of the mirrors showed her an eerie vision of her with immense power, and that vision made me think about how Lila had all these untapped powers, that she wanted to discover and use more of because she hated feeling powerless. Lila felt powerless her whole life from her upbringing in not being in control of what happened to her, so she had no choice but to survive. Having magic—a way to do more than simply survive, made her feel like she was worth something for the first time in her life—that she had power. And so I felt Lila having this gift that she never thought she could have, felt like she finally could be in control of her life by controlling—harnessing– her gift.

I still would have loved more backstory about Lila because I still feel like I’m just missing some deeper understanding of who she is, and maybe that will be revealed in time, but I really hope we get those details. I just want to understand why Lila fights or why she runs or why she has this glass eye. Similar to what Alucard kept asking, who is Lila Bard?

I feel like we still are only touching the surface of who she is, and would love to know more about her. If there’s one thing I will say, I feel like A Gathering of Shadows did develop Lila more as a character and gave her more individuality and personality. I liked her a lot more in this book because I saw a different side to her tenacity and strength.

As for Kell, we got to see him play a different role to.

He still acted as a pawn in his “familyies'” dynamic, but what I loved the most about this book was seeing Kell and Rhy’s bond as taut as that bond may be.

Or maybe not taut, more so tied, if you know what I mean.

Because Rhy was dying in the last book, Kell bound his life to Rhy using the Vitari dark magic. So if Kell died, Rhy also died. If Kell hurt, Rhy also hurt and vise versa.

It was really interesting to see the bond and its effects between Rhy and Kell because I knew the bond would be difficult for both of them even if the idea of the bond was unorthodox borderline, impossible. Kell essentially saved Rhy’s life, and if the roles were reversed, I know Rhy would have done the same for Kell because they do have a special relationship despite not being blood-related. But what I feared and could sense in this book was Rhy’s anger towards the situation—this bond they now shared. I didn’t think Rhy was so much angry at Kell even though Rhy’s anger was directed at Kell. Rhy was more upset at the fact that he was bound to his brother and that meant unintentionally hurting his brother when he didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I think above all Rhy mostly blamed himself because he believed they wouldn’t even be in this situation if he hadn’t accepted a necklace from Holland that controlled him in the first place—that if he wasn’t so greedy to be seen as strong, he wouldn’t have been controlled and Kell wouldn’t have had to make the choice to bind their lives. I don’t think Rhy should be hard on himself because we all do things that we might not agree with later on, but we chose in the moment because we felt it was best for us. I can’t blame him. Nor should he blame himself and the actions that happened after making his decision because he could have never known that all this would happen by taking one necklace from Holland. I admired that Rhy wanted to be a great king, but I hoped he knew that just because he wasn’t strong in having a touch of magic, didn’t make him any less of a king. Gosh knows, power does not make a king. I mean, it does, but you know what I mean 😅—-you can have all the power and magic in the world, but if you don’t have leadership, or a heart, than that power means nothing.

Because Rhy was so angry at himself and the situation they were in, he acted out. I believe Rhy’s acting out was part of the anger he held, but also the darkness that ran through his and Kell’s veins. Rhy was looking for trouble, and seemed like a masochist in wanting every other pain besides the pain of the guilt he felt. Or maybe the pain of the darkness inside of him because gosh knows we cannot outrun the darkness that festers inside our head. Gosh knows sometimes our minds can be heavy places to be. It made me sad seeing someone who Kell described as this sort of sunshine, party boy become someone who looked for trouble for the heck of it because he was hurting and wanted to numb that pain. But in hurting himself, he was hurting Kell, which I thought would be the last thing Rhy wanted to do. But there were all these high-strung emotions that came with this bond—they were both feeling the pain.

The bond went past more than just death and physical pain. They could feel emotional pain, they could feel when things were wrong. I liked when Kell described it as the bond almost felt like he had a second heartbeat in his chest because that was how close this bond was to them—they lived and breathed together. For Kell, there was definitely a darkness I also felt like would come from the bond and also from Kell having the Vitari in his body. Kell was restless—he needed to fight to expel energy. They both had this violent buzzing energy that was different about them, so I wondered how we could rid the bond without you know, one of them dying 😅. Because obviously this bond wasn’t healthy for them and how much they tolerated or hid with their pain.

