In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power--brutally transforming their subjects' lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:
Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.
Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished--and finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.
Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past--and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.
Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword...
The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?
Books
Young Adult Fiction
Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1)
Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1) http://www.yabookscentral.com/media/reviews/photos/thumbnail/200x285s/f5/83/db/_fallingkingdoms-1346434980.jpg Featured
Author(s)
Publisher
Genre(s)
Age Range
12+
Release Date
December 11, 2012
ISBN
978-1595145840
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Editor reviews
The cover of this book drew me in, and the fact that it is a YA high-fantasy ignited my curiosity. I found the plot line to be interesting and keep me reading, and I think I will read the sequels. But what really gets people attached to a book? The characters. And I didn't end up loving any of the characters--though I did end up liking one of the four who are featured--and that, only by the very end of the book.
The book follows three kingdoms, and as I said, four main characters (plus one if you include the two or three very short chapters from the point of view of a "Watcher," which is a being that is connected to the main world but not fully part of it). Magnus and Lucia, who is his sister, are the royal offspring in the cold kingdom of Limeros; Cleo, the younger of two princesses in Auranos, a rich and prosperous nation; and Jonas, younger brother of a peasant who is carelessly murdered by one of Cleo's friends early on and seeks vengeance for his family and his people of the land of Paelsia. The events surrounding these four characters are what make Falling Kingdoms a worthy read at points. Towards the end of the book, I found myself unable to stop reading because I NEEDED to know what happened. This story has promise, and hopefully the characters will really carry the storyline along in books to come, rather than the other way around. There are ugly, terrible villains that need to (and oh, do you want them to) die NOW, and quite lovable characters that you want to preserve (although some of them are killed off in the course of the book--darn it!).
At first, I found myself really liking Magnus, despite his forbidden love for his sister, Lucia. I knew that she most likely was not his real sister, which wouldn't do much for his love interest, but would at least eventually ease his mind when the secret came out. But over time, as I viewed him from Lucia's perspective and saw more of his actual behavior, I ended up liking him less and less. He despises his father, but then chooses to follow in his footsteps. I appreciate the human battle within, between good and evil, but when his character chose to dive into the cesspool of bloodlust his father adores, I lost my interest. There were moments when his inner torment deeply moved me, and it is my hope that in the next books the battle will be won within him by good.
In the meantime, Cleo is trying to develop her character through a series of tragic events and losses in her life. She barely made it into my 'I like you' category by the end of the story, but at least she got kicked out of her affluent bubble in time for that to happen. The dominant outsider perspective of her is repetitive (she was so "beautiful" and strong-willed), but in the end I found her resolve in the face of adversity to be the most attractive thing about her. She is another character who will hold more promise, I believe, in future books.
Lucia, Magnus' sister, is 'blessed' (or cursed) with special powers, but is unalbe to handle it by the time it is revealed. If her character had been explored more fully, I think she would have been the one I ended up loving. She exhibits some great traits--she is suspicious of the seriously messed up people; she is not arrogant about her abilities or beauty; she unconditionally loves Magnus. But when her powers come into force, she doesn't stand up to the one person who is the most obviously evil of the bunch--her father. This disconnect and the fact that there are only a few chapters dedicated to her POV caused her character to fall flat for me over the course of the book.
Jonas, as well, was not someone I was a big fan of. I cared about what he cared about, but he develops a serious hatred for Cleo that doesn't make sense, and pursues her based on that hatred for almost the entire book. When you're able to be inside Cleo's head, who was there when Jonas's brother was murdered, and see that she felt terrible and feels terrible about what happened, it makes it hard to believe that Jonas saw what he believes he saw: a 'smirk' on her face as his brother died right in front of her. There are several other confusing divisions like this between what we see in a character's head and what others on the outside are seeing--what I mean is, just inconsistencies that don't make sense (of course people outside a character cannot read that character's mind). These instances of confusion and the strangely immediate changes in feelings and sudden development of deep 'love' coupled with characters who obviously have very interesting histories that should have been explored further led to make me frustrated with the end result. However, it did keep me turning the pages, and for those new to high-fantasy, this may be a good book to jump into the genre and see what it's all about.
