Challenge Corner discussion

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

**This BOTM thread will be open until September 5th @ Midnight (in your time zone)**

I started this one yesterday and I am now fully hooked.
(view spoiler)[ The second Black London was mentioned my little spidey senses were tingling. Anyone else think this is going to play a big role in the future despite the fact it’s supposed to be inaccessible? (hide spoiler)]

And side note: I'm listening on audio, and because it's set in many different Londons the accents are amazing. Highly recommend.

60% (view spoiler)[I can't tell if Rhy of Lila is meant to be the love interest. Or maybe there is no love interest!
That black smoke is obviously going to lead to something big. (hide spoiler)]

83%
(view spoiler)[Lila has a fake eye! What's the chances of her parents removing it as a child because it was all black? (hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[I did think Kell's stolen memories would come in at some point, but it looks as if that (and Lila's eye) are being saved for future books. As long as they don't wind up being siblings!
More characters died than I expected: it's a bit ruthless. I love Lila though! I was a bit meh to Kell at the start, but she more than made up for it. (hide spoiler)]

Page 33: just started, very well written and sounds intriguing! :)

End of Part 4: (view spoiler)[Schwab has a knack for writing disturbing characters and scenes... The one with the Danes and the boy and then the other Antari was really really disturbing! (hide spoiler)]

End of Part 7: (view spoiler)[They are really in trouble. Kell should go back to Red London straight away, but what would happen to Lila? (hide spoiler)]

End of Part 9: (view spoiler)[why is Kell not going to get back? :( Also, what happened to Holland is terrible, and he is relentless, he will never stop... (hide spoiler)]

The description wasn’t that engaging for me. But God! It was worth to give it a try. What a unique worldbuilding and this symbol of the coat, which changes, whenever Kell wants - like different ‘masks’, that we can wear with different people. Like it so far ❤️

Chapter IV: actions begin!!! The worldbuilding is really unique and rich, while the world is cruel and dark. Did I say I love it already? However, so far can’t quite understand the MC :/

Emd of Part 10: (view spoiler)[Oh, poor Parrish, he seemed nice! (hide spoiler)]

ada, f wrote: "Chapter IV: actions begin!!! The worldbuilding is really unique and rich, while the world is cruel and dark. Did I say I love it already? However, so far can’t quite understand the MC :/"

Yes, I think I know what you mean, Kell is not very easy to understand as a character... I don't love either him nor Lila. I like them, but not love them.

Andy wrote: "ada, f wrote: "Chapter IV: actions begin!!! The worldbuilding is really unique and rich, while the world is cruel and dark. Did I say I love it already? However, so far can’t quite understand the M..."

i can relate! i feel like the book is mainly focused on the plot and actions, sacrificing the characters' development and unfolding. it seems, that it may be the reason why we don't fall in love with characters, because we can't relate to something, that we don't know.

ada, f wrote: "Andy wrote: "ada, f wrote: "Chapter IV: actions begin!!! The worldbuilding is really unique and rich, while the world is cruel and dark. Did I say I love it already? However, so far can’t quite und..."

You are probably right!
I finished the book, and, while I enjoyed it enough, it has a close enough ending that I don't think I will continue!

End of Part 4

(view spoiler)[
Wow! This is some great world building. The different Londons are very intriguing. I like seeing how the magic is different in each London. I am excited to see how things go with Lilah, she is awesome! I am not sure how I feel about Rhys. (hide spoiler)]

End of Part 8

(view spoiler)[
Wow! This is great. I love the descriptions of the different parts of London. That has been my favorite. These last few parts are making me really enjoy Lila and Kell. They are my two favorite. I am excited to see their journey together, although I can tell there will be a lot of struggles. (hide spoiler)]

Andy wrote: I don't think I will continue!

I went on the read the whole series after this book 😂

83%

i definitely want to read all series so far. i rarely like worldbuilding that much. this book gives plenty of space to think and reflect.

especially compared to another book that I'm reading now The Book of Azrael (really surface-level)

but not that much hooks/plot twists, as I want

End of Part 11

(view spoiler)[

Wow. It is getting very intense. I am not sure if I'm enjoying the action scenes that much. I feel like they make me like Kell and Lila less. (hide spoiler)]

End of book

(view spoiler)[

This book was a lot more gruesome than I had expected. Lots of death and blood. I enjoyed the magic scenes. The parts about the eye was intriguing. I am interested to see how the series will continue. The ending left me interested. Lila was my favorite character. She is a badass and is so fun to read about.

(hide spoiler)]

i did enjoy this book!
review

Part 1-4: (view spoiler)[This is some really great world building and the characters all sound very intriguing. I like how Kell travels between different Londons and brings back stuff even though he is technically not allowed to. I don't trust Rhy completely though rn, he makes me uneasy for some reason. Lila on the other hand sounds amazing and I am waiting to see how her paths cross with Kell. Athos Dane disturbed me quite a bit ngl, the way he made Holland cut himself was scary (hide spoiler)]

Part 5-7: (view spoiler)[What even is happening? Honestly I am still a little bit confused between different Londons but the one with Athos ruling is definitely the worst. Lila managed to steal from Kell, that was awesome but this black stone magic is so creepy, I almost don't want to read ahead because I am just so uncomfortable. There is a lot of violence and gore and blood in this one for my liking and I don't know how much more I can take of this (hide spoiler)]

Part 8-10: (view spoiler)[I liked Lila's way of distinguishing different Londons much more than Kell's color scheme lol, it makes sense why they have to cross the three different ones to reach Black London. I feel like I understand the concept of this book much better now that Kell explained everything to Lila. I didn't understand why the guards murdered Fletcher? Also poor Gen and Parrish! I was shocked to read that Gen was taken over by the black magic, I am wondering how this would all end (hide spoiler)]

Part 11-12: (view spoiler)[I bet Lila is an Antari as well considering one of her eyes was removed when she was a child maybe to simply conceal the fact that she had magic. I am guessing her mom died because of the same. I like that she didn't abandon Kell when things got rough, Astrid was so cunning to use Rhy that way. I am not sure that I like Kell as a protagonist especially since he used the soul spell.There are only a few pages left and I can't figure out how these two are going to manage to fight Athos and go to Black London to get rid of the stone (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[It seemed like it was almost too easy for Kell to get rid of the Danes wrt to all the build up they got throughout the book, I am almost disappointed. I am not a fan of how this book ended, sure I liked Lila, she is a badass but Kell...I am not so sure about him. I felt like the book was missing a certain charm or maybe I had just hyped it up so much in my head that it couldn't live upto it. Either way I am on fence about whether I'd be continuing with the series (hide spoiler)]

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