Review--Frozen Tides by Morgan Rhodes

Rebels, royals, and monsters wage war over the Mytican throne in the shocking fourth book of the Falling Kingdoms series, from New York Times bestselling author Morgan Rhodes.

CLEO: Reeling after a bloody showdown in Limeros ending with Amara’s abduction of the water crystal, and a vacancy in the Mytican throne, Princess Cleo must cast aside her feelings and look toward her kingdom with the eyes of a Queen.

MAGNUS: With the kingdom in chaos, Princess Lucia still missing and quite possibly in danger, and a shocking realization about Cleo, the steely prince is once again torn between love and duty, leaving him wondering whether he’s strong enough to rule his people.

LUCIA: The young sorcercess has had her vengeance after the cruel death of her first and only love. Heartbroken and unable to trust anyone, she allies with the awoken Fire god, who also seeks revenge.

JONAS: After escaping death by the skin of his teeth, the defeated rebel—along with a mysterious stranger–leader reunites with Princess Cleo, only to find himself a mere pawn in a dangerous hunt for the elusive Kindred.

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 don’t know if there’s ever been a series that’s held me in so much awe before! Morgan Rhodes is a mastermind and (evil) genius when it comes to this series! Each and every book has been epic and incredible and held me in its thrall until the very (cliffhanger filled) end! Frozen Tides is no different in that sense! It was epically amazing and awesome and ooooooomg the feels!! The feels just keep getting stronger with this series and I am left an emotional mess!

In this adventure we see Lucia teaming up with the fire god to help rescue his siblings and exact vengeance on the one who did it. Meanwhile Cleo and Jonas are still trying to plan their revenge on the King of Blood and get Cleo her kingdom back. Then we still have Amara who’s plotting and scheming, truly things are devious and bloody all around!

Every book in this series has just been so incredible that I am literally left speechless when it comes to review time! Initially I had thought that all the different chapters with different points of view would make it harder to connect to the characters or enjoy the story, but oh that is such a silly thing to think on now! Each character truly does have a lot going on for them, so the constant shifting around lets us see what each individual is doing and what all is going on with them. Sometimes the chapter might end with a mind numbing cliffhanger, other times it’s sort of a nice pause! And just when I think I don’t want to leave a certain character’s head, I’m thrust onto the new one and am totally immersed with what’s happening there!

It sounds a little chaotic, but trust me, it’s a good kind of chaos! And just when you think Morgan has totally gutted you with all that’s happened to our characters up until this book…whooo boy, are you in for a doozie with this one! Things I can’t say HAPPEN! Lots of things! Some good. Some not so good. And more than a few were of the jaw dropping variety.

And yes there is still romance to be had in this one! It’s the best kind of romance too, because you’d think that there wouldn’t be time for such things with all the things going on, but Morgan somehow manages to slip some in between all these events. Romance for more than one set of characters too. And after the wonders that was Gathering Darkness when we start to see Magnus chisel off some of that cold exterior, I was super excited to see something between him and Cleo happening! And while I would love to make further comment on that, I won’t! Then there’s Jonas too! I admit, in the second book or possibly the first one too, I was totally cool with Jonas and Cleo hooking up, but they were always separated. And then Lys comes into the picture and it became exceedingly hard who I would want to see Jonas with. And it seems he was struggling too, because when he would have a moment with Girl A, I’d think, what happened to your feelings for Girl B? It’s definitely one of those things that can drive you crazy in some sense, as for me, I wasn’t sure who I wanted to see Jonas with. In this scenario I feel like I’d be happy either way…almost. Maybe. I’m not sure! LOL!

As I said, this series never ceases to amaze me! There are always such startling revelations that come about! So many little teeny tiny cliffhangers that you hope to see answered in the next chapter or two. And then when you turn the page to see the Acknowledgements you’re left with that earth-shattering revelation that it’s The End. Though for me, I do have the next book waiting, but the very real and near fear that I will be experiencing the exact same thing in a couple of days, only that it will be really real! That there will be no book until NEXT YEAR terrifies me! I’ve already heard word that the new one ends with yet another killer cliffhanger and yes, I am quite terrified!

It’s hard to gush too much about Frozen Tides because I don’t want to spoil things for anyone who hasn’t read it. But I will say that it was incredibly epic and I sooooo cannot wait for the next book and the next one! I don’t want to see this series come to an end just yet! It’s so incredibly awesome that every time I have to leave it behind after finishing a book, I am brought to much despair. And with all the little cliffhanger endings that this one left me with, I cannot start the next book soon enough! If you haven’t read Morgan’s books yet, I strongly urge you to correct that! You won’t be sorry! Please join me in my agonizing need next week when I will be dying for book 6!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars