Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms #2

"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."

Wow. Just wow, I have been impatiently waiting for this book since finishing the first book. And was it worth the wait. Why yes it was. Such a good book on so many levels.

This book series literally has everything. Action, murder, betrayal, speckles of romance, magic, mysteries, espionage. All the characters we are introduced to grow by leaps and bounds, with the exception of King Gaius, and Lord Aron the two twats of the series. Cleo becomes a prisoner of war forced into a marriage with Magnus, who still harbors feeling for his adoptive sister Lucia. Speaking of whom, there is very little of her in this book. But she does spend the majority of her time in a coma. Jonas I think is one of my favorite characters. Hell, who am I kidding, I love all the characters. They are all so very diverse and interesting. And with as many characters as there are in this story, it would be easy for there to be parallels with some of them, and there are none.

The story picks up about a month after the events at the end of first book Falling Kingdoms.  Cleo is a very strong character. She has to live under the roof of the people who took just about everyone away from her. Gaius took her father and her throne, and Magnus took her love Theon. Jonas is now the leader of a group of rebels who wish to overthrow King Gaius, and they recruit a new member who becomes a focus character of this book. Lysandra. A spitfire kind of girl who is good with a bow. Archery is becoming very popular lately. The Changes in Magnus are far more gradual over the course of the book. The marriage between him and Cleo happens fairly early on in the book and the King set it up partially as a distraction for Magnus to get over his feelings for his sister, but more importantly a distraction for the people living in Mytica. If they knew his plans there would be a much larger revolt. But back to Magnus, it seems though he knows he shouldn't and has no right to considering how much he has taken from her, that he is falling in love with Cleo. It's not really addressed much I guess I'll just have to wait and see where that hinting leads to in the next books, it would surely be an interesting plot device. Though it seems that Cleo has many more love interests in this book than any other female character in any book I have read. Other than, what seems to me, vague descriptions of her she must be a beauty. She is only described to have very long pale blonde hair and aqua colored eyes and a petite frame. But she still has the lustful eyes of Aron on her, and after being kidnapped and sharing a steamy moment Jonas, her best friend Nic seems to have some kind of feelings for her, and perhaps now even Magnus.

There is little I more I can say about this book that won't be a spoiler. And there is so much that happens in this book. It is definitely one of the best series out there. I am already itching for the next book, I wish I didn't have to wait as long as I'm sure I will. There's not even a title for it yet, let alone a cover or a predicted release date. There really is nothing that I can say that is "bad" about this book, perhaps it is biased because this is the exact kind of book that I love the most. Characters that are far more than one-dimensional, complex characters that make you question their true motives. This is very much a Pg-13 Game of Thrones. Everyone, in their own way, has deceitful questionable motives. And with the news that Magnus learns at near the end and my suspected feelings he is growing towards Cleo, I wonder what he plans on doing. And certainly once he finds out the plans that are in store for Lucia he will do whatever it takes to protect her even if that means siding with someone whom he never thought he would. I am truly excited for the rest of this series. I honestly don't know how she is planning on finishing this magnificent story up in just four books. But I shall see.