Well, this was everything I didn't know I wanted.

It's an exhilarating comfort being back with these characters. So much has changed since the first series and yet so much is the same. I loved love loved the familiarity of favorites and the delight discovering the new additions.

Plot wise, I won't say a word. It's delicate and amazing and a deliciously slow build up until everything crashes together. There are surprises and laughs and devastations and somehow a satisfying ending, even with my gasping at the last pages.

Overall, it's perfection, which was not surprising. I'm so happy VES brought us back and I can't wait for more.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

Schwab returns to the world of The Darker Shades of Magic in the first of a new trilogy, The Fragile Threads of Power. Set seven years after the conclusion of A Conjuring of Light, readers are once again swept into a world with multiple Londons, varying degrees of magic and the lives that are woven within.

Readers from the original trilogy will be thrilled to know that many favorites return and are front and center in this new story. Lila, Kell, Rhy, and my personal favorite, Alucard, are all there and far more prominent than I was initially expecting. We're also introduced to a few new faces that hold a lot of promise for future volumes such as Tes, the tinkerer and Kosika, the little queen of White London.

This book is an absolute CHONK of roughly 700 pages. While Schwab is known for her longer starts, I found that this book didn't really pick up/lay out all the cards until fifty percent of the way in. I enjoy the characters enough that I was able to linger and continue, but casual readers might find it a struggle.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen more of the new kids leading the plot versus being catalysts for it. I'm uncertain if readers will latch on as strongly to them in the event that the former lead cast fade further into the background.

All in all, it was an enjoyable return and I look forward to seeing what Schwab has up their sleeve for the rest of the trilogy.

Many thanks to Netgalley for offering an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The continuing adventures of the Ansari from the Shades of Magic trilogy. To be honest, I would bring any book that V.E. Schwab wrote to the top of my to be read pile. I love her use of imagery and I really enjoyed the world she created in this series.

We travel to the three Londons after the defeat of Osaron. Seven years have passed and not all the wound have healed. It seems there is a new ruler in Whilte London and a conspiracy to overthrow the king in Red London. Who is behind “The Hand”? Kell has not healed from the previous battle and must learn to live without the use of his magic. What is the Queen up to in her secret lab? It seems we will have to wait for all of the answers.

Yall please get your hands on this book when you can omggg!! The character development and just character dialogue throughout this whole book was wonderful! Such a good beginning to a brand new series. It felt like a homecoming by being back with all our OG characters but also a brand new story meeting the new people! I enjoyed every second of this book, there was no part I was bored at all! The ending really set up well for the rest of the series but now I must wait who knows how long for the next book! Kell & Lila + Rhy & Alucard have my heart forever, they absolutely devoured me!

This book was a pleasant surprise! I tried to keep my expectations low because I did not want to be disappointed by my favorite series ever lol

Rhy and Alucard being domestic and sweet was a highlight (not sure how I feel about the queen, but Ren has my whole heart). I also really enjoyed the new characters. Very excited to see where Kosika's story goes from here. Kell was the one disappointment for me in this book. I found his plotline to be a smidge predictable, and I wasn't a fan of his little alter-ego moment, but that's just me being picky.

It was refreshing to be back in this world, and I am very intrigued to see where Schwab takes us from here. Please don't kill anyone :)

I really had to let this one sit post-read to collect my thoughts and figure out how I really truly felt about it. I haven’t had an emotional experience like this in a long time while reading—and I had so much fun buddy reading it with a friend. We spread it out over the course of a week and pretty much read the entire thing in pieces together. It felt like watching a TV show that had a new episode every day. The book was twisty and fun and it felt like returning home after a long journey. And there was pain. So much pain. But as much as I loved the story, I had some issues with it.

Starting with what I loved:

I adored the new characters we were introduced to. Tes was brilliant and she saw the world in an interesting way. She was strangely hopeful and kind, something I don’t usually say about ADSOM characters, but she was not without her badass moments. I can’t say much without spoilers, but I will say that I loved her.

Kosika is another new character we meet in this story—and this could be an unpopular opinion, but I loved her too. She really said, “Why bleed the earth’s resources when we could just bleed?” and I stan that. She so desperately loved her world. And though in this book her POV seems ultimately pretty useless—I still really enjoyed seeing her on the page.