Rhy’s plan to help Kell let out this pent up energy and darkness he felt, was to enroll Kell in teh Essen Tasch games.

If I’m being honest from the synopsis and from the whole book being about this absolute dazzling, cut throat, epic Essen Tasch Games, we sure only got a hundred pages or so from these aforementioned games 🙈!!!!!

Oh my gosh!!!! I’m not going to lie, I felt like we were building up this games the WHOLE, ENTIRE, book, and then we get to the game and the details were minimal 😅. I mean, the details were good, they were fun to read, but my gosh, I wanted MORE 👏🏼!!! I just felt like we were building up this grand game and then we only got a few fight scenes here and there and some balls thrown in, and that’s okay and was a nice part of the climax/resolution of the end of the book, but I just felt like if we are buliding up this game, we should have full on detail. Give me epic. Give me gore. Give me inhaled, bated breath. Give me drama.

I mean, some of the Essen Tasch gave me drama and bated breath, but I don’t know, I just wanted something more—something that equaled the build up.

The Essen Tasch is basically the Red London equivalent of the Olympics.

The Essen Tasch means the Elemental Games which happens every three years in the victor’s city. It is a game between the three empires of Vesk, Faro, and Arnes where thirty-six magicians are selected by the Aven Essen to compete in a five days and five nights battle/game where they have to use their selected element to knock down however many plates or armor to win. The magicians pair up in each round and the winner of that round advances, until the last round where the top three will demask and fight for the champion. The champion is the person who has no plates missing.

These games are fought to keep the peace between the three empires and as a show of good faith between empires that they respect each other and can still show off the respected talents of their empire. The way V.E. Schwab described the reason for these games, shed a new persepctive to me as to why we have the Olympics between countries because I always wondered why we got together as a world every four years to showcase athletic talent in the form of the Olympics. But I kind of understand the reasoning a bit better now even if I didn’t explain it the best right now 😅. But I get it.

Rhy was hosting the Essen Tasch, and the Essen Tasch was being held in Arnes this year due to the previous winner being Kisimyr.

Because Rhy was hosting the Essen Tasch, he designed the games as this grand showcase with floating stadiums above the Red Isle, which I have to say had to be stylish and pretty cool. He also managed to get Kell into the games as non other than Kamerov Loste or K.L. because that’s not obvious 😂. I liked how we did get more of Tieren in this book because that’s something I said I wanted more of with the upcoming books in this series. I just thought Tieren seemed like a significant character I wanted to learn more about or see more of. So I’m glad we got that; and that he truly does not judge Rhy or Kell for what they do, but he supports them as best as he can even if he doesn’t agree with them.

Teiren got Kell into the game because he agreed that maybe Rhy and Kell needed this so Kell could get rid of some energy and this would give him a place to do so. However, it became this whole scheme that involved lying to Maxim about where Kell was and lying to Kell’s guards about their plan. Kell’s guards, Hastra and Straub? or whatever—thought that Kell was going undercover based on King Maxim’s order to find someone in the games.

I’m going to go on a tangent for a second, but I liked Hastra. I mean, I liked him because I remembered his name 😂. He was memorable. I just liked how he respected and admired Kell and was down to protect Kell no matter if that meant betraying his loyalties to the King—he was loyal to Kell. And I loved that. Kell needed someone he trusted and he liked, and I liked that Hastra was a good guy that Kell could trust. I also liked that scene where Hastra showed Kell how he balanced elements/used his power, and Hastra opened up about how he could have studied to be a priest, but he wanted to be a royal guard because that was his dream as a kid. His father wanted him to be a priest. So Hastra was living his dream just to see what it would be like, and when he was ready or this was over, he knew he would go study with Tieren as a priest. I don’t know why I loved that backstory a lot, but I did ♥️. I just liked how human Hastra felt in having a dream and being able to live that dream, but also having the best of both worlds to live another goal he wanted. That’s pretty cool because not many people get to live out two dreams of theirs or feel like they have a lot of options of what they want to do, but I guess to me Hastra felt like a reminder that you never have to be stuck in one career, and can explore different passions or things that you enjoy.

Sorry, I told you I would tangent there for a second, but I really liked Hastra and hope we can keep his character around. He’s a cool gaurd.

I find it almost laughable and mad how Lila knew she was going to participate in the Essen Tasch when she barely even knew what they were five seconds ago.

