La tormenta de cristal

Falling Kingdoms #5

by Morgan Rhodes

En Mytica, las alianzas y las traiciones pueden entrelazarse hasta formar un nudo letal. Destino Profetizado o no, el destino de los habitantes de Mytica no parece tan inmutable como algunos creen, y hay quien aspira a moldearlo con sus propias manos. Vida Entre príncipes, reyes, traidores y rebeldes hay vidas que terminan, otras que se resisten a hacerlo, otras que se reanudan y otras a punto de comenzar. Lealtad A pesar de las traiciones, los protagonistas del devenir de Mytica han empezado a forjar lazos de lealtad más allá de los intereses comunes o la familia.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Magic, Young Adult Fantasy, High Fantasy, Fiction

480 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2016

About the author

Morgan Rhodes lives in Ontario, Canada. As a child, she always wanted to be a princess -- the kind that knows how to wield a sharp sword to help save both kingdoms and princes from fire-breathing dragons and dark wizards. Instead, she became a writer, which is just as good and much less dangerous. Along with writing, Morgan enjoys photography, travel, reality TV, and is an extremely picky, yet voracious reader of all kinds of books. Under another pen name, she’s a national bestselling author of many paranormal novels. Falling Kingdoms is her first high fantasy.

Reviews

[Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

damn.

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I definitely need some liquid help to deal with this ending.

“When the storm comes, all will be revealed.”

Crystal Storm is indeed a storm. A storm of confusion, anger, vengeance, magic, love and greed. Power is a devious thing. It can corrupt the purest soul, cloud the sharpest mind, make everything seem pale compared to the knowledge, the intoxicating feeling that you can bend anything and anyone to your will. And that's what the Kindred, what the elemental deities offer. But this power always comes with a price. The land of Mytica is in the brink of destruction. The new empress is ruthless, and the forces that can stop her don't trust each other in order to work together. Loyalties are tested. Convictions are shaken. And a sorceress, a rebel, a golden princess and a dark prince are caught in the eye of this storm.

“Power is all that matters, Magnus. Legacy is all that matters.”

It is no secret that the Falling Kingdoms series holds a special place in my heart. I am always able to lose myself in Morgan Rhodes's epic tale, a tale infused with legends, gods and mortals, intrigue and power games. Her ingredients? Deception, manipulation and secrets and you question even your most beloved characters. Deaths and resurrections and your jaw drops to the floor. Magic, raw magic and your fingers tingle with the anticipation, the need to unleash it and wreck havoc. Greed and love in an eternal and lethal dance. And morally grey characters.

“I think we all deserve to die for something we've done. Or for something we've failed to do.”

Where I come from, when something impossible happens we say that "a bakery must have been demolished" (don't ask me why, we're weird people). Well, in Crystal Storm's case I think that every single bakery in Mytica mush have been demolished, because I never expected the day would come when Jonas Agallon would be the most sensible and levelheaded character. But it's true. He was reasonable, and tried hard to not let the bitterness he harbored and his pain guide him and lead him to dark paths. Can't say the same for Lucia though, who was still a psycho bitch, but she did try to make amends for the mayhem she created and the innocent blood in her hands, so maybe she can return to the decent human being she was once upon a time.

“True leaders often must be ruthless enough to steal and murder. If they don't, someone else will.”

And that's Magnus, my precious cinnamon roll. His philosophy is still the same,



he's dark and moody and prone to violence, but his complexity, the battle between light and darkness he keeps fighting, are some of the many reasons I love him so much. And so does Cleo. They have some wonderful scenes together, but unfortunately it was Cleo that prevented me from giving Crystal Storm the fifth star.
She's been my favorite heroine since book 1. Yet, I found her really spiteful and greedy, sometimes acting like the spoiled child she once was, and all these horrible things she said to Magnus, and her constant desire to hide her feelings for him because she was ashamed really disappointed me. Of course Magnus is not an easy-going, charming fellow, but he needs someone to believe in him, and Cleo's faith sometimes wavered. I still ship them though. Hard.

“Love is pain. Love is death. And love strips one of their power.”

And since I love all these flawed characters, you can imagine how I'm going to spend the months until the final book's release.



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[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread



Okay, let me just say this two times! Or let the gifs say it for me !!





I couldn't figure out whether to go with a 4 or a 5 star review so I kept it at 4.

Things that happened in this book! **NO SPOILERS**

Sooooooo, that ending. Yeah, where's the next freaking book now! OMG!

And I want to know what is going to happen to Lucia because she's got some stuff going on peeps, some stuff goin' on! I need to know what's going to come out of her!

Then we have some evil kindred dude causing all kinds of chaos, not to mention stupid Amara, how 'bout we just don't mention Amara.

Anyhoo, this evil kindred dude wants to set loose his other kindred peeps and put them in our friends bodies and who knows what the hell else from there! I mean he's this evil god dude thing and they need to defeat him and try to figure out how to fix something that he started! I'm worried about some of my other favorite characters even more now! <---- I can't say why.

And for the love of all that is holy can we get rid of King Gaius once and for all. (and Amara) He just doesn't seem to die and there are reasons people. Reasons for everything in this book. Although, I will give him a cookie for one good deed he did, he broke a neck, an evil neck. So there you go.

There are people and things that I have been leaving out of the reviews so you can meet those people and things for yourself. There are some crazy times in this series.

We have some people coming back from the dead. Some people being killed, are they going to come back from the dead, people being possessed, can we un-possess them later. I don't know anything, or how to spell so deal with it.

