Here's the blurb from goodreads.com: "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?"
I've heard this is being called the "YA Game of Thrones", so I guess now the question is: why don't I just read Game of Thrones? For the same reason I don't like Lord of The Rings; there are too many characters, I feel like I barely know any of them by the end. Falling Kingdoms has all the high fantasy splendor of Game of Thrones, but Rhodes narrows it down to four characters, and the story switches between their points of views.
What I love about Falling Kingdoms is that it doesn't follow the typical formula of a book using multiple perspectives. We all know it; the characters are apart for a bit at the beginning of the book, but some problem brings them together and they have to band up to fix it. It was my expectation from the beginning that all four characters would wind up being friends.
Nope.
The relationships in Falling Kingdoms are far more complex than that; characters come together one by one, some people like each other some people hate each other. It's really cool because when something goes wrong, it shows both sides of the story. For example, if Cleo does something that makes Jonas really angry, when we read it from Jonas's POV, it portrays Cleo as the bad guy, but when we read Cleo's POV, we see her reasons behind it. It makes it hard to understand who really is the bad guy, but it keeps you thinking, which I like. Also, I love that Rhodes is taking full advantage of having four characters from very different backgrounds, and with very different beliefs/morals. Obviously they're not going to see eye to eye, and having them fight makes the story seem 1. more real and 2. more exciting.
The only complaint I would have about this book is the lack of explanation for a few of the relationships. WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD For example, when Theon and Cleo suddenly fall in love, there was no thought process for either of them. In fact, Cleo's entire experience of it was basically "oh look, there's Theon," then "yo he's pretty hot" then "okay, I'll just make out with him now." Also, Magnus and Lucia. Let's talk about them for a second. Incest is some pretty heavy stuff, it doesn't just happen. (For those of you who don't know, Magnus and Lucia are siblings. Magnus is in love with Lucia.) While reading, I was hoping there would be some explanation on Magnus's part on how he rationalizes his love for his sister, but there isn't any. All we know is that Magnus loves her, weird as it may be.
Despite that, I really like Falling Kingdoms. It's very fast paced and exciting, but also very intricate. I'm definitely looking forward to the second one (the cover was just released!It's called "Rebel Spring" click here to see more.)
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