Gathering Darkness: A Falling Kingdoms Novel

I didn’t expect I would read this faster than the 2nd book, but hey, it took me 2 days to finish this! I am so sleepy..The story so far evolved around our protagonists and their sudden change of life they an opportunistic war and a prophecy brought. Our heroes evolved and hardened, while the main driving force of change was king Gaius. Magic was sort of a backstory, which felt shallow in my eyes. In this installment of the series, the focus shifts to the prophecy and the greater forces that lurk around and pull the strings. Wardens and their own story are under the spotlight and I admit that this part of the story evolved nicely. I don’t really believe Rhodes knew about this from book 1, but it was well done, without feeling rushed or lacking. I admit however that in the end, the part with melenia felt super anti climatic.Of course, our protagonists are again the main focus, with Lucia and Nick getting more time than before, but still failing to make it to the first row. I think it’s clear this series is all about Cleo and Magnus and that part unfolds very well on this book.One more time, the pacing was good and changing viewpoints does not really hurt the reader.The only downside I can think is that the whole “people doing magic” part of this series is not that well done. It is too isolated, only Lucia can practically do serious magic, so this story unfolds in a setting where magic exists but it doesn’t really affect the story and the limited “battles” are not that impressive I think.Moreover, it doesn’t make so much sense for Magnus to want the kindred, especially in the end.Anyway, this book was VERY VERY enjoyable, an easy 5/5. Do not miss it

