Review--Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes

Darkness has fallen upon Mytica, and the Golden Princess will be a prisoner no longer.

Cleo's forced marriage to Prince Magnus ended in the gruesome decimation of Jonas's rebel army. Now, she vows to take control of her own destiny--even if it means being cunning and deceitful as greedy King Gaius, who stole her father's throne.

Princess Lucia's powers are growing stronger by the day and, much to Gaius's delight, the magic of the Kindred feels closer than ever. Out of nowhere, Alexius, a handsome stranger from Lucia's dreams arrives at the palace, promising that he knows the secret to unlocking the sorceress's full potential. Gaius is convinced that Alexius holds the key to unlocking the godlike force of the ancient elements. But Magnus doesn't trust this intruder for a minute. In times as dark as these, he of all people knows not to trust even the most angelic of faces.

But the King of Blood is not the only one in pursuit of total domination. Two beautiful and cunning royals from across the Silver Sea have come to Mytica with a plan to take in much more than the local culture. The race is on to uncover the Kindred. Whoever wins will control the fate of Mytica...but fate can be fickle when magic is involved.

Oh wow. Wow. WOW. Okay, I'm sitting here in total awe and wanting that next book now! Right now! And urgh...no magical fairies are making that happen! So onto the review! Morgan Rhodes just continues to amaze me with the Falling Kingdoms series! Each book gets even more incredible than the last and that can get pretty challenging you would think, but she has done it again with Gathering Darkness!

I have come to so love these characters: Jonas, Cleo, Magnus, and Lucia! I didn't think I would like Lucia much, but she's grown on me! Though I do still have a lot to wonder about these characters as well. Their thoughts and actions get so conflicting at times and it drives me mad! One minute they're hating on one another and some time later, it's the opposite! And I LOVE the craziness of it all! Because it's not the kind that drives you crazy, but just the fact that it can be totally chaotic, I just eat up the pages and am left wanting more!

Everyone here has their own plans, and they all seem in sync with one another. They are all wanting to find the magic crystals that contain unbelievable power. I don't want to get into spoiler territory, so I'm leaving it at that. Everyone wants them, because with them, that person would be unstoppable. Cleo wants to win back her kingdom, Jonas sides with Cleo on the condition that he wants to kill the King, King Gaius wants them to be the powerful King/overlord of the world basically. Everyone has their reason.

Seriously, the characters in this series are amazing! And this time we get some new ones added into the mix, siblings Ashur and Amara and they present complications themselves! They're quite the mystery as it's obvious they are there for more than reasons why they say. Then there's newcomer Felix who brings up a few more mysteries. I mean, who is this guy?! We get a little bit of details towards the end, but I still find myself questioning his character. And I have to add in some thoughts on Magnus here. He started off being kind of an ass, and while that doesn't change drastically. I started to see more to him. With his chapter segments there is definitely more pain and feelings to this guy then he lets on. And he really takes me by surprise with this one! I found that I actually liked him this time! lol

There's quite a bit of romance going on here. I totally adored the Jonas and Cleo pairing we saw last time. It's an odd match, though nothing is ever concrete. They did have quite the moment as you saw from my tease. But then other things happened...on both ends! So it totally messed with my head and my feelings for all the characters! And then there's Lucia and Alexius, while I found their romance sweet, I couldn't help but notice a change in the relationship...yes, more vagueness as I try to steer clear of spoilers. Let's just say the romance all around was to die for!

Seriously, I'm sitting here gushing over this book in my head and I struggle to write a coherent review! With all the different points of view, it can be hard to discuss plot, though I did touch on it. Because really, discussing one point to get to another point, well that might involve a spoiler or some other surprise that I do not want to spoil. Hence the gushing!

Needless to say this was a pretty fast paced read! Highly enjoyable! Lots of action and suspense and oh the tension! So much buildup to it and then the reveals...total love! I seriously cannot think of one thing that I didn't like about this book. I guess you can say I hated that it had to end! I wouldn't have said no to another 100 pages...or more. You know, Harry Potter length! But sigh...now I must wait the long dreadful year until the next book! At least the new spinoff series will start in between and that will either satisfy my wait...or kill me more!

Gathering Darkness was yet another thrilling addition to the outstanding Falling Kingdoms series. If you haven't started this yet and like fantasy, then I HIGHLY urge you to read this one! You will not be disappointed! (though the waiting for the next one might be the only "disappointing" part!) A fantabulous read and I need MOAR!



Overall Rating 5/5 stars