I also loved getting to see most of the ADSOM gang. I can’t name certain people who return without spoilers BUT—I loved seeing Kell, Rhy, and even Alucard back in action. I absolutely adored Kell in ADSOM and there were so many moments where I felt completely seen by Kell’s struggle with his chronic pain in this book (as someone who struggles with chronic pain myself). However, this was ultimately overshadowed by his magical cure (but I’m getting ahead of myself; I’ll talk more about this later).

The story itself felt magical and dark. I absolutely love V.E. Schwab’s writing. The world building is expanded in this book in the most magnificent *chef’s kiss* of ways. There are new ports to dock at and inventions galore—and I can’t give anything away but I love love love this world.

I did really adore this book, but like I said, I have a few issues with it. Some things I didn’t love:

The book itself was twisty—if predictable. I did feel a little let down at the ending. I expected some big twist about a certain character’s allegiance (and another character’s identity) and… ultimately what happened didn’t feel satisfying to me. There were a lot of plot threads and character arcs—and I think ultimately, there were too many. Kosika’s POV could have been entirely cut. The Merchant’s Son seemed largely unnecessary given all the emphasis placed on not needing to know his identity, as if we *should* know his identity, only for the promise to never be delivered. There are characters who are mentioned as missing or gone and the plot thread gets lost. There is a character who is built up as a “villain” and ultimately isn’t a villain, but is weak. The villains, I thought, were easy to spot—and while it was fun to scream I KNEW IT with my buddy read partner, I had wanted more from the The Fragile Threads of Power in terms of plot and villain.

Another big gripe I had with this book was Lila. I will be the first to admit that I have never been the biggest fan of Lila—mostly because I think she’s too self-involved and she has a lot of internalized misogyny that I don’t vibe with. That said, in the ADSOM trilogy, she could at least be fun (even if she often made the absolute worst decisions for no reason whatsoever). And in this book, she’s back. Making the worst decisions ever. But she’s not fun. She’s just horribly ableist to Kell.

Her stubborn independence (and Kell’s reluctance to be vulnerable with her) makes you wonder how Kell and Lila have somehow managed to be in a relationship together as deeply dysfunctional as this for seven years. Kell’s struggles in the relationship, I can understand, only because Lila is so ableist to him that of course he doesn’t trust her with his struggles. All she wants to do is fix him because she thinks he’s broken. I was left wondering whether Lila actually cared about Kell, or if she just wanted to be with another Antari.

And if there had been some kind of reckoning—a moment when Kell (or someone else, like Rhy or Alucard, who are all too familiar with how people treat Rhy for not having magic) called Lila on all her ableist bullshit and told her to stop treating Kell like he was less than because his magic was causing him pain—then I would say give props to V.E. Schwab for accurately depicting how someone else’s ableism can drive a wedge in your relationship.

But there was no reckoning. Ultimately, the story tells us that Kell was broken. And that he could be fixed. Magically. And for all the inventions V.E. Schwab introduced into the world building—I had hoped for some kind of magical mobility aid. It felt like a missed opportunity that she cured him instead. The message was clear: he cannot be a hero and still be disabled.

It felt deeply ironic that our villains wanted Rhy off the throne because he lacked magic—and Lila, who was supposed to love Kell more than anyone else, felt the exact same way about him as our villains felt about Rhy.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. It was such a phenomenal reading experience. It gutted me to my core. I hurt for the characters. I hated Lila Bard. The magical cure hurt me in all the wrong ways. V.E. Schwab is a genius. V.E. Schwab is a monster. I cannot wait for book 2. But I can’t give this one five stars.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All views reflected are my own.

Another fascinating tale of magic from VE Schwab. There are very few 600+ page books that I'm willing to pick up these days, and this managed to hold my attention. I wish the new set of characters had gotten more time as opposed to the old (Vares the dead owl is far superior to Lila in every regard), it could easily be trimmed down, and the entire "Kay" storyline needs to immediately be pitched, but I'll read on with the next adventure.

I am very into fantasy right now, and this book really fit the bill! I have not read the other series that takes place in this world, but I was still able to follow this story especially since there were a lot of flashbacks (although I might have enjoyed it more being able to recognize Easter eggs and know some of the characters better). The world building was so complex and well done here, and I can see how it set up for further books in the series. The blend of magic, science and technology within this world is very cool. The characters are very likable and I’m invested in following their journeys. Definitely recommend this one for fans of immersive fantasy.