I really am rooting for a few people in this series and I hope they make it and things go well.

Oh and Jonas is still bumbling around being Jonas. I don't know what it is but he gets on my nerves. He's not bad he's just . . . I don't know. And now he's got some stuff going on and I'm like, NO! DO NOT DO ANYTHING COOL LIKE THAT TO HIM. Just leave him be to bumble around and do what he does. Lol. He really is a good guy, I just pick on him because he's not all that bright with the things he says and does.

So now, I have to wait another year or whatever for the next book!!!!!!!! Why!!!!!!! Sigh . . .

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

[Riley]

I AM READY NOW FOR IMMORTAL REIGN !!!

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.) Falling Kingdoms ★★★
2.) Rebel Spring ★★★
3.) Gathering Darkness ★★★★★
4.) Frozen Tides ★★★★★

Out of all the feelings I expected to have while reading Crystal Storm I never thought disappointment would be one of them, or the most prominent. Crystal Storm was, hands down, no question, my most anticipated book of 2016. It was even on my rough draft list of "best books published in 2016" because I was so confident it would be perfection incarnate. Oh, how wrong I was.

Instead of perfection, we got plot holes, unnecessary angst between Cleo and Magnus, a cliffhanger ending that felt like Empire of Storms part two, and twists that I feel bad even calling twists because they came out of nowhere and were so unexpectedly bad. I'm so let down that I'm actually at a loss for words.

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[Jessica Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

2023: Sh#%^* I immediately start the sixth (and last 😭) book.

Nononono! Magnus, no! My heart aches ! 😭

[Mikee (ReadWithMikee) · Rating 5 out of 5]

***No spoilers. Just major, incoherent fangirling. I apologize in advance.***

OKAY. WTF WAS THAT ENDING??? I swear to god, Morgan Rhodes will be the death of us all.

First off, I just wanted to say that going into Crystal Storm, I didn't think it would even come close to being my favorite book in this series. I actually found the first 150 pages to be painfully slow and pointless to the point where I was ready to dock off a star for the pacing alone. BUT once we did surpass 150 pages, SHIT WENT DOWN. I couldn't put the book down at all. I thought Crystal Storm would suffer from the "middle book syndrome" or "the book before the finale syndrome" but boy have I never been so wrong in my life! Morgan Rhodes does not know how disappoint. Although she does know how to make you hate her and love her at the same time. So there's that.

If you know me and my obsession with the Falling Kingdoms, you would know that I live for Magneo. So let me just say that no matter how many cute and steamy moments we get between Magnus and Cleo, IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH. I seriously just need a book with just Magneo from beginning to end. I don't care about anything else or anybody else. Like, what's a Lucia? I can seriously forget about everyone else in the book and just immerse myself in everything Magneo. It hurts. It really hurts to be a Magneo shipper. My love for them knows no bounds.

Okay, let me be serious for one second because I can't be fangirling like this throughout my whole review. XD No more mentions of Magneo after this. Promise.

I thought this book wouldn't even come close to topping Frozen Tides but now that I finished this book and had some time to think about it, Crystal Storm just might be my new favorite book in the series. I surprise even myself. Just seeing how short this book was compared to the other books in the series, I was so sure that I would be in for the biggest disappointment ever, but nope. Not even close. That one year of waiting was worth the wait and now we're back to the waiting game once again. :'(

Also, this book was annoying. I loved it. But definitely the most annoying book I've ever read lol. The characters are all infuriating. Except for Magnus because he is the epitome of perfection. No one is worthy of him. Well, except for Cleo but let me hold myself back before I start fangirling about Magneo again.

Anyways, infuriating. All these peasants. Lucia, as always. Amara might actually be even more annoying than Lucia. Jonas was actually useful in this book. Nic was and always has been irrelevant to me. Ashur was ???. Felix was a precious cinnamon roll that I didn't expect to steal the show with his witty, hilarious lines. Cleo was great as always except for the last 50 pages (like girl, what were you even thinking?). Magnus was perfection. OMG. That reminds me.

MAGNUS. MY POOR BABY. I'm sorry you have to endure your... predicament for a whole year but we're with you every step of the way suffering as much as you until next December.

I don't know how Morgan Rhodes does it but the Falling Kingdoms series never fails to improve with each book. Not a lot of authors can pull off a six-book series but holy crap does Morgan have us wrapped around her finger. Just when you think she can't surprise you anymore, she pulls all this shit and leaves you with all these feelings for a year. We're all going to be in for such a treat for the finale. I bet Morgan Rhodes is just chilling and plotting our demise and ways she can rip our hearts out in the final book because that ending though...

DYING. I'm dying, I tell you! I can't even write a proper review right now with all these feelings. Bye.

[Chelsea ✨Arielle’s Nebular Ally and Team Acrux✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

RELEASED TODAY EVERYONE GO BUY MY MAGNUS BABY!!!!!! And for those friends who are getting ready to embark on this wonderful journey (*cough* Brittney, Pea *Cough*)-SPAM ME. 'kay bye.

I feel like its so far and few between that I get a chance to write a (well thought out) review for a book I love. For example, I’ve been sick off and on for five months, and my reading has been basically non-existent…but in the last couple months, I’ve managed to read some of my favorite books this year-and maybe 3 of them have gotten even close to the reviews I’m capable of and that they deserve. So, when I received the email telling me I got one of my most (ummm come on, basically THE book that I pined for most) anticipated reads of this year…I just knew I would give it the best review I could muster.

