A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

“Grey for the magic-less city.

Red, for the healthy empire.

White, for the starving world.”

Background:

There are three Londons: Grey London, Red London, and White London. Black London perished long ago. Grey is the London without magic, only regular humans. Red is the London where magic and humanity are in balance, in harmony. White London is a place that hungers for magic and power and nothing else. 

Overview:

Kell, one of only two blood magicians, or Antari, who can travel between the Londons comes across a relic from Black London. As luck would have it, Kell runs into Lila, a pick-pocket from Grey London who manages not only to steal a dangerous relic from Kell but also manages to force him to take her along with him on his journey to try to return the relic to a London that has long since been overtaken by magic.

My Thoughts:

I found the idea of parallel worlds to be very intriguing. I don’t think I have read another book that had this idea so that was a big plus for me. (I’d be very interested in reading more books like this one with parallel worlds if anyone has any suggestions!). Of course I loved that this book involved magic but I also loved that the author built different worlds for different amounts of magic involved. The main draw about this book for me was how the author made magic a living thing. In this book, magic itself could control you if you let it. It could be there to use as you needed or it could refuse to listen to you.

My only issues with this book came from the characters. I thought Lila was an idiot for wanting to go on what she called an “adventure.” She knew she was likely to get into some very serious trouble especially knowing the fact that she’s an ordinary human up against magical worlds. By the end of the book I feel much better about her but her introduction into the story wasn’t great. I wish I knew more about Kell and his past but I expect that will come later in the series. 

I’m classifying this book as a: GOOD READ. This book was compelling in so many ways and makes you want to know more about the characters and the worlds.