My Personal Rating- 4.5Synopsis: (according to Goodreads.com)"The stakes have never been higher in Morgan Rhodes' third book in the Falling Kingdoms Series as three teams push forward on a race to find the Kindred, the four elemental crystals possessing ancient all-powerful magic..."Prince Magnus has just witnessed torture, death, and miracles during the bloody confrontation that decimated the rebel forces. Now he must choose between family and justice as his father, the cruel King Gaius, sets out to conquer all of Mytica. All Gaius needs now are the Kindred---the four elemental crystals that give godlike powers to their owner. But the King of Blood is not the only one hunting for this ancient, storied magic...THE KRAESHIANS join the hunt. 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 REBELS forge ahead. Princess Cleo and vengeful Jonas lead them, slaying with sweetness, skill, and a secret that can control Lucia's overpowering magic - all so they can use the Kindred to win back their fallen kingdoms.THE WATCHERS follow Melenia out of the Sanctuary. They ally in the flesh with King Gaius, who vows to use Lucia's powers to unveil the Kindred.The only certainty in the dark times is that whoever finds the magic first will control the fate of Mytica... but fate can be fickle when magic is involved." (Book Finished around January 2015)- - - - - - - - - - - -WOW...^^^That's one way to describe this book after reading it, with excited squeals following shortly afterwards xD teeheeThis book was really good--and my views of some of the characters have changed GREATLY! xDD I've just abandoned my previous ship and swam to another and I'm having a BLAST!! XD (<<ya'll are gonna have to read the book to understand what 2 people I'm shipping now--eeeep!!) ^_^Okay, I'm gonna have to stop this fangirling so that I can go on and give you my review of this book... xDMY THOUGHTS...• BEFORE the Book: I was anxious to read more about Joleo because I just LOVED them! XD just think about it: The rebel and the Princess... I mean, come on! It just reminds me too much of my two fav characters/ship on The 100 - Bellamy Blake & Clarke Griffin (#Bellarke FTW!!!) >>>9b0933c507c42492cad753f5f344ef5a.jpg >>>>Story Parallel: The 100 vs Falling Kingdom ((Am I right??))Even though we do get a few JOLEO moments in GD, it's not much to satisfy the #Joleo shippers, unfortunately. Jonas is sorta too busy with the rebellion to have secret rendezvous with the Auranian/recently-turned-Limerian Princess... But he does have deep feelings for her, and you can obviously tell when you read this book!• AFTER Reading: However, there's also the bold, no-nonesense Lysandra whom Jonas hangs out with more in GD. After reading this, I now see clearly that he and Lys are PERFECT for each other, really. THINK ABOUT IT-- What would the kingdom gain if Cleo ended up marrying him once the Evil Gaius is vanquished??? I think uniting ALL kingdoms is the end game to bring about peace here... Don't you agree??+ Things I Loved: ~ Magnus & Cleo's banter!!! We see more of it in this book, especially in one specific, special scene where they have this deep conversation--and I'm like GAAAAAHHHH!!!!*Looks at all of you pointedly* ALL of you need to read GD and you'll know what I mean and exactly why I'm all gushy over the aforementioned scene above^^^ ;D <3 ~ I also loved the last scene in GD when the Kraeshian siblings both show their true colors....... I have 4 words for you:Magnus.Damora.Kicks.Butt! XDThings I Hated: ~ Evil King Gaius and his devious ways...that dude disgusts me >>insert Death Glare Here<< ~ the Kraeshian Wonder-Twins. UGH, everyone ALWAYS has a hidden agenda, don't they?? Evil!--------------MORE Thoughts: Okay, I think Magnus is definitely growing on me. It started in the last book, Rebel Spring, and reading this book only cemented my feelings for Magnus Damora even more. He actually cares more than he lets on!! He has a good heart, but we don't ever see it in the series--definitely not in FK--the first book. I WANNA SEE MORE!!!!!!!!! We clearly see it a bit in RS & GD; when he steps up for Cleo when Aron badmouths her-(in RS) -- as well as his and Cleo's intense convo in GD... GAH, my heart FEELS for him! He's cold-hearted and closed off because of his evil scumbag of a father, and it makes me want that guy dead even more!!! PLEASE, someone just assassinate him already!!!!!! *looks pointedly at Jonas*~Revelation Time~BUT WAIT-- I also get the strange feeling that maybe it could be MAGNUS who ends his father in the end...? IDK, it just...seems..right! I've read enough books to see it happening. What do you YOU guys think??? I love Cleo and how strong she is throughout RS & GD. I know I couldn't EVER hope to be as courageous and brave as she is in GD... all the things she has to do in order to stay sane and keep to her Big Plan makes me desperately wish I could be just like her! She's lost everything & every one she's loved, and I feel for her D'X She has to be my favorite character out of all of them... right now, there's a toss up for 2nd place between Jonas & Magnus xPAlright, lastly, before I show you my all-time FAVORITE quote of GD, I just want to say one thing.... Is it too much to wish that there might be just ONE good character in the FK series that DOESN'T want control of the Kindred?? I understand the power that comes with acquiring it, but still... couldn't there just be one decent, honest-to-goodness person who just wants peace, as well as Evil Gaius gone, and have things return to normal???? IDK, maybe it's just me, but there's a lot of obsessing over this "Kindred" nonsense xP I totally understand Cleo's motive (to take back her kingdom -using the Kindred for Good), as well as Magnus' reasoning - I believe he just doesn't want his father to have it, and that I totally agree with! NO Kindred for you, GAY-us!! You're on the very-very, super-duper Naughty List this year--again! Somebody give this guy an award: a lifetime supply of COAL!!!!! ;)........Anyway.......You know...maybe there should be a character that wants to destroy the Kindred so that NO ONE can be tempted to use it for Bad?? That just might make everyone happy forever!Don't you agree???? ;PFAV Quote of GD: <3 <3 <3"There is no goodness inside of me, princess, so please don't waste time fantasizing that there might be." ~Magnus (to Cleo) ^I'm just going to leave ya'll with that. God, I love those two!! ^_^Whelp, that's all I've got for today, folks.... TTYL!!~Dori