So, this is me taking the opportunity to talk about one of my top book boyfriends this year-Magnus. And doesn’t he deserve the whole review to himself, honestly?? I mean seriously…he’s Magnus, the prince of blood. Do I really need to say anything more?





Well, I think I do, for those who want to know about more than my darling boy. And let’s be honest-Everyone who reads this series is obsessed with him, and some might only be reading it because of him, so what more can I possibly push?

Basically, even after all the trials and tribulations surrounding all the books before…this one broke my heart the most. It was absolutely the most brutal. I’ll admit that it isn’t near as brutal in the way of battle and death and destruction, but more brutal in matters of the heart. My soul was ripped to shreds in more ways than one, and more times than one. I might be a bit of a drama queen, but my heart has always ripped in two when a couple like Cleo and Magnus, so in love, have to keep themselves a secret with literally everyone around them.



This was definitely a tremulous chapter for the new couple, bringing heartaches and new issues bubbling to the surface. But not once did my confidence in them waver. Not once did I think one or the other would cheat (even with easy access) or give up on their new love. And not once did I think they wouldn’t believe in the best of each other, in the end, keeping their relationship stronger than ever. But I did foresee some bumps in the road...and that prediction aimed true.

“And you listen to me, Princess.” Gaius’s voice followed her like a rancid odor. “This love you think you feel for my son? The day will come when you will have to choose between Magnus and power. And I know, without a doubt, that you will choose power.”

So many book series these days drag out unnecessarily for so many books you can’t help but roll your eyes at them-but there are some that shine brighter with each book, building into something so tangible that you can’t breathe when it’s left unfinished. You aren’t thinking, ‘Oh, come on, another book?!’, you’re rejoicing that there’s another and you have the opportunity to follow the paths
these relationships and evil plots continue to pave. This is one of those series.

Even as I worried there were going to be too many books when I started this series, I remain surprised each and every time I open a Falling Kingdoms book. They grow dramatically richer and more complex with each additional storyline, and you can’t help but to love each character, good or bad, more with each new installment.

For example, had I only stayed on book one, I only would have lightly pined for Magnus. Sure, he was the reason I even considered continuing onward with the story, but I put this series down for a couple months after finishing, if only because there was so much more to read in my TBR pile and nothing had truly hooked me, aside from the not-so-sweet man candy. But, the minute I was urged to continue on, I was immediately hooked.

The deep love, the betrayals upon betrayals, the needless slaughters…they spoke to my evil self in a way I’ve not been accustomed to, in a while. This series (and especially these last three stories) touched on so many nerves that I couldn’t help but to be hooked. Now, months later, I’m a ravenous fangirl who can never have enough Magnus and Cleo.

I think it’s safe to say who my two favorite characters are, hmm? But even as the series has progressed, I find I have many favorites, especially in this one-Even the evil Amara. There’s just something about an extra feisty bitch added to the character pool that enriches the story and adds just the right amount of turmoil.



And, truthfully, this book wasn’t as action packed as the rest, the more I think about it. In all truth, I think that’s why I loved this book so much and it became my absolute favorite of the 5. We really got time to sit and see where everyone stood, who was loyal and who wasn’t, what relationships were real and which were smoke and mirrors. I even found the guard relationships to be enriching to the story. By our main cohorts all staying in the same place for an extended amount of time, we really had the opportunity to see the chaos as it slowly descended upon them.

When a story is just go-go-go, you lose a little something, I think. But as Mags and Cleo sat in one particular area for a prolonged amount of time, surrounded by both friend and foe, we got to see some relationship turmoil that ripped me apart, but filled me with ceaseless obsession for the two. I don’t know why this book spoke to me the most (maybe because I’m messed up in the head and love jealousy so much its sick), but it did, and I already am dying to re-read it and the whole series. I might just do it!! WATCH AND SEE!

With a cliffhanger that took my breath away (and made me gleeful, yes I’m THAT crazy and THAT sick) I am already eagerly anticipating how it will all turn out in the final book. Hearts will be broken. Not everyone will survive. Loyalties and friendships will be tried and tested…and I can’t help but long for the final book to be in my hands at this exact moment. It hurts…but I guess I’ll just have to remember all the hot Magneo moments to get me through the next year. And, hey, I can always re –read this series multiple times as I wait. ;)

*Many thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy!*

For more of my reviews, please visit:





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Hands down my favorite of the series.....I am so honored to have received this ARC!! Magpie-I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!! My heart is literally so broken...and I have so long to wait!!!


For more of my reviews, please visit:

[Lainey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Video discussion of course will be coming soon!


____
I can't wait.
So much so I filmed a video of me talking about the cover and my theories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s-Fr...

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This still felt like a Falling Kingdoms book so fans may not be as let down as I was. But this book felt very rushed and off balance. With the amount of characters, we didn't have enough time even with the core 4 to really see development from them. We had some character back tracking that felt unnecessary. Twists had no foreshadowing so they felt misplaced. And there were some tropes pulled out that I felt were ridiculous. It doesn't feel as consistent as the previous installments, which have consistently gotten better and built upon one another. This feels separate in some way.

I still enjoyed it! I love this world and these characters, and I'm always happy to see them. There were some developments and back stories that I loved seeing more of. But with how rushed this felt, it does make me nervous for the last book.

Video review/discussion to come!

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhodes you're an asshole 😩😩😩😩😩 but I still love you.

