V.E. Schwab / Victoria Schwab

[Michelle]

It was difficult to know where to put this thread, as Schwab writes both YA and Adult, but I thought I'd stick with here, as my experience so far is of the latter.

 

Anyway, Schwab has recently become a new favourite author, but she's not mentioned much on here. I only noticed her when the list of authors for this year's YALC went up. I always have a look at authors which are new to me, and A Darker Shade of Magic jumped out at me. I loved it, and ordered the sequel. Laura wrote a much better review than I can do, so you can read that here.. http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/13276-lauras-fantasy-corner-2015/page-20#entry440467

 

Having done some looking up, it appears that Schwab writes MG and YA under Victoria Schwab, and Adult under VE Schwab. Having read A Darker Shade of Magic, and being half way through both A Gathering of Shadows (it's sequel) and Vicious, I would say that, for me, the lines are blurred.. there are lots of discussions as to what makes 'YA', but these could easily be read by a wide age range.

 

This Savage Song is about to be published, and it appears to be classed as Adult here, and YA in the US - confusing! It's about teenagers, and yet on her own site, Schwab classes it as Adult. However it's classed, I've pre-ordered it, because I enjoy her writing so much.

 

So, are there are other fans here, any reviews I've missed? Has anyone read her YA The Archived, or even her MG books? Have I, along with Laura's review, tempted anyone to try her?

[Athena]

I have The Archived (book 1) on my TBR, but I don't like starting a series when it's not finished yet (or when I don't own all of the books yet and can't buy them anytime soon), so I haven't read it yet. I'm bad with huge cliffhangers (I'm not sure if there is a huge one though). I'm quite curious about A Darker Shade of Magic (and its sequel) as it / they sound(s) so good. Maybe it will get translated into Dutch and then I can borrow it from the library some day. I just have trouble dealing with huge cliffhangers heh.

[vodkafan]

Michelle, what's MG? I know what YA is but not heard the other before

[Michelle]

Sorry, I've been hanging around on twitter too much! It's Middle Grade.. so very approx 8-12.

[J. A. Haag]

For some I reason I didn't enjoy A Darker Shade of Magic, though I hope to try it again in the future. Though everything I've heard about Vicious has been fantastic. Which one would you say is your favourite?

[Michelle]

I would say A Darker Shade of Magic, which you didn't enjoy. However, Vicious was also very good, and had a different feel, so that might be a good one to try.

Edited July 2, 2016 by Michelle
Wrong book!

[Hayley]

I just saw A Gathering of Shadows on a list for the ten best science fiction and fantasy books of 2016 so far   

 

I definitely want to try A Darker Shade of Magic. 

 

The boundary between adult and young adult really is very confusing. It's a shame too because I think it categorises books in a way that could deter potential readers from books they would really enjoy.

[davidh219]

I just started listening to the A Darker Shade of Magic audiobook. Picked it more or less randomly (I was vaguely familiar with her) to try out the audible free trial. Only 9 chapters in so far since I only listen to it while doing chores but I already love it a whole lot. I think I'd have to not only finish this but read another book or two, but early predictions are I have a new favorite author.