Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Author: Victoria Schwab

Publisher: Tor Books
Series: Shades of Magic
Number of Pages: 400
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Synopsis:

"Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive."

This book has been on my TBR list for over two years, so I was really looking forward to reading it when I got my hands on it. I really enjoyed the originality of this fantasy in that the magic was very complex, and the author created multiple different worlds within the novel in order to develop a very interesting plot. It was almost as if Schwab had created four different dimensions, but the rulers were each aware of the others' existence. I thought the conflicts that this created were very interesting. 

I loved the two main characters, Kell and Lila, because they were very strong and determined but where Kell was methodical, Lila was very impulsive and devious. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two that this created because it allowed for a lot of humor and banter which I really enjoyed. This book is definitely filled with a lot of action, but it is more focused on the political dynamic and conflicts between the worlds which sounds boring, but it is really interesting!

The pacing of the plot is really well done because I did not feel as if the relationships between the characters were being rushed, and I think that is what I loved most about the book. It felt very realistic. Also, the descriptions of the magic and the action scenes were amazing, and I could not even try to put the book down during those scenes.

Overall, I really loved this book, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good fantasy novel. This is listed as a Young Adult novel, but I would definitely say that it could pass for an adult novel just without any mature content. My immediate instinct was to go find the second book, and that is what I am currently reading.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!