A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

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🪄 Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

When Will I Learn Not to Read Fantasy?

📚 Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars)
☕ Genre: Fantasy (yep… I walked into this one)

⚠️ SPOILER WARNING: This review contains full spoilers, including character fates, plot twists, and portal-hopping chaos. Proceed with magical caution.

🤦‍♀️ First, Let’s Talk About Me

Okay. You know what? This one’s on me.
I’ve said multiple times that I just don’t like fantasy books. Magic, spells, alternate worlds, weird rules, fifty characters named things like “Holland Vosijk” and “Athos Dane” — not my thing. And yet…

I picked up a book called A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC.
MAGIC.
Right there in the title. Did I notice? No.
Did I dive in thinking this was just a cool metaphor or something? Also yes.

So to be fair to V.E. Schwab, I admit: I walked into this one like a fool. 😅

🧙‍♂️ Overview: What the Book Is Actually About

Published in 2015, A Darker Shade of Magic is a young adult fantasy and the first in V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series. It follows Kell, a magical guy who can travel between parallel Londons—yes, there are multiple Londons in this universe. (That sentence alone would’ve sent Past Me running.)

He gets tangled up with a mysterious black stone, a stabby street thief named Lila Bard, and a very inconvenient evil plot involving a world that should not exist. Cue the chaos.

It’s received tons of praise, including a Goodreads Choice Award, and Schwab is a big name in fantasy, with other popular titles like Vicious and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

🪄 Plot Summary (FULL SPOILERS AHEAD)

🌍 A Tale of Four Londons

So in this universe, there are four different Londons:

  • Red London: Where Kell lives. Magic is vibing here.

  • Grey London: Basically our world. Magic is dead. Sad vibes.

  • White London: Creepy, dying, ruled by psycho twins.

  • Black London: Completely destroyed by magic overload. Sealed off.

Kell is an Antari, meaning he can hop between Londons like some kind of magical Uber driver. He’s also adopted by the royal family in Red London but suspects he’s more tool than son.

🎁 The Forbidden Magic Parcel

Kell smuggles items between worlds (which is a big no-no), and one day, surprise! He ends up with a powerful black stone from forbidden Black London. Think of this thing like a radioactive magic grenade.

Meanwhile, Holland (the only other known Antari and 10/10 creepy guy) is working for the evil rulers of White London—the Dane twins—who want to bring down the walls between worlds using this stone.

🦹‍♀️ Enter Lila Bard

Kell runs into Lila, a dagger-happy thief from Grey London who 100% steals the show (and also the stone). She’s scrappy, sarcastic, and actually one of the only things I liked in the book. I’d totally read Lila Bard: Pirate Queen.

She accidentally creates a Kell clone with the stone (as you do), fights it, teams up with Real Kell, and basically decides to join this interdimensional mess.

⚔️ Chaos Ensues

  • The stone corrupts people left and right.

  • Holland stabs Kell, Lila punches him unconscious (icon).

  • Kell and Lila try to return the stone to Black London.

  • Kell’s adoptive brother Rhy is possessed and almost killed.

  • Kell literally binds his life to Rhy’s to save him.

  • They fight evil twins: Athos is crushed by magic serpent karma; Astrid pretends to be Lila and tries to con Kell but dies instead.

  • Kell resists the stone’s dark power (barely) and sends it away with dying Holland to Black London.

  • Kell and Lila both survive (somehow) and return to Red London.

🎩 The End

Kell makes up with Rhy, Lila decides to stay and explore her own magical potential (because surprise, she might be magical too), and I close the book wondering why I keep doing this to myself.

⚠️ Trigger Warnings

  • Torture

  • Body horror

  • Possession

  • Murder

  • Depictions of self-injury

  • Sexual assault (minor mention)

  • Mentions of parental loss

🧹 What I Liked (Yes, there were a few things)

✔️ Lila Bard. She's the sarcastic rogue of my dreams. Can we just spin her off into a non-magical detective novel, please?
✔️ Schwab’s writing is strong. She has a great grasp on pacing and tone, even if I wasn’t invested.
✔️ The worldbuilding is unique, even if it made me want to take notes to keep up.

😒 What Didn’t Work for Me (A.K.A. Fantasy Is Not My Friend)

❌ Too many characters, too many worlds, too many rules. I don't want to memorize geography or political structures to read a novel.
❌ Magic with no clear logic. The rules seem... wobbly. Magic sometimes solves everything, sometimes nothing, and often feels like a narrative shortcut.
❌ It’s just not my genre. The real issue. This book didn’t do anything wrong—I did. 🙃

🛒 Want to Read It Anyway?

Totally valid! Fantasy lovers adore this book and series. You can grab it here:
👉 Buy A Darker Shade of Magic on Amazon (affiliate link)

📚 If You Liked This, Try:

  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – still fantasy but more grounded and emotional

  • Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – for morally gray characters, heists, and magic that mostly makes sense

  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – dreamy fantasy, heavy on aesthetic, light on sense

  • An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green – not fantasy but quirky with sci-fi/fantasy vibes

🤷 Final Thoughts

I’m giving this 2 out of 5 stars, and honestly, most of that is for Lila Bard and the fact that the plot wasn’t completely boring. It’s just not for me. And that’s okay. Not every book is for every reader, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned...

It’s that I should really stop reading fantasy.

But will I? Stay tuned. 😬

Let me know what you thought of this one! Team Lila? Team "what the heck just happened?" Drop a comment and don’t forget to check out my other reviews for brutally honest book opinions. 😉

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