Reviewed by
Nicholette Tilghman, Editor
December 10, 2012
Last updated: December 13, 2012
Top 100 Reviewer - View all my reviews (71)
The book follows three kingdoms, and as I said, four main characters (plus one if you include the two or three very short chapters from the point of view of a "Watcher," which is a being that is connected to the main world but not fully part of it). Magnus and Lucia, who is his sister, are the royal offspring in the cold kingdom of Limeros; Cleo, the younger of two princesses in Auranos, a rich and prosperous nation; and Jonas, younger brother of a peasant who is carelessly murdered by one of Cleo's friends early on and seeks vengeance for his family and his people of the land of Paelsia. The events surrounding these four characters are what make Falling Kingdoms a worthy read at points. Towards the end of the book, I found myself unable to stop reading because I NEEDED to know what happened. This story has promise, and hopefully the characters will really carry the storyline along in books to come, rather than the other way around. There are ugly, terrible villains that need to (and oh, do you want them to) die NOW, and quite lovable characters that you want to preserve (although some of them are killed off in the course of the book--darn it!).
At first, I found myself really liking Magnus, despite his forbidden love for his sister, Lucia. I knew that she most likely was not his real sister, which wouldn't do much for his love interest, but would at least eventually ease his mind when the secret came out. But over time, as I viewed him from Lucia's perspective and saw more of his actual behavior, I ended up liking him less and less. He despises his father, but then chooses to follow in his footsteps. I appreciate the human battle within, between good and evil, but when his character chose to dive into the cesspool of bloodlust his father adores, I lost my interest. There were moments when his inner torment deeply moved me, and it is my hope that in the next books the battle will be won within him by good.
In the meantime, Cleo is trying to develop her character through a series of tragic events and losses in her life. She barely made it into my 'I like you' category by the end of the story, but at least she got kicked out of her affluent bubble in time for that to happen. The dominant outsider perspective of her is repetitive (she was so "beautiful" and strong-willed), but in the end I found her resolve in the face of adversity to be the most attractive thing about her. She is another character who will hold more promise, I believe, in future books.
Lucia, Magnus' sister, is 'blessed' (or cursed) with special powers, but is unalbe to handle it by the time it is revealed. If her character had been explored more fully, I think she would have been the one I ended up loving. She exhibits some great traits--she is suspicious of the seriously messed up people; she is not arrogant about her abilities or beauty; she unconditionally loves Magnus. But when her powers come into force, she doesn't stand up to the one person who is the most obviously evil of the bunch--her father. This disconnect and the fact that there are only a few chapters dedicated to her POV caused her character to fall flat for me over the course of the book.
Jonas, as well, was not someone I was a big fan of. I cared about what he cared about, but he develops a serious hatred for Cleo that doesn't make sense, and pursues her based on that hatred for almost the entire book. When you're able to be inside Cleo's head, who was there when Jonas's brother was murdered, and see that she felt terrible and feels terrible about what happened, it makes it hard to believe that Jonas saw what he believes he saw: a 'smirk' on her face as his brother died right in front of her. There are several other confusing divisions like this between what we see in a character's head and what others on the outside are seeing--what I mean is, just inconsistencies that don't make sense (of course people outside a character cannot read that character's mind). These instances of confusion and the strangely immediate changes in feelings and sudden development of deep 'love' coupled with characters who obviously have very interesting histories that should have been explored further led to make me frustrated with the end result. However, it did keep me turning the pages, and for those new to high-fantasy, this may be a good book to jump into the genre and see what it's all about.
| Overall rating | 3.0 | |
| Plot | 3.0 | |
| Characters | 3.0 | |
| Writing Style | 3.0 |
Reviewed by
Nicholette Tilghman, Editor
December 10, 2012
Last updated: December 13, 2012
Top 100 Reviewer - View all my reviews (71)
Looks Promising; Falls Short
The cover of this book drew me in, and the fact that it is a YA high-fantasy ignited my curiosity. I found the plot line to be interesting and keep me reading, and I think I will read the sequels. But what really gets people attached to a book? The characters. And I didn't end up loving any of the characters--though I did end up liking one of the four who are featured--and that, only by the very end of the book.
