Welcome to the 3rd discussion for our A Darker Shade of Magic readalong! I hope that you’re all keeping up, and that those of you who have already finished the book (haha) will continue to join us for discussions! Please let me know if you have any concerns at all, by contacting me via my Contact page, or through the comments below! If this is the first time you’re hearing about this readalong, you can read the announcement and sign-up post here! If you want reminder emails, please be sure to sign up for the newsletter as well (link also provided in the post linked above).
– The Readalong Book –
A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC BY V.E. SCHWAB
Title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: V.E. Schwab
Type: Fiction
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: TOR Books
Date published: February 24, 2015 (hardcover)
January 19, 2016 (paperback)
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 400
Synopsis: 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.
– Parts 9-11 Discussion Questions –
Note: those of you who have not yet read A Darker Shade of Magic and still intend to read it, don’t read this post beyond this point (including the comments)! But if you like spoilers go right ahead.
To participants: It’s not mandatory that you answer these questions! This is not school, haha. These are mainly meant to generate conversations in case some of our readalongers are having a hard time picking something to talk about. Also, feel free to mention and discuss anything which I may not have thought of in the questions below! Please, also keep in mind that we are discussing parts 9-11 at this point only, and that if you have read ahead, that you be conscious about not sharing spoilers. We want to keep this fun for everyone! Please be considerate.
Announcement: If any of you think of questions that you would like for me to include in the last discussion post (for parts 12-14) please let me know in the comments, by emailing me, or by sending me a DM on Twitter!
- Did you expect Kell and Lila’s travel from Grey London to Red London to go so smoothly? Or did you think that it did not go smooth at all?
- If you lived in Red London, would you attend Prince Rhy’s birthday parties?
- How did you feel about Rhy after Kell shared the story of when Rhy was kidnapped, almost killed, and then forgave his kidnappers?
- What did you think of Lila’s outfit choices? Revolutionary? Boring? Annoying? Would you have preferred if she picked out a dress? Or were you more like “rock on!” while reading this part?
- How do you feel about Lila, in general, now? Different than before? Or the same?
- How do you feel about Kell, in general, now? Different than before? Or the same?
- Was there an instant where you believed that Rhy may have betrayed Kell? Or did you have faith in Rhy the entire time?
- Did you expect Astrid and Athos to have something to do with the stone? Did you expect them to come up in the story again at all?
- Do you think that Rhy will make it? :'(
- Do you think that Kell and Lila will actually make it to Black London in this book? Or do you think that we will we have to wait until book 2 or 3 for that?
– My Answers –
- I think that I expected the travel from one London to the other to have more consequences!
- You can bet that I’d attend Rhy’s birthdays!
- I love Rhy so much! :'(
- At first, I was like “No Lila…look at all the pretty dresses!” But then I realized that they’re really not Lila, and that there’s nothing that suits her better than the outfit she picked out 🙂
- I almost love Lila as much as Rhy and Kell now! Right now the order of preference is: Rhy, Kell, Lila, Athos (I know, weird), Holland, Astrid.
- Answer above applies here! Also, I don’t know why…but Kell feels a little flat for me at times? I don’t know if it’s the audiobook that I occasionally listen to, either? I dunno. I’ll see how I feel during the last discussion!
- Yes! I thought Rhy betrayed Kell for like a split second, and then I felt terrible! Stupid, smart Astrid………
- Yes! Otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten such a detailed intro at the beginning 😉 and I had a feeling that they would not be content with just White London!
- I SURE HOPE RHY MAKES IT :'(
- I have the feeling that we’re running out of page space for that….so this might turn into the overarching plot for books 1-3? But I suppose we’ll know for sure at this time next week! 😉
Also, I thought I’d share the tweet that I posted last night when I got to the end of Part 11!
https://twitter.com/flavbibliophile/status/910364639933976578
– Readalong Schedule –
| Date | Chapter Discussions | Discussion Location |
|---|---|---|
| September 1, 2017 | Start reading! | N/A |
| September 6, 2017 | Parts 1 – 4 | Located here |
| September 13, 2017 | Parts 5 – 8 | Located here |
| September 20, 2017 | Parts 9 – 11 | This post! |
| September 30, 2017 | Parts 12 – 14 | Flavia the Bibliophile |
THANK YOU FOR READING AND THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU PARTICIPATING IN THIS READALONG! AND THANKS TO THOSE OF YOU JUST TUNING IN! IF YOU’VE ALREADY READ THE BOOK BEFORE, YOU’RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO JOIN THE DISCUSSION AS WELL! I JUST ASK THAT YOU BE AWARE OF WHICH SECTIONS WE ARE DISCUSSING, AND AVOIDING SPOILERS. I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING ALL OF YOUR THOUGHTS, AND DISCUSSING THEM WITH YOU! HAPPY READING!
I’m not actually participating in the readalong, but I have read this book, and these posts are making me want to reread it again. But I just have to answer that I love Rhy and I would absolutely go to any party for him or event by him.
You can answer all of the questions if you feel like it! And yay I’m glad that these posts are making you want to re-read hehe. Aweeee I’m glad we agree on Rhy! He is precious.
