A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab Review

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab is the second book in a trilogy and it is one of my new favorite books!  This is just an amazing book and has a very strong beginning/opening scene that instantly grabbed my attention and hooked me.  It picks up basically where the first one left off, four months after the first book ended (don’t worry I’ll refrain from spoilers).  There’s pirates, there’s magic and magicians, fantasy, action and adventure, amazing characters (old and some new), and there’s a magical tournament to see who’s the best magician in all of Red London (definitely reminiscent of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling!)  What’s not to love?!  Normally I’m not big on pirates, but this was one of the few exceptions (along with Pirates of the Caribbean) due to Schwab’s amazing talent, her writing, and her characters, especially Delilah Bard is just a fantastic and a strong female character that I just adore.  I can only hope to one day write such interesting and strong, but also flawed characters as Schwab can, and her amazing world building skills, too!  I mean seriously is this woman even human?  She can pump out multiple books in a year!  She has become one of my new favorite authors and someone I look up to and strive to be as a writer.  Not only for the amount of work she can accomplish but her level of quality of writing.  It’s fantastic!

I must also talk about some of the other characters, Delilah Bard wasn’t the only strong kick ass character (although I must admit…I think she’s my favorite character in this series!)!  After the events from the first book, there’s some rising tension between the Royals (mostly from The King and Queen) and Kell and it’s interesting to see how he battles with his guilt about what happened but also his reasoning on why he thinks he still made the right decision.  It’s very interesting to see how Kell and Rhy’s relationship has changed, but they still have a brotherly understanding of each other as well, which still keeps them close.  Both Kell and Rhy are cool, strong, and interesting characters in their own right along with newcomer Alucard Emery (Alucard has such a compelling backstory), but I can’t say too much more about them without spoiling things for you.  So, take that as a sign that you should really read this book (this trilogy) for yourself, I don’t think you’d regret it!  It was really good and I found the book was fast-paced and very entertaining!

What are some of your new favorite books?  Is this one on your TBR?  If you’ve read this trilogy and fell in love like I did, then let me know in the comments below or on our Social Media platforms!  Happy reading!