I mean, once she heard about the games, her immediate thought was how do I get to play 😂. She really was something, and it was comically so Lila that it didn’t surprise me. At all.

But also, I kept wondering how in the heck would she get into the games when they chose the participants a long time ago. Save it for Lila to go and bonk someone on the head and take his spot. I mean, poor Stastion Elsor 🥴. Like oh my gosh. Not going to lie that was kind of messed up how she went into the pub that day to scope out who she could potentially take the place of, and settled on Stastion, and then knocked him out in an alley in the back and then Alucard helped her ship this dude somewhere far away just so she could participate in his place. This poor dude probably worked hard to earn his place in the Essen Tasch, and sis just bonked him on the head and stole his place 🙃. I like Lila, but that was rude 😂.

It just made me more than curious though as to why being in this game mattered so much to Lila. Power? Money? Status? All of that?

I don’t think she had anything to prove, and I didn’t know why she was trying so hard to prove herself that she was worth something, especially in such a public spectacle such as Essen Tasch.

But I did think it would be interesting to see Kell, Lila, and Alucard all compete, and I wanted Kell and Lila to throw down and meet again. Because they haven’t run into each other yet.

As I said in the previous post, I didn’t really feel their romance, and so I wanted to feel more traces of that romance here. They did think about each other a lot, which was sweet because that obviously meant they cared deeply about each other. But I just kept waiting for them to run into each other, especially now that Lila and the Spire were docked for the games.

They almost ran into each other at the Night Market.

I like the Night Market—there’s just something so palpable and vibrant about a NIght Market in a fantasy novel.

I liked how Lila went to visit Calla to repay her debt. Calla almost feels like a mother figure to Lila in how this random woman cares for her, and helps her with her gowns and sewing her things. I loved how Calla unquestioningly also took in Lila for all her idiosyncrasies because gosh knows Lila wasn’t used to people treating her with kindness. There was Barron, but Barron was taken too soon under Holland’s hand, and I really liked Barron. There was this one part where Lila followed Alucard from the Spire one night. He followed him to his family’s estate where she discovered Alucard had a little sister named Anisa and an older brother named Berras. I wondered why Alucard kept part of his royal life hidden. Was he ashamed to be royal? Why did it seem like his family was in hiding? Was there shame to his name? I know the book mentioned Alucard became a privateer under the Arnes flag to sail the sea for trouble, and that he did crimes before, so maybe the hush-hushness came from that? I don’t know. I want to know more about Alucard’s family and the noble lines. Anyway, all this to say, Lila had a moment after spying on Alucard of how maybe she steals to feel alive because she could have had a good thing with staying with Barron at the Stone’s Throw, but she always wanted more; questioning if she stole over the years out of survival or for more after a certain point. I liked this introspective moment Lila had because she didn’t always need to steal when, yes, Barron would have helped her and watched after her, so was she stealing because she had to or wanted to? Had stealing become part of her want for more because she never had enough?

Was entering this game because she wanted more like that mirror showed her?

When Lila turns into Stasion Elsor, it was kind of eerily creepy how easy Lila could steal and become.

Lila stole so much, she stole a whole identity and made it her own.

The Essen Tasch games themselves were fun to read and full of dynamic, but again, I just wanted more detail or something because we were working towards the games the whole book. I liked reading the important fights—the one’s Kell and Lila were in as well as Alucard. I enjoyed the scenes were Lila would be in a fight and she didn’t know how to win or go about these skilled magicians, but she would think back to a specific lesson Alucard taught her, and use that knowledge to her advantage. I liked that one fight where she turned the person’s magic against them, and when she moved a large portion of water similar to how she asked the question of could someone move the ocean. No one could move ocean water because the ocean is vast, but Lila challenged that idea. There was also the time when she spoke to her magic and told it to stop, and time slowed down for her to dodge an icicle or something and also make a move. But I thought that was interesting that instead of controlling her magic, she could command her magic, which was something Antari did. The more Lila fought, the more she tested the boundaries of her magic and what she could do, which I liked because she was discovering more about herself and so were we. She wasn’t like any magician like Lenos was saying, and it did make me wonder, if she wasn’t just elemental, what was she and why did she have a glass eye? Always back to this glass eye 😅. I also really liked how Lila fought like she did on the streets—she fought for her life. Lila noticed how many people in the Essen Tasch fought as if they were performing, and in part, they were. But there wasn’t a ruthless nature about their fighting—-Lila fought like she was in The Hunger Games while everyone else fought like they were at a Polo club. Lila did have an advantage in the way she moved because she knew what it was like to constantly fight—she had been fighting to live her whole life. These people never had to really lift a finger a day in their life except to use magic because they never feared their survival. She did, and she used that instinct and knowledge beautifully to keep surviving. This is what I meant by how Lila really developed as a character before my eyes because I had more respect to how she really didn’t know much, didn’t have much, and yet she fought. She always kept fighting even if she didn’t have any reason to, but she fought because it mattered to her. She’s just so unwaveringly brave and cool, and my gosh, just phenomenal in how she carried herself. I wish I was as cool as Lila Bard. Truly.

