4.5 ⭐

This is my first time reading a book by V.E. Schwab, and definitely not my last!

The Fragile Threads of Power is the first book in 'The Threads of Power's series, part of 'The Shades of Magic Universe' series, and I was worried that since I haven't read the other books that create this world and these characters, I would be lost. I'm happy to report that I was totally wrong. I got to know the characters quickly and the storyline was clear even without having read the other books before. Although now I have a massive list of books I'd like to read from V.E. Schwab 🤪

When I had my first baby, I read almost exclusively fantasy books, they were easy to find for my Nook and I loved escaping into other worlds! I've added a lot of other genres over the years. When I saw this book on @netgalley, it caught my eye and sounded like the perfect fantasy read!

✨Think magic, parallel worlds that are blocked off from each other, pirates, a plan to overthrow the crown, and a little bit of romance thrown in.

I loved the fierce female characters and the way the fantasy elements jumped off the page. I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately and this book really stood out and held my interest!

Unlike with Schwab's previous book, it took me a while to get into this one. The world building was slow and confusing and I kept wondering if I had missed a previous book in the series. After a bit I did get into it and enjoyed the characters. I love seeing strong female characters in fantasy novels and enjoyed the fact that the queer characters were not presented as something out of the ordinary. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Another great novel from the queen herself. VE Schwab never disappoints. I loved the new characters introduced in this, but never had to miss old friends from the original trilogy.

V.E. Schwab has done it again. The Fragile Threads of Power picks up seven years after the events of A Conjuring of Light, but it feels like taking a step right back into the world where we left off. The old characters have the same voices as before and the new characters are a welcome addition to the cast. I appreciate the expansion of the magic system established in the previous series with Tes' ability to manipulate threads of magic in the air, which jumps off from Alucard's ability to see the threads there. We get to learn more about the mechanics of magic and how it works, and see Kell struggle to cope with magic that's been broken for seven years. There's a lot of character development for Kell, Lila, and Rhy especially. I never wanted to put this book down. The relationships between characters is what makes these books shine, and Schwab writes those relationships perfectly.

Ahh, the familiarity of the world and characters and the ease of falling back into the story is something to be prized. Normally I get worried when authors want to continue a story that had a nice ending. In this case, however, there is more to tell. The story is there the characters old and new are mesmerizing. I can’t wait for the next installment 🤩

V. E. Schwab does it again. They continue to amaze me. I wish I could read this book again. (And again.) This was such a good addition to the world of Red London. There were schemes aplenty and I was just along for the ride. I cannot wait for the next books.

First of all, a huge thanks to the publisher for the copy of the most anticipated book ever. Shades of magic is one of my favourite saga ever and I was waiting for this book for years. I'm so so happy to be finally able to read it.

BE CAREFUL OF SPOILERS


Seven years passed since we left Rhy and Alucard in Red London, Rhy now king, while Kell and Lila went to see the world on Lila's ship, Osaron defeated and Holland dead, the walls between worlds unused. Many things changed during that time, including the magic. Now in White Holland a new Antari named Kosika has appeared and took the throne in Holland's absence, feeding her own and her people's blood to help her city's magic, but even there nothing is stable.
Meanwhile, in Red London rebellion is growing against the crown, determined to correct the balance of power. With new enemies and old friends, a girl, Tes, with the unusual ability to see the threads of power, reach for and fix them finds herself involved into a plot that could threaten them all.

I wish to say my review will be coherent and without screaming, but I'm waiting for this book for years and now it's almost in my hands. I'm gonna scream at the end of this review though.

Here's my almost coherent review.

Reading this book was like coming home.

VE Schwab wrote an AWESOME book, with a huge scope in worldbuilding, characterization and creativity. This book is absolutely filled with plot twists, new enemies, characters' growth and relationships, love and so much adventures. The story is told by multiple POVs, ranging from Red London to White London and mixing the past with flashbacks (so we can see the characters change and grow during these seven years) and present with twists and cute, adventurous and intense moments, spies and intrigues, religious devotion, blood and magic in all its forms.