V.E. Schwab never misses with any of her books, and Fragile Threads of Power is no exception! I anticipated this book and the return to this world so much, and I absolutely love how the storyline is being continued and weaved into new directions. I was a bit worried that it would feel like Schwab was forcing a plot in order to return to these characters, but it all made sense and the intricacies of the worldbuilding show how great a storyteller she is. I was pleasantly surprised by how big a role the original Darker Shades characters played because I had thought that this series would focus on the new additions, but I loved it and how these characters all had to learn to live with the outcomes of the end of the last series; Schwab did such a good job with not having everything somehow turn out perfectly with no lasting impacts on the characters, and showing that they had to struggle to adapt to their new abilities was amazing to read about. If you loved the Darker Shades series, you definitely won’t be disappointed with this new instalment!

Thank you for the eArc.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and V. E. Schwab did not disappoint. I felt that the writing only improved from the first trilogy making the story addicting and engrossing.

Also, THE CHARACTERS! I fell in love with the original cast in the first trilogy and was very happy to see that they are just as important in this one. In addition, there are new characters introduced including Tes who I adored. The way she was written into this world felt like a perfect fit and she felt so alive.

I truly can’t wait for the next book to come out and highly recommend this!

I held off on writing this review because it meant I'd have to admit the book was really over. Fans of V.E. Schwab's original Shades of Magic trilogy, buckle up, this one's a banger. Introducing new characters and enriching our understanding of an already expansive world with a full-bodied system of magic, 'The Fragile Threads of Power' had me hooked from page one.

Seven years after the events that concluded in 'A Conjuring of Light,' King Rhy and his family in Red London face a new threat from the Hand, a shadowy organization determined to dethrone Rhy at any cost. Magicians Kell, Lila, and Alucard come together to help locate and neutralize the threat, while a scrappy and resourceful teen with an unusual power is recruited to repair a weapon that could change the the worlds and who can travel between them. The narratives begin separately, advancing the characters we know and texturizing the ones we're meeting for the first time. When the plots begin to weave together, the momentum is unstoppable. Written with an exquisite balance between tenderness and ferocity, 'The Fragile Threads of Power' is an thrilling new chapter of a beloved series, and hopefully promises more stories in the (near) future (pretty please).

Many thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

dnf. I loved [book:The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue|50623864], so I was excited to see this new book by the author. Despite the series title and "#1" attached to this book, it takes place in an established universe (which already has an original trilogy and a spin-off trilogy). The parallel realities and general magic universe set-up weren't explained at all; combined with the number of characters, I couldn't figure out what was even going on.

eARC from NetGalley. Although I couldn't get into the book, I still appreciate the opportunity!

In the continuity of her first trilogy, that book took me back to the worlds of Red London and White London to my utter delight.
We follow characters both old and new, discover new threats and old ennemies, with a world building that hooked me back into it within the first chapter. I warmly recommend it.

A great return to the various Londons! I enjoyed that it's a mix of old characters with new characters and the melding of the two. It allows the first trilogy to be wrapped up nicely, keep things in the same world, and introduce new characters and storylines. I am really looking forward to the rest of the series to see where Schwab takes things!

The Fragile Threads of Power covers a lot of ground, and made me feel like I knew the new characters intimately and was reunited with old friends from the Darker Shade of Magic series. The plot was intriguing, and I felt like I could see the chess board being set. It did take some time for the plot to unravel and for the stakes to be raised, which made me personally care about the new characters a bit less, but once the plot got going it was worth it. I imagine the sequel and following books in the series won't have the same issue though, as there won't be the seven year gap and the present moment in four worlds to contend with. I think this is a great world for new and returning fans to fall in love with. I can't wait for the sequel; V.E. Schwab is an auto-buy author for me.

I'm not normally much of a reader of fantasy, but V.E. Schwab is an exception. The fact that I wanted to return to the world of A Darker Shade of Magic speaks volumes, and The Fragile Threads of Power didn't disappoint.

It did take me a few chapters to be completely engaged, but that's probably because I needed time to acclimate to reading fantasy once again. Rich characters, engrossing plot, and lots to think about - what more could you want? Definitely recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.

