A Darker Shade of Magic

If there is one word that I would use to describe this book it would be "efficient". It's a competently written, self contained story that sets up an interesting world leaves and just enough hints to entice you to check out the rest of the series. And I have to say I will be doing that. Schwab's efficient writing style it is right up my alley. She gives you just enough words to describe the situation and let your imagination do the rest.

She also structures the story brilliantly and doesn't waste your time. If she mentiones something or someone, that person or item will reappear later in the story. No loose threads.

I didn't know anything about this author or this series going in. After finishing it I saw that it's being classified as YA. I can feel the YA vibe that others are picking up but it's not a adjective I would use to describe it. There are some despicable acts being committed (murder, torture, rape attempt).

The obvious task of the (first) book is to establish the world(s) and take the main characters on an adventure. But for all their traversing between worlds, the scope of the story seems rather small to me. Because they flip between 3 versions of the same city, it kind of feels like switching color palletes between scenes.

The villains are evil just for the sake of being evil. It's established that in white London you have to be ruthless to stay in power and rulers get overturned frequently. Schwab might've sacrificed developing the villains at the expense of brisk story pacing. Ultimately, they served their purpose in driving the plot forward.

The two main characters, Kell and Lila, have a dynamic chemistry and hilarious exchanges. Their pasts are obscured enough to spark our interest in their origins. And even though their stories have been neatly wrapped up I will want to know what happened next.