The Fragile Threads of Power

Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power, and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast, and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory―Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.

But barely a glimpse of them have been seen in the last seven years―and a new Antari named Kosika has appeared in White London, taking the throne in Holland's absence. The young queen is willing to feed her city with blood, including her own―but her growing religious fervor has the potential to drown them instead.

And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one determined to correct the balance of power by razing the throne entirely.

Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds.

Her name is Tes, and she's the only one who can bring them together―or unravel it all.

I was so excited to read this! V.E. Schwab is my favourite author, and I love her Shades of Magic series, which I reread this fall to refresh my memory of the world and characters before jumping into this new book.

I was definitely looking forward to reconnecting with my favourite characters, Kel and Lila, but was apprehensive about spending time with new characters. But thankfully, for the most part, I found them just as intriguing and engaging as the characters I was already familiar with, particularly Tes and her fascinating abilities.

I was really surprised, though, that every time the story shifted to White London and Kosika, my interest waned. In the previous series, I loved getting glimpses of White London and Holland was one of the most intriguing characters, but this time around, that aspect of the story just didn’t captivate me.

I think there was a lot going on in this book, and so it’s not too surprising that some parts of the story were more interesting to me than others. But overall, I really loved this story and loved being back in this world. I’m definitely looking forward to what comes next in the series.