Summary:
Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
My take: 3 looks
Kell and Holland are the last two of an elite race of magicians. That is intriguing in itself, but throw in four dimensional versions of London, some good and some not so good, a cocky thief named Delilah, and set it against a backdrop of good versus evil, and you have yourself a promising series!
Written with a YA audience in mind, the action is consistent but not overbearing, the characters are quirky without being annoying, and the story arc progresses at a very nice pace. I was drawn to this title after reading “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by the same author. The writing, story structure, and sentence construction really spoke to me, and I was eager to read more by her.
While this book was a quick and entertaining read, it didn’t have the depth and dimension of “Addie”. And I give all credit to the talent of the author for this. Schwab obviously writes with a particular audience in mind, and her ability to completely change her tactic and style based on the reader is a skill that I don’t think many reach. The fact that “Addie” was written for a more mature reader is not obvious as you read it, but becomes more and more apparent as you read this series. Totally different audience = totally different style. Bravo!
With that, I am giving this book 3 looks, but the author definitely gets a full 5!
Recommended.