After years travelling on Lila's ship, seeing worlds, cities, spying and reporting informations to Red London, an attempted murder to Rhy and the growing threat to the crown, called the Hand, bring Lila and Kell back to London, in order to protect their family. After what happened with his magic, Kell is in pain every time he tries to use it, trying to reinvent himself by using new weapons, trying to find a way to get his magic back, feeling lost without it. Now Captain of the Grey Barron and Kell's partner, Lila finds herself again in Red London, looking for clues to reach and defeat the Hand, struggling to help a stubborn Kell and to save them all, helped by a determined Alucard.
In the same city a girl with a peculiar power, Tes, finds herself involved in a plot with Hands and assassins, after having built a life as a tinkerer in her shop and finding in her hands a thing that, weaponized, could change everything. Her life, Lila's, Kell's, Rhy's and Alucard's get tangled and everything will change.
Meanwhile, having discovered her power as an Antari in White London, a young girl, Kosika, became queen of a world, slowing waking up with magic in its veins, but even magic needs sustainment.

This book is like a wonderful, intriguing and brilliant puzzle, with many characters, their growth impressive and genuine, different places and cities and twists. It was such a pleasure seeing these characters again, watching Kell and Lila's relationship, their interaction and how much they are stubborn and loving and wonderful together, supporting, helping, sniping at, loving each other, after years together through hell and back, adventures and struggles, love and more. With Lila's attitude, Kell's stubborness, they are complex and intriguing and beautiful together.
Rhy and Alucard's love story is so gorgeous, their bond strengthened by a child and her menagerie, ruling a city together and now facing rebellion and magic.
I loved getting to know them more and more, I love these characters and relationships. It was so special, moving and fun seeing them together again, with Kell and Rhy's wonderful brotherly bond, Kell and Alucard "detesting" each other, Lila's knives and investigations, Lila teaching Kell how to use weapons, Lila being an aunt (I would die for her, your honor!)...I loved absolutely everything about the old characters.

BUT I loved too knowing the new characters, like Tes, Kosika and Nadiya, the queen.
Tes is a brilliant character, stubborn, talented, finding herself with a difficult past and a complicated present when her power brings her troubles. Tes and her owl and stubborness held her candle to the old characters, with her courage and pride.
Kosika is the young queen of White London, a brilliant and, a bit naive, Antari, invested of responsibilities and accompanied by friends and peculiar influences. I can't wait to know more about her.
Nadiya is the queen of Red London, Rhy's consort only in name, only to conceive an heir and being part of a peculiar family. I have to say, I don't have a clear opinion about her. She's brilliant, an inventor, a wonderful supporter of Rhy and Alucard's relationship and love and she's fierce and determined to protect her own family when threathened by the Hand. Still her methods are a bit too much for me. And for Lila, too.

This book is huge, with many characters, plots, past and present mixed and I loved absolutely everything. A rebellion's brewing and threatening the crown's family, new inventions, spies, magic, blood and so many twists, new and old enemies and new and old allies, The fragile threads of power is INCREDIBLE and I can't wait to hug my copy.

Now my freaking out:
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KELL AND LILA AND KAY AND LILA SUFFERING BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO HELP HELP WHO IS SUFFERING AND HE'S SO STUBBORN AND KELL GIVING HER A RING AND SHE FREAKING OUT AND THEN STILL WEARING IT, BUT HE DIDN'T KNOW AND THEY MDFNSKJANSG<OKANBOS<NGPZNGIODHJHPO

I NEED YOU

THEIR MOMENTS TOGETHER ON THE SHIP

LILA SLEEPING BESIDES KELL ON THE SHIP AND IN THE PALACE

LILA JOKING WITH REN AND MAKING MAGIC TRICKS

RHY AND ALUCARD HAPPY AND TOGETHER WITH THEIR DAUGHTER AND A STRONG RELATIONSHIP. REN WITH HER MENAGERIE AND CALLING ALUCARD "LUCA" AND RHY AND ALUCARD RULING TOGETHER AND NADIYA SAYING ALUCARD IS RHY'S HEART

"MY HEART"

TES AND HER OWL AND NERO AND HER MAGIC, SO SPECIAL AND PECULIAR!

