The final instalment in the Shades of Magic series follows our favourite Antari, Kell who is a magician with the ability to travel between alternate Londons. Teaming up with fellow magician, Delilah Bard - cutthroat pirate and thief and his brother, Rhy, heir to the throne, they must put a stop to a murderous force that threatens to take over everything and put everyone under their spell.
(Trigger Warning - The Magicians in this series use blood magic so there are some detailed descriptions of cutting in this series.)
* Angharad's Thoughts *
If I could just insert an audio clip of me screaming for my review, then that will probably sum up my experience with this trilogy. Usually with trilogies, the first book is amazing and then the second book is okay and then the third is either a hit or miss but this entire trilogy managed to be A+++ all the way through and nobody could have done it quite like Victoria Schwab. Just a quick summary because if you're reading this review, then you've probably read the previous books. The Shades of Magic trilogy follows Kell who is an Antari, a magician able to travel between worlds, or in this particular case, various Londons.
This series introduced me to one of my all time favourite characters - Delilah Bard. Thief/pickpocket and wannabe pirate, whose goal in life is to just live it. She is gender-fluid, has a disability, carries a load of knives around with her and is confident and sassy without being cocky. She starts off as something of a side character when she teams up with Kell but by the end of the series, she is the shining star. She goes through so much character development in just three books and grows so much as a person. She was a girl used to running, used to having nothing, used to sleeping with her back against the wall but now she is pure magic (literally and figuratively.)
Another character with huge development is Rhy, heir to the Arnesian throne and Kell's brother (also a queer PoC.) He has no magic and always felt as though he was less because of it but he proves that you don't need magic in order to be a true and just king. I was so so proud of him after reading this book, he's just my royal son. His relationship with Alucard progressed more and we hear more about their backstory - they are just the cutest. Speaking of Alucard, he continued to be a badass in this book, whilst also breaking my heart into a thousand pieces and constantly bickering with Kell.
Want to know what broke my heart the most? Other than pretty much everything. The award goes to Holland. We get chapters from his POV as he also tells us about his past, from the beginning. Without excusing some of his actions, he has been through so so much, his life has literally been hell on earth and we hear more about his life and the people who have been in it. Holland, Kell, Lila and Alucard even team up in the second half of the book and I enjoyed every second of these people working together. Teamwork (especially between former enemies) is my soft spot in fiction. Also, without giving away spoilers, Kell and Holland go through quite a bit in this conclusion.
Overall, this book was huge (the paperback being 666 pages, har har, Victoria) but every second was packed with action, emotion and excitement. I read this book in a day and every time I had to put it down, I felt as though I had been pulled from the world. We get POVs from Kell, Lila, Holland - even characters such as Queen Emira & King Maxim which was really interesting. I usually hate secondary characters suddenly having a voice in the final book but this is Victoria Schwab we're talking about so she nailed it. The beginning, middle and end captured my attention and I'll miss this world more than you can imagine. It is rich, diverse and just magical and it will forever be a series I recommend.
This series introduced me to one of my all time favourite characters - Delilah Bard. Thief/pickpocket and wannabe pirate, whose goal in life is to just live it. She is gender-fluid, has a disability, carries a load of knives around with her and is confident and sassy without being cocky. She starts off as something of a side character when she teams up with Kell but by the end of the series, she is the shining star. She goes through so much character development in just three books and grows so much as a person. She was a girl used to running, used to having nothing, used to sleeping with her back against the wall but now she is pure magic (literally and figuratively.)
Another character with huge development is Rhy, heir to the Arnesian throne and Kell's brother (also a queer PoC.) He has no magic and always felt as though he was less because of it but he proves that you don't need magic in order to be a true and just king. I was so so proud of him after reading this book, he's just my royal son. His relationship with Alucard progressed more and we hear more about their backstory - they are just the cutest. Speaking of Alucard, he continued to be a badass in this book, whilst also breaking my heart into a thousand pieces and constantly bickering with Kell.
Want to know what broke my heart the most? Other than pretty much everything. The award goes to Holland. We get chapters from his POV as he also tells us about his past, from the beginning. Without excusing some of his actions, he has been through so so much, his life has literally been hell on earth and we hear more about his life and the people who have been in it. Holland, Kell, Lila and Alucard even team up in the second half of the book and I enjoyed every second of these people working together. Teamwork (especially between former enemies) is my soft spot in fiction. Also, without giving away spoilers, Kell and Holland go through quite a bit in this conclusion.
Overall, this book was huge (the paperback being 666 pages, har har, Victoria) but every second was packed with action, emotion and excitement. I read this book in a day and every time I had to put it down, I felt as though I had been pulled from the world. We get POVs from Kell, Lila, Holland - even characters such as Queen Emira & King Maxim which was really interesting. I usually hate secondary characters suddenly having a voice in the final book but this is Victoria Schwab we're talking about so she nailed it. The beginning, middle and end captured my attention and I'll miss this world more than you can imagine. It is rich, diverse and just magical and it will forever be a series I recommend.
* Becky's Thoughts *
It's been a few days since I finished this book and I still can't put my feelings into words. The one thing I can confidently say right now, to sum everything up, is this - although I've loved this series from the start, it was A Conjuring of Light that truly made it one of my favourite series's of all time.
We are thrown straight into the action with this book kicking off exactly where A Gathering of Shadows left off, and this fast-pacing carries on throughout, because for Kell, Lila, Alucard, Rhy and Holland, it's no longer just a magical power play - it's about saving their world(s). I'm not always a fan of books that are full of action all the way through, but ACOL did this perfectly - yes, the action, tension and plotting never stopped, but it wasn't all action and nothing else. Each of the characters grow and develop more in this book than in either of the previous books, and we get more of a look into their pasts as well - Holland's back story, most of all, destroyed me. I've always loved him (sorry, I just have a thing for antiheroes/villains) and his story arc in this book couldn't have been more perfect. Lila was, as always, amazing, and she definitely grew and matured in this book in my opinion.
I feel like there isn't much that I can say that Angharad hasn't already said or that wouldn't absolutely spoil this book for anyone else, so I'll just say this - go and read it. If you've already read the first two books in the series, I don't think you need me to convince you to pick this up, and if you haven't started this series yet, take our gushing as encouragement to go and do so. If you want a fantasy series full of complex, well developed and diverse characters, three different worlds with the most perfect atmospheric world building, a fast-paced, emotional plot, and enough twists and cliffhangers to make you dizzy, this is the series for you.
+
love,
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