A V.E. Schwab Binge Read

I’ve recently become obsessed with anything and everything author V.E. Schwab writes and am on an excessive binge read of all her books.

City of Ghosts

I started with City of Ghosts, the lovely story of Cassidy Blake and her ghostly best friend Jacob. It was such a fun read and TOTALLY me. I was dying of anticipation for the sequel to come out a month later (more on that soon).

But while I waited, I felt like a needed more Schwab in my life, which has led me to this post today. I read her Shades of Magic series and have quickly become obsessed.

The Shades of Magic Series

The world Schwab created was utterly fantastic. As she said on one of her twitter posts: take the worlds of Harry Potter and Avatar: The Last Airbender, mash them together, and there you have the Four Londons and Arnes.

Shades of Magic is filled with magic and creates a world that explains how it’s used and how it’s done. Arnes felt so real with its multiple languages, peoples and cultures, and political issues that I felt as if I was THERE. It felt real.

I was so thankful for the Jordan Dené x V.E. Schwab collab once I began reading and instantly made a few very happy purchases to commemorate one of my new favorite series.

The world of the Four London’s is nothing, however, without the characters. Delilah Bard is absolutely my favorite, and seeing her travel through the world of magic made me feel connected even more. She came from our world and was able to do amazing things. A hidden gem. In this aspect, she reminds me a little bit of Julia Wicker from The Magicians. I mean, I know if I found out magic was real, I would do anything in order to get my hands on some. And I’d be even happier if I found out I had some innately within me.

Then we have our main character, Kell. He is a wonderful main character: flawed, sarcastic, and he had me rooting for him the whole time. Schwab exceeds at this, I loved every single one of her characters, no matter how minor. Rhy Maresh had so much growth through the series (he is my new fictional son). And Alucard Emery had me laughing (and crying) with every scene he carried.

The world was strong, the characters were strong, and the plot was fantastic. 10/10 recommend. I would go to Red London in a heartbeat.

Tunnel of Bones

As I mentioned before, the sequel to City of Ghosts came out September 3rd, and I finished it within 24 hours. I was hooked. Tunnel of Bones felt spookier than the first. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen that one horror movie about the Paris Catacombs (As Above, So Below), but something made me shiver every time Cass did.

I read into the late hours of night (hello, 3am witching hour) and continuously looked above the book, peering around my room to make sure no one was there with me. I had to sleep with The Office on both nights due to how spooked I was!

However, it was still a fantastic read, and I’m planning on doing a full post about it over on my own blog (InfinityJules, check it out if you haven’t yet) soon!

To keep the Schwab theme and take part in #schwabtember, I also picked up The Near Witch during my last book haul and started reading it last night! And yet again, Schwab has me utterly, undeniably hooked.

What are you reading right now? What V.E. Schwab tales have you dove into? I need more people to fangirl with! And thank you Nina (@lefancygeek) for being the best and fangirling with me after finishing Conjuring of Light!