From the moment I opened "A Darker Shade of Magic," the first book in V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series, I was hooked.
I want to be Delilah Bard, the most bad-ass female lead I've ever encountered. She's a Thief and an aspiring Pirate, and who wouldn't want to make all of their own rules? Is she slightly damaged? Yes, but isn't that what we love about our heroes - they aren't perfect.
Then there is Kell, one of two living Antari who can travel between Grey, Red, and White Londons, and when he and Lila cross paths, everything changes. Oh, and there is a fourth London, you don't really want to go to Black London... no one is supposed to go to Black London... but life sometimes takes us places we don't really want to go.
I could go on and on about Kell, and Lila, or tell you about Alucard, the beautiful Captain and his crew on the Night Spire. Or Prince Rhy, and the only other Antari from White London, Holland. But you need to go buy these books today and delve into their world yourself. I don't think you will be disappointed.
The Books are "A Darker Shade of Magic," "A Gathering of Shadows," and "A Conjuring of Light." I loved these books and characters so much, I stopped reading the last book because I didn't want to let them go.
I remember rereading JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia at least once a year, and I can see myself doing the same with Ms. Schwab's series, because when I finally finished the last book, I was satisfied, but I still wanted more.
Until then, Anoshe.
I give this entire series 6 out of 5 stars! 😉
Note: I've been really bad about posting and although I have been reading - I couldn't bring myself to write any reviews.
One of the things I have also put off is creating an art piece using my front porch steps, so I am glad that life got in the way and I haven't done it yet, because this series will now be part of that project. I plan on painting each step so it will look like the spine of a book, starting with the first book that took me outside of myself and made me love reading; "Charlotte's Web," The other books will be "The Last Unicorn," "The Return of the King," "A Discovery of Witches" (or "The Book of Life" - haven't decided yet), and "A Conjuring of Light."
