It reminded me of why I loved the original series so much and honestly made me love it that much more.
I don’t think I could have asked for a better start to a sequel series. And the best part? The incredible characters we were previously introduced to make a return and are better than ever. I didn’t even dare hope that they would be such an integral part of this new series, so I was incredibly pleasantly surprised to realize they once again play starring roles. Of course there are also new characters introduced as well that play very important roles in this book, but having the nostalgia of the previous characters returning absolutely made this book for me.
The Fragile Threads of Power takes place 7 years after the events of the original trilogy, although, and again, I was pleasantly surprise by this, there are little snippets of events shown that took place prior to the present day of this book. For the most part the are all under the banner of seven years ago, but not exclusively so. So in other words, we see what each of the characters did following the events of the end of the last book, but it does go beyond this with short little pieces of scenes from the other years leading up to the 7 year gap that the majority of the book takes place in. I’m sorry because I feel like I explained that super unintentionally obtusely but, hopefully I got my point across. The main takeaway here is that I loved that we got these bits of storyline that kind of filled in the gaps, particularly of the most important things that have shaped each character into who they are in the present day, more than half a decade following their original story, as we do find them very changed from who they were so many years ago.
There’s Rhy who has become so much more steady, no longer just a party boy prince living life to the fullest, but now a king with his own responsibilities and his own family. There’s Lila, the pirate captain she always wanted to be (but much more than that now) and so much more sure of who she is and her magic. And there’s Kell. Completely and utterly changed by the finale of the Shades of Magic books, lost and more than a little destroyed by the damage done to his own magic, something that has always been such a huge part of him. For Kell, the time has been spent trying to cope without something that has always been as important to him as his limbs and his organs, and he’s perhaps the most changed of all of them because of this.
But there are also new faces who bring even more to The Fragile Threads of Power. There is Kosika, the new young queen in White London, and her story of both past and present shows her rise to power, what brought it about as well as her past history, as well as her current reign and the changes she has made in their world. There is Tes, fixer of all objects who has unwittingly had something both very dangerous and highly coveted fall into her hands. With the new characters to add to the taste of the familiar old characters, this book was both freshly exciting and familiarly reminiscent and I loved every minute of it.
I’m honestly beside myself after having finished The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab because I somehow was not prepared for the nostalgia of the previous trilogy, as well as the emotions the start of this new one manages to wring from me. When I flipped the last page I was so emotional by events that had occurred that I teared up and just could not comprehend the wait that I will now have to get my hands on the sequel. I am quite possibly even more in love with this second trilogy already, and it was such an amazing reminder of why I loved A Darker Shade of Magic so much before this, and I honestly cannot wait for the second book to arrive.
