A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Team, have you ever looked up and realized your library book was due back in less than a day and you aren’t finished? Yep. Cue my panic last yesterday. Did I manage to finish those last two hours before, oh you better believe it. Turned it in with 14 minutes to spare, and I may or may not have had to listen to the last half an hour while at work. Whoops.

Wow. Following from my last post about this series. I was enraptured. This book two does a beautiful job of expanding upon the world already seen in a way that doesn’t seem like showing. We see lands, we learn about the other cultures, and we do it wall while learning how our deadly cinnamon rolls are handling, or well not handling, the events from book one. 

This to me speaks volumes for how well V.E. Schwab understands the human psyche. The trauma, and the aftermath of what happened to Kell, Rhy, Lila, and well the who city/cities of London as a whole are so well done. Prickly undercurrents and drama. Oh an add an Olympic-like game of magical competition between the major countries to make sure that tensions run high? What could possibly go wrong? *insert sarcasm and a wink here*

I love battle scenes, I love magic, I love balls. And we got ALL of that and so much more. I’m having a hard time trying to not give away any details that may be important, because so much of this book was a delightful surprise. I never knew what was going to happen next. Especially the ending. Oh my goodness it killed me and I’m not listed to get my library hold for another three weeks. Well at least it will be after all of my master’s finals for this semester, and I won’t get too distracted. 

Again another excellent showing from Ms. Schwab, and I’m dying for more.

Also did you see that there’s a new collectors edition coming out in Rose Gold next year? Hmmmm. 😉 

You can get A Gathering of Shadows here through Bookshop.org, which supports local independent bookstores!

This website contains endorsements for products and services, which means when you click on a link that we recommend, we may receive a commission.