A Gathering of Shadows: A Novel (Shades of Magic, 2)

5 Stars

So much better than the first book, possibly because the exposition has already been set. I am so glad I get to live in a world where the third book has already been published and I don't have to go through the pain of living. I love that the author acknowledges how diabolical she is being in the Acknowledgements :D

As far as the story goes, I think having the ensemble cast works a lot better in this book since it gives us the ability to view main characters through another lens. The Games were so fun and entertaining to read and I feel like Lila and Kell are growing into themselves. I loved seeing the brotherly bond between Rhy and Kell, very real sibling relationship.
#FreeMyBoyHolland
Also love that even Kell's coat ships him and Lila together.

3.75 stars. This felt very sophomoric. It fell victim to second in a series syndrome. The character development was interesting. Especially Lilah’s. I am curious to see where it goes.

As always, love this series! A re-read!

3 stars for the first half of the book and 4 stars for the second, but despite that averaging out to 3.5 stars, I'm going to give this book an overall 4 stars because of how ramped up it got in the second half and how much better it was. Once it found its groove, it really got 100% better.

It took me two tries to read this book. The first time, I gave up like halfway through and the second time, I got stalled for months around the same point. The problem is that the first half builds towards the second half, which is great and all but it leaves the first part unable to really stand on its own. It wasn't boring exactly, but it wasn't compelling either.

The second part of the book was where the story really jumped out of the page at you. Descriptions of the competition (which admittedly seemed like very Avatar/Legend of Korra, but tbh how many ways are there to have elementals go up against each other?) were so exciting and the relationships between all the characters really drove the book. It was a bit of a bummer that Kell and Lila didn't meet up again for such a long time until almost the end, which may have contributed to the first part dragging. They just play off each other so well that the book seems like it's missing something when the two of them aren't working together.

But we got loads of great character stuff with Kell, and Kell and Rhys, and Alucard and Lila, and so many other great character interactions that I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on. I'm definitely excited to see more Alucard and Rhys and seeing how the group works together to defeat the new evil, and how Holland ends up at the end of all this. And of course, more Kell and Lila now that they are finally (kind of) together.

I think I'm going to read some other stuff first before diving back into this world, but it's nice to know that I have some more great storytelling and world building to look forward to!