Here's why you should read A Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwab
7th March 2018
Share This Article:
I absolutely love books and recommending people new books to read is one of my absolute favourite things to do - I wouldn't be a book blogger if it wasn't!
Today however, instead of giving you a list of brilliant reads to choose from, I'm going to talk about one specific book that I love and tell you all why you should read it. I discovered Victoria "VE" Schwab's amazing "A Darker Shade of Magic" two years ago, and absolutely fell in love with it. Here's why you should too:
1. Delilah Bard is an absolute BAMF
Delilah Bard, known as Lila in the books, is an absolute firecracker of a female character. Defying all gender expectations of the time in which she lives (London in the time of George III), Lila is strong and feisty and craves adventure and in a time where women were barely allowed to be people, she is who she is and does what she wants without making an apologies for it. I wish I was even half as brave and determined as Lila.
2. The magic system is awesome
The magic system in this book is so complex and unlike anything I've ever read about before. There's basic elemental magic, which is the magic that people in Red London have, but there's also the Antaris, of which there are only two left, who can travel through the different parrallel Londons and perform various other magic using the magic in their blood. The magic is so much threaded into the world, whether it's Red London where magic thrives, White London where magic is dying, Grey London where magic has gone and Black London, which has been destroyed by magic. No matter which setting in Schwab's complex world you are in, magic is a character there and you can feel it threaded through every page.
3. Victoria Schwab's writing style is lovely
Everything feels so vivid, the setting, the characters, all the different Londons, it all comes alive on the page and as someone who often has difficulty visualising places in books, I found that I had no difficulties here, because Victoria Schwab writes about this world in such a vivid way, that you feel like you are really there, getting lost in her magical world.
4. The villains are incredible
VE Schwab certainly has a talent for writing villians, but of all the books of hers I've read, the Dane Twins are in my opinion, her best done and most psychotic villains, I literally flinched every time one of them appeared on the page because you just knew something awful was going to happen.

- Article continues below...
- More stories you may like...
- Theatre Review: Jekyll and Hyde @ The Birmingham REP
- I Know My Husband Loves Me @ The Union Theatre
- Theatre Review: The Mindreading Experiments @ The Bread and Roses Theatre
You might also like...
People who read this also read...
TRENDING
TRENDING CHANNELS
CONTRIBUTOR OF THE MONTH