Although A Darker Shade of Magic does waver into trope territory a little too often, ultimately it creates colourful characters, a driven plot, and delivers a unique concept to acceptable execution. 
 There were a few times plot devices were just too obvious, and the apparent railroading between the two protagonists isn't something I felt added to the plot - rather, it took away. It felt rather unlike Lila to become so attached to Kell straightaway and there just wasn't enough insight past 'because' to explain why he was an exception so quickly. I also felt Kell as a character lacked depth, something that may be built upon further in the series, but really should have been addressed within the first book. 
 It was enjoyable but, given the initial interesting idea, it fell a bit short. The challenges were swept under the carpet after a large build-up and it felt like there were no real consequences save against minor characters; I am hoping this is because the actual repercussions of the seemingly happy ending are revealed later in the series.