Woooooo. That's really all I have to say. If you some how find yourself reading this, there are going to be a ton of spoilers for this and the rest of the series because I need to write my thoughts for future me to read!!

Definitely one of my favorite series of all time. I genuinely liked almost all the characters: Magnus, Cleo, Jonas, Lysandra, Narissa... Not to mention my children Nic, Ashur, and Felix. There were some who I don't like (Lucia, ahem, and Jonas is too good for you BYE.) But in general, the characters really did a lot for me.

There were definitely aspects that I didn't like. I'm not a huge fan of body possession or mind control, and that was a BIG aspect of Immortal Reign. Also not a fan of the idea of a sped up pregnancy a la Twilight. I thought that was kind of lame but whatever.

Magnus and Cleo had one of my FAVORITE romances ever. I knew from book one that theirs would be the eventual romance (perhaps, in part, because I'd seen the cover for Immortal Reign so in the back of my head figured out what was coming), and it didn't disappoint. I loved the slow burn, and I especially loved that Cleo didn't excuse Magnus' bad behavior because he was hot. Which happens way too much.

I definitely think books two to four were its peak, and I wasn't necessarily as crazy about Crystal Storm and Immortal Reign. Still REALLY liked them (it's like how OOTP isn't my fave Harry Potter book, but it's still Harry Potter so it's amazing), but I definitely didn't like it *quite* as much. I definitely preferred when they were fighting *real* threats as opposed to magical threats. Like I enjoyed the politics of Limeros vs. Auranos, Mytica vs. Kraeshia (tbh I listened to the audiobooks so I had noooo idea how to spell that lol). I realize the magical threat gave all these kingdoms a reason to get together and fight a common enemy but... I still preferred before that time.

I think my favorite was Gathering Darkness. In part because Nic was at is peak and cracking me up in all his chapters. But I think I just liked the general tone of that book. But either way, I love this series. Definitely a new favorite!

I remembering feeling not all that impressed with Falling Kingdoms when I read it, but I physically read that and listened to the rest of these on audio. I'm wondering if maybe I just wasn't in the head space for physical reading and if I would have found *anything* boring. Not 100% convinced because I do remember thinking the last half-ish of the book picked up. But we'll see.

I also remember feeling really disturbed by the whole Magnus being in love with Lucia thing. But Alexius makes a comment about something, I think in Gathering Darkness, about it. He says something about how Magnus is convinced he's in love with Lucia because she's the only person who ever showed him kindness, and when I reflect back on the books, I actually find this storyline quite interesting. Magnus is being actively terrorized by his father since the books start, and his mother isn't the greatest. And he's so starved for attention and affection that, as Alexius says, he convinces himself that he's in love with his sister simply because she's the only one to have ever showed him any kindness. Maybe he even IS actually in love with her, but again, the fact of the matter is that this happens because he's so messed up because of how his father has treated him and idk I just think that makes him and the storyline more interesting.

Might come back and add some future thoughts, but I think that covers most everything!