It’s a ruthless book full of ruthless characters and I am very excited to get my hands on the second book! There is no one who can save her now and by the end she was determined to save everyone so I hope we do get to see that on some level! And which side will Prince Magnus choose, now that everyone he’s been betrayed by everyone he’s ever loved?

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 Multiverse: Timotheus mentions the Watchers used to watch over seven worlds, not just theirs and the world Mytica belongs to. The prologue of Falling Kingdoms took off interestingly showing already quite the display of magic, betrayal and producing an nice entryway into the book. Much death and conflict later, and the series ends with Magnus/Cleo, Ashur/Nic, and Jonas/Lucia, with implications for Amara/Nerissa.As they travel to a ship that will take them back to Auranos, Cleo and Theon admit they have fallen in love and they kiss.

With the first, of six books, in the ‘Falling Kingdoms’ series released in 2012, it’s taken me ten years to finally discover this epic fantasy journey. It is also with Lucia’s precious magic that the forces are able to blast through the enchanted gates of Auranos and seize the castle. I come away from this story with strong feelings for each character, whether it be sympathy, hatred, loyalty, or empathy. The people of Paelsia worship Chief Basilius, yet he imposes heavy taxes on the poor population of his nation while he lives in luxury. She hopes that the stories are true and that these seeds will save her sister Emilia who is gravely ill with a mysterious disease.There is a constant power struggle in this book, fathers over their daughters, Kings over their Kingdoms, sorceress over their magic. They all have flaws and inner demons to deal with and believe that their actions are justified, they did what they had to do at the time and they can’t change that.

As they run out of money and time, an elderly woman named Eirene gives them a place to rest for the night. I really enjoyed reading the interactions between all the different characters and the underlying current of either mistrust or love between them.KING GAIUS: Abandoned by Melenia and betrayed by his own children, Gaius flees Mytica and sails to Kraeshia, where he attempts to ally with the famously brutal emperor across the Silver Sea.

I Surrender, Suckers: A favored tactic of many is to pretend to accept an offer of surrender or claim to want to join the other party's side, wait til their guard is down, then make their escape. Later on, fear of this trope is what causes Magnus to stop having sex with Cleo, since he believes she’s cursed to die in childbirth. While haggling with a wine vendor, Aron Lagaris, Cleo’s friend and suitor, gets into a disagreement with the vendor’s son, Tomas, and stabs him to death. 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.Lucia does NOT reciprocate his feelings even though Magnus attempts to convince her it isn’t wrong since they are not actually blood related. Rebel: Jonas, enraged at injustice, lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished. I am really looking forward to finding out more about his character because he just has so much potential. Unlike Jonas's, it's seemingly crushed but plays a part in many important things, such as Felix's rescue, Lyssa's rescue, and Amara's eventual exile.