Review: Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes

REBEL SPRING
Author: Morgan Rhodes
Series: Falling Kingdoms #2
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Release Date: December 3rd 2013

Book Length: 401 pages
Publisher: Razorbill

The road to power... is paved with blood and magic.

Cleo is now a prisoner in her own palace, forced to be an ambassador for Mytica as the evil King Gaius lies to her people.
Magnus stands to eventually inherit the new kingdom but is still obsessed with his feelings for his adopted sister, Lucia.
Lucia is haunted by the outcome of the breathtaking display of magic that allowed her father to capture the kingdoms.
Jonas watched at the palace gates a troop of rebels behind him, waiting for him to tell them how he plans to overtake King Gaius.

After a bloody siege, Auranos has been defeated, its young queen orphaned and dethroned. The three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica. But the allure of ancient, dangerous magic beckons still, and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica, but the whole world over....

At the heart of the fray are four brave young people grappling for that magic and the power it promises. For Cleo, the magic would enable her to reclaim her royal seat. In Jonas's hands, it frees his nation, and in Lucia's, it fulfills the ancient prophecy of her destiny. And if the magic were Magnus's, he would finally prove his worth in the eyes of his cruel and scheming father, King Gaius, who rules Mytica with a punishing hand.

When Gaius begins to build a road into the Forbidden Mountains to physically link all of Mytica, he sparks a long-smoking fire in the hearts of the people that will forever change the face of this land. For Gaius's road is paved with blood, and its construction will have cosmic consequences.

Goodreads / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble

Review

This was epic, simple as that. Yet again I want to shake myself, why didn’t I read this series sooner? It’s utterly amazing and is quickly become a favourite, so much action, adventure, fantasy, magic and characters that I cannot stop talking about, a few poor people can attest to that!

“It didn’t really matter who someone was, princess, peasant, rebel, or just a boy or a girl.”

Princess Cleo is now a prisoner of war; she continues to be controlled by the Blood King and with no other options she must be his puppet. She's able to come up with great schemes and escape plans but she’s forever brought back to square one, outmatched and outwitted by the tyrannous King Gaius. However the end of this book has provided a little light at the end of the tunnel for Cleo so I only hope that she takes this chance and gets her much-needed and deserved revenge.

“A gown does not make a bride, just as a few empty threats do not make a rebel.”

Rebel leader Jonas got a load more page space, which I’m sure, produced many a girl including myself to squeal with excitement. After the events of Falling Kingdom’s Jonas is left with little to nothing, his people are being enslaved left, right and center and the Blood King now reigns over the whole of Mytica. He knows he must stop this but with few rebels, his brother’s murderer still going unpunished and little hope left, how much damage can a few boys do? With the weight of the world on his shoulder’s Jonas grows up, makes mistakes but these ultimately make him stronger, I cannot wait to see what becomes of him in Gathering Darkness.

“There was no hope in death, only an end.” 

Magnus is still tormented over his sister Lucia’s rejection but what started as a Prince being betrayed, heartbroken and manipulated by his father gave way to so much more. With his eyes finally open as to how malicious his father actually is, Magnus forges his own plans and he may just be the dark hero who will take this series by storm. Magnus is such a complex character; I was fully prepared to write him off as a classic villain in Falling Kingdom's but my opinion of him changed throughout the book and before long his chapter’s became my favorite. How did this happen? What is happening!

“Darkness will always try to extinguish the light. The light will always try to repress the darkness.”

Lucia makes little appearance in this book, which was completely fine by me. She has no control over her magic and I didn’t want to read about her eternal struggle mastering her new gifts. However we didn’t get this at all, instead her character is becoming much more intertwined with another’s fate. Lucia’s chapters were short and sweet and they slowly made me want more of them, Gathering Darkness looks like it's going to feature a lot more Lucia and I’m ready for them.

This book slowly introduced new characters and a whole other world but it was done perfectly, you are given time to adapt to this new dynamic and to decide if the character in question is good or evil… some remained a question mark for me but I loved the mystery. Now for a High Fantasy series that has little romance in it, it sure does take advantage of those small, seemly insignificant scenes. My god, I spend the better part of a day on the edge of my seat counting down the endless chapters until I could find out what exactly what going on between characters and what is brewing between others. Some of my ships seem to be sinking but I don’t seem to care because the potential one of the horizon is so tempting? Prepare for a lot of change in this book, nothing is at it seems!

“She gripped the front of his shirt. It was all too much--she wasn't sure if she was pushing him away or pulling him closer. Much like diving into deep water, she had no idea which way would find her air to breathe or which way would drag her down deeper into the depths where she would surely drown.

And for a moment, just a moment, she found it didn't seem to matter.”

I have a really big feeling that Rebel Spring is yet again another stepping stone to a much bigger plot and world in the Falling Kingdom’s series and I can’t wait to find out what Rhodes has in store. I loved this book so much more than Falling Kingdom’s and as I’ve said before, this series is only just getting started so I’m now staring at my copy of Gathering Darkness because I just had to buy it the minute I finished this. So much revenge to come, ships to sail, blood to spill and magic to be unleashed, what am I waiting for?