A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Someone in my bookish group of friends recommended this one to me, and I can't remember who it was - so if it was you, THANK YOU!

Show me a story with parallel worlds and intriguing forms of magic, and I'll almost always show up for it, but on top of that, this book had some great world-building, terrific villains, dark forces at play, and a great wildcard in the form of Lila Bard.

Kell is an Atari, a blood magic worker, one of just two that are known to exist. This allows him to move between the worlds - and as such he is basically a messenger between the crowns of these parallel Londons. When one of his errands lands him with a particularly dangerous artifact, he finds himself in some real trouble. . . And while he's pretty cool, he's not my favorite character, that would be Lila. She's confident and strong while still being relatable. She's pushy and bold enough to find, shall we say, creative solutions to the problems that arise. Lila is fun to read, and I sincerely hope to see more of her in the second book.

I am also going to give some props to the cover art. I like the vintage fantasy/scifi style despite it being a more recent title, and the colors & composition correspond so well to the world the book portrays.