Welcome to my re-read of A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. This is the 5th part of my weekly re-read posts. If you have read ADSOM, come re-read and discuss it with me. If you never read it, I highly recommend it especially if you like fantasy books, sarcastic protagonists, kick-ass heroine, and fabulous coat. Even though it’s a re-read, I will do my best to avoid spoiling future chapters in the post itself, which is quite easy because most of the time, I didn’t remember what happened. So even though this is the first time you read ADSOM, you could follow along. However, please note that although the post itself is spoiler-free from future chapters, the comments section are spoiler zone, where you can talk about anything including the plot twist and the book conclusion. Without further ado, let’s sail through A Darker Shade of Magic. All aboard!
This week, we’re going to cover Part V Black Stone. I also change the format a bit so let me know which one do you prefer.
Without further ado, let’s go!.
SPOILER WARNING FOR PART I – IV
When we left Lila back in Part III, she was retreating to her room in the Stone’s Throw. Now, however, she was back to her daily thieving activity and was hauling back fair amount of coins to the tavern. Upon returning, she passed a beggar and decided to share a couple of coins. This, as anyone who has read enough fantasy books could tell you, is a bad idea.
Me: he’s so going to get killed by some thugs because of that money
Real scene: the thugs took the coins, but the boy escaped unscathed (thankfully, he has enough sense to not fight the thugs)
Lila—the thrill seeker she is—obviously went off to chase the three thugs who took the boy’s money…
On the other side of the parallel universe, Kell was delivering the letter he received at the end of Part IV. He quickly realized that something was amiss when he noticed someone was watching him and that the letter was nothing but a blank paper. At this point, I sat up excitedly. I mean, I have read this before but I still couldn’t help but get excited upon the (terrible) possibilities. (YES I AM EVIL)
Quiz time. You have been caught red-handed carrying illegal stuff you smuggled from another world. Do you: a.) reason with the captor or b.) flex your magic and make them tremble upon witnessing your power.
Answer: Kell c.) ran. Uh yeah, I didn’t expect that. I suppose it made sense in retrospect. He’s a messenger and traveler, not a soldier. (And I would totally do the same thing. While screaming and yelling)
And do you know who else decided to run? Delilah Bard. When she realized she was trapped between the thugs who wanted to capture (kill) her to get the reward money, she did the thing she had to do even though she hated it. You didn’t survive in the street using only your muscles and not using your brain, especially if you are a girl seems to be the message. And it’s a good one.
So let’s recap. Kell brought something he shouldn’t bring to Red London and now he’s on the run. Lila was after street rats who took the money she gave to a beggar, but now she’s also on the run. This is going to be exciting. *flips page*
Kell ran to his hiding place, the Ruby Fields, but of course the shady people have put a tracing curse on the parcel he smuggledcarried. The parcel itself turned out to be a black stone that came from Black London. And of course, it’s a magical stone. The stone contains so much magic that Kell could freeze a person while his own magic bleeding out of him. Still bleeding, our red-haired magician ran to a place where no one, save for one person, could follow him. Kell traveled to Grey London.
And now, for the big moment we’re waiting for.
Kell, meet Lila. Lila, meet Kell. Have fun and try not to kill each other, okay?
And here’s Lila, of course, interpreting the very definition of ‘fun’ as ‘go find trouble’ as she relieved Kell of the black stone he carried. *groans* Next time, make sure the item you steal is not cursed, okay Bard? Okay, we’ll see what happen to these two next week!
Favorite Scene
Lila stealing from Kell the moment they met, as one would expect.
Favorite Quote
“Careful now. Someone might think you’ve got a heart under all that brass.” –Barron
INDEX
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV
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