The book follows three kingdoms, and as I said, four main characters (plus one if you include the two or three very short chapters from the point of view of a "Watcher," which is a being that is connected to the main world but not fully part of it). Magnus and Lucia, who is his sister, are the royal offspring in the cold kingdom of Limeros; Cleo, the younger of two princesses in Auranos, a rich and prosperous nation; and Jonas, younger brother of a peasant who is carelessly murdered by one of Cleo's friends early on and seeks vengeance for his family and his people of the land of Paelsia. The events surrounding these four characters are what make Falling Kingdoms a worthy read at points. Towards the end of the book, I found myself unable to stop reading because I NEEDED to know what happened. This story has promise, and hopefully the characters will really carry the storyline along in books to come, rather than the other way around. There are ugly, terrible villains that need to (and oh, do you want them to) die NOW, and quite lovable characters that you want to preserve (although some of them are killed off in the course of the book--darn it!).
At first, I found myself really liking Magnus, despite his forbidden love for his sister, Lucia. I knew that she most likely was not his real sister, which wouldn't do much for his love interest, but would at least eventually ease his mind when the secret came out. But over time, as I viewed him from Lucia's perspective and saw more of his actual behavior, I ended up liking him less and less. He despises his father, but then chooses to follow in his footsteps. I appreciate the human battle within, between good and evil, but when his character chose to dive into the cesspool of bloodlust his father adores, I lost my interest. There were moments when his inner torment deeply moved me, and it is my hope that in the next books the battle will be won within him by good.
In the meantime, Cleo is trying to develop her character through a series of tragic events and losses in her life. She barely made it into my 'I like you' category by the end of the story, but at least she got kicked out of her affluent bubble in time for that to happen. The dominant outsider perspective of her is repetitive (she was so "beautiful" and strong-willed), but in the end I found her resolve in the face of adversity to be the most attractive thing about her. She is another character who will hold more promise, I believe, in future books.
Lucia, Magnus' sister, is 'blessed' (or cursed) with special powers, but is unalbe to handle it by the time it is revealed. If her character had been explored more fully, I think she would have been the one I ended up loving. She exhibits some great traits--she is suspicious of the seriously messed up people; she is not arrogant about her abilities or beauty; she unconditionally loves Magnus. But when her powers come into force, she doesn't stand up to the one person who is the most obviously evil of the bunch--her father. This disconnect and the fact that there are only a few chapters dedicated to her POV caused her character to fall flat for me over the course of the book.
Jonas, as well, was not someone I was a big fan of. I cared about what he cared about, but he develops a serious hatred for Cleo that doesn't make sense, and pursues her based on that hatred for almost the entire book. When you're able to be inside Cleo's head, who was there when Jonas's brother was murdered, and see that she felt terrible and feels terrible about what happened, it makes it hard to believe that Jonas saw what he believes he saw: a 'smirk' on her face as his brother died right in front of her. There are several other confusing divisions like this between what we see in a character's head and what others on the outside are seeing--what I mean is, just inconsistencies that don't make sense (of course people outside a character cannot read that character's mind). These instances of confusion and the strangely immediate changes in feelings and sudden development of deep 'love' coupled with characters who obviously have very interesting histories that should have been explored further led to make me frustrated with the end result. However, it did keep me turning the pages, and for those new to high-fantasy, this may be a good book to jump into the genre and see what it's all about.
Do You Recommend?
Maybe
Was this review helpful to you?
User reviews
Average user rating from: 1 user(s)
I was really surprised at how much I ended up liking this book. I've never really been into high fantasy books, so it came to a surprise to me. But, I'm really glad I decided to pick up this book and start reading it.
Basically, there are three separate kingdoms: Auranos, Paelsia, and Limeros. In the book, you get to see viewpoints of people from each kingdom: Cleo is the narrator of the Auranos kingdom and is also the princess, Jonas is a villager of Paelsia and is the narrator for that kingdom, and then Lucia and Magnus are the narrators of the Limeros kindgom and also the prince and princess of the kingdom also. I espicially enjoyed getting to see through the eyes of so many very different people. I'm used to only seeing through one person's eyes, so it was a nice break from the usual stuff and it made me like the book even more.
The Characters of the story
Cleo-Well, to start off, I thought she was a bitch at first. Do NOT worry! I didn't think that way for long. It's just...I thought she was exactly what she was supposed to be: a spoiled rotten princess. But, later I found out that she really is a pretty caring person and even though she was still slightly spoiled while growing up, she never always got what she wanted or planned for.
