‘A Darker Shade of Magic’ by V. E. Schwab

The older I get, the less forgiving I become about the books I read. If I'm reading one and it doesn't grab me within the first couple chapters, I simply put it down and move onto another rather than make myself finish it. We all have only so much time in this world, and no one should waste such a precious resource on subpar entertainment.

I'm happy to say that V. E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic (book 1 of the Shades of Magic trilogy) hooked me in the first few pages. I knew before the first chapter ended that this one's a keeper — I only wish I'd gotten to it sooner, since it released nearly a decade ago.

The story is set in a universe where four parallel Londons exist — each with varying degrees of magical influence, with the least magical one being essentially our world in the early 1800s — and all (well, three) of them have been crafted with a great degree of detail.

I went in thinking I would have a hard time keeping them all straight in my mind, but that was never a problem — Schwab's writing style makes everything fun and easy to follow. I found myself glued to the pages as this fun, fast-paced, and high-stakes adventure played out, and man do I wish I could visit Red London for a while to check out all the sweet magical stuff they have there.

Here's the story description:

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

For me, the inventive world-building and intriguing magic system are the highlights of A Darker Shade of Magic, and if you're like week-ago-me and haven't gotten around to reading it yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot. As for me, I'm eagerly anticipating reading book two!

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