Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, 1)

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He once told her he thought she should be addressed as a goddess, so whenever one of them is pretending to ally with an enemy, they make sure to drop Cleiona in the conversation to let the other in on the act. I understand your reservations, I am the literal worst at finishing series if I have to wait for a year between books haha. Felix likes Lysandra but also Amara, who likes him back but likes Nerissa too, who likes her back but also has a thing with the guard Enzo. Jonas continues to willfully defy his destiny, but the consequences of plotting his own course are drastic. And which side will Prince Magnus choose, now that everyone he’s been betrayed by everyone he’s ever loved?

I had so much fun with it, and will definitely be reading the sequels before the release of Frozen Tides. Cleo is arguably the main character of the story: she had the most page time and meaningful interactions with two other POV characters. Felix spends a week in a Kraeshian torture cell, after being framed for the murder of the royal family. Though these three kingdoms are at peace there is a lingering tension between them, not a war at the start of the book but rather a heated relationship between inhabitants of the different kingdoms when they are confronted with each other. She bore his child, but her elder sisters were jealous and they threatened the child’s life if Eva did not surrender, to them, the all-powerful Kindred.Chekhov's Gun: While arguing with Cleo in Frozen Tides, an enraged Magnus throws the earth Kindred at the wall, unintentionally triggering a small earthquake. Paelsia is incredibly poor and just wants to live comfortably, but is sexist and brutal, to the point the other two view it as a land of savages. I’m also intrigued by the lost magic of the land and the roles the Watchers have to play in future installments. In a land where magic has been forgotten, but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Cleo is furious when Magnus manipulates Nic into attending Amara’s speech to Paelsia, as it leads to him seemingly being killed when riots break out.

Morgan Rhodes has created a rich, living fantasy world and characters that immediately draw the reader in.

There are so many sides to each character and we get to experience every side through the point of view of the other characters when their paths cross! Later books replaced this with that chapter’s narrator as the title, A Song of Ice and Fire style, with the location below it. Earn Your Happy Ending: Everyone goes through a lot of hell, and not all of them make it out, but the ending is ultimately uplifting.