The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
Publication Date: September 26, 2023
Summary from NetGalley:
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 it 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.
These two royals from very different empires now face very similar struggles: how to keep their crowns—and their own heads.
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.
ARC provided by Tor Publishing via NetGalley for an honest review.
Confession:
This book made me so incredibly happy from the first page to the last! It is a story of love and loss with lots of action and even a few very sweet moments between some favorite characters. If you have not read the first trilogy, you won’t be too lost I think, although some of the character relationships will make more sense if you have read it.
One of the best parts of this story, is that we get to catch up on all of our favorite characters from Shades of Magic. We learn what they have been up to for the last seven years, mostly through flashbacks and memories. It was hard, yet satisfying to see Kell learn to deal with the fallout from the last book, with Lilah being so supportive, in her own way. The moments between Alucard and Rhy were just wonderful as well, and it was nice to see that their relationship has thrived throughout the years and is just as strong. The love and support these characters give each other becomes very important very quickly as things go from bad to worse over the course of the book.
We also have two wonderful new POV characters, and they are both women! I loved Tes, the young girl that can not only see the threads of magic like Alucard, but can manipulate them. She uses these manipulations to fix and improve broken spells in objects. It is this skill that gets her caught up in all of the chaos facing our group. I really loved Tes, and admired how cool she was under pressure and her ability to work her way out of difficult situations.
I also really liked Kosika, although I was never quite sure about her. She is the queen in White London and an Antari. I think she means well but she is also very young and easily manipulated by those around her. I look forward to seeing her growth in the next book and seeing which side she ends up on.
The pacing is well done throughout, after abit of a slow start. There is lots of action, and the parts about the rebel group, called the Hand, were very interesting indeed. The writing is suburb and I love that even the minor characters have a bit of back story to them that makes them feel so much real. There are people in the hand that we already know from the other books, but some new ones too, and one that will be a surprise at the end.
Fans of the Shades of Magic series will rejoice and fall in love with these characters and world all over again. I am so looking forward to the next two books in this trilogy as I am anxious to see the fate of all the characters that I love and the fate of the four Londons as well.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
This is a great review and I’m really looking forward to reading this one
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Thank you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.😊
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Great review but I have a question… if you don’t know the characters from Shades Of Magic (you mentioned getting to revisit them again as one of your favorite parts), will you still enjoy it?
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I’ve seen a couple of reviews by people who haven’t read the SOM but still enjoyed this one. But you really should read Shades first, because it is a great series and I think this one will be more enjoyable if you do.
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Thank you for the advice!
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