CAHA UIH5UTSNCWEKNVHKIK IQKAIONY

I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE NEXT BOOK!!!!

An excellent return to the Shades of Magic universe that does a great job of balancing the continuation of returning characters' stories and the introduction of new ones. I couldn't put it down!

If you love V. E. Schwab you will love this series! The magic, the adventure, the tense build! Oh I could not get enough from the first book let alone this one! And the covers!

I didn't realize how much I'd missed the world of Lila, Kell, Rhy, Alucard, and the rest of London(s) until I returned to this book.

Reading The Fragile Threads of Power felt like visiting home. With a mixture of new characters who captured my imagination, and returning favorites who have matured and grown and grappled with their own challenges since we last saw them, I vacillated between excitement, nostalgia, concern, and anxiety as I turned the pages.

It's been awhile since a book kept me up late into the night, but that's exactly what this story did. I can't wait to see what happens next.

The Fragile Threads of Power starts seven years after the ending of A Conjuring of Light, so we get to know what happened with our favorite characters, and the consequences of the plague that almost ended with the magic of the world. With glimpses to the events that happened during that period and some new characters introduced to the story, our characters will have to face a new treat: the royal family is in danger, and those who love them will do anything that is on their hands to protect them.

I found myself hooked from the very beginning with this book. I love the characters since the previous trilogy, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that they were not side characters here but still the main focus of the story! I feel that seeing their relationships developed with time has a great impact in me as a great fan of the previous trilogy. I loved reading about the paths they have taken, the pain they have faced, and the love they have experienced. I think this is what makes me give this book 5 stars: it feels like coming home, to these characters I love so much, and the author knows how to bring us back to this world and make us feel as if we never left.
That being said, I really wished the author would give us more scenes of our favorite characters together! They spent so much time apart from each other (but the scenes where they were together, oh lord, I've SCREAMED).

The new characters are a perfect complement to this story, and I cannot wait to read more about them. Also, the new conflict the characters are facing feels so well structured and it makes so much sense. In a world where everything is starting to feel safer, something will start to burn, and that's exactly what V.E.Schwab brings us here.

This is a trilogy to keep on your radar if you are a fantasy reader with a love for magic worlds where the magic is making a mess and saving it at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of my most anticipated book of the year! This book was exactly what I wanted, no what I needed, from a continuation from the Shades of Magic. I still got the characters I love, and a few new favorites! It was definitely a fine balance between the existing world and this new story, and Schwab expertly threaded that needle for me. I can't wait to see where this series goes! This was the longest book I have read in awhile but it flew by as I read! Can't wait to listen to the audiobook, and have a physical copy of this beauty on my shelf.

This book was amazing! Set in the Darker Shades of Magic universe, it continues the magic created in that series and updates us on what some of the main characters from that series have been up to. This book is very well-written and will keep your attention!

This book continues the stories of Lila, Kell, Rhy, and Alucard, while introducing some new characters. I would warn readers to read the Darker Shade of Magic series first, as it relies heavily on the events of that series. I found myself having a hard time adjusting at first to this book as I hadn't read the series for a while.

I loved the Darker Shades of Magic series, so I was all too happy to catch up to what the main characters from that series had been up to over the last seven years. However, since it takes place over such a large time period and there are a lot of characters involved, I found it jarring at times to jump between characters and years at a time. The plot was enticing and I could see why the time jumps were used, so I was motivated to stick with the story. I felt like things got better the further I got into the story.

Overall, this was a very entertaining read, and I look forward to the next book in the series!

