A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
A Darker Shade of Magic
This is going to be a very unpopular opinion, but I just can’t help it. I didn’t like the story at all. I was looking to find a great book that would have me looking forward to snuggling up on the couch and getting lost in a world so unlike our own, what I found instead were a whole bunch of yawns and excuses to keep putting off reading this book. Here is why:
The plot was just so slow and to be completely honest, I lose patience very quickly when a story tries too hard to be create a mysterious atmosphere simply by leaving out details and on the other hand smother the reader with too many minute descriptions that distract from the actual story. At the end, I just couldn’t care less what was actually going on and what the point of this story was.
The characters felt like vessels that were supposed to move the plot along, but since the plot was so mind numbingly slow and barely existing, the characters didn’t add anything that would make me want to pick up the next installment. I was not able to connect and I could not bring myself to care for any of them.
The writing, besides the pages of unnecessary descriptions was executed very well. This is the only reason I am giving this book two starts instead of one. The author has talent and skill, sadly the story was lacking focus.
Overall, I was so excited for this series that I already requested the second and third installment from my library before finishing it. Unfortunately, I had to cancel those requests, because this just wasn’t my cup of tea. Personally, I would not recommend this one.