Who needs confidence? I think Lila Bard stole mine.

When Kell and Lila finally came face-to-face literally? Iconic.

It was ironic too. They weren’t even their true selves, but both under a guise and literally a mask. I thought it was funny how Lila knew Kamerov was Kell and how Kell always thought Lila was around and then was like “I’m not crazy, that actually was her” 😂. It almost sucked how Kell had to lose because he couldn’t be unmasked because I would have loved to see him take down Lila—sorry, I love Lila, but I wanted to see Kell surprise her by winning—-but Lila won, and quite iconically I may say. I mean, she did have the literal element of surprise because he didn’t know he would be fighting someone he liked and had been pinning to see. But that was such an interesting battle, especially after this sis literally killed someone else and his whole entire crew minutes before. That was insane—how someone from Faro went after her because she “cheated” in his battle with him. She got trapped in a box and managed to escape, but after escaping, she went to his guy’s hotel and ☠️ and his crew. I’m sorry 😦. Like, what? I was more surprised no one asked where in the heck this person was and his friends and the fact that she didn’t even think about her doing so could have very well caused a war if someone found out someone from Arnes ☠️ people from Faro. You know? Gosh, lucky for her, there were bigger things to worry about, but could you imagine the repercussions, the possible rift between empires because she actually ☠️ this opponent. Insane.

But also brutal.

The battle between Alucard and Lila was everything I wanted was very cool; did want to see Alucard and Lila or Alucard and Kell go at it at one point, so I’m glad we got to see it. I wanted Lila to demolish Alucard 😂—really give him a run for his money. She did put up a darn good fight for her first time in the Essen Tasch, and heck, her first time in Red London in general, but I thought that it was only right that Alucard won because if Lila advanced to the top three, she would be forced to unmask, and that would have been awful.

But you could only imagine my reaction when not only Kell didn’t win and Lila didn’t win 🙃. I was like, we built up the Essen Tasch so they both could lose 😂. I’m joking. I didn’t care if they won, but I was sad they lost because you know, I wanted them to win.

The one part I enjoyed the most about the Essen Tasch was seeing the different empires interact. In A Darker Shade of Magic we were introduced to the four Londons and Arnes, but the book mentioned how there were other places outside of the main Londons, so I wondered if we would go to those places or what that meant. So I liked expanding the Red London world and the different empires within that world, rooted in different cultures. There’s always this sense with different empires in books that they have to act hospitable with each other or be on the brink of war because one place wants this or the other place wants that. They all feared Kell because he was aven.

If Kell had not felt like pawn before, he sure as heck felt more so like a pawn now.

King Maxim and Queen Emira treated Kell like a walking prisoner. They believed he did the utmost wrong in bringing the Vitari stone to Red London which caused the Black Plague or whatever they called it. But they forget to realize how Kell also saved their son, and without Kell, they wouldn’t have a son. I detested how they raised Kell like a son and gave the impression they were a family and he was also their son, but funny how quickly he wasn’t a son when he did something wrong. And that made me sad for Kell because he always didn’t feel like he belonged, and they proved him right in that moment when it was between Rhy and him. But Kell didn’t have a choice—-either let Rhy die or save him by binding him. As much as they might be angry at Kell for binding their son to him and “putting him in danger,” Kell saved him, and I really wanted to scream at them that they were being unfair to him. Sure, the situation sucked, but it could have hurt more. No matter what Kell did, they would have been angry at him. But they didn’t need to treat him like a prisoner and constantly have his guards watch him, keeping him on a tight leash to the throne, and making sure he returned back at this time at this place.

