A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2) opens Goodreads in a new tab

My thoughts

2.5/5stars rounded up to 3 Look, everyone talks about the unknown like it's some big scary thing, but it's the familiar that's always bothered me. It's heavy, builds up around you like rocks until it's walls and a ceiling and a cell. Eh, there it is. The middle book syndrome. I hate how every series I read ends up suffering from this. Did I have a good time reading this? Was it because the book was absolutely well-written? Fuck no. It was only because wayyy too much was happening wayy too fast (initially, at least) and then well I just did not want to dnf it yk. Also like, at first it was okay the whole inexperienced random girl but still manages to do everything because yk, "special" trope. But I was expecting more from this book. I was hoping to see her character arc but all i got was her managing to win the biggest fucking competition of all the worlds just by the stroke of luck. No like how tf even?? What I would really have liked to see was individual character arcs for both Kell and Lila. But that never happened? They were still the same snob immature stupid people who refuse to have an actual conversation but would rather leave the worlds and go away because that's obviously the mature thing to do. Oh and the whole romance bit, like either give it to us with some character development for Kell or just don't what is this back-and-forth? The prince shrugged. “Who needs magic when you look this good? The only character I really liked was the Prince. He is funny charming and wants to live life. I would have actually liked this book more had it been his story alone. Oh and the queer romance? Added just for diversity points but still kinda cute, I ship max :P Anyway, that last cliffhanger left me so frustrated I obviously will pick up the next installment asap and unless the third book completely blows my mind, I am overall just disappointed with this series. Book Trigger Warnings- Kidnapping, Murder, Possession, Self-harm, Violence