A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Singles month! Dany and I are reading separately this month, partly because I’m in kind of a funk about reading. I’ve read 25 books this year, (19% of my goal of 135 books), and I have hit the wall of “oh my god, I need to keep reading, but I can’t!”

Do other people get this wall? I seem to run into it in February, where everything loses its appeal and I want to read nothing, watch nothing, and burrow into the earth for a while. And I live in California — it’s not even cold here!

Anyways, I bring this up, because A Darker Shade of Magic got through the wall, and I’m going to talk about it.

I actually started this book ages and ages ago. People had such good things to say about it, and my roommate loved it. I picked it up, read about five chapters and then put it down. It wasn’t singing to me.

It starts with Kell, a traveler between worlds, one of two of his kind, and possibly the most whiney of boys. He’s been adopted by the royal family in his home world, and his brother, Rhy, treats him as nothing but a brother. The king and queen aren’t so gracious, but they aren’t mean to him. I found Kell’s whining to be annoying, but then couldn’t stomach the introduction to Delilah Bard, where she defends herself against a rapist.

I put the book down and went on with my life — there’s no time to waste on books I don’t particularly enjoy.

It should have been the end of it. I should have left the book alone and not worried too much about it, but then I saw some fan art of Rhy — the only character I liked — and thought what the hell, I’m in my book funk, I might as well read something I know I’m not that into. Then I can complain all I like.

Only, I didn’t complain. Delilah Bard was a wonderful protagonist — witty, sharp and with none of her edges smoothed off because she was a woman. I kept waiting for it, but she was treated perfectly by the narrative, never asked to apologize for being a thief and a murderer, but also not expected to be emotionless and cold.

Suddenly I was invested. Even Kell, who had annoyed me originally, grew on me. There was a spirit to the book that was all in good fun. The writing began to speed up and by the middle I was thoroughly engrossed.

Now reading the next book (A Gathering of Shadows), I find myself in the same position, and am beginning to think it’s just the way Schwab writes. There’s a build up that’s slow, but then the plot explodes across the page, catching you on it’s wave.

And I think the lesson you can learn from it was that endings, good endings, are ultimately more important than weak beginnings. Sure, you have to get through the beginning, but a strong ending can really change your whole view on a book. I thought I was going to hate A Darker Shade of Magic, turns out, the ending saved it.

Rosey’s rating: 4.5/5