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I started reviewing books on my own for a while before I started formally blogging about them, so I have quite the backlog that I get to work through if I want to. The Shades of Magic trilogy is the first series that I read in 2021, and I immediately wished that I had this series when I was in middle school and going through my fantasy phase hard (okay, maybe I’m going through a fantasy phase again now, so my first fantasy phase?).
The world building, magic system, and diversity of characters make this trilogy stand out for me as a series on its own, but I’ve found myself recommending this series to a lot of people looking for something to fill the void that a certain boy wizard series left behind for them. It features a Chosen One, magic tournaments, secret crushes, and the rise of a dark magic that are more than enough to make this my new favorite London-based magician book (if you know what I’m saying).
Whether you’re reading Shades of Magic to fill up a fantasy niche in your life or just because it sounded interesting on its own, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. While it’s written for adults, I personally think that this trilogy could be shared with some younger readers (older middle school and up, but please take this with a grain of salt as I am clearly not an expert in reading levels).
The reviews below definitely reflect a shorter, blurb-style of review that I started out writing with. To fill in some of the gaps that I see in it now, I’m going to write a full review of the series below, followed by my original, spoiler free reviews for each book.
Shades of Magic
by V.E. Schwab
🌟: 5 / 5
📚: In the four parallel versions of London— Red, White, Grey, and Black— each with their own unique types of magic, Kell is one of the rare magicians who can travel between them to deliver messages and, occasionally, smuggle objects. When an imbalance of power shifts in one London, it reverberates across all of them, and Kell is forced to work with a thief who is not who she seems to stay alive and save all four Londons.
💭: The further I got into this series, the more enamored I was with it. It has so many of the fantasy tropes that I’ve come to expect from my childhood fantasy favorites, but it is a more grown-up and well-aged version of those common elements that made it feel so new and special.
The magic systems established in the trilogy are completely unique for each of the Londons, so the three books consist of four completely unique worlds with uniques systems of magic. We see the most in Red London’s magic, where most people have command of some magic, all the way to worlds without magic. The thread that ties all of the Londons together are the Antari, rare magicians who can travel between the worlds. The trilogy follows Kell, the Antari from Red London, as he acts as ambassador, hero, and occasional smuggler to the other universes. And while there is a strong reliance on the Antari being rare figures that anchor the story, they aren’t the main draw of the story to me.
All of the characters are complex and so human, which makes Shades of Magic’s play on “the chosen one” trope even more impactful. As with most trilogies, you can’t help but fall in love with all of the characters as you get to see them grow: Kell is a sweet, if grumpy, main character; Rhy is comic relief with a heart of gold; Lila is powerful and also so vulnerable. Heroes and villains alike get their moments of vulnerability, mistakes, and bad choices, that show, again and again, that they’re doing what they think is right.
Shades of Magic is a trilogy that I wish I could read again for the first time. It made magician stories feel new and exciting to me again, something that hasn’t happened to me since middle school. I absolutely loved this series, and I’m so excited that Schwab is currently working on a companion trilogy because I want to go back to the world that she built with the four Londons.
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1)
V.E. Schwab
🌟: 4 / 5
📚: There are 4 parallel universes of London, and Kell is one of the only ones who can travel between them to deliver messages and occasionally smuggle objects.
💭: I’ve had this book come up in my Goodreads recommendations a lot over the past few years, and I loved Schwab’s most recent book, so why not, right? This book is good, if very reliant on a lot of fantasy tropes. It reminded me a lot of The Subtle Knife (you know, the semi-unrelated sequel to The Golden Compass that I read in middle school and only kind of remember). It’s definitely good, but also a fantasy book that doesn’t totally stand out in my mind as being unique. I didn’t try to poke a lot of holes in it like I usually do with fantasy books that are like this, which is a sign of good fantasy writing to me. I’m definitely interested in reading the rest of the series just to know what happens, but the ending resolves well enough that I don’t think you NEED to. Also it’s kind of refreshing that the plot isn’t driven by romance, and no spoilers, but it comes up when I least expected it as a complete afterthought, which I thought was kind of odd.
A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2)
V.E. Schwab
🌟: 4 / 5
📚: This is the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, but it has pirates and spoilers for the last one.
💭: Okay, I liked this one a lot: it’s the same universe and characters as A Darker Shade of Magic, but there’s pirates, magic sports, and sexual tension in this one. I kind of love when a book series has like A Minute to play around with character growth by showing them actually enjoying themselves and doing stuff that isn’t necessarily important to the plot, and there’s a decent amount of that in here (yes, I am talking about BOTH a makeover and a training montage). Loved that for me, but you could honestly read a Cliffs Notes of this book and the last like 10% and be completely fine. If the first book is like it’s own complete story, this one is mostly B roll and then rejoining the original conflict at the very end. It’s good, I enjoyed it, a fun book to zone out to, but not like THE strongest center of a trilogy I’ve read. It’s written at a super relaxed pace that picks up right at the end very suddenly, and it’s a little jarring, which is the main reason I took a star off this one.
A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3)
by V.E. Schwab
👉🏼 Disclaimer 👉🏼 This book really needs two reviews for the front and back halves, so bear with me on this because I won’t spoil it but will tell you why this trilogy is worth it.
🌟: 5 / 5
📚: The final book in the Shades of Magic trilogy
💭: The first chunk of this is actually the climax of the second book for like half of the book, which is a wild way to start this book that made me a little aggravated. Like could you imagine, the second book gets some resolution instead of ending like halfway through the climax? Wild. Not that it’s bad, it is a Very Very Good if unexpected bit, but it definitely sets this book up as a direct opposite to the bell curved journey that most books take. That lull in the middle between the two climaxes? That’s where some cute shit and some good character arcs happen, so it isn’t even a true lull. The end? Satisfying as heck. I wholeheartedly think that this book should have been divided a little better between this and the previous one: this book clocks in at 624 pages, and like 100+ of those could have gone to the second book (which stands at 512 pages and ends very mid-climax). Like, all in all, I LOVED this trilogy. It doesn’t start super strong and the first book feels very disconnected from the second two, but read this series for the back half because it definitely gets good. It has interesting magic rules, really great sibling interactions, characters that are actually described as non-white (big for fantasy, GOD the bar is SO LOW on that one), cute romantic relationships, and a lot more going for it. I recommend it as a whole because of the way the story progresses, so like get through that first book, and you will be rewarded.