VE Schwab returns to the Shades of Magic universe with The Fragile Threads of Power, the first book in a new series set seven years after the original trilogy. Pretty much everything is back in Fragile Threads, including most of the (surviving) characters like Kell, Rhys, Lila, and Alucard, as well as a bevy of new characters to round out Schwab's world.

The book also "feels" like the original trilogy, and Schwab has seamlessly returned to the world that personally made me fall in love with her books.

What keeps me coming back to this series are the characters, because I absolutely love them all. They are the perfect kinds of "noble" fantasy characters - trying to do their best but being deeply, and believably flawed, humans. As we pick up the main narrative of Fragile Threads, the main characters are still dealing with the new positions they have been thrust into. Rhys is now king of Red London, a position that hangs heavy as he deals with political unrest in his nation...as well as dealing with the stress of his life being magically linked to Kell's. Kell is still coming to terms with his lack of Antari magic, and what he actually offers the world without it. Alucard must grapple with being consort to a king, but sharing Rhys with a queen through and arranged marriage. And Lila is still figuring out what her new Antari means for her and her potential.

I really loved how Schwab allowed her characters to grow and change with the seven year time jump, while still allowing them to feel like the characters we have come to fall in love with. I perhaps would have liked to have seen them all attain a bit more maturity in those intervening years (their moping around in the beginning, as a I discuss below, is one of the biggest drawbacks of the book), but starting this book was like returning to friends you haven't seen in a while. Yes, things aren't exactly how you left them, but they are still the friends you originally fell in love with. Plus, Scwhab spends a significant amount of the first half of the book jumping back in time to fill in the gaps about how we got to this point. For the core four characters that we already know this wasn't 100% necessary (a lot of it is filler that we could have picked up through context), but for some of the new POV characters it really allowed us readers to catch up quickly.

There are two significant new POV characters in Fragile Threads, and I won't say much about them here so you can get to meet them on your own. All I will say is that one of them is from Red London whose arc sets up much of the over-arching plot for this new series, while the other is someone who is closely tied into Holland's presence in this new book. Collectively they contribute a lot to the really awesome stuff going on in Fragile Threads, and my only complaint is that as characters they seem a bit too similar (they are both young teenage women) that were a bit to interchangeable in the long run.

There are also quite a few new supporting characters in the book, like some clumsy villains, an actual threatening villain, and Rhy's wife, that are all well rounded and are people that you'll definitely want to spend more time with.

Characters have always been Swab's strength in this series, and Fragile Threads is no different. It fits nicely in with the OG trilogy, and I think other readers will be as happy as I was to be back with them!

Of course, because Fragile Threads sits right at home with the first three books, what didn't work in the Shades of Magic trilogy also don't tend to work here either. The rest of this review is going to sound a bit critical, but I want to emphasize that I still really enjoyed this book and that these are just things that kept this from being a five star read for me.

I think the biggest issues with this entire series is that Schwab has yet to find a way to use her worldbuilding to its full potential. I absolutely adore the core conceit of these books - the four different Londons all operating in their own worlds is really cool...and yet Scwhab once again doesn't really do cool things with it. There is a distinct lack of interaction between the world, in the sense where it never really feels like the existence of these four worlds really matter. You could easily tell me that the happenings of White London are just in a different continent (rather than universe) than Red London and I would believe you. In other words, Schwab could have easily told this same exact story in a single fantasy world, leaving the multiversal Londons to feel like interesting window dressings rather than a core part of the narrative. I often felt this way while reading the original trilogy, and Schwab has yet to really nail merging her plot arcs with her worldbuilding.

To ensure that I am not coming across as overly critical, of Fragile Threads here, I would say that it is better in terms of its plotting than A Gathering of Shadows, which was a fun and pretty pointless tournament arc, and probably better services its world and characters than A Conjuring of Light (which I seem to have enjoyed much better than most other readers). However, like Gathering and Conjuring, Fragile Threads can't quite reach the sheer amazingness that was A Darker Shade of Magic. That first book in the series was a triumph in modern fantasy, and it seems that Schwab has been trying to return to that same level of quality ever since....and she just missed the mark with Fragile Threads. You can actually feel Schwab working in over-time to make the world and the plot come together, but this results in a lot of macguffins and over-explanations that were a bit reminiscent of mid-to-late Once Upon a Time.