Alright, we are in the middle of the series with this book. If you have read my previous posts, you will know that I liked Magnus and Jonas since the beginning, while Cleo left me a little confused, and Lucia I couldn’t really understand at all.Starting with the characters, I think it will be safe to say that now Magnus occupies the first place. I love his doubts, his past, what happened to him and how everything is making him into a man. I think the only stain in his character is his sister Lucia and how much he loves her.Cleo is also getting better. She is more mature, even though the way she goes from one man to the next… Well she IS a teenager, but I still hope whatever happens she won’t change her mind once again. The thing I don’t particularly like about her is that she spends days and days in this palace, but she doesn’t do anything to find the Kindred. Don’t you want to save your kingdom?Unfortunately, Jonas lost a lot of points in this book. He seems so confused, and I wish he could just pick one girl. He also seems pretty useless now, even after all of his speeches about freedom and revenge.Lucia… She is still so weak and terrible. She believes every single thing people tell her, no matter who it is. You might think she is innocent, but she doesn’t come off that way. She seems just really spoiled, maybe even more than Cleo, considering nothing bad has ever happened to her in her entire life.Just like Lucia, I cannot stand Alexius. I feel like they are very good for each other, at the end of the day. He behaves like he is better than anybody else, he lets Cleo in on their secrets, and then basically blames her for everything. The fact that he is not very nice towards Magnus also made him worse.I felt like this particular book didn’t have much action. It’s mostly just about the relationships between all the characters, and about building what will happen in the next books.I actually really like Amara and I feel like she might be very important later on, so I cannot wait to read more about her and her family.In general, I like this series. I like the drama, I like how the characters’ lives keep entertwining. There are only a couple of things that just made this book and the others as well not as good as other I’ve read.The first one is the typos. I don’t know if the paper edition is better, but on kindle it sometimes got really hard to read. There are periods missing as well, which makes it a little confusing at times.The second point is that, in my opinion, these books are too short. Don’t get me wrong, I like action, but in here we don’t really have that. The problem is that everything happens so fast, without really preparing the reader for it, that I found myself not really caring about what happens to the characters most of the time.Despite these few flaws, I am enjoying reading the Falling Kingdoms series, and I can only hope the next books will be as good as the first ones.

The events of this book are a complete game changer. Quite often fantasy series with an expansive world and an ever changing political landscape require a steady progression of events; we see this in Game of Thrones, for example, where more character driven moments slow down the progression of the plot to allow for key players to move into position for the next pivotal moment. Falling Kingdoms is a series with many pivotal moments and very few slow components to create that build; it feels like the players move at lightning speed, frequently changing which character fills the most powerful position. It's so clever, never boring and Gathering Darkness is possible the most significant yet.The race to discover the location of the four elemental crystals is very much on between the King of Blood, the Kraeshains (a slippery new sibling duo), Jonas' rebels (accompanied somewhat by Princess Cleo) and the Watchers. As each family attempts to gain leverage, in the background Princess Lucia grows ever stronger and acts as a catalyst for key events which could enable the crystal's location to be revealed.I really appreciate how much magic is woven within Gathering Darkness. It has been steadily drip-fed throughout the series, but Lucia's abilities have become a really interesting component to the story now and the addition of The Watchers as an ethereal presence added a completely new dimension to the magic already present in the series.The friendships, both genuine and deliberately contrived, are the strongest component of this series, allowing genuine attachments to characters to form. I still maintain that this series has some of the most interesting and believable characters with superbly crafted development; I enjoy reading from each of the perspectives and feel genuinely invested in the outcome for each of them too. I'm not sure I'm necessarily taken by the romantic elements throughout, since none of the small romances are especially central features and develop and evaporate quite quickly, but the friendships are exceptional.This series is so easy to absorb and I find myself lost in it for hours at a time. It's the perfect fantasy escapism and I'll be genuinely sad to see it end.

