A Gathering of Shadows
by V.E. Schwab
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Usually the second book in a trilogy is my least favorite.ย Trilogies tend to follow this basic pattern: The first book is action packed and awesome and meant to suck you in.ย The second book has a lot of character development and everything goes wrong and there is world building and a lot of information and traveling, its meant to set up the third book. The third book is the action packed conclusion where a lot of cool stuff happens.
I am only 100 pages into the third book but I feel like the Shades of Magic trilogy is going to follow this pattern.ย I think the second book is a set up for the third book.ย Don’t get me wrong, it is still an awesome book and I loved it.ย I just think it will just be the worst of the three.
I LOVE Lila! She is so freaking amazing! I loved her throughout the whole book and kind of want to be her! She is crazy and impulsive and smart and funny.ย She may not be the best role model because she is a bit of a rule breaker, but at least she knows what she wants and she goes and gets it!
Kell is awesome too, but in a more understated way.ย He is kind of the brooding type and he is prone to making bad decisions.ย But you still love him in that tortured soul kind of way.ย Speaking of tortured souls, Holland was back but his chapters were kind of lame and boring I read them as quick as I could in order to get back to Kell and Lila’s stories.ย While reading I got the strong feeling that Holland’s chapters were just setting the stage for the bigger battle in the final book.
The ending was a straight up cliff hanger.ย This probably would have pissed me off but I was almost immediately able to dive into the third book (minus the three days it took me to buy the third book!)ย Plus the rest of the book was so good I am giving the cliffhanger a pass.
I buddy read this with Leslie from Books are the New Black.ย She hasn’t posted her review yet but you should still go check out her blog! Buddy reading with her is awesome and its nice to have someone to talk with while reading! I don’t get to do that very often.ย We are buddy reading A Conjuring of Light too!
How funny! I got on here to start writing my review of this and saw you posted yours!! It will be up soon! Great review. ๐
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I figured I should get this one written before I got too far into A Conjuring of Light ๐ I can’t wait to read yours and thanks!
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I know! I was thinking the same thing. I just finished our reading, and I figured I would start getting them confused. haha! It’s up and I linked your review ๐
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Kell and Lila are a couple of my favorite characters- and V.E. Schwab has quickly become one of my favorite authors. ๐
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They are awesome! I love them ๐ I am going to read Vicious after A Conjuring of Light!
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Loved these books!
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Yay! I am loving them so far!
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Nice post Thank you
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Thanks
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OMG I loved this series! Your right the second book in series is usually a lot of world building and character development and then theres usually a tragic ending that rips your heart out all in preparation for the third book were they can tie everything up in a nice little bow. The third book is by far my favorite in this series and I wish you the best of luck when reading it! (Also Kell and Lila… LOVE them both!! Alucard is also a fav) Great review!
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Exactly! And I usually like the first book best, but not always! I love all of them and Rhy too! Thanks ๐
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I actually really like this cover! And I’m shocked you’re giving a cliffhanger a pass! You always complain about them!
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This is my favorite cover of the three books! The first was my least favorite. I know! Its crazy! I hate cliffhangers but I was able to start the next book immediately so it wasn’t that bad.
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I’ve seen this book around. I was really intrigued by the cover. Glad you enjoyed it, even though it was the second book in the trilogy. ๐
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Its a really good series so far! And Thanks ๐ ๐
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So, when I finally get to these I’ll have to make sure that I have the 3rd book ready! I hate a straight up cliffhanger if I can’t get up off that cliff! Got to make sure I’ve got that rope nearby, or I’ll just give up and let go! ๐๐
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Yes! I hate cliffhangers so much!! And you and I picture cliffhangers very differently! I always picture the roadrunner cartoon where the coyote runs off the edge of a cliff and there is a second where he hangs there before falling. Its that second before he falls, that moment of suspense that I picture haha ๐๐๐
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That’s definitely a good visual as well! ๐๐
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