Jonas-I thought he was a pretty amazing character. In this book, I never actually got to see him much, which saddened me alot, because he was just such an awesome character. I really understood his feelings and reactions during the book, which is probably why I loved him so much! He was just such an honest and devoted friend and brother.
Magnus-My first word thought to describe him: very strange...well then, I guess it is actually two words, since I had to add VERY too. He was very percular throughout the book and had such weird moments during the book. I just couldn't stand how he ACTUALLY found his OWN sister attractive and he LIKED her??? What is UP with that? I'm sorry if that is offensive to anybody, but where I come from, that is just NOT right! Put aside that, I guess he was an ok character, just not my favorite. There were just TOO many things that bugged me about him. He was too...uncaring( except for his own sister) and cold too everyone. That about sums it up for me.
Lucia-Overall, I thought she was a pretty great character. She was at least better than her brother. She was kind and honest. AND she actually showed emotions( again, her brother was not anything like her). I want to say more, but it would end up spoiling some pretty important things..."ARGH! I hate when that happens!"...
The Plot
Ok, I have to admit it. I absolutely hated the beginning of this book! I just thought it was too slow for me and it never caught my attention. I was about ready to give up on it, but I told myself that I if I had already gotten this far, I could do it! So, I continued reading and it FINALLY picked up the right pace(for me at least!) and I found I actually started liking it. So, I'm very proud of myself for finishing it and ACTUALLY liking it! The plot is pretty good and it should have caught my attention RIGHT away, but it didn't,which I'm sad to admit. So, I have to say the pacing kind of sucked, but that is just me! I'm sure people would be glad to argue with me!
The Ending
Umm...the ending for me was like I kind of loved it, but kind of hated it at the same time. Let me explain what I'm trying to say. I loved it because it made me interested to find out what happens next, but I ALSO hated it because it was just so...sudden. Like you just walked off of a cliff without knowing there would be one. But, like I said above, I loved it too!
SO, there is my crazy review with a whole bunch of complaints and complements( at least I hope I said a few...:/). I recommend this book to high fantasy book lovers, but I'm not sure all of you would enjoy it all that much.
Basically, there are three separate kingdoms: Auranos, Paelsia, and Limeros. In the book, you get to see viewpoints of people from each kingdom: Cleo is the narrator of the Auranos kingdom and is also the princess, Jonas is a villager of Paelsia and is the narrator for that kingdom, and then Lucia and Magnus are the narrators of the Limeros kindgom and also the prince and princess of the kingdom also. I espicially enjoyed getting to see through the eyes of so many very different people. I'm used to only seeing through one person's eyes, so it was a nice break from the usual stuff and it made me like the book even more.
The Characters of the story
Cleo-Well, to start off, I thought she was a bitch at first. Do NOT worry! I didn't think that way for long. It's just...I thought she was exactly what she was supposed to be: a spoiled rotten princess. But, later I found out that she really is a pretty caring person and even though she was still slightly spoiled while growing up, she never always got what she wanted or planned for.
Jonas-I thought he was a pretty amazing character. In this book, I never actually got to see him much, which saddened me alot, because he was just such an awesome character. I really understood his feelings and reactions during the book, which is probably why I loved him so much! He was just such an honest and devoted friend and brother.
Magnus-My first word thought to describe him: very strange...well then, I guess it is actually two words, since I had to add VERY too. He was very percular throughout the book and had such weird moments during the book. I just couldn't stand how he ACTUALLY found his OWN sister attractive and he LIKED her??? What is UP with that? I'm sorry if that is offensive to anybody, but where I come from, that is just NOT right! Put aside that, I guess he was an ok character, just not my favorite. There were just TOO many things that bugged me about him. He was too...uncaring( except for his own sister) and cold too everyone. That about sums it up for me.
Lucia-Overall, I thought she was a pretty great character. She was at least better than her brother. She was kind and honest. AND she actually showed emotions( again, her brother was not anything like her). I want to say more, but it would end up spoiling some pretty important things..."ARGH! I hate when that happens!"...
The Plot
Ok, I have to admit it. I absolutely hated the beginning of this book! I just thought it was too slow for me and it never caught my attention. I was about ready to give up on it, but I told myself that I if I had already gotten this far, I could do it! So, I continued reading and it FINALLY picked up the right pace(for me at least!) and I found I actually started liking it. So, I'm very proud of myself for finishing it and ACTUALLY liking it! The plot is pretty good and it should have caught my attention RIGHT away, but it didn't,which I'm sad to admit. So, I have to say the pacing kind of sucked, but that is just me! I'm sure people would be glad to argue with me!