How dumb.

When Kell traveled to Gray London to deliver a message, his guards had to make sure little boy Kell came back on time at the right location. He’s not a child. Honestly, and it’s not like they could control what he did or how long he stayed when they couldn’t very well travel.

Finding out the King of Gray London had passed away, made me kind of sad. I mean, we didn’t know him the best, but he seemed like a harmless King who was a bit out of it, but he was always nice to Kell, and Kell always treated him with respect. I loved that Kell paid respect to the King and he left the King a coin that smelled like roses just like how they would always exchange coins. The new King did sound like a douche canoe, and I wondered how this dip bag would impact what happened in Gray London as well as the relations with other Londons. I also wondered what a new king meant for Gray London. I couldn’t be the only one who also thought that his song poisoned him to get to the throne given how unaffected the son seemed 🤔?

Speaking of a different London, let’s talk about White London.

I found it comically hilarious, but really morbid that after Astrid and Athos were ☠️, they made two statues of how they were killed and put that in front of the castle 🙃. Like funny, but also not really because that’s messed up. But also what they did as rulers was messed up, so was it really messed up? I still wondered what happened in the time there was no ruler and there was a ruler because there had to have been a gap or something, but Holland was the new While London King. As he should have been.

But this wasn’t really Holland.

The last time we saw Holland, he ☠️ and then Kell sent him with Vitari to Black London.

I wanted to go to Black London, and I’m glad we got to. I feel like we only got a taste of Black London and hope we will explore more of Black London later, but Black London is kind of in ruins, but it doesn’t seem as desolate and decimated as people made it out to be. Black London felt more frozen than it did destroyed; everything just stayed stuck in a darkness rather than gone. Holland woke up in Black London under a green patch of Earth, where he was offered by the Vitari magic, King Osaron (King of Shadows) to help Holland save his London in exchange for using his body as a host. You know, I almost feel bad for Holland that he keeps getting the raw end of the deal 😂. First, he was soul bound to Athos’s will, nearly killed, and now he’s playing hostess to a dark magic. Dang. But the first two wasn’t a choice, this was a choice.

But that’s so hard because I feel bad but I also don’t feel bad. I feel bad because Holland has not had many good choices, and that’s why he makes stupid choices. And also he’s been in some difficult situations where the stupid choice feels like the only choice—the right choice—so I don’t fully blame him for thinking that the choice he made was okay because, you know, he was dying and all he ever wanted was to be King and save White London. But it made me wonder why being King mattered to him and why he wanted to save White London so much. I understand he was Antari, so maybe he felt like he had a right to be King, and that White London was his home, so he had to save White London, but I wanted to know more about Holland’s upbringing to understand why he makes the choices he does or how he got himself into this difficult position. As much as I feel bad, I also don’t feel bad because this is now Holland’s choice—his active decision to let this darkness use him or not. But also, he just nearly died, and so he might have more strength if this darkness is in him. But also, he very well knows that having this darkness in him won’t be all what it is mucked up to be—that there will be some conditions.

Holland let’s the darkness in—he lets King Osaron into his body and Holland is merely a host.

He’s pushed down inside of his own body, while King Osaron controls the forefront of Holland, which is terrifying. This whole idea reminded me of what happened in Chain of Thorns with James—like you have someone else leading you, but you’re somewhere still in there, but barely. You almost have to fight to have control of yourself again because you’re you but not really. I just could not with Holland because he made a dumb choice, but I understood his choice. He thought he was doing what was right for his London, and I couldn’t fault him that. With Osaron operating Holland’s body, White London did seem to thrive and rejuvenate with blue skies, green grass, less harsher elements and softer tones and hues. I liked how White London didn’t seem so bleak anymore, and was slowly finding a pulse again, and that the people didn’t feel so fearful. I just didn’t like how they all worshipped a king who wasn’t really their king, but a guise of their king.

There was also the idea of Ojka, this teenage girl with bright red hair who was skilled. From my understanding, it seemed like “Holland” passed down a version of his Antari power to her because she know had a black eye. Could you do that though? Transfer or create Antari power? She wasn’t true Antari because gosh knows something felt wrong with her 😅, sorry, but she had Holland’s power. I wonder why Holland chose her as his Messenger or how he created this bond to talk to her in her mind.

