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A Gathering of Shadows

by LiterallyLenny - 9:35 PM

What's it about?

"It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into Kell's possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Prince Rhy was wounded, and since the nefarious Dane twins of White London fell, and four months since the stone was cast with Holland's dying body through the rift – back into Black London.

Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games – an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries – a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall." - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

For me, nothing will ever compare to A Darker Shade of Magic and i'm sure a lot of other people feel the same way. The sequel was just not nearly as strong as the first. When it came to plot, character development, the conflict, everything! Don't get me wrong, the characters were still great and the story was interesting, but I was a little disappointed because I think I was expecting so much. I found it quite slow through the majority of the book, as they kinda danced around the plot. I think what bothered me the most was the Kel and Lila didn't even SPEAK to each other until 3/4 through the book. The rest was just so much filler! I felt that the backstories of Kel and Lila while they were apart didn't actually add much to their characters. I felt like it just trying to tell us things we already knew about them. They didn't develop any further or anything, just kinda stayed the same...

There were good things though, hence the 3 stars and not 2 or 1! Don't get me wrong, like I said. Lila's character was so bloody brilliant in this book, I had a serious crush on how freaking confident she was. Kel was annoying and paranoid, as per usual. Rhy was causing havoc, as per usual. But Lila was fantastic. Her character made the book for me, and i'm really excited to see how she taps even further into her powers. I think the bad just outweighed the good unfortunately. I am however excited to read the third because I'm hoping that it will pick up once again considering where it was left off.

I gave A Gathering of Shadows a whopping 3 stars!