★★★★☆ Don't mind working without a net

A Gathering of Shadows

V.E. Schwab

I expected to enjoy A Gathering of Shadows, the second novel in Victoria Schwab's Shades of Magic trilogy, more than the first, A Darker Shade of Magic. I did, and for exactly the reason I expected. Darker Shade was mostly about Kell. Indeed, it is he who is pictured on the cover of the paperback edition . Kell is, honestly, a bit boring. Or at least, I find him so. But it was obvious when we reached the end that the next book would concentrate more on Lila Bard . It did, and I am happy.

Opinions may differ, of course, but in mine, Lila is just inherently more fun than Kell. That's partly because Lila is discovering her powers, so her magic is more open-ended. But much more important is Lila's character. Lila's approach to life is "Leap first, look later". She has faith in possibility -- that whatever she leaps into, she'll manage to figure it out. I was reminded of the Mary Chapin Carpenter song "I take my chances", from which I stole my review title.

Two things to say about this, one that is, I think fairly universal, and a second that is more personal. The first: it is just more fun to read about a character whose actions can't be predicted. The more personal point is that I truly believe this is (with some guardrails) a better approach to life, and I love to see someone like that succeed in fiction.

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