Review: Immortal Reign by Morgan Rhodes

Title: Immortal Reign

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Series: Falling Kingdoms #6

Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Romance

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: February 6th, 2018

Edition: Hardcover, 391 pages

Source: Purchased

Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | BAM

Synopsis:

   As two lethal elemental gods set out to destroy Mytica, sworn enemies must become allies in the final fight to save the kingdoms.

   Jonas continues to willfully defy his destiny, but the consequences of plotting his own course are drastic. As the fight for Mytica rages on, he must decide just how much more he's willing to sacrifice.

   Lucia knows there's something special about her daughter and she'll do anything to protect her, even if that means facing Kyan alone.

   Amara is called back home to Kraeshia. Grandma Cortas has her own plans for Mytica's future. She promises Amara power, revenge, and dominance if she agrees to be part of her scheme.

   Magnus and Cleo's love will be put to the ultimate test. Dark magic is causing widespread destruction throughout the kingdom. Enemies across the sea are advancing. And unrest is stirring throughout the land. Is their love strong enough to withstand the outside forces tearing them apart?

  I have had this book on my shelf for over a year, I finished it in just under two days, (Goodreads has it marked that I started it on the 26th of March, but I actually only started reading it on Thursday). I was holding off on finishing because I was nervous. Especially with how things ended in the previous book.

I love these characters so much. Cleo and Magnus are the best representation of enemies to lovers. Who they became and what they grew to mean to each other is the best romance in this book. They both had fantastic growth in this series. We get to see them start to fall in love and it really is the best romance.

Lucia, she started to take a back seat to some of the other aspects of the plot of the series, when she started out as the center of the plot. And that was kind of a bummer. I liked the growth she did get to have, I just would have liked if she had more of a central role to things than she did.

Jonas got a bit of the same treatment in a way as well. Much of the conflict in this series started with him and his family, and they weren't mentioned at all in this book. Granted, I don't really remember what happened to them, if they were in the previous book, or when they stopped being in the books. A lot has happened since I read Crystal Storm, and it's been even longer since I've read book 4.

I personally think too much page time was given to Amara, and I kind of don't like how there was an attempt to be made into a sympathetic character. She'd done a lot of bad things that I am not convinced she deserves forgiveness for.

While I personally didn't care about Nic and Asher's budding romance, I felt that they were kind of brushed under the rug in this book as characters in general. Which is a bummer, I liked Nic as a character and I feel like there should have been some kind of repercussion, like a mental fallout, for being possessed by the Fire Kindred. And there wasn't really, he went back to normal instantly.

This book does end in a way that feels like a sequel series could exist in the future, and I really hope one does. I want to see as many of these characters again as possible, and what the world became.