Format: Hardcover, 624 pages
Release Date: February 21, 2017
Publisher: Tor Books
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Witness the fate of beloved heroes - and enemies.THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED...
The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.WHO WILL CRUMBLE?
Kell - once assumed to be the last surviving Antari - begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?
WHO WILL RISE?
Lila Bard, once a commonplace - but never common - thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.
WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?
And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.
A Conjuring of Light is the third and final installment in author V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic trilogy. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading this series yet, STOP, and get yourselves a copy of these books. You will thank me later. You will love Schwab's creative world building. You will love Delilah "Lila" Bard, and Kell Maresh and even how much Rhy Maresh finally grows as a character, and not just a playboy who flirts with anyone with two legs. Schwab has brought readers to this point in time by leaving Lila and Kell in situations where they are forced to deal with an ancient force that may be more than they can handle together, let alone with help from allies such as Alucard Emery, and Rhy.
A Conjuring of Light picks up right where A Gathering of Shadows left off. Lila, our thief, pirate, and newly discovered magician has to figure out a way not only to decipher her new magical abilities, as well as saving Kell who she has grown close to. Meanwhile, Kell has been betrayed but you can definitely blame his betrayal on some bad choices he made in the previous novel. Prince Rhy, on the other hand, is stuck in the middle. Forever bound to his "brother" Kell, Rhy experiences everything that Kell does. Then there is Alucard Emery who has won the biggest competition, only to find out that an even bigger problem is creating devastating chaos.
Lila is my favorite character and here is my reasoning. First, she backs up her talk, and walks the walk even though she can be highly disturbed at times. One could say that she is in fact, blood thirsty. I have no issue with that. One could say that she is driven by that blood thirst to put herself in harm's way more than once. As long as nobody else gets hurt while she is trying to walk the trail of badassery, I don't care. I do think that she shows Kell a different avenue to walk. Kell is a character who scowls at everyone, mops around like someone stole his BMW, and tries to be everyone's savior when he should be worrying about his survival and his future. Still, not an overall downer for me. Characters need time to grow up, and Lila and Kell do that in this novel.
This book is a BEAST at 624 pages. Could it have been smaller? Of course, there is always room to take things out that have no correlation to the issues that are happening in the story. But, did it affect my overall rating. Pshaw! Nope! Have you ever encountered a villainous character you hated in previous books, but ended up respecting him in the end? That is my dilemma Holland. Holland has been a bee in my bonnet since I first met him. Holland has been Kell's adversary, and a very powerful character in his own right who has had to walk the darkside, and then somehow manage to help Lila and Kell against an even bigger villain. So, yes, Holland earned a bit of respect when all is said and done.
Writing a review for this book has put me in a blender, and shook me up to my foundation. I loved the way this book ends. I love it so much it actually had me crying tears of happiness & joy. It was the perfect way to escort our characters to their next travels. I loved that Lila and Kell finally stopped hopping around and just admitted that yes, they have deep feelings for each other, and those feelings need to be discovered, and even broadened. I am not going to speak about Rhy or Alucard's romance, and not because I am a bigot who hates gay characters. But, because I am Team Lila & Kell. Personally, I'm on the boat where you should love who your heart tells you to love.
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