I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes
Series: Falling Kingdoms #3
Published by Razorbill on 12/9/14
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Alliances form across Mytica and beyond as royals and rebels alike race to hunt down the Kindred—the four elemental crystals that give their owners god-like power. The stakes have never been higher for Magnus and Cleo, who are brought together by a life or death decision that will lock their fates and change the course of the kingdom forever.

Short and Sweet 

After the events that took place in Rebel Spring the King is still on a quest to conquer Mytica and what he really wants is the Kindred which are four crystals that represent elements and give the owner of them powers. The only problem for the King is he isn’t the only one who wants the kindred in his possession, and in the end all of the characters have their own motives for seeking out the kindred and its a race to the finish line.

Characters

Magnus: Magnus is Magnus and that’s all there really is to it (Kidding!). Wow I just read this book and now that I think about it I feel like there wasn’t enough of Magnus, but he’s just trying to do what he thinks is right and some of his decisions are questionable. He does try to win his fathers approval but he still tries to do what’s right because deep deep deep down he’s a good person.

Cleo: Cleo decides to help Jonas and become a spy and relay messages about whats going on in the palace to Jonas. Cleo is also in search of the kindred and she thinks the best way to find them is to befriend Lucia because Lucia is the key.

Lucia: Lucia is still working on her elementia and doesn’t become essential in finding the Kindred until Alexius shows up and becomes her tutor. Lucia is smart and quiet she has a caring soul.

Jonas: Hmm Jonas is the rebel leader but it feels like he’s the only rebel left. I don’t really like Jonas for someone thats supposed to stop the king most of his plans end up backfiring.

Alexius: A watcher and love interest for Lucia. Alexius has a hard time mainly because he’s under Melenia’s control. Because of this Melenia uses Alexius to help Lucia find the kindred so that Melenia can finally be reunited with her Love.

Ashur: Ashur is a Kraeshian and is also searching for the Kindred. I don’t know how to describe him other then surprising some of the things and decisions Ashur makes will make you question him and its hard to tell which side he’s on.

Amara: Ashur’s sister and a Kraeshian. Amara comes to Auranos to try to find the Kindred and she’s determined to get what she came for and doesn’t care what she has to do to get it.

Nic: A guard and Cleo’s best friend. Nic plays a bigger role in this book because he knows Ashur and Cleo tries to use that to get information about what Ashur’s motives are.

Romance

Magnus and Cleo: Well these two are married but they spend most of their time avoiding each other if they can. The thing is I like this relationship I like relationships that take time to build and thats what this is these two don’t like each other but they do (does that make sense?). These two just work together in a “I don’t want to like you but I’ve already started to fall for you.”

Cleo and Jonas: I wasn’t feeling this match I’m glad that all they did was share a kiss because I don’t think I would be able to handle an actual Cleo and Jonas relationship.

Jonas and Lysandra: Jonas rescues Lys from being executed and he does like her even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

Magnus and Amara: Well basically Magnus had a one night fling with Amara mainly to get his mind off of Cleo and Amara slept with Magnus to try to get information about the Kindred.

Lucia and Alexius: Alexius has been watching over Lucia for a while, and in this book he leaves the sanctuary and takes a mortal form to be with Lucia but he’s also still under Melenia’s control. Lucia loves Alexius and she thinks about him all the time because she truly loves him.

My Thoughts

~ So there’s a lot going on in this book but the main focus was on where and how to find the kindred. Lucia was obviously the key in finding the kindred because she could use her  elementia to lead the way.

~ The main people who are really worried about finding the Kindred are the king, Cleo, Lucia, and Ashur and Amara. Each of these characters have their own motives for wanting the kindred in their possession.

~ I will admit I preferred to read from Cleo, Magnus, and Lucia’s POV more than any of the other characters.

~ Jonas befriends a guy named Felix who ends up joining Jonas and helps him free Lys from being executed by the king.

~ The last 100 pages of the book are when things got really good and I couldn’t put the book down. There were so many twist and it just leaves you wanting more.

Overall

After what happened in this book I’m excited to read the next book in series. There’s so many twist and turns and its hard to know who to trust and what alliances are going to shift and thats what I love the most about this series, you never know whats going to happen next.

 

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes
Series: Falling Kingdoms #2
Published by Razorbill on 12/3/13
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 412
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Auranos has been conquered and the three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica. But alluring, dangerous magic still beckons, and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica, but the world. . . .

•  CLEO is now a prisoner in her own palace, forced to be an ambassador for Mytica as the evil King Gaius lies to her people
•  MAGNUS stands to eventually inherit the new kingdom but is still obsessed with his feelings for his adopted sister, Lucia
•  LUCIA is haunted by the deadly outcome of her breathtaking display of magic that allowed her father to capture the kingdoms
•  JONAS watches at the palace gates, a troop of rebels behind him, waiting for him to tell them how he plans to overtake King Gaius
When Gaius announces that a road is to be built into the Forbidden Mountains, formally linking all of Mytica together, he sets off a chain of cataclysmic events that will forever change the face of this land.

* No Short and Sweet (for the fear I might spoil something for you guys)

My Thoughts

~ We have all of our main characters from the first book and we meet a few side characters in this book.

~ Okay, so Cleo oh Cleo the people closest to her have died and her kingdom is now under the order of King Gaius. You would think this would break Cleo, but it only made her stronger and fight harder for the chance to win her kingdom back. Cleo was resourceful and quite smart, I think she was good at playing people. She’s my favorite character and favorite POV to read.

~ Magnus is still feeling a little broken after Lucia’s rejection of him. Magnus is still trying to follow his father’s orders and fight off his inner demons.

~ Jonas is trying to gather a rebel army to take on King Gaius, because he basically got screwed by the King during the battle. (Can I say that?)

 (But remember Jonas got screwed in the battle for Auranos not WWII)

~ Lucia is in a deep slumber after using so much of her power in the battle, so most of her POV is in her dreams when she’s talking to a watcher.

~ There was some romance and I thought I knew who I wanted to be together, but now I’m just so undecided after finishing this book. I think I want some more of Cleo/Magnus maybe.

~ We learn about Mytica’s history in this book. We learn about the goddesses Cleona and Valoria and their relationship with Eva the first sorceress and the Kindred.

~ I wanted a few more alliances I wanted to know who stood where! But I guess I’m just going to have to read the next book.

Overall

No cliffhanger again (yay). I just love this series, the characters are so complex and there’s so many layers to each of them. This book was full of action, adventure, magic, and mystery. I’m so excited to read the next book to see what will happen next. Definitely do yourself a favor and start this series!