Because Osaron was in Holland’s body, Holland could feel what he wanted—he craved more–more than Holland could give him. Holland wanted his autonomy back, so he struck a new deal. Holland said he would find Osaron another host strong enough to hold him and a new world to take over if Osaron left his body and his London for him to rebuild. When Holland struck this deal, I shook my head. Another stupid choice 🤪. After this deal, I didn’t feel bad for Holland. He knew exactly what he was doing and trying to say.

Duh.

He was going to go to Red London or something and use Kell’s body as Osaron’s host so he could be free and rule White London. LOSER 🤧. L-O-S-E-R. Pathetic. How dare he easily give up Kell to this shadow when it was his choice to host it first. That’s like me inviting a family to stay in my house and then after a week, dropping that family at my friend’s house because I was tired of them.

You know in the first book, Kell mentioned how Holland was his friend. I wonder if they were ever friends or if they were just amicable because they shared the same power? Because a friend, I would hope not, would not sell your literal soul for someone else.

I thought Holland would pull a Maleficent and show up at the Winner’s Ball to put this blasted a** collar around Kell’s neck, but Holland the coward sent Ojka instead. I wonder why he didn’t just go. Maybe because Kell would have been defensive and everyone hated his guts there, but still, Holland should have gone if he such a strong man 🙃. That’s sarcasm by the way.

Gosh, this collar made me nervous. The way that he tested that collar willingly on Ojka and she didn’t even bat an eye, bothered me. She said, here’s my throat and take my magic and I don’t mind if it’s for the throne. Where is this girl’s parents? 😅 I’m sorry, what? But the idea of the collar terrified me for Kell because it stripped away a person’s magic, which is very different from soul binding someone to do a bidding. This entailed making someone helpless, powerless. Honestly, were we making these things with the Vitari magi? I mean, we must have been because this was some dark shiz.

Lila getting ready for the ball was really cute ♥️.

Or I liked that moment; it just felt very sweet, especially knowing Lila wasn’t the type to get dressed up and be all girly. But that’s what I’ve come to like about Lila, she does and wears what she wants, and if she wants to dress like a pirate one second and a filly princess the next, then so be it. I loved the endearing moment she had with Calla where Calla helped her pick out a dress and then Calla doing Lila’s hair and putting on makeup. I liked how Lila thought about Calla like a mother in that moment because that was truly how I felt their relationship was.

Kell and Lila dancing was also much more meaningful to me in this book because the first book didn’t feel very romantic, but there’s something about the pinning, always thinking about each other, and now the dancing that was giving romance to me. It was cute how Kell kept looking for her at the dance and how Lila got a bit jealous seeing Kell with that younger gal that Rhy teased him about. I really liked how during their dance, Lila gave Kell some solid advice because Kell felt trapped there with being a pawn, but also wanting to stay with his brother because he promised Rhy that he would stand by him when he was king. I loved how Kell always thought about his brother and the love they shared—the only reason that was stopping him from going. Lila told Kell that if he wanted to leave, he should just leave than be tolerated being treated the way he was—he could leave and always return, but to make sure to say bye first.

“‘Look, I stay here because I have nothing to go back to. There’s no reason that once you leave, you can’t return. Maybe you simply need to stretch you r legs. Live a little. See the world. Then you can come back and settle down, and you and Rhy can live happily ever after.’

(pg. 449)

I agreed.

Because he could honestly leave if he wanted to because screw Arnes if they were treating him like shiz. He owed them nothing. Let everyone think Arnes’s greatest weapon was gone and let Maxim see what happened then. It was not Kell’s problem.

I just really wished more for Kell than how he was treated and the way people made him feel because gosh knows I know what that feels like.

Oh my gosh, when the arrested Kell!!!!! I wanted to revolt.

What do you mean they were arresting Kell?

Oh because he “disobeyed the king’s order” by leaving.

Big whoop. Everyone probably disobeys the king, but Kell was Antari and “dangerous,” so let’s arrest him and make a big show out of it.

BS.

STUPID.

Dumb.

I was furious for Kell.

After Lila’s battle where she lost in the games, she fainted because she used her magic. Because she kept using her power without resting, Kell stormed into her tent in a fury and a worry. Because he was so upset at Lila and Rhy, he transported out to Gray London. He went to the Stone’s Throw, now called The Five Points based on elemental magic. The Five Points was owned by that Enthusiast named Ned who w, and I thought he was no longer creepy 😂. He was actually just really in awe of magic, and he just wanted to feel part of that magical world, and honestly who could blame him. I could imagine Ned felt the same way I felt as a kid watching Wizards of Waverly Place, and wanting to have a wand in my boot or to walk around casting spells. Heck, I thought he was very clever to name his new bar The Five Points and give it this magic, elemental theme. And I thought he was weird. Ned was actually really nice, and he always gave Kell a safe place to go. So I liked how Kell went to drown his fury at The Five Point with Ned. During his time away, Kell really contemplated staying, not going back home because he was so angry at everyone around him. Honestly, I wanted him to stay there because that meant Ojka couldn’t get to him or find him 😅. But Kell would always return back to Rhy because that was his brother—his endless tie. Kind of morbid, but meaningful when Rhy took a pin and literally scribed into his forearm the word sorry so Kell could feel his pain and his apology all at once 🙃. That’s the only apology I want from now on 🤪. I’m joking. But I liked hearing the internal monologue of Kell really considering running away like Lila always did because he wanted different for himself, he wanted more than just playing some pawn and being this person people either feared or revered.

So when he was arrested, I was floored. That was unfair, uncalled for. Kell did everything he could do right by the crown, and they treated him like that? No wonder he wanted to run away.

I thought Kell playing prisoner was in good faith because he could have very well escaped, but he knew he if he did, it would only make things worse. I truly thought King Maxim was being an imbecile and being rude to someone he sort of raised like a son.

Kell strode out of that prison cell after his talk with King Maxim, and gosh I shook my head. Ojka and Holland were right in biding their time and waiting for Kell to come to them because gosh they caught Kell at the right—read worst moment 😖. They caught Kell at his moment of weakness where he felt unappreciated and furious at everyone and everything around him, so no duh that when a random girl asked him to follow him for something better, following that girl felt inevitable. Honestly, we need to stop trusting strange women, Kell. Like if I say Ojka waiting in my garden and she said that she had been looking for me and I had no clue to who in the heck she was, all I’m saying is she wouldn’t have passed the vibe check 🙃. Not at all. I’m feeling like people of Red London lack intuition.

I knew already what waited on the other side of that false promise.

When they snapped that stinking collar around Kell, AGONY. Pure AGONY.

Maybe not as much agony as Kell and Rhy felt, but gosh, PURE AGONY.

I couldn’t help but think in the moment the collar snapped around Kell’s neck how this was a full circle moment of pain in how Holland felt trapped and now Kell felt trapped without his magic. That must have felt like having a limb cut off because magic was a part of Kell and everything he did. I didn’t know why I didn’t expect Rhy to also be affected, but my heart hurt hearing how much the collar took from Rhy also. The screaming, tortured cries? Oh my gosh 🥺. The way everyone was wondering what was wrong with Rhy because he was suffering no physical pain, but the pain of his brother who had his magic seeped out of him. Because Kell’s magic was extinguished, that meant there wasn’t magic to keep the bond going, and that meant Rhy didn’t have a tether to this world. Rhy blacked out and was barely breathing—holding onto his life as much as Kell was holding onto his life. I didn’t know if that meant the bond broke and Rhy was going to die, or if that meant that because the magic was gone Rhy would go into a deep sleep until Kell’s magic returned because his magic wasn’t truly gone, only extinguished.

I kept talking about choice earlier with Holland, and so when the Vitari magic asked Kell if Kell could let him inside, I loved the way Kell fought and made a choice. Kell said no. Kell’s denial of the Vitari magic going inside him surprised me because in my head I thought he would allow the magic inside him to save Rhy and his family, but I liked that he did the opposite of what I anticipated. He chose to be stronger, braver, and maybe in some eyes foolish, but right. Holland had a choice and he let his anger, and greed drive him—he let his fear drive him. Kell had a choice—to give into the darkness and possibly save Rhy and the people around him, or to let this magic suffer. Now that I think about it, why would Kell say yes 🤪? I mean, what was Vitari really going to do? All he could do was stay in Holland and cause a ruckus in the world, but at least it wouldn’t be at Kell’s hand, which was smart.