QUICK THOUGHTS:
-NiC YOU FUCKING DUMBASS STOP OPENING YOUR MOUTH.
-MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO MAGNUS AND CLEO
-FUCK EVERYONE ELSE
-also holy shit jonas isn't that dumb and annoying but I still don't like him


BUDDY READ WITH SREEJ

[zoha (A book maestro) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buddy-read with Sara, here is her review, which, you'd want to read after my mindless ramble!

Umm... where shall I start??? Alright, who I am kidding! I am sure as hell gonna start with my babies MAGNEO!! This book lived up to all my expectations and then some! Its a no brainer that I absolutely loved this book!

And, oh! Spoilers ahead: Proceed with caution! :P

=>My favorite Prince and my beloved Princess are back, feisty and sarcastic as they ever are, to face the horror that is Kraeshian Empire & Co.!! But they faced them well at least for the first half of the book. :D Then shit hit the fan! And I was like this:


=>My biggest concern after I read the Frozen Tides was that now my OTP is canon they are gonna turn into love-sick puppies. Don't blame me I read a lot of SJM this year! But thanks to Morgan Rhodes, she managed to chisel just the right amount of romance balanced with adventure and plot twists. Although there new-found love almost doomed when Gaius told them about a certain curse, they have had their cutesy moments!

=>In case you forgot, this book covers a bunch of other characters as well; lets talk about Gaius first since the prologue was from his POV. Surprisingly, we saw a slightly different Gaius in this book.I always enjoyed Gaius's character. He is a great villain and I always say that villains decide how strong the plot is going to be. He has always planned something new for our MC but after the rather fatal fall that he survived, his behavior towards Magnus changed somewhat. I actually can't believe I cared for his well-being in the story but it was ultimately for the well-being of my favorite characters because he actually seemed to care about Magnus! Yeah, I know it is kinda difficult to grasp but it is true!

=>There is an addition of Selia Damora amongst the Damoras. Gaius's mother, an Oddling and even more cruel than her son if that is even possible but she is. A lot of things happened because of her but I don't want to talk about her a lot.

=>Moving on to Jonas..., there is prophesy about him now??? Seriously? It seems only Magnus is the MC without any prophesies popping out of his head! That is sooooo unfair, Rhodes!! You are discriminatory towards my favorite Damora!! -_- Talking about Jonas and the prophesy about him, idk why but I found it bogus. So very bogus! Oh, and I forgot to mention Timothious visited Jonas dreams. I gotta say out of every immortal's visit in a mortal dream, Tim's visit in Jonas were the most entertaining; Jonas attitude toward Tim was hillarious.

=>Lucia annoyed the hell outta me in previous books and I can't say otherwise about her in this one. Although Lucia is on her path of redemption, she is still annoying. I also wanted her reunion with her family which didn't happen in this book. There are more prophesies about her that do not interest me one bit to be honest!

=>Amara is bitchy more than ever! In previous books, we atleast got to see her vulnerable side, she had none in this one. I was expecting a rekindle of her romance with Felix but that also did not happen. Much to my disappointment, we saw a very little of Felix.

=>THE ENDING!!!!Lets not talk about the ending. It wrecked me. I don't want to remember I ever read that. NO. Absolutely not! I haven't read that guys! Not at all. Not yet! I don't know what happened in the last chapter. Don't try to remind me! -_-




Now, excuse me while I gush over my OTP!

Cleo: “How do you stand this temperature for so long?” she asked him.
Magnus: “It must be my frozen heart.”
Cleo: “Here I thought that had melted just a little around the edges.”
Magnus: “Oh, no. All Limerians have frozen hearts. We melt into puddles in places like Auranos. ”


__________________________________________________________

I love this book and it is not even published yet! That, my friend, is some true love!

[♛ may · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s January 1st, my first read of 2017 and it’s ended in heartbreak, the future is not looking bright.

Its common courtesy to not give your READERS A HEARTATTACK while they’re reading. Thanks.

Crystal Storm is the fifth book in the Falling Kingdom’s series and holds the award, by far, for the most beautiful cover.

I don’t think anyone is gonna argue with me on that. I mean just, look . . .



Crystal Storm, in my humble opinion, is the best book from the series. Where the other books lacked for plots and dramatic endings, Crystal Storm made up for it with lots of action, magic, and a heart shattering ending that just leaves you feeling like (ಥ﹏ಥ)

Still using the multiple point-of-views, I found this book to have the most seamless switch from them all. There wasn’t an abruptness with the change in point-of-views like the other books in the series, it was actually quite easy to devour (though it might be bc I’m 110% invested in this series now.)



I refuse to reveal much about the plot, bc spoilers but I will say that the character development and the friendships and allies and enemies that were made in this book made my head swirl. So much took place in 379 pages (I’m disappointed in the page count too, tbh, need more pages).

I must remark on #Mangeo because they are everything and we didn’t get nearly enough scenes of them. I didn’t read through 5 books only to have A COUPLE OF MANGEO SCENES. Get yourself together, Morgan Rhodes.

I. SIMPLY. NEED. MORE. MANGEO. AND. NOW.



Also, protect Mangus. That child needs to be protected at all costs, omg, my heart is still hurting from that ending.


"Love is pain. Love is death. And love strips one of their power."



5 stars for cruel, cliffhanger ending!!! :) :) :) :)


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~



My buddy read partner, Cait the Chill-less Cloud has ditched me by reading the whole book while I was asleep.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2 to 2.5 stars

I wholeheartedly believe Falling Kingdoms have been consistent for the past four books. It gradually gets better. The stakes and the plot are raising within each installment. However, what the predecessors have developed, Crystal Storms debauched it.

