BooktubeSFF Awards discussion

Hi everyone, so April is nearly upon us which means it is time for us to open up the threads for April readalongs. :)

I will be hosting the readalong for A Gathering of Shadows which is book #2 in the Shades of Magic series by V. E. Schwab. We actually hosted a readalong last year for the first book in this series, A Darker Shade of Magic, so if you want to go back and read through the comments about that book then follow this link

Please remember to use spoiler tags when discussing anything in specific detail so as not to ruin the experience for others.

This readalong will run throughout the whole of April but feel free to get started and comment along as you read or after finishing.

A few questions to start us off:
- What did you think about book #1 overall?
- What can you remember from book #1?
- Are you looking forward to this one and what are you hoping to see developed here?
- What characters do you most enjoy reading about?
- How do you like the concept of the three London worlds and the world-building in general?
- What do you think might happen in the plot of this one?

So please feel free to use the prompts or just chat away casually. I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts and I look forward to reading along with you all too :)

K x

I listened to all three books in three days last month. At first I thought I was going to really like it, but as it went on it felt like it was getting worse. I gave the first book 3.5 stars, the second 3 stars and the third 2.5 stars, so it's a solid "I liked it" three star series. But after less than a month after finishing it, I haven't given it a single thought until seeing this thread and trying to think of something to say about it.

I liked some of the side-ish characters best, although maybe Rhy is kind of a main-ish character? Well I liked him best anyway. (view spoiler)[The Games could have been so much better! But I understand that some people maybe wouldn't have wanted to read about a side quest for hundreds of pages. (hide spoiler)]

I can't say that I don't like Schwab, but I don't think I can say that I do, either. I think I like Vicious the most out of the three (Vicious, Shades of Magic, This Savage Song).

I'm almost ready for this. I just need to go read 'A Darker Shade of Magic First'.... So see you then :D

I have officially started reading the book :)

I liked the first book, probably largely because there's a lot of new stuff to discover about the world. Without that in the second book, I thought parts of it were really slow. Plus I didn't really connect with the motivations, or childish angsty-ness of the main characters. I will say things picked up after a few hundred pages, and I ended up liking the Essen Tach, so it partly redeemed itself. But I didn't rush out to order the 3rd book, and probably won't read it anytime soon.

So part of what made this book so irritating to me is that (view spoiler)[once again, it took over half to book to have the characters even in the same vicinity, not even mentioning actually interacting (hide spoiler)]. It's what slowed down the first bk imo (view spoiler)[&& I definitely think I needed more than two new characters if Lila & Kell only got a few pages of time together (hide spoiler)]. I enjoyed every second of our heroes bantering & plotting, but I was overall less enthused bc the plot didn't feel character driven. I suppose it just felt too much like a middle book, if that makes sense. That all said, I still absolutely can't wait to read the third book.

I didn't read A Darker Shade of Magic last year, so I've been marathoning the whole series on Audible the last few days (have about 2/3 left of A Conjuring of Light). I really like the characters of Lila and Kell, Lila especially. It has really motivated me to continue reading the series past book one, because I wanted to see how Lila developed, discovering new things about herself and exploring the new friendship with Kell. I liked the setting and atmosphere in the books, and I think they will work well in the upcoming movie(s). I like the dry humour and the books generally make me very happy, there is a certain feel-good quality to them that I appreciated. That said, I don't think the books are the most innovative thing ever written. The format is fairly traditional, and kind of predictable. I gave 4 stars to A Darker Shade of Magic, and 4 stars to A Gathering of Shadows, though I think the second book is not quite as good as the first one. The character developments in AGoS are really nice, but there is not really much going on plotwise. (view spoiler)[Other than the games, the only real important plotline is that of Holland and the Black London creature, but the climax to that plotline doesn't happen until the third book. (hide spoiler)]

I actually find Lila boring and Rhy irritating. So irritating. I like Kell though. He's the only one who seems to have some sense in him. I have no idea where this second book is going to go, but I just started it.

I loved the characters in the first book but was somewhat underwhelmed by the plot. I liked both Kell and Lila, loved the humor Rhy brough to the story and I also actually liked Holland. Now I`m only 300 pages into the second book and I don`t really know how I feel about the pacing in the book. It is slow... but I still want more from the ship. The main plot has just barely started, so I don`t know what I think just yet...

I forgot to mention it, but I absolutely HATE the name Alucard. It's like the most cliché name ever (been a thing in the horror genre for decades). A bit fun the first time it was used, but in 2017 it's just really old and pure laziness from Schwab.

Did anyone get a sense of girl-hate from Lila's character in "A Darker Shade of Magic?" I've been a bit wary of her since I got that sense. I didn't like how she talked about women and their clothes/choices with such contempt, but I'm keeping my mind open for book two in the series. I'm curious to see if anyone else picked up on that, or if I'm reading her too harshly.

Amanda wrote: "Did anyone get a sense of girl-hate from Lila's character in "A Darker Shade of Magic?" I've been a bit wary of her since I got that sense. I didn't like how she talked about women and their clothe..."

Ohh, that's so interesting! I just finished the book and didn't even think about it once, but you are totally right. But she is super cynical towards everyone really. I did -however notice that there isn't any other important female character (at least in the second book) and all the women are on the bad side or disliked by the other characters...

Amanda wrote: "Did anyone get a sense of girl-hate from Lila's character in "A Darker Shade of Magic?" I've been a bit wary of her since I got that sense. I didn't like how she talked about women and their clothe..."

Yeah, I got that too. She tries so hard to be masculine, and sneers at anything feminine, that it makes me wonder if she's secretly sexist.

Stephanie wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Did anyone get a sense of girl-hate from Lila's character in "A Darker Shade of Magic?" I've been a bit wary of her since I got that sense. I didn't like how she talked about women a..."

Ingrid wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Did anyone get a sense of girl-hate from Lila's character in "A Darker Shade of Magic?" I've been a bit wary of her since I got that sense. I didn't like how she talked about women a..."

Lila has a endearing relationship with wardrobe shopkeeper, Calla. I got the sense that Lila just doesn't care for feminine things, she's a tomboy but I didn't read any actual contempt for girly things. She was living on the street with no mother so she's more bent to being practical (wearing pants, armed with daggers). She chose to *voluntarily* wear a dress for a certain ball, with Calla helping her. She admonished herself when she started complaining about dressing up, too.

I have to admit, after reading A Savage Song and the third book, A Conjuring of Light, Victoria Schwab has a penchant for writing tomboy female characters. I find Kate Harker and Lila to be very, very similar to each other.