Because Kell denied Osaron access to his body as a host, Osaron stayed within Holland, which felt like a funny F U to Holland from Kell. Osaraon had a token now from Red London and could use that token to travel there and take over that world, which broke my heart to think about because Red London is full of so much life and prosperity and this sucker was going to ruin it.

The book ends with Rhy’s fighting for his life, Kell still in a collar, Osaron on his way to Red London, and Lila trying to travel to Gray London to find Kell. All throughout the book, Lila kept touching a stone from Astrid’s statue that she kept as a tails-man. She wanted something tangible to remind her of what she went through, but also hoping that if she kept a piece of Astrid’s statue, that Astrid couldn’t come back to life because one of the pieces was missing, which I thought was pretty smart and logical.

I also will say this again and again, but Lila has no shred of fear and has every ounce of courage I wish I had 👏🏼! I just admire the way she constantly, maybe sometimes foolishly, jumps into action to help those she cares about or how she fights for what matters no matter how tired or broken she is—she truly was a fighter. I can’t help but revere that. Also, if she really could pull this off and travel to Kell, did that make her Antari?

I hope so. I don’t know. But gosh, wouldn’t that be cool? That Kell wasn’t the only real Antari left, that he finally found his match.

I just have so many questions now that I hope will be answered with the third and final book—gosh that makes me sad to write 😢.

But what will happen to Kell? Will he get his powers back or have this collar on the whole book? How will we remove the collar and how will we go back to Red London and save it? Will Kell ever find a place that feels like home and not like he’s a pawn?

What is Lila Bard? How will she save Kell and Red London—what will her role be in all of this? Will Lila also find a place that finally feels like home—like hers—and stop running?

What about the bond between Rhy and Kell? Will that bond fully break? Will Rhy be okay?

Is Holland redeemable? I think that’s a good question because is he still a person to root for when he made his choices? I don’t know. I don’t think so. How will we get rid of Osaron and stop him from talking over Red London?

Are we going to open up new portals between all the Londons or are they going to stay closed? Are we going back to Black London for a final battle? I hope so because I want to fully get into Black London and really see if it’s a place that can come back from being desolate and frozen for years.

I’m still holding out hope for some semblance of a backstory for Kell, Lila, and Alucard because they’re such dynamic and interesting characters, but I want to know more about them—drive, motive, hurt. Give me the childhood trauma 🤪.

Overall, I thought A Gathering of Shadows was a solid, action packed continuation in the Shades of Magic series that built upon these characters we were just starting to know. I found a newfound love and respect for Kell and Lila and seeing them understand more about themselves and the magic around them and within them. I also loved how the characters also had more personality and we could really see their growth or their morals and values lead them to the choices they had to make. I also enjoyed the ending the most with the cliff-hanger and push to the finale of this series, which has been one of the better YA series I’ve read in a while ♥️.

I can’t wait to see how we fight back the darkness, and honestly what crazy nonsense Lila throws herself into next 😂.

Anyway, what was your thoughts of the book? What was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? 

If you had an elemental power, which element would you draw on? I think I would want water power, because you know, I’m a water sign and also I just love the idea of the ocean.

Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.

And as always, with love,

Rating

4.48 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: I loved seeing Kell and Lila evolve as characters, and getting to know more about their personality and what drives them as people. I love Lila’s sense of agency and how she’s always such a fighter. I also enjoyed getting to know our new cast of characters from Alucard and Hastra—happy we didn’t kill everyone off in this book.

Plot: I liked the four-month gap to establish individuality in each character and dealing with the fall out of what happened with Vitari and White London. I thought the first half of the book though was a kind of slow going until we finally got to the Essen Tasch. I enjoyed the Essen Tasch games and the ending, and would have liked more focus on the games.

Writing: V.E. Schwab knows how to keep readers captivated and characters that steal your heart ♥️

Romance: Okay, I’m starting to get it now 😅

Action: You know, Lila is more violent than I thought and I wouldn’t want to mess with her, especially now that she has magic. You know that meme or joke how is a cinnamon roll? I think Kell doesn’t look like a cinnamon roll and is a cinnamon roll; Lila doesn’t look like a cinnamon roll; isn’t a cinnamon roll; and Rhy looks like a cinnamon roll, is a cinnamon roll.