A terrific conclusion to a stellar series. 5/5 stars.
The blurb: No blurb for book 3 here because I don’t want to spoil the first two books! If you want to know more about what’s gone before, check out my review for book 1 – A Darker Shade of Magic (5 stars) – and book 2: A Gathering of Shadows (4.5 stars).
My take:
This review will be spoiler-free. Please forgive the disjointed and brief nature of what follows: turns out reviewing the final installment of a trilogy while giving absolutely nothing away is rather tricky!
Every time I took an unwilling break from reading A Conjuring of Light I had to blink and re-orientate myself in reality, like a swimmer surfacing. This has been a hallmark of the quality of this series: Schwab draws the reader into the pages and spins words into worlds around them until they are completely immersed in her fiction. This is no mean feat and to pull it off so consistently is beyond impressive.
We get plenty of time with the main characters in A Conjuring of Light, as well as with many who have only been bit players up until now. For me, the moments we’re given insight into these less-central figures are some of the best in the book. Fans of Holland will be particularly pleased with how much of his back story is finally revealed.
I raced through the first 540 pages or so, never bored for a second. I laughed, cried and only slowed as I neared the end because I realised that it would all soon be over and wanted to draw it out for as long as I could.
And the ending is just perfect.
Overall: a wonderful conclusion to this fantastic trilogy. I’m sad it’s over, but satisfied with how this story arc ended and hopeful Schwab will treat us one day to another tale set in the same universe. If you haven’t picked up the Shades of Magic series yet, what are you waiting for?!
Art and Soul 
I bought the first book yesterdays so I’m glad to know there’s more good to come if I enjoy the beginning!
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If you enjoy book 1 you’ll love the whole series. The characters are wonderful and so very easy to follow 🙂 Really looking forward to hearing what you make of it.
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I am looking forward to this book soooo much – this review has made me even more excited for tomorrow
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It’s brilliant. I finished and wanted to go and get book 1 off the shelf and start again 🙂
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Brilliant… love this review and I’m glad to see how much you enjoyed the whole series. I have the first book on my Kindle ready and waiting and am quite excited to start it, hopefully soonish… 🙂
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Ooo! You have the whole thing to read 🙂 It would be brilliant to be able to read it without year breaks between books.
And thanks!
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Brilliant review! I just finished it this morning and I can’t believe it’s done, but it was just wonderfully written and perfectly satisfying! I completely agree that this feels like a culmination, not only in plot, but in the quality of her prose as well! ❤
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Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it as well 🙂 I’d love to talk more about it here, but worry about leaving spoilers anywhere (I’d have wanted to kill anyone who spoiled any of it for me!!).
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Completely understandable. I’m usually the one trying to avoid spoilers. This is a strange switch in situations for me 😉
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Seeing your 5 star review makes me SO happy! I’m glad to hear this was a worthy ending to such a fantastic series; I can’t wait to dive into this one myself. Great review!
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Thank you!
It is such a great book. It’s long, but it flies past and ends all too soon 😦
But the ending is perfect, so it’s ok 🙂
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Wow 5/5 stars. Yeah!
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I know! 🙂 I’m delighted because if it hadn’t been, I’d have been very disappointed! The other 2 books in the trilogy are excellent 🙂
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Oh my gosh now I’m super excited to read this book. As soon as it gets returned to the library by the first lucky person to grab it, it’s mine!!! I’m so glad you liked it because I’ve been nervous about the ending for a year now. But we tend to have similar tastes, I’ve noticed, so I feel pretty relieved now.
Thanks for talking about it without giving anything away – I know how hard that is!
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It’s pretty impossible to say anything much at all without giving things away! 🙂
You’re going to love it! I have a good feeling 🙂 I hope that other person hurries up and returns it!
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I really must start this series. I’ve bought it, it’s just finding the time. By the sounds of it, once I start, I won’t want to stop.
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It’ll be wonderful to be able to read it all without having to wait a year between installments. The second book ends on a terrific cliffhanger, so particularly important to have book 3 ready 🙂 I hope you enjoy them!
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Thank you. I’ll remember that advice!
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Ah I’m so glad that this book was such a good conclusion to the series! And it sounds like it was an emotional ride. So, so excited to read it!! Great review 🙂
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Thank you!
I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did. A terrific conclusion. I think she’ll probably manage to please most people!
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You’re welcome!! Oh that’s so awesome to hear!! 😀
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