This book is just a mess. Not even the Magneo can salvage it. My only hope is the final book would rectify that.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buddy read with May (who regrets giving me permission to start this book)

????? What....did.....i......just......read......

I actually read this in 7 hours because I just sat down and read until it was over. I regret nothing at all because it was so fucking amazing.

This is, by far, my favourite in the Falling Kingdoms series. I have 0 clue how an author can fill that much action and that much drama into a 379 page book. It honestly has me at a loss of words. I was so sad going into this knowing that it's the shortest of the series so far but god dammit it did not disappoint me one bit. I actually started reading this series about 2 weeks ago and now I'm officially caught up and I have to wait with everyone else for the LAST BOOK. How on Earth is the next one going to be the last book?! I'm SO not ready to leave these amazing characters and fantastic world behind.

This review will be filled with low key spoilers but I promise to mark the big ones!

“There’s been so much that’s been sacrificed on this road we’ve travelled together. So much loss for both of us. But I hold tight to the thought that it will all be worth it in the end.”

Let's just talk about the characters for a minute because OMFG THERE WAS SUCH AMAZING CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR A FEW CHARACTERS AND HONESTLY I'M JUST SO IN LOVE WITH THESE CHARACTERS - EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.

Magnus is my precious darling baby and I will defend him like my life depends on it.

"There would be no mercy here. But Magnus Damora would not beg for his own life."

In this one, he goes through a lot. He's only just really gotten together with Cleo when it's basically put on hold due to the curse that turns out to not even be a curse - basically Cleo was supposed to die if she got pregnant so Magnus is like k I can't give her any affection anymore because I can't lose her. His father also almost died but now he's alive due to dark magic and he grandmother is back and she's bat shit crazy. Also when the rest of the gang join Magnus and Cleo, he has to hide his love for her because everyone else basically hates Magnus. The ending left Magnus in the worst state because he's LEGIT BEING BURIED ALIVE BY KURTIS THE BIG FAT PAIN IN THE ASS WHO I SAID NEEDED TO DIE LAST BOOK. Honestly that ending for Magnus was hell on Earth and I am hella stressed

“I know I can be horrible sometimes. I know it. But . . . I love you. That hasn’t changed.”
Her shoulders tensed. “Love isn’t enough to fix this.”

^^ ok this scene was so not okay man. Magneo is my life and the fact that Cleo said LOVE ISN'T ENOUGH TO FIX THIS to Magnus after they fought makes me crazy. I just need a happily ever after for them. I don't even care anymore.

Cleo has always been a favourite character of mine and honestly she never disappoints me. She's so freaking strong and I swear the bombshells never stop when it comes to her. First she's dropped with the news of a curse and then she ends up getting water magic because the water kindred chose her.

"I love him. I love Magnus with all my heart. And I swear, if he's ... dead ... if I've lost both Nic and Magnus today ..." Her voice broke as she raised her gaze, seeing that the others now watched her with fear in their eyes. The bottomless sensation of cool, powerful, water magic flowed just beneath the surface of her skin, as if waiting to be unleashed. "I don't think the world will survive my grief."

My love for Lucia has once again been restored. She went a bit crazy in Frozen Tides and ended up in a crazy situation but she's chilled out a bit now. The fact that she's pregnant and the youngest of our cast still makes me stressed. Also she ended up having her entire pregnancy throughout this 1 book because it was fast tracked by her being at the sanctuary. Honestly, I would have loved it if she got the chance to meet up with Magnus and the King while she was pregnant just to be like SURPRISE!!!! But I guess we will get that when she rocks up with a baby. My heart broke when Lucia named her baby Lyssa after Lysandra. It was so sweet. And the fact that the prophecy said that Lucia will die and Jonas will raise the baby made me ridiculously stressed. As much as I was pissed at Lucia, I really do love her as character and I'd definitely miss her if she died. Also, the fact that Jonas had a prophecy saying he would look after Lucia's SON made me consider a lot. Lucia ended up having a daughter. Does that mean she's going to have ANOTHER baby and Jonas will look after that one? and "as if it were his own" then maybe it IS his own? Maybe Lucia and Jonas will have a baby but then she'll die in child birth?? Honestly I'm just trying to come up with any theory at the moment.

"Tell my brother, my father ... tell them that I'm sorry I hurt them. Tell them that I love them, and that I know they loved me. And tell ... tell my son when he's old enough to understand that there was good in me. Way deep down, anyway."

Jonas grew so much in this book. Honestly I wasn't his biggest fan in the past 4 books even though I still liked him as a character. After the events of Frozen Tides he's actually grown so much and become ridiculously wise. He also has some idle magic now that he has both Olivia's and Phaedra's healing magic soaked into him. I'm still high key in shock about this. I have a note written down saying: "JONAS HAS MAGIC OMFG WHAT" and that pretty much sums up my feels. Also there's this new prophecy for him and I'm pretty sure Lucia and Jonas might end up being together and raising little Lyssa and I'm totally happy with it. I'm completely ready to start shipping this.

"I belive in magic. In evil sorceresses who deep down are really beautiful princesses. I believe in immortals who live in a different world than this one, accessible by magical stone wheels. But you know what I don't believe in?"
"What?"
"I refuse to believe we have absolutely no control over our own futures, because right now? I'm damn well going to control my own."

Felix is also someone I grew to love in this book. I think Jonas sums him up best by saying:
"That’s right. Former fearsome assassin for King Gaius. Currently fighting the good fight as he embarks on a long and arduous path to redemption. And also currently heaving his breakfast into the sea as an offering to any fish who may give assistance.”

