This has been a book on my to-read list for a long time. My sister loved it and I think Victoria Schwab is really cool (I’m so envious she lives in Edinburgh!) so I had a lot of hopes for this book.
Summary: Kell has the unique power of traveling across worlds, there one thing in common? They each have a city named London. Thus, Kell nicknames each world as: Grey London, Red London, and White London. There once was a Black London, but that world has been lost and closed off for centuries. Kell illegally smuggles across these worlds and when a deal goes wrong, he must flee. He runs into Lila, a thief, in Grey London and the pair are suddenly thrown into an adventure submerged in mysterious magic.
First, the cover is a brilliant one. It’s simple and aesthetically pleasing but it also has a great design that shows someone (probably Kell) stepping from a black circle to a red one with map lines on them. It makes sense to the story and I love it.
While this was a good book, it wasn’t as superb as I’d hoped for. I’m definitely interested enough to continue the series and I see myself enjoying the next books (hopefully more). I just wasn’t obsessed with the story.
The only problem I had with the book was that there was a plot hole. I can’t describe it without spoiling some major things. It might not even be a plot hole because I might have overlooked something but I was still confused by it. It almost felt as if was intended to be a twist, but I didn’t find it necessary to the story so it fell a little short for me.
I enjoyed the story and found the pacing to be done well though. It kept me interested and was an easy book to read a lot of without noticing time go by. I actually finished this book in one day!
The characters were likeable and sympathetic. Kell and Lila had a great dynamic, but I don’t ship them. I kind of just loved them as partners-in-crime. Lila was pretty kickass and I liked her a lot. There was one scene though where I thought she acted immensely stupid, but I think it was to move the plot forward. It pushed the boundaries on how I perceived her character though. Again, I’m not going to say what it was so I don’t spoil anything.
I want to learn more about Kell in the next books too. While I liked him, I didn’t get enough depth from him. Lila was the real star for me. I was also very intrigued by Holland, I couldn’t help rooting for him!
This is also a very male story. Lila and an evil queen are pretty much the only females we get a lot of dialogue from. While I loved Lila, female friendships and badassery are something I’m a huge fan of. Male characters are easy for me to predict, but female ones are always able to surprise me. I think they usually have the best characterization and so I’m also hoping to see more females in the future books.
I think this is a series where the characters grow on you as you read more of the story. I don’t have a solid opinion just yet, but I do see a lot of potential.
Overall, I’ll read the sequel because I am intrigued by the story, but I haven’t fallen in love quite yet. It was a decent book and one I really want to like, but I think the next book(s) will have to make or break this series for me.
Stacks to Read 