Rhy is absolutely the most precious of marshmallows. I adore him.
OK Here I go. I like Lila better now. In the beginning I could not really “feel” who she was. A survivor certainly but more than that…. Of course I would go to Rhy’s parties and try to attract his attention! And yes I doubted him (shame on me I know). Kell is a protector and I love him to pieces for what he’s done for Rhy. I alos pity him as he is always the messenger and always being put at risk. As far as the twins no I did not think they were behind the stone. What I know is that they make for very good villains. Not in shades of grey (Holland is still debatable) but all black! Now I can’t wait to read the remaining of the book! Thanks for hosting this Flavia!!!
I totally agree with you! I couldn’t “feel” Lila at the beginning either. Rhy = <3. And I'm ashamed too! You're not alone, hahaha. Kell really is a protector, and thanks to your comment I kind of like him a bit better now! The twins DO make good villains! So glad you're enjoying the book and the readalong so far, and thanks for participating! 😀 <3
Thank you! I of course think my questions are lame…but I try! Haha.
I wish you’d read along with us too!
Yaaaay! I might host one in November…MAYBE October
I expected minor complications with the travel, but I have always had my suspicions about Lila.
I would totally go to Rhy’s parties!! Lol.
Rhy just, I don’t know. He makes me speechless sometimes. His behavior is so erratic.
I loved Lila’s outfit choice!
I have always loved Lila.
Kell has always been on the edge of my mind. He grew on me as the books progressed but I don’t ever now if I truly fell in love completely.
Again, Rhy’s behavior is so erratic. Sometimes he is so unpredictable. I don’t think I believed he betrayed Kell, but never really felt that he 100% was loyal to him.
Since I have finished the series, I will be select in the rest of the questions I answer so I don’t spoil it! Lol. <3
Yay for Rhy and his parties! And yes Lila’s outfit, hehe. It would never suit me, but I can definitely appreciate how it would look on HER!
Also, yeah I get what you mean about Rhy. We don’t really know him TOO well yet, so there’s still a chance that he might let us down. Plus there’s the fact that he has very little magic…which is the main reason why I suspected that he might be involved with the stone.
Ahhhh you read all 3 books?!
I cannot wait to see what you think of Rhy later on!!
Yep, my book group on IG and I read all three books back to back a couple months ago.
Oh maaaan haha how did I miss that? I’m wondering now whether to host a readalong for the 2nd book sometime next year or not lmao
If you have time I think you should. It seems like it is going well!! Have you finished reading it yet?
Nope! I was waiting just in case there were other comments being posted by Wednesday hehe
Audiobooking it now while working 🙂
Nice! I look forward to the next discussion on the last part of the book!
Yay! Okay! I’m excited to see what everyone’s final thoughts are 😀
Here are my answers:
I expected it to go smoothly, but I wasn’t surprised when it didn’t.
Yes, I would attend Rhy’s birthday parties. There’s the possibility of meeting a prince right? 😉
I think Rhy was very naive to forgive his kidnappers. It opens the door for it to happen again.
I liked Lila’s choice to stay true to herself when she chose her outfits, but I think she would have blended in more if she had chosen a dress.
I like Lila a lot more now. At first I thought she was kind of boring, just wanting to be a pirate. But now that she has demonstrated that she cares for Kell, she is a more developed character.
I still really like Kell. He’s very caring, especially when it comes to Rhy. I also like that he always appears right when he’s needed, like when he has to save Lila.
I was sure that Rhy had betrayed Kell. I was relieved when I found out it wasn’t really Rhy doing it, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was him. Since we haven’t learned much about him, I’m suspicious of him.
Yes, I thought Astrid and Athos had something to do with the stone. They’re just so evil! Plus, Holland was very concerned with it, and he is under their control so I figured they influenced him.
I hope Rhy will make it!
I don’t think they will make it to Black London in this book. There’s still so much that has to happen before they get there!
Yeeees meeting Rhy would be so much fun! And I agree about him having been naive. I mean, he could have punished them, just not too harshly? Or at least he could have exiled them, so that they won’t be close to him?
Lila would have DEFINITELY blended in more if she’d worn a dress haha. I was kind of shaking my head at her over that too, but oh well 😛
I’m suspicious of Rhy too! And then guilty for being suspicious of him hahaha.
The twins ARE pure evil. But I kind of like them hahaha probably because I’m drawn to well-written villains hehehe.
For sure, I agree with you. I’m very curious as to where Schwab will take us over the course of this series. And I heard that there will be another series coming out, set in this world, so I’m glad that we won’t have to say goodbye to this world bc I really really like it!
Yes!! I have loved this book so much. I’m reading the final part and it’s so amazing. I’m so glad I joined this readalong. I didn’t have much time to do it at the beginning of the month but it has been really nice to see everyone’s thoughts on the book.
I’m so glad you joined too! Yay! And I’m audiobooking it while doing other things haha. I really wanted to actually read it, but sadly I have to do a lot of other things as well so…
I’m so glad that you’ve been having fun with the book and the readalong! 😀 I might host a readalong for the sequel early next year…or maaaaaybe in November 😉 so keep an eye out if that’s something that might interest you! <3
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