As much as I hate Amara who is basically just a savage bitch, I get where she's coming from and I'm low key like YES BITCH GIRL POWER whenever she wants to take down a whole bunch of men. However, she's also really crazy and life would be so much easier if she just died.

King Gaius (who I still find funny that he's named after a whole bunch of mad kings from history) actually had a teeny tiny bit of redemption. We learn that he was in love with Elena, Cleo's mother, and he took a potion to stop feeling things after his mother killed Elena. However, he's still annoying and we still need him dead because he's still after Cleo's head.

"Love is pain. Love is death. And love strips one of their power."

Nic is someone who I expected to die in book 1 and yet here he still is. His ending makes me stressed because he's got Kyan inside of him. How do we get him out of there??????? Ashur and Nic end up professing their love for each other (finally) and I actually really liked how it was so casual like oh yeah Nic likes boys too. This is how it should be done - it should be casual rather than some big reveal.

Look, I'm never going to be able to fully explain what the hell the shit storm that was Crystal Storm. As I say in all my reviews for this series, if you haven't read this series already then you really really need to, okay?

Basically here's a sum up in gifs:

[Jiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

:) :) :) Hello Cliffhanger, my name is Jiana and you just put me in hell. Since I have to wait nine long months for the final book, I'll just pretend you never happened. Bye. :) :) :)



I'm writing this review and I have a killer headache. Why? Because I stayed up till 4 AM to binge this book, finish it, and cry over it.

Bad decision clearly.

I have come to realize this series makes me make bad decisions. Especially since I read every single book in less than a day. It's not my fault the series is great and addictive, okay. I was supposed to be adult-ing but I decided to dedicate my day for Crystal Storm. Bad decision again. See? Bad decisions all around. Do I care though?



Guys, listen. If you still haven't read this series, what are you waiting for? GO PICK UP FALLING KINGDOMS AND BLESS YOUR LIFE. But, warning: there will be lots of pain. Way, way, way more than joy, to be honest. The series is 98% pain, 2% joy. Morgan Rhodes likes to kill her readers just like she enjoys killing her characters. However, the only confirmed death is my death.

Honestly, I just adore this series and I CAN'T BELIEVE THE DAMN CLIFFHANGER IT ENDED IN. I feel so numb. I can't believe I have to live nine more months with this pain. Can I get a time machine, please? I refuse this ending. I have decided to live in denial till Immortal Reign comes out. Excellent idea.

The book was so short. Honestly, I needed more. I always need more! Anyway, everything's gone to shit. No one is happy. No one is okay. Everything is just really bad.

I do need to mention something important: MAGNEO. Magneo is what I live for. I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP, YOU GUYS. They broke me 49288 times over the course of this series. But the greatest pain was in this book.

I adore the characters, you guys. Magnus Damora is my favorite. He is my precious baby and I will protect him at all times. He suffers the most in this book and I. am. not. okay. with. this. one. bit. Cleo has developed immensely since book 1. She's so strong and brave now and I just adore her. She's definitely one of my all-time favorite heroines. Lucia is a character I hate but I also love. I wanted to punch her in GD and FT, but in CS, I just wanted to hug her and protect her, because LUCIA IS A SMOL BABY AND DOESN'T DESERVE BAD THINGS. Jonas, oh Jonas... I have a love/hate relationship with him. I hated him greatly in FT, but here in CS? He grew on me again and I found his development great. As for the side characters, Felix is my precious baby. Amara can die for all I care. I really like Ashur but I admit he stressed me out in this book. Nic is so annoying. I understand him and I get the reason behind everything he does. But he still annoys me. As for King Gaius, death to you.

It is so difficult to talk about these characters without going into spoilers, hence why I won't discuss the plot. So much has happened in a span of 379 pages and I don't know how Morgan Rhodes managed to do that. Frozen Tides remains my favorite between the books, but Crystal Storm was just as action-packed and perfect.

Friendly reminder: Read the books.

I just adore this series so much, you guys and thinking about it makes me cry.

[Tina➹ lives in Fandoms · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Golden Stars

98%

second favourite of the series!
"3rd best of 2020"


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
I must admit I was waiting for something like this to happen (more like Wanting or even Needing, not predicting. (it was so unpredictable!) the more thrills, the merrier! yep, Evil me!) since book 3 & now it happened in the worst possible way & blew me off the CLIFFHANGER!
It chills my blood even merely remembering it!
I love that feeling! you know? it made me feel alive! *mad laughter*
The ending including the Cliffhanger itself worth 5 stars Complete!!! but there's more to this book, so yep, 98%!
but I'm so glad that I can put my hands on book 6 at the moment! it feels kind of like Goblet of Fire ending!

enough of the ENDING way of the book & more into the whole book:

*clearing my throat*

"Crystal Storm":
Penultimate book of the Falling Kingdoms series

Yet another unexpected turn!
another change of plans!
Change of sides!

the Plot was exciting, mind-blowing! reserved its biggest blow for the last though! I still can't breathe! & to be fair, every part had a blow itself, by all those reunions & revelations & attacks!


Characters

Magnus: No need to say he is AWESOME! strong (won't give in without a fight), sarcastic, strategist, fearless, caring, protective, vulnerable, a total idiot, & a clueless idiot at some points! he disliked anything but black clothes (my brooding bby!) he knows he's not perfect & he admits he made mistakes. his character development since book one is great!

Jonas: haha! he is another awesome character, funny, rebel, sassy, hothead, caring & again, another clueless idiot at some points!

