Waiting on Wednesday: A Darker Shade of Magic, by V.E. Schwab

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine to spotlight upcoming book releases that we're excited about.


This week's pick

Release date: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Tor Books
Format: Hardcover, 400 pages

Goodreads description
From V.E. Schwab, the critically acclaimed author of Vicious, comes a new universe of daring adventure, thrilling power, and parallel Londons, beginning with A Darker Shade of Magic.

Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes—as such, he can choose where he lands.

There’s Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there’s Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne—a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see—a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—and that is proving trickier than they hoped.

Victoria Schwab doing a parallel universe story with different versions of London? Count me in! I can't wait to see the different versions of London and meet Kell and Delilah. I love reading about girl thieves with a taste for adventure. What do you think of the description?

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I've only read one book from but need to read more

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.


This week's topic are authors that we've only read one book of so far, but loved so much that we NEED to read more by them! My top ten are in no particular order.


Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus
I don't think she's written (or at least published) anything since, but I'd sure love to read it!

Kimberly Derting - The Pledge
I've got The Essence on my shelf but haven't picked it up yet. I think I'll re-read The Pledge first. I really loved the world building and I'd rather avoid this period of confusion at the beginning of the second book when you don't really remember the 'rules' of the world.

Libba Bray - A Great and Terrible Beauty
I really need to read the sequels, as well as The Diviners. Beautiful writing, and I like her feminist stance.


Robin Wasserman - The Book of Blood and Shadow
This was so suspenseful and at times creepy. I really want to read The Waking Dark. It sounds just as ruthless and horror-ish.

Maggie Stiefvater - Lament
I'm reluctant to read the sequel, Ballad, because it switches the point of view. But I really want to pick up The Raven Boys!

Chuck Wendig - Blackbirds
I need the sequels of the series. Really great horror!


Victoria Schwab - The Archived
Such an amazing story!  I want Unbound as soon as the paperback is out. And Vicious. I want villainous narrators.

Jackie Morse Kessler - Hunger
I need to get the rest of the series about the Four Horsemen. I love the concept of this, and how each book picks up on an important social issue.

Andrew Davidson - The Gargoyle
I'd definitely read another one of his books written in the same vein, but everything else I see on his goodreads seems to be more children's literature. The Gargoyle though... it was perfect. It made me cry. A lot.


Rosamund Hodge - Cruel Beauty
I loved pretty much everything about this one. Can't wait to read more when they come out!

This was actually more difficult to compile that I thought it'd be, because there aren't that many authors I've only read one book of. Or if I've only read one, there is often a reason for that. Do you spot any favorites on my list? Anyone I need to move up on my TBR pile? And who did you pick?