“You don’t cry when someone pushes you down. You get up. You get up and you fight back. And pretty soon nobody’s going to shove you anymore because they’ll see it’s not worth it.”

Title: Gathering Darkness

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Series: Falling Kingdoms # 3

Publication: December 9th 2014 by Razorbill

Pages: 416

Source: Purchased

Summary from Goodreads:

In GATHERING DARKNESS, book three of the New York Times bestselling Falling Kingdoms series, the stakes have never been higher as three teams push forward on a race to find the Kindred, the four elemental crystals possessing ancient all-powerful magic, first:

Prince Magnus has just witnessed torture, death, and miracles during the bloody confrontation that decimated the rebel forces. Now he must choose between family and justice as his father, the cruel King Gaius, sets out to conquer all of Mytica. All Gaius needs now are the Kindred – the four elemental crystals that give godlike powers to their owner. But the King of Blood is not the only one hunting for this ancient, storied magic…

• THE KRAESHIANS join the hunt. Ashur and Amara, the royal siblings from the wealthy kingdom across the Silver Sea, charm and manipulate their way to the Kindred, proving to be more ruthless than perhaps even the King of Blood himself.

• THE REBELS forge ahead. Princess Cleo and vengeful Jonas lead them, slaying with sweetness, skill, and a secret that can control Lucia’s overpowering magic – all so they can use the Kindred to win back their fallen kingdoms.

• THE WATCHERS follow Melenia out of the Sanctuary. They ally in the flesh with King Gaius, who vows to use Lucia’s powers to unveil the Kindred.

The only certainty in the dark times is that whoever finds the magic first will control the fate of Mytica… but fate can be fickle when magic is involved.

My Thoughts:

Finally! This series was off to a meh sort of start for me, but it has finally picked up the pace. While the ever present problems I have with some of the story telling and methods are still very much alive and kicking in this third installment, there is also a light shining through the other end for once. Gathering Darkness, much like the other books in the series, is full of unnecessary deaths and awkward confrontations. However, Gathering Darkness also brings a fire the other books have been lacking. It is adventurous, heart pounding, and it takes constant unexpected turns. One thing I do enjoy about these books is that I never know what’s actually going to happen. Gathering Darkness feeds of the success of the previous books while also highlighting a new region of unexplored territory. It is a much needed addition to this series.

Like I said, my main problems are still very prevalent. One of my biggest issues is the constant death. I am not opposed to killing characters (not in the literary standpoint, at least. As a fangirl, hell yes I’m opposed). I am, however, not akin to just killing them off. There is so much death, people are dying left and right and it is completely taking away the power of their deaths. Huge main characters have died and more will keep dying; the problem is that there is no meaning in their deaths. I honestly feel like the characters are being killed off just because she can’t think of anything better to do. It doesn’t further the plot and I feel absolutely nothing but annoyance when they die. My thoughts instantly turn to – oh lookie, there goes another one. Too much of a good thing can be bad, and these books are a prime example of it.

My second issue is the relationships between all of the characters. This is a problem that has been around since book one and has yet to dissipate or fix itself. The characters all fall in love like Romeo after he gets dumped by Rosaline: BOOM. One second they can be talking and the next they are kissing and there has been no romantic tension build up whatsoever. There is only one relationship that has actual grounds and it is the least likely one to happen. Everyone loves Cleo, but Cleo likes Nic, Jonas, and Magnus? Wait, what? I am honestly so confused with everything when it comes to the characters interacting. It’s all hot and cold. “I HATE YOU” and then they’re making out or something. None of the relationships have plausible grounds. I ship nothing with nothing – and that’s a problem for me.

Anywho, problems aside, Gathering Darkness did bring a lot of things to the table. It was exciting, entertaining, and thought provoking at points. I finally could feel and hope for some of the characters. I had a purpose to reading, I had a side I had chosen. Previously, I was reading just to read and see if something got better. Now? I wan’t to see success, I want to see vengeance. I actually want to see what happens to the characters – and that is a vast improvement over my prior feelings towards the books. Gathering Darkness is the perfect third installment, it was just enough to rejuvenate my interests.

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“Sometimes, to regain sanity, one had to acknowledge and embrace the madness.”

Title: Rebel Spring

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Series: Falling Kingdoms # 2

Publication: November 27th 2013 by Razorbill

Pages: 401

Source: Purchased

Summary from Goodreads:

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 outcome of the breathtaking display of magic that allowed her father to capture the kingdoms.
Jonas watched at the palace gates a troop of rebels behind him, waiting for him to tell them how he plans to overtake King Gaius.

After a bloody siege, Auranos has been defeated, its young queen orphaned and dethroned. The three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica. But the allure of ancient, dangerous magic beckons still, and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica, but the whole world over…

At the heart of the fray are four brave young people grappling for that magic and the power it promises. For Cleo, the magic would enable her to reclaim her royal seat. In Jonas’s hands, it frees his nation, and in Lucia’s, it fulfills the ancient prophecy of her destiny. And if the magic were Magnus’s, he would finally prove his worth in the eyes of his cruel and scheming father, King Gaius, who rules Mytica with a punishing hand.

When Gaius begins to build a road into the Forbidden Mountains to physically link all of Mytica, he sparks a long-smoking fire in the hearts of the people that will forever change the face of this land. For Gaius’s road is paved with blood, and its construction will have cosmic consequences.

My Thoughts:

Despite the problems that abound with the first novel in the series, I found myself coming back for more. Those same issues are still prevalent, a long with a whole new lot of them. However, I enjoyed Rebel Spring much more than its predecessor. I won’t say I’m in love, exactly, it takes a whole lot more to impress me when I’m in the fantasy realm of the book world. I might not be head over heels with this series, but I’m still reading it – and that means something.

This was basically me the entire time I was reading the book:

The entire plot summed up in one gif:

Honestly, I do enjoy these books. There are things I don’t like, things I don’t approve of, but I still enjoy it. I don’t know why I keep coming back for more. I have yet to hit my wow factor. I don’t ship anyone with anyone, people are dying just to kill them off – which completely takes away from their death, and there seems to be no consequences for any actions on any side. I get the whole power thing and not being held accountable on that end, but my issue is that the rules of the world are constantly being broken and it diminishes the creative stage on which the play takes place. I’m excited to see what happens next and what improves within the story.

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