A Darker Shade of Magic (A Darker Shade of Magic 1) by V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last travelers – magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city.
There’s Grey London, without magic and ruled by the mad King George III. Red London- where magic is revered, and where Kell was raised alongside the heir to the empire. White London – where people fight to control the remaining magic and magic fights back. And once there was Black London.

Officially Kell is the Red traveller, carrying letters between the monarchs of each London. Unofficially he is a smuggler, a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences. His escape to Grey London leads to a run-in with Delilah, a cutpurse with lofty aspirations, who forces Kell to take her on a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and an adventure becomes a mission to save all of the worlds. (back cover)

I really liked the idea of different worlds where in all of them there’s London in the same place. All of the worlds have something in common and still are very different.

Kell can travel between the worlds and it’s a rare ability since only two is known to possess it nowdays. He was raised with the royal family but doesn’t feel he belong there but I liked his relationship with his foster brother Rhy, the heir to the throne. Kell doesn’t know who his parents are or anything about his childhood and I hope we learn more about his past in the future. And he has a coat that has many sides depending how he wants to look. How cool is that?

When we first meet Lila I wasn’t too excited. I don’t know, I guess she was too reckless, selfish and caused unnecessary problems which lead to me wanting to shake some sense into her. But she did grow on me and I started to like her more.

This was my first book by the author and I really look forward reading rest of this series!

4/5

Published: Titan Books (2015)
Format: paperback
Pages: 384
Source: library