Warning: If you haven’t read “A Conjuring Of Light” by V.E. Schwab, don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers!
I’m back with another book review, and this time it’s “A Conjuring Of Light” by V. E. Schwab! I’ve read the first two books before, and now we’re at the last book in this trilogy! Here’s the summary so we know what it’s about:
“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.”
I am so, SO glad we get a lot more backstory on Holland in particular, in this book. I just wish it had come sooner, because it would’ve helped so much with his development in the last book, and would have helped explain more of his motivations and actions throughout the series. Had he been the main character, I feel like this series would be strengthened. The other characters do develop better than the past books, but Holland’s development was the best out of all of them. In terms of romance, Rhys and Alucard stole the show for me, even though they were the beta pairing compared to the main pair of Lila and Kell. However, Lila and Kell’s chemistry was better written in this book as opposed to the previous one, which is an improvement.
Plotwise, the book was fast-paced in the beginning, but then slowed quite a bit in the middle. Yes, it did allow for character development on everyone’ parts, which I like, as well as room for others’ points of views (such as Maxim for instance), but I feel like the whole book could have been a bit tighter in pacing. The ending, however, was a fitting one for all the main characters involved, and really helped tie all theb main loose strings together.
The combat scenes were nicely written. I could understand everything going on and who was doing what at what timing so I didn’t get confused. I also liked the descriptions used for appearances of characters (the dead Maxim and Emira, Holland’s new look post-dealing with Osaron, Osaron puppeteering Ojka, etc.) throughout the book as well.
Overall, 4 out of 5 stars for the lag in plot development but for the improvement in character development!
As for the whole trilogy itself, I’ll rate it at 3.5 out of 5 stars! It’s not perfect, but it definitely gets better with each book in the trilogy (and this third book is definitely the best one out of them all).