So much fun to get to revisit the characters and the world from the Shades of Magic series! This book can be read as a standalone; you don't need to read the Shades of Magic Trilogy first. Rhy is King - he's married with a daughter. Alucard is by his side. Lila is out adventuring with Kell. But peace is threatened by a mysterious organization called, 'The Hand'. A young girl, named Tes wants nothing more than to fix things that have been broken, but she has a powerful sort of magic and can't help but getting pulled into trouble. Tes is a fabulous character! I really enjoyed this fantasy novel filled with magic, intrigue, and strong female characters. For me, the one drawback was all of the flashbacks filling in the missing time since the conclusion of the original series because I kept wanting the story to move forward. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

This sits somewhere between a 4 and 4.5.

"Threads" is a good word to describe this book because there were so many different plot threads happening at the same time. Things are happening from the get go so you never really feel like you're reading filler scenes. I will say it does feel a little overwhelming to be jumping from thread to thread in the first half of the book, but around 50% it all quickly comes together and the book takes off.

We are introduced to many new characters, but there is a new trio of women that I especially loved: Kosika a 7 yr old thief (and new Antari) that has some become the queen of White London, Nadiya the wife of Rhy, and Tes a 15 yr old tinkerer that is able to see and manipulate magic. I found all three to be very intriguing (and am very interested to see where their stories go in Book 2) but Tes actually became my favorite character in the whole series. I kept getting excited whenever she would pop back up on the page. All of the original characters returned as well (and Alucard is still my favorite of them) so it was nice to hang out with them as well. But obviously, the best parts where when the old and the new characters mixed and gave us a taste of what the rest of this series will feel like.

I will say that once we got to the main part of the plot (probably starting around halfway through the book and powering through right to the end) you are able to get some glimpses as to what the larger story of this trilogy will be. There is a "Phantom Menace" type villain and a greater sense of dread for what is to come in some of the other Londons. By the time it was done, I was left wanting to read the next book to see what was going to happen. Overall, this was an excellent addition to the Shades of Magic universe and an excellent start to the new trilogy. I can't wait for Book 2 and hope we get it soon!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Addie LaRue is a classic for our libraries - constantly taken and returned - and so anything V.E. Schwab puts out is going to get a first, second, and probably third look.

Schwab's writing is just so easy to follow and so enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

the fragile threads of power is the best shades of magic novel yet. it’s a phenomenal continuation that puts all of schwab’s passion, craft, and love for this world on full display and it made a miraculous wreckage of my heart. i promise you—not one of you is ready for what’s coming.

This book is a chonk but it is also FANTASTIC. Every time I was able to carve out time to pick it up, I didn't want to put it back down again. A great return to all our favorite characters with some great new ones added in. I now live in fear of what Victoria will put us through in books one and two and I definitely set my kindle down with a loud F*** ME when I finished, after staying up way too late. I read the Darker Shade trilogy once all the books were out and I'm slightly kicking myself now because this wait is going to be excruciating.

It's so nice to be back in this world. From the first page to the end, my mood was instantly better and as a mood reader it really made my day. Overall Shades of Magic has become one of those series that I want to introduce to anyone who is looking for slightly fast paced books. They're a bit of a slow burn but not so much so they it's easy to lose interest.

The Fragile Threads of Power does an excellent job of grounding old and new readers (and I needed help with hah grounding, too, because it's been awhile since I've reread any of the previous books).

V.E. Schwab casually introduces us to some new characters especially in White London at the start. I felt enthralled to learn more and usually get upset when I have to deal with new characters. All I want is more Kell and Lilah!

Between Kosika and Tes, exciting new storylines opened up. I couldn't wait to learn more about them and how their lives would become interwoven with with our main characters.

It's an exciting read that I'd introduce to hesitant readers and obsessive readers. There's a lot to dig through here and great new pieces of world building that I'd want to play around writing wise.

it was like stepping into a room someone rearranged, you know the contents but you see things in a new light, a stellar reintroduction to the world a perfect blend of old character with new ones. I hope to see more of Tess in the next instalment and loved what was going on in white London with its new leadership even though with every mention of black London gave me a heart attack. I'm excited to see where the story will take us and I was genuinely surprised and intrigued behind the 'hand' and their true motive is.