Falling Kingdoms
Juvenile Fiction
Penguin
2012
Audiobook
412
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.
WrensReads Review:
I absolutely loved this book. It is like a downgraded, young adult Game of Thrones book. You have multiple views, you root for whoever you are reading about at the time, and then automatically change sides when the next protagonist starts, and the characters are majorly flawed.
The whole story begins with a snobby little rich boy killing a peasant because he didn’t get what he wanted when he wanted it and for how cheap he wanted it for. It was over alcohol. Seriously, a huge battle between counties was triggered by alcohol. What is flipping new?
Said peasant’s brother, Jonas, is one of our main character and the angriest of them all. I mean, someone killed his brother over alcohol, I would be pretty upset too. He wants vengeance and he doesn’t really think it all through. He wants to kill a princess and a noble… of a different country… because killing a royal princess won’t make countries already at each other’s throat break out in a big giant war.
Our second protagonist is said princess. Prince Cleiona Bellos of Auranos. She has a lot of crap going on. The jerk who killed the peasant, Aron, holds something huge over her head and uses it to her advantage. Her father the king makes her take on a body guard, Theon, which basically makes her feel like she is being babysat. Her sister, Emilia Bellos, has fallen ill from a mysterious suitor’s passing. Emilia believes an estranged Watcher (some magical beings. I’m sure we will touch on that later on in the series) would have a cure for her. So naturally, Cleiona ventures out without a guard to go and find this mythical Watcher (and she definetly knows where to start…).
She isn’t very bright. And she’s actually kind of selfish; but, she is a princess and she has had everything handed to her for her whole life, so you kind of can’t expect anything less of a sixteen year old princess. Everyone loves her. Nicolo, a family friend, is madly in love with her even though he is so hardcore into the friend-zone. Aron basically just sees her as a stepping stone to getting what he wants, but he likes her never the less. Then Theon, the bodyguard, grows to… well
Instalove is a slow, yet knowing, burn in this book. UGH.
Speaking of weird love, how about Magnus being in love with his sister, Lucia? Magnus is a dark, tortured, handsome young man (so he’s emo), but that doesn’t give him the excuse to fall badly (yes, badly not madly) in love with his sister.
Remember me saying stuff about similiarities to Game of Thrones?
Still don’t see it? Moving on.
At least they
I loved this book. I think it could have been a lot better and that it has a lot of potential. The world building was great. Mythica, with its three countries Limeros, Paelsia and Auranos, has a lot of potential to become something great. I know a lot of people love this series to the full extent, so I am excited to dive into the next book!
Note: audio-book version is okay, if you are wanting to read it fast.
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