Like with Once Upon a Time, Schwab's biggest mistake seems that she is overly "additive" to her world, rather than having baked-in a lot of the core principles from the start of the series. We first saw this turn back in A Gathering of Shadows, where elemental magic took on primacy where it never had before. Schwab introduces several new elements in Fragile Threads that ultimately work for the plot, but you can definitely see the seams of where you sewed them into the book/world in a way that doesn't feel quite effortless.

This problem is slightly exacerbated by the sheer length of The Fragile Threads of Power. Based on what actually happens in the book there wasn't really a reason that it needed to be this chunky of a book. Many scenes and character actions are redundant, and the pacing suffers a bit from characters spinning in circles and lamenting things that they lamented about 100 pages ago. This particularly plagues the first 25% of the book (which is a bit sloggy, but it definitely improves!) where it just feels like Kell and Rhys endlessly moaning about their problems. If Schwab and her editors had cut down the pages a bit it would have created a more cohesive and energetic narrative. As written, the book is riddled with starts and stops that detract not only from the plot, but the characters as well.

And I think, ultimately, this is where Fragile Threads missed the mark the most. While, as I have hopefully made clear, I really enjoyed my time with this book, the characters felt too distant from each other (physically, not emotionally). Despite most of our main characters being in the same place for the duration of the book, they didn't interact enough for my liking. I think this was a direct result of the book's sheer length; Schwab's wheel-spinning separated the meaningful character moments, diluting their appearances and emotional impacts. There are some really interesting scenes between characters going on here, especially between Rhy/Kell and Kell/Lila, but the amount of "nothingness" that separates them really deadened their emotional impact.

Ultimately, these are characters and a world that I very much care about, and so I am of course going to love anything Schwab writes in this universe. I was immensely satisfied (and highly appreciative) with being able to return to the world of Shades of Magic, but this wasn't the home-run book that I was hoping for. I'm hoping that future sequels are a bit tighter and are better able to utlize the worldbuilding to its full potential (and yes, there are definitely hints of bigger and better things to come!).

Concluding Thoughts: The Fragile Threads of Power fits nicely with the original Shades of Magic series, for both good and ill. Schwab's characters continue to pop and feel like your closes friends, but she still struggles to utilize the full potential of her multiversal worldbuilding. Fragile Threads has great characters, new and old, but the pacing needed work and the entire book needs to be tightened. Fans will be sure to enjoy this return, but it's not the perfect homecoming.

This book was positively spellbinding. And, if you're wondering if it will make sense to someone who hasn't read the first 3 books set in this world, the answer is YES! The storytelling was marvelous. There was so much to appreciate about the world building, complex characters with complex relationships, and excellent snappy dialogue. I will be waiting impatiently to see what happens next to Kosika, Lila, Tes, and the boys.
In the meantime, I guess I had better get busy ready the first series!

The Fragile Threads of Power

Imagine reading a book in a perfect environment for myself it looks like a stormy day, there is rain, I’m sitting next to a window with the heat blowing on my feet and a drink next to me and I’m so fulfilled and content.

That was this book. It was coming home from a long grueling day of the mundane and grey world we lived in and oh how I missed Red London.

This book was wonderful. I love all of Schwab’s adult work, it’s like being wrapped in a blanket.

I loved going back to all the Londons and I loved all characters new and old.

Tes and Kosika were the only characters I didn’t know ahead of time and I loved the addition they added to this story. Especially Tes, she is honestly the best MVP to any story. Kosika, the child queen, was the best choice for White London. She exhibits everything that turns someone into a villain. I’m not sure if she will become a villain but being in white London I will just assume villain or crazy.

I missed Kell and I missed Lila but I have to say I LOVE the new Kell and Lila who are clearly together and still each other.

Rhy and Alucard and their little family warmed my heart so much seeing how perfect and quaint their own family was.

I loved how even though this story wrapped up perfectly it left just enough to see where it was going and now have a burning need for a the next book without a name and without a date.

this book felt so nostalgic yet brand new at the same time. v.e. schwab really knows how to write a book/series that, no matter how much time has passed it's like you never left that world. 'the fragile of threads of power' was one big recap of time spent away from some of my favorite characters and the world they live in, but it was also an introduction into a totally new world with a totally new set of character's I've grown to love. I don't know how v.e. schwab does it, but this book was so worth the wait. I can't wait to see what other fans of this series think once it's finally released!