Nic: my feeling toward him had its ups & downs, for now; funny, cute but also cheeky. in the end of this book, I liked him.

Felix: sassy, sarcastic, strong hot-head & an idiot!

Taran: I liked him. rebel, violent, but reasonable.

Enzo!: such a cute & underrated character!

Strong female characters:
Lucia: at last she matured! (especially after that spoiled anger-blind girl in book 4! though I like that side of her, except that she didn't see the reason & that was when she was acting like a baby!)

Cleo: She is a strong woman & had rough character developments, but still she is able to make me angry at some points I want to strangle her!

Amara: I admire Amara, but I didn't totally like her chapters, which was more descriptive than the others. but she is also ruthless & heartless, so I don't know how I feel toward her.

Nerissa could be my favourite.


I found another ship here! & probably two Frenemies!
The romance was beautiful!
& complicated!
I didn't know how much I love a well-built, slowly-created Enemies to Lovers trope, which I didn't even expect to happen in book 1! (I always thought, how could that even be possible!? in this series I saw how that could be Possible & it was beautiful! I needed it!)

it's 2 a.m. & I will JUMP into next book right now! BYE!




feeling evolution toward THE ship in the series:

"Might be Spoiler if you haven't read book 3 & 4"



beginning of book 3:

End of Book 3:

Book 4:
Then:

&

Now:

& at last book 5:

[Ahmed Ejaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Life isn’t guaranteed, not at any time, not for anyone. Every single day, every single moment, could be our last."

Woah!! This book was full of actions. I couldn't put it down. So far this book is the best in the series.
This review is a pure spoiler. Read it at your own risk.


=> So, Gaius doesn't die in this one as I was desperately hoping. I don't know what to feel about him now after THAT revelation. My hatred for him has dwindled a bit but not nullify yet. Perhaps in the next book, it will.

=> Ashur came back from death! I should have guessed how far before him telling it because author had given the hint in the last book. Anyway, I don't think that he played out well in this book. He is just too optimistic. It's a good thing. But sometimes it can be deadly.

=> Taran. An unnecessary complication. I felt this way before. But after THAT ending, I think he wasn't that unnecessary.
He was a rebel and the fact that he just murdered only one person didn't pacify me. He forgave Magnus. Even though I wasn't completely satisfied by this, I was still happy. Because there was no more threat for Magnus from him.

=> Lucia. She did nothing important in this book except for giving birth to her daughter. I am curious that is her daughter a Watcher or a Sorcereres or both or just an ordinary mortal? Last option doesn't sound good to me. But anyway looking forward to it.

=> Now two Kindred are free. One of the amazing things happened in this book.

=> Water Kindred has become a part of Cleo! Amazing! It means she will be able to control it in the next book. Great!

=> Nic. Sometimes he becames a headache for me. I completely understand his reasons. But still sometimes it was difficult for me to handle him. I didn't feel a thing when he was dying. But the aftermath of it wasn't good for me to endure. Then I wished he shouldn't be dead. And thank God Lucia had saved him.
Now Fire Kindred has occupied his body. An interesting twist that whether Nic is still alive or not. Honestly, I really wish him dead. I am not seeing any further use of him anymore.

=> Jonas. He is the one I liked from beginning of the series. Now he has become a very important character for me in this series. I am happy that he has gained control over air elementia. It's amazing.
He and Lucia very much sound like Magnus and Cleo when they talk with each other. Well, No matter what! I still felt the absence of Lysandra here.

=> Gaius and Elena, Cleo's mother had a story! It was strange yet interesting.

=> NOW THE MAIN THING WHICH WILL BE KILLING ME TILL THE RELEASE OF THE LAST BOOK!
MAGNUS! What will happen to him?! After THAT ending, I can't stop thinking about it. For the answer, I have to wait for five months!! 😢😢😢😭😭😭

P.S: The cover of this book is my favourite! I am soo obsessed with this that this cover has been my mobile's wallpaper even before I started this series. I won't lie. This is the only reason I started this series. :D

"I love Magnus with all my heart. And I swear, if he’s . . . dead . . . if I’ve lost both Nic and Magnus today . . .” Her voice broke as she raised her gaze, seeing that the others now watched her with fear in their eyes. The bottomless sensation of cool, powerful water magic flowed just beneath the surface of her skin, as if waiting to be unleashed. “I don’t think this world will survive my grief"

July 15, 2017

[Wren (fablesandwren) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is going to drive me absolutely crazy.

Magnus and Cleo are an absolute joke. Like who knew this marriage that they were forced into was going to be even more complicated than an arranged marriage? And why does every single male person ever have a massive crush on Cleo? Like she is either “the most beautiful girl so-and-so has ever seen” or she is “a goddess walking among men”.



Like, I get it; she isn’t just an average looking girl. She’s a princess and she happens to be like really pretty. Just like the other princess (Lucia) who is equally a goddess walking among men but with dark hair instead of blonde. Why can’t a princess ever just be average looking?!

Anyway, Magnus and Cleo are the ships of all ships. I love their relationship because it wasn’t like an “insta” thing, it was something that evolved. I mean, they legit hated each other (and sometimes I think they still hate each other). But that’s what makes it so intoxicating!

Amara is succeeding in her quest to take over all the kingdoms and be supreme leader of all the lands.

Jonas is somehow still alive.. literally have no idea why this guy is still alive.. like seriously does he have nine lives? Why are you a big player in this? I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOUR PURPOSE.

