A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Note: A Conjuring of Light is the last book in the Darker Shade of Magic series so this review may contain spoilers from the first two books. Click here to read my review of the first book or here for the second book.

Overview:

Magic from Black London has spread, Holland is possessed, Kell is trapped in White London, Rhy is dying, and Lila will have to see if she is truly an Antari (blood magician) by traveling to White London on her own magic to save Kell. Red London must now find a way to save its people, its magic, and its city from Osaron (a piece of black magic that has gained consciousness, a will, and desire). 

My Thoughts:

Quick warning: this may be a lengthy review because the book is 623 pages, it’s the last book in the series, and I have a lot to say.

The final book was amazing! When I finished it, I was all kinds of emotional but I’ll get to that later. The author did such an amazing job of building up this story and this world that this book felt so intense (in a good way). Everything was heightened to a degree that made this series a thrill to read.

In this book, you are given a deeper look into Holland’s past. Even though he hasn’t exactly been a good guy in these books, you can’t help but get attached to him and maybe even understand some of his choices. It was nice to know a little more about him.

Rhy finally embraces his position as a royal and comes to show more of who he is. He didn’t have the ending I thought he was going to have but maybe that’s a good thing.

Lila is Lila. She continues to walk into danger and fight her way out. She does have some moments that make her realize her humanity which rounds out her character nicely. In the end, she achieves something she’s been wanting to achieve since the first book. 

Now onto Kell, who is my favorite character. The question of Kell’s parents is addressed but I’ll let you decide whether it was satisfactory. I feel like he got the short end of the stick the entire series and even in this book. His relationship with the king and queen gets settled but he deserved more in my opinion. And what was in the king’s letter?! Rhy cares for Kell a great deal but it just seems like Rhy should have more consideration? for Kell. Lastly, Kell got an amazing ending but at a cost. Why at a cost? He’s been through so much, it just seemed unfair. 

Overall, I really loved this series and I will definitely be reading it again, but there was so much that was left up in the air that I was left wanting for more. V.E. Schwab has said that she will be revisiting this world so maybe I will get some of my questions answered.

This book and this series falls in the DROP EVERYTHING AND READ category for me. I don’t regret reading this book for one minute. In fact, the amount of feelings I had when this book ended is a testament to how good the series was. If there is anyone who loves this series too, let me know in the comments!