A Gathering of Shadows

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

El año pasado no podía callarme sobre A Darker Shade of Magic, literalmente incluía el libro en cualquier conversación. Parece exageración, pero con decirte que en una entrevista de trabajo que tuve hace poco fue de lo único que hable, quizá no logre conseguir el trabajo, pero si logre que la persona que la persona que me entrevistaba terminará con ganas de leer el libro. O sea, en cierta forma gane :D

A Gathering of Shadows ha sido un libro que me ha hecho entender que V.E. Schwab es la escritora por la que alegremente salgo de mi zona de comfort. Porque te digo, el libro es laargo y de ritmo pausado, además que hay más historia que diálogo, y muchas veces he dejado de leer libros tan solo porque tenían una de esas características (Ejem.: Uprooted), entonces lógicamente estarás pensando que se me hizo imposible leer el libro. Para nada, AME cada detalle y párrafo largo.

A Gathering of Shadows ha sido frustrantemente hermoso.

Victoria Schwab dijo una vez en Twitter que si lo que buscabas era una historia bonita y romántica, sus libros no son los que buscas. Y, en cierta parte tiene razón, aun así se las arregla para poner sutiles rastros de romance, pero son tan chiquitos y crueles. O sea, tenemos a Delilah Bard como protagonista, que como dije es mi idola, ella es simplemente todo lo que quiero en un personaje, no exagero al decir TODO. Es muy lógica en sus acciones, moralmente hace lo que le conviene y su necesidad de aventura supera cualquier otra emoción que pueda tener. Pero cuando vez su sutilisimo lado sentimental, es imposible que no se encoja un poco el corazón de dolor.

Y, si lo combinas con la adorabilidad de Kell y Rhy... es perfección.

ALLUCARD EMERY

OH.EM.GEE.

Tiene un gato! ¿como no lo voy a amar? Un gato que Lilah casi calcina, pobre gato jaja.

La historia que Alucard trae en libro, es una que no me esperaba para nada. Tengo de gritar que cosa es jajaja lastima que sea el MEGA spoiler y no quiero arruinarte la lectura para cuando lo leas.

A GATHERING OF SHADOWS

Y con ese final... Victoria Schwab es cruel, la muy malvada lo sabe y esta orgullosa. No se como diablos voy a sobrevivir hasta el tercero y final. FINAL D: Me encantaría que se concretara lo de la serie de TV, soy muy mala para imaginar actores como personajes de libros, sobre todo porque siempre ignoro y olvido lo que el escritor describe ja, pero por alguna razón veo a Oscar Isaac (The Force Awakens) como Alucard.

Si no tenias muy claro si empezar esta serie o no... HAZLO.

Twitter || Blog || Pinterest || Tumblr || Instagram || Facebook

Pros: just as pretty, stylish, and dramatic as the first one, but perhaps even a bit more fun (the tournament is a blast). Reminds me of how aesthetically pleasing the Night Circus is. I also really appreciated the relationship between the brothers; they're not rivals, or power beholden to each other like lots of fantasy would have. They really love each other, and it gives the whole book a warm-hearted twinge that drives it all.

Cons: a little bit of a bait and switch from the last book's finale, but I do sympathize that it's hard to have a plot with high stakes in book 2 of 3 (you need it to have its own problems but still tie in well with the other two). Schwab solved this with a blatant cliffhanger, which I don't love, but who am I to judge

A Darker Shade of Magic ???????????????A Gathering of Shadows ???????????????

You might see this rating and think I???m crazy. You might think I hated this book. That isn???t exactly the case, because I found the book incredibly readable and I thoroughly enjoyed every page.

This second book follows on four months from the first, and concerns the triwizard tournament of Red London (which is a basic description of the plot, and is missing the nuances, but will suffice for the review). Lila Bard, who is aboard a vessel with her new captain, travels back to London for the tournament.

Without going into spoilers my issue with this book is that there are no stakes or plot relevance until the last 20%. It all really goes down after the tournament ends. Which means the book could have been condensed and the series made into a duology without loosing plot. I can see why this was a book in and of itself as it builds some new relationships and shows the progression of time over the previous four months for one key character in particular. But that key character only had about 20% of the ???screen time??? and the relationships were not so complex or explained in such a detailed way that it required an entire 500 page book to discuss it.

Aside from the fact that this book felt like it was entirely filler though, I found the writing to be just as fantastic as last time. I adored every page and if I wasn???t expected a plot filled middle book in a trilogy, I would happily read 5000 pages of filler if it was written by V E Schwab. I gave it three stars because it wasn???t the book I felt it should be, but if I ignored my issues with the lack of plot it would easily be a four or five star book.

My notes while reading this were: I love Lila Bard! I think the most interesting person to follow is always Lila. Kell and Rhy and their angsty petulance are why this fits into YA. I love them, don't get me wrong, they've just dragged out the tortured prince trope through the whole series thus far. I love Alucard and his cat. I love his and Rhy's connection. This series is so good, but for some reason, it reads slow. I have to start the next one right now because, hello cliffhanger.

When I read the first book it was on a whim - the cover looked good, I like magic, let's try it - and I liked it. The world was fascinating but somehow it didn't grab me enough that I needed to read the second book immediately. Finding out this was available I grabbed it. This makes me want to go back and re-read the first one. Did I not truly appreciate the first book at the time? Am I an idiot? I don't know....but I loved this one.

Schwab does this great thing where she will spend hundreds of pages on a slow burn plot and you don't even care that not that much is happening because it's all so great. Lila Bard: I love you so much. Can I be you when I grow up?!

I have the third book checked out now and I need to start it ASAP.

Great book! Lots of action, lots of character development. The ending of the book definitely makes you want to pick up the next one. Lucky for me, I have it! Such a great world Schwab has built and it's a place I'd like to visit myself (if it were possible). Looking forward to the next book and wrapping up the Series!