Gathering Darkness was without a doubt one of the best books I have read of 2016, yes I know its January but still. For those of you who have stumbled across my reviews on Falling Kingdoms and Rebel Spring, you will have noted that I really enjoyed the books but there was something missing, that initial spark or driving force being liking and loving a book. My feelings of Gathering Darkness- I love this freaking book. It's now one of my favourite series.Falling Kingdoms and Rebel Spring are like the stepping stones in the series, slowly preparing you for what’s to come, drawing you into this fantasy world full of love, betrayal and vengeance, which makes Gathering Darkness the book that dominates them all, leaving you a little breathless, in a state of shock and with a little trickle of fear that things are only just getting started.“Hatred is like fire. It burns the one who harnesses it. It’s also extremely hard to see more helpful truths through its flames.”Gathering Darkness makes quick work of bringing you up to speed on the past events of the series and soon enough the plot is under way and your immersed once again in this ferocious magical world. Cleo, Jonas, Magnus and Lucia are locked and loaded in the this explosive sequel, better yet each is unrecognizable since book one, they continue to grow and change and not sometimes for the better but you can’t help but love them anyway, their journey is not one for the light hearted but their courage and commitment to their beliefs is contagious.“Some sought revenge against their mortal enemies with the edge of a sword. Her plan for vengeance began with the edge of a smile.”I must commend yet again the multiple POV’s and how wonderfully entangled the writing is, you move smoothly from character to character and kingdom to kingdom but you don’t feel jolted and confused, everything is effortless. We also get to know the trickster Kraeshian sibling’s Prince Ashur and Princess Amara. Seemly innocent in the beginning but I assure you they have their own schemes and prove to be one of the biggest players in this ruthless game searching for the Kindred.“Fear and intimidation are tactics that work very well on those who allow themselves to be afraid and intimidated.”Now I must talk about the romance, once more the romance never takes center stage but these mere snippets of moments are filled with such delicious tension, angst and smothering desire that I find myself developing the most unhealthy obsession with these characters and ships. I have fully jumped ship and I regret absolutely nothing, they are my life now, so sad and I will not be swayed.“It was desperate, this kiss. Violent, even.”As I’ve said above this book was explosive, I mean fast-paced, full of action, don’t-you-dare-put-me-down-or-you’ll-miss-something-good, all consuming plot that makes the pages fly by. There were so many plot twists, shocking betrayals and although it pain’s me to even think of them but heartbreaking loses. I didn’t think Rhodes could be more brutal but again I’m in awe of her dark and bewitching skill to completely change a character that makes you-the reader throw away all those past opinions and feel a sense of kindred to them.“That is your greatest mistake. The love you felt for him wasn’t love at all—it was obsession. Real love means sacrifice, not selfishness.”I may never recover from the cliffhanger, I’m actually telling people “don’t read this book unless you have Frozen Tides within arms reach.” And I stand by it. So many revelations come to light but it is not without sacrifice, I’m actually in complete denial about one aspect of the ending, I refuse to believe it, it’s cruel, devastating and just plain agony to think about. I currently have Frozen Tides within arms reach and it’s a battle every day to not tear my way through it like a possessed animal but the mere thought that Frozen Tides could end even half as badly as Gathering Darkness stills my too eager fingers because then I will be left waiting in agony for the next instalment and much-needed answers. I’ll eventually break down but I have some pretty epic books coming up on my TBR so I’ll stay strong, for now.Gathering Darkness outshines its predecessors and shows a glimpse into just how giant and complex this world is and what exactly Rhodes has in store for her readers.You think you know the Kindred?You think you know what everyone is fighting for?Think again!For more reviews visit: [...]

Followers of the Falling Kingdoms Series will absolutely LOVE this next instalment! Morgan Rhodes just gets better and better with each book, it really was fantastic. If you enjoy Game of Thrones, but would like a little less blood spilling, this is definitely the series for you. Prince, Princesses, Rebels, Magic and War it as it all and it is one of my very favourites.

I want to scream!!!!!! This series is just so so so very good.I can't believe I had doubts upon reading the first chapters of the very first book... it was silly of me!Amazing read!

Lots of action and twists throughout the story. The characters are truly compelling.I can't wait to read the next book.