Review:Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: December 11th, 2012
Purchase: Amazon

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 realise that the heart can be more lethal than the sword.... 

My Thoughts:
Holy majoely!!  When people said Falling Kingdoms was exactly like Game of Thrones (my favorite show ever) I was like yeah okay it's YA how can in be exactly like a show that is so very far from YA.  Well I stand completely corrected!  Game of Thrones has murder, war, blood, spies, kings, and magic.  Falling Kingdoms has murder, war, blood, spies, kings, and magic too!  Really the only different I found is that Game of Thrones has dragons and Falling Kingdoms doesn't...yet.

Now don't think that this is a rip off of Game of Thrones.  Falling Kingdoms can definitely hold it's own and the actual storyline is completely different I assure you.  I honestly like Rhodes storyline better than my favorite show so that should tell you something!

I won't even try to summarize this book, there's just too much going on.  Rhodes weaved an incredible story and its only just starting with this book.  I was completely captivated from the beginning and it took me only 2 days to read this 400+ page book. The story is that good.  I loved that i never knew what was coming on the next page and I learned really early on that Rhodes is ruthless with her characters. Just when you start to care about somebody BAM they die!  I mean who does this so early on in a series!  Since these characters who were major characters in my eyes were sacrificed so early on I honestly can't wait to meet who sticks around.

There were two things that bothered me though and they were both oddly enough the romances for certain characters.  I didn't like that one was so fast and the other I didn't like it involved siblings.  The one that was fast could have been okay if the author would have shown more scenes between the two involved.  If I had seen their love grow I could have accepted it a bit more.  The other well siblings that doesn't need much explanation.  I will say that events happened to help with both of these situations so I was a happy camper by the end.

I also didn't mind the insinuation of triangles.  Morgan Rhodes does a great job at incorporating the plot lines that you just feel like everything is there for a reason.

I know just from this first book this story will be EPIC!!!  I know I haven't given much detail about this story, but really with epic high fantasy it's just too hard!  Everything about this book was spot on and incredible.  That's what you need to know!  To tell you anything would be taking away the joy of meeting Cleo, Jonas, Theon, and Mangus for the first time and you need to meet them without knowing who they are.  Trust me you don't want to know too much!!

This is another blizzard read for me and I know the rest of the series will be the same.  Morgan Rhodes you are brilliant!!

Blizzard Read