A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. SchwabMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I am a bit torn regarding this book. I relish the setting, and the writing. But the plot was an abysmal let down. Not that the first book was perfect, either, but the first book had a certain freshness to it, and in any case, it did not have the flaws I felt in this one.
Most of the plot here felt meandering, meaningless. A journey without a destination. Specially so near the first half of the book. Alucard never really manages to be an interesting character, everything related to him feeing mostly tacked-on. All the allusions to his past hint to a big reveal that ends up being mostly disappointing too. The only really redeeming qualities are the few White London snippets we get on the way, always so disappointingly short.
During the second half gets a little better, but even then, things mostly feel purposeless, and again, the various allusions to political danger end up being completely irrelevant. I can understand that the author might have been setting up for the third book, but in a way that is how the whole book felt like, and it was disappointing. (view spoiler)
In the end, much like in the first book, I find Holland to be the show stealer, and again find myself wishing the story had been centred on him and his White London instead. Hell, I found myself wishing that Kell would somehow get possessed by the Dark Magic thing just so that Holland be spared, and perhaps redeemed.
Here's to hoping the third, and likely final entry will redeem the series.
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