The Ending
Umm...the ending for me was like I kind of loved it, but kind of hated it at the same time. Let me explain what I'm trying to say. I loved it because it made me interested to find out what happens next, but I ALSO hated it because it was just so...sudden. Like you just walked off of a cliff without knowing there would be one. But, like I said above, I loved it too!
SO, there is my crazy review with a whole bunch of complaints and complements( at least I hope I said a few...:/). I recommend this book to high fantasy book lovers, but I'm not sure all of you would enjoy it all that much.
| Overall rating | 3.3 | |
| Plot | 3.0 | |
| Characters | 4.0 | |
| Writing Style | 3.0 |
Lacking a good pace, but intriguing characters
I was really surprised at how much I ended up liking this book. I've never really been into high fantasy books, so it came to a surprise to me. But, I'm really glad I decided to pick up this book and start reading it.
Basically, there are three separate kingdoms: Auranos, Paelsia, and Limeros. In the book, you get to see viewpoints of people from each kingdom: Cleo is the narrator of the Auranos kingdom and is also the princess, Jonas is a villager of Paelsia and is the narrator for that kingdom, and then Lucia and Magnus are the narrators of the Limeros kindgom and also the prince and princess of the kingdom also. I espicially enjoyed getting to see through the eyes of so many very different people. I'm used to only seeing through one person's eyes, so it was a nice break from the usual stuff and it made me like the book even more.
The Characters of the story
Cleo-Well, to start off, I thought she was a bitch at first. Do NOT worry! I didn't think that way for long. It's just...I thought she was exactly what she was supposed to be: a spoiled rotten princess. But, later I found out that she really is a pretty caring person and even though she was still slightly spoiled while growing up, she never always got what she wanted or planned for.
Jonas-I thought he was a pretty amazing character. In this book, I never actually got to see him much, which saddened me alot, because he was just such an awesome character. I really understood his feelings and reactions during the book, which is probably why I loved him so much! He was just such an honest and devoted friend and brother.
Magnus-My first word thought to describe him: very strange...well then, I guess it is actually two words, since I had to add VERY too. He was very percular throughout the book and had such weird moments during the book. I just couldn't stand how he ACTUALLY found his OWN sister attractive and he LIKED her??? What is UP with that? I'm sorry if that is offensive to anybody, but where I come from, that is just NOT right! Put aside that, I guess he was an ok character, just not my favorite. There were just TOO many things that bugged me about him. He was too...uncaring( except for his own sister) and cold too everyone. That about sums it up for me.
Lucia-Overall, I thought she was a pretty great character. She was at least better than her brother. She was kind and honest. AND she actually showed emotions( again, her brother was not anything like her). I want to say more, but it would end up spoiling some pretty important things..."ARGH! I hate when that happens!"...
The Plot
Ok, I have to admit it. I absolutely hated the beginning of this book! I just thought it was too slow for me and it never caught my attention. I was about ready to give up on it, but I told myself that I if I had already gotten this far, I could do it! So, I continued reading and it FINALLY picked up the right pace(for me at least!) and I found I actually started liking it. So, I'm very proud of myself for finishing it and ACTUALLY liking it! The plot is pretty good and it should have caught my attention RIGHT away, but it didn't,which I'm sad to admit. So, I have to say the pacing kind of sucked, but that is just me! I'm sure people would be glad to argue with me!
The Ending
Umm...the ending for me was like I kind of loved it, but kind of hated it at the same time. Let me explain what I'm trying to say. I loved it because it made me interested to find out what happens next, but I ALSO hated it because it was just so...sudden. Like you just walked off of a cliff without knowing there would be one. But, like I said above, I loved it too!
SO, there is my crazy review with a whole bunch of complaints and complements( at least I hope I said a few...:/). I recommend this book to high fantasy book lovers, but I'm not sure all of you would enjoy it all that much.
Good Points
It had some pretty interesting characters and the idea of the story was great
Bad Points
Very bad pacing and I didn't like the ending very much
Do You Recommend?
Maybe
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