BlackRose2400's Book Journey

Falling Kingdoms Review

Book Rating: 5 stars out of 5.

Story Line: 5 stars out of 5. This review is going to be very different from all the other reviews that I have written. The first thing I won't be doing is summarizing the book in the story line section like I normally do. Second the characters section will be really long. (I mean they are normally long, but not as long as my story line section depending on how many characters there are.) Third a lot of the summarizing will be in the characters section. There were so many events in this book and I enjoyed every single second. I did not want to put this book down at all! I was so intrigued by every scene. I connected with every character except for a few...but I will talk about that later. My heart is wounded by this book. I am also very angry with a lot of things that have happened in the book! Now on to characters…I warn you...this may be long! I honestly can’t wait to read the next book. (I’ve already started reading it!)

Characters: 5 stars out of 5. Alright, let me just start by saying that I loved the four main characters of this book! I didn't hate a single one of them. A lot of people hated a certain character, but he really wasn't all that bad. They felt real to me. I was able to connect with them on a personal level. I love when authors are able to do that to their readers! I loved being in each one of their worlds.

Main characters; characters I loved:

Cleo- She is the youngest princess of Auranos. She was an interesting character from the very beginning of the book. She really wasn't like a typical princess at all. Cleo was very adventurous which I really loved that about her. She was not the next in line for the throne. In fact, her older sister, Emilia was. Cleo cared so much about her father and sister. She loved them dearly. Honestly throughout this whole book I actually felt bad for her. The first reason being is that she is betrothed to someone who she can’t stand. I can’t stand him either. (He will be receiving his own honorable mention under characters I absolutely hate.) He did something so horrible that it makes her sick to her stomach. She actually feels horrible about what happened. She has nightmares about it. Her father felt it was the best for her and the Kingdom of Auranos. After that she finds out that her sister is dying. Her sister tells her the story of her first love. Cleo finds out interesting information. Cleo asks her father go to Paelsia again after the tragic events that took place there. He told her not to go. She disobeys her father and goes to Paelsia anyway with her best friend, Nic. She gets kidnapped by Jonas (one of the other four main characters). He locks her in a shed. The love of her life saves her, but ends up getting killed in front of her by another main character. Cleo goes home depressed. My heart broke for her in those moments. Her sister, Emilia, ends up getting sicker and sicker. There is a war waging between Auranos and the other two Kingdoms Limeros and Paelsia. Her sister ends up dying in the middle of the war. Her father ends up being killed. He dies in her arms right after he gives her a ring that belonged to her mother. She didn’t deserve all that she had to go through. I really felt bad for her. My heart broke for her throughout this whole book.

Jonas- He is the younger son of a wine seller in Paelsia. He is considered to be a savage. Paelsians are basically poor people. He was one of those. I did feel bad for him, but other times I wanted to punch him in the throat. I still loved him though. I understand why he was the way he was. His brother was killed in front of him by Cleo’s fiancé. He was supposed to be attending his sister’s wedding that day. That was completely ruined by the death of his older brother. He wants to see the chief of his town so he ends up using his daughter to do so. Jonas wants to wage war on Auranos for the death of his brother. He talks to the chief about that. He ends up kidnapping Cleo. He is surprised by the reaction he gives her about his brother. Then he ends up joining the war between Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia. He sees a little 11 year old boy killed in front of him. He ends up killing many people also. His chief gets his throat slit though I don’t think he feels that bad about that. That is very understandable. His chief honestly was the biggest ignoramus in this whole book. (He will get his own honorable mention under characters I hate!) In my opinion Jonas did have to live a hard life. The death of his brother really affected him. He looked up to his brother. He shouldn’t have been lost in the way that he was. Jonas was a strong character throughout the book.

Magnus- A lot of people hate Magnus, but I am not one of those people. To be honest I feel really bad for him. His father is the whole reason he is the way he is. His father was abusive towards him as he was growing up. That shaped him into the character he has become. He’s in love with someone that he shouldn’t be. Alright…let me explain the reasons that I don’t hate Magnus. His father cut him on his face with a knife in Auranos when he was seven. He now has a scar from his ear to his mouth because of it. His father has beaten him countless times. (Even his sister has seen it happen.) That really angered me. Another reason I can say I really don’t hate him is because he let one of his maids go after his father was torturing her. I know that Magnus actually did kill Theon…the boy that Cleo loved, but Magnus feels horrible about it. His heart later turned icy because of rejection. I know that’s by his adopted sister, but it was a little weird. So to be fair Magnus isn’t that horrible of a person! Others hate him…he’s not what they say he is. If only people would actually feel empathy for someone that had to deal with that much abuse. That should be the normal reaction, but no. People are honestly jerks to this poor boy. I felt horrible for him. He was also a strong character as well. I did love him!

Lucia- She is the prophesied sorceress who is said to have control over all of the elementia. She learns that she is will be able to use all four of the elements. Lucia was sweet in the beginning. I was not a big fan of her towards the end. She eventually is told that she is not related to the Damoras by blood. She is told that she is a sorceress. She is used in the war by her father to break a spell on the doors of Auranos. At the end she is passes out after breaking the spell. She is the reason that so much death and destruction has happened in Auranos. She is the reason that Cleo’s father has been killed. That really made me not like her as much as the other characters in the book. I still love her, but I don’t love her at the same time. She isn’t someone that I actually hate. I just slightly dislike. I don’t really feel as bad for her as I should.

Characters I absolutely hated:

Aron- He is the worst of the worst. He was so horrible. I wanted him dead from the get go. He doesn’t feel bad for killing an innocent man. I’m sorry, excuse me, you should feel bad for killing someone. I hate him with a burning passion. I really wish he died in the explosion.

Gaius- He can’t call himself a king. He is nothing. He is worthless. I wanted him dead throughout this whole book for the way that he treated his son. He even killed another one of his other children. He rules his kingdom with an iron first. He kills innocent people and tortures people. That was hard to read. I can’t stand this man. I really hope he dies in one of the other books!!

Basilius- I’m happy this jerk died. He had children sacrificed in his name. That was purely disgusting. I was glad when his throat was slit. It really proved that he was nothing. He was just a fat, lazy ruler, who let his own country starve!!

Favorite Quotes: “You must draw from that strength. You must increase it. And you must hold on to it because sometimes that small glimmer of inner strength is all that we have to help us press forward through the darkness.”

“Follow your heart wherever it leads. Appreciate life, Cleo. It's a gift that can be stolen at any time.”

“So my happiness that you're safe is more powerful than any anger. Love is stronger than anger. Love is stronger than hate--stronger than anything. Remember that.”

“Allow your heart to have faith no matter what. It's what will give you strength in troubled times.”

Writing Style: 5 stars out of 5. A lot of heartbreaking scenes, but I loved it. I couldn’t tear myself away! This ending also left my heart angry and broken!