The book itself is unlike other trilogies, where it takes forever to get back into the story. V E Schwab immerses you straight back into her world, with the first line of the book. The story itself peaks and troughs, but never leaves you without a sense of foreboding throughout the entire tale. Tension is rife in this and I would definitely not recommend reading this at night, on your own, as my partner walked in at one point and I fell off my chair. Suspense slowly builds throughout the entire trilogy and finally culminates and its final end, which is spectacular and well worth waiting three books for.
I can't suggest reading the first two books enough, but [[Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans]] for a story with a hint of dragons or [[Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan]] which follows the same lines as the Darker Shade of Magic. We also have a review of [[Our Dark Duet by V E Schwab]].