Alright, let’s delve into book two in the Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes, Rebel Spring. This book picks right up where book one left off, and is just as complicated, wonderful and intense as the last one was. REMEMBER, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS in my review, as I’m assuming you’ve read this along with us.
Here’s the official blurb for Rebel Spring:
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.
I like to call this book “The One where EVERYONE DIES.” Clearly that’s a bit of an exaggeration, since the story keeps going after this, but man, it seems like sooooo many people die in this book, and important characters too. We lose Brion, Mira, Aron, Phaedra, the queen … Those are some major secondary characters. It makes me stressed for the fates of the main characters that I’ve connected with, but hopefully they make it till the end. Mainly the four leads, Jonas, Cleo, Magnus and Lucia.
Also, this story is thick with so much meat. I actually started keeping notes on each chapter so that I could remember what happens, there was so much going on. Let’s summarize some of the main points:
King Gaius starts this road to unite all the kingdoms. But as it’s being constructed all sorts of crazy things happen: tornado, earthquake, fire. Lots of blood is spilt, and we learn that it’s blood magic triggering stuff to do with the Kindred. And these aren’t your grandma’s natural disasters. They’re intense and hard core and really freaking scary. He’s also communing with Melenia, head of the Watchers, who is guiding him on how to get the Kindred. She doesn’t seem very trustworthy, and as the story goes on I like her less and less.
Jonas is in charge of the rebels, and though they have some great ideas, he just keeps failing. It’s rather sad to see, that he can’t seem to get ahead. And so many rebels die. By the end of the book pretty much everyone’s dead except for Jonas and a few that got captured.
Poor Cleo! She has to marry Magnus, who she despises (and the feeling is pretty mutual). And the psycho king Gaius makes it happen even after a bunch of rebels are slaughtered after they attack during the ceremony, and also after a massive earthquake. Clearly this doesn’t bode well for a lifetime of happiness between them.
Lucia meets Alexius, a Watcher, in her dreams. They fall for each other. Once Lucia starts using her magic again though she realizes that it’s getting harder and harder for her to remain nice and not desire to hurt and cause pain. She’s a character that is changing before our eyes, and it’s a bit scary to see the direction she’s headed.
At the end of the book, a lot has happened with all the main characters, and here are the questions I have for them going into book three:
Magnus: he seems to start having mixed feelings about Cleo. It’s like he wants her to not hate him. He also seems to be struggling with his father’s decisions more and more. He keeps saying that he wants to be like him, but once he found out the king ordered Aron to kill the queen he moved on to pretty much hating him and what he stands for. Magnus is really growing on me, and he’s becoming my favorite character. I think he’s going to be one of the good guys at the end of this series.
Lucia: She’s having a hard time controlling her magic, and it’s starting to scare her as much as it excites her. She’s worried she’s evil and that it’s corrupting her. It’s hard for me to see such a sweet gentle character grow darker. I’m worried about the path she’s on, and I can only hope that she gets some help in the next book.
Cleo: This one is sneaky. I love her determination to do whatever it takes to get her throne back. She’s really good at lying and deceiving, and she’s worked her way into Lucia’s good graces it seems. Cleo’s realized that Lucia is the sorcerer, and she needs them to be friends so Lucia can help her get the Kindred to give her the strength to get her kingdom back. I cannot wait to see how she handles herself in book three. I’m also really curious to see what happens with Jonas, since they had that HOT kiss.
Jonas: Man, I hope he can pull it together in book three. He’s lost all his people at the end of this book. He’s also had some interesting (and overall positive) interactions with Magnus and Cleo, both of which surprise him. He also experiences the Watcher Phaedra who saves his life, and so magic is now on the table with him. I think this is going to be a crucial part for him in book three. I also think he’s going to do whatever he can to save his friends.
What about you? Who is your favorite character? What do you think their path will be in the next book? We want to hear from you! Send us your questions and we’ll be sure to ask Morgan in our exclusive interview coming up.
Stay tuned for the review of Gathering Darkness, it will be posted soon!