Falling Kingdoms

 This review will be about Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. The first book in the Falling Kingdoms series, it was published on December 11, 2012. There are 6 books total in the series. This book is listed as a; Young Adult, High Fantasy, Romance. 

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A little about the book:

In the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest now simmers below the surface.

As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed... and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love.

The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

It's the eve of war.... Choose your side.

Princess: Raised in pampered luxury, Cleo must now embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of magic long thought extinct.

Rebel: Jonas, enraged at injustice, lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished. To his shock, he finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.

Sorceress: Lucia, adopted at birth into the royal family, discovers the truth about her past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Heir: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, firstborn son Magnus begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword.... 

Review:

I’ve owned this book for a few years now and each time I went to go read it, I could never get past the first chapter. A few days ago, I decided to give it one more chance and this time, I was able to finish it and I’m so glad I decided to give it another try.

It starts off a bit slow, which is to be expected since it’s the first book of the series and you're learning about this new world. There is a map! The map is kind of small, though. While reading, it was super easy to follow along with the map. If I’m being honest though, I wish there were more markings on the map. For instance, some of the small villages that the characters go to, I would have loved to see where on the map those were located. 

The tensions between the kingdoms of Mytica; Limeros, Paelsia, and Auranos, are quickly heating up in this book, causing these interesting and diverse characters' political and moral duties to be questioned. I’m interested to learn in the other books of the series if the characters will eventually leave their island or if the story will continue with Mytica. 

I absolutely LOVED that there is a list of characters, what houses each character is from and what role they have. It definitely made it easier to remember who is who and who they are to others. I was a bit worried though when I noticed that because there were alot of characters that were mentioned and a lot of them had potential for point of views. But thankfully, there were only a few points of views in the book. 

The way these characters were written, I couldn't help but feel for a lot of them. Which made me question myself a lot because technically, in their own way, they’re just trying to do the right thing for them but in other characters' eyes, it’s quite different. Example: Cleo, the princess of Auranos,  doesn’t want to be betrothed to Aron, a court noble,  because he’s blackmailing her and she does not care for him. She makes mistakes but is still a likable character, until you get to Jonas’s P.O.V. Jonas, the youngest son of a wine seller in Paelsia, hates Cleo. In Jonas’s eyes, she’s the one who stood by and watched while Aron killed his older brother Tomas, not doing anything to stop him. As you can see, each character's point is different, contradicts one another in a good way, and leaves you questioning yourself like it did me. 

One character I did not like in this book was Magnus, the prince of Limeros. At first, I liked him, I felt for him and what he’s going through with his Father but once the “ I love my sister, Lucia, more than a sister” thing started going on, I immediately didn’t like him. I will admit, once you get further into the book, a revelation is revealed that Lucia isn’t related to Magnus at all. Thankfully, Lucia doesn't feel the same way for Magnus, even though they aren’t really brother and sister, they were still raised as babies together, but it’s still a bit gross. Hopefully in the rest of the series, Lucia doesn’t change on that front. 

The plot is pretty standard for a high fantasy, political war over thrones, a dying magic, adventure, a little bit of romance, and an ancient prophecy. Even though it’s a standard plot, the way these characters were written had me questioning myself, and made me want to continue reading to see what happens next.

Overall though, this was a fantastic book, and I really look forward to getting the rest of the series, hopefully soon! I highly recommend this book if you are into Y.A high fantasy that has magic, kings, suspense, and a touch of romance.