Lucia is pregnant with a baby growing inside of her at super speed. That in itself worries me. Like is this a demon that is just going to kill everyone? Because I feel that might be the only way this series can end.

Gaius is in the same state that he was at the end of the book; but, you start to see a different side of him besides just supreme evil-ruler overlord. Oh, and you meet his mother: that is a treat in itself.

Oh and the dead come back to life; because in the fantasy world, death isn’t permanent the majority of the time. Seriously, I think this is kind of a cheat; but, then again I am usually overjoyed to see a character come back to life. Bipolar feelings for a book is my usual though.

Oh and there’s something about the gods of the elements and someone trying to take back their world.

Honestly, this world-building has been phenomenal. It has been slow, but it doesn’t leave you confused about anything. The characters have grown a lot since the first book and they never seem to be acting out of their usual. You end up loving the characters for their flaws and stupidity and you morn them when they die (because a lot of people die. Literally the majority of the characters you meet die. Not a drill.).

AND THAT ENDING Like... WHY IS THE NEXT BOOK NOT IN MY HANDS? Cliffhangers are the ABSOLUTE WORSE.



Everyone is NOT where they are suppose to be and there is NO happily ever after in this book and I need this to be fixed. DO YOU HEAR ME RHODES? FIX THESE ENDINGS PLEASE!

---

Ummmm EXCUSE ME? Magnus is where and Cleo has what now? I NEED THE NEXT BOOK PLEASE

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

UMMMM WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?!?!?!?!??!?!!??!!?!?!! OMG I'M LITERALLY STILL IN SHOCK AND I DON'T KNOW HOW I'M SUPPOSE TO LIVE ANYMORE. MORGAN RHODES IS SO AMAZING BUT ALSO SO CRUEL AHHHH HOW CAN SHE DO THIS TO US?!

I promise I'll have a full review up once I'm able to process everything that just happened ( OMG ) but if anyone wants to DM me and scream about this book together, PLEASE DO!!! I NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm so torn!
Once again this series gets me with its twists and turns. And this time around it has me doubting whether or not one of the major villains is quite as bad as I originally thought.
I don't know how to feel anymore.



Also once again, the arguing, angst, and misunderstandings between Cleo and Magnus wore on me in a big way. I'm really just here to find out how it all turns out, and the jealousies and fighting are getting old.
I know this is YA but damn.



Honestly, this was my least favorite in the series, and it is ONLY because of all the overblown relationship drama. I really can't stress enough how grating it is to be yanked out of a story with gods and sorceresses and witches and backstabbing politics - just to be hit upside the face with petty spats between lovers. Blech.



BUT.
If I scrape all the nonsense away the plot is so crazy-interesting that I can't help but stay hooked.
There's no way I won't be downloading the next book to find out how everything turns out.
Looking forward to the final chapter.

[astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters) · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??

I ended up surviving Crystal Storm, after all.
This book is definitely my favorite.
There's a lot of plotting and flirting, and a little more action than usual.
Also...I didn't see that coming?!
I love Cleo. She's a bit stubborn at times, but she's gone so far since the first book. *wipes tears* They grow up so fast.
Speaking of which...can we talk about that Lucia and Jonas subplot?? I feel like I know where this is headed, but I really liked their interactions.
The way Rhodes' writes bantering as a way of flirting is seriously admirable.
A+ for the telenovela-style dialogues and twists, it's the kind of transhy one really needs from time to time. Who are we to judge, anyway.


February can't come soon enough.


ACTUAL RATINGS 4.5/5

[Laurie –Read Between The Skylines– · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am I allowed to faint?

"This is war. And in war, we must do what is necessary to survive."

4,5 stars

Spoilers below

Dear people of planet earth, it is the first time that three books of the same series make it to my favourite shelve (Harry Potter isn’t counting here). And the reason is simple: MAGNEO. I just ship them so bad. And I loved the fact that even if they professed their love in the previous instalment, being in a couple wasn’t an easy-cheesy road, they both kept their struggles, greed and ambition. Their scenes were so catchy, I couldn’t put the book down.



It went from butterfly in my stomach to the nauseating sickness. Magnus was more open as he expressed his feelings more, owned up to them even, whereas Cleo kept some distance, especially because she cares about what others may think (and by other I mean Nic). She has to keep a mask and she does it too well for my taste. And even if she stays a master of deception, I still want them both together, because she can make Magnus happy, and I just need him smiling, please, it would be the most beautiful gift ever.

Below, with a full-page quote, you can witness both the sexual tension and the desire that drives them, but also my poor baby’s feeling hurting him:

Magnus took a step closer to her; she took a step backwards: the same dance they engaged in from time to time. They kept it up until he backed her into a corner, and she looked up at him defiantly.

“Perhaps you’d rather share a room with the rebel than with me,” he said, twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. “Then again, he’d probably prefer a house in the trees made of sticks and mud.”

Cleo scoffed. “This is what you choose to focus on right now?”

“Yes. Because if I focus on Agallon, I can stop focusing on you and how badly I want to take you to my bed.”

All she could do was let out a brief, breathy gasp before his lips were on hers, his hands gripping her waist and pulling her against him. And she kissed him back without reservation.

His hands slid down her sides to her waist, around to the small of her back, and over the curve of her bottom. Frustrated with the necessity to lean over to fully kiss her, he gripped the backs of her thighs and lifted her up into his arms so that her back pressed up against the wall.

Surely, she would stop him now.

And yet she didn’t. In fact, she’d begun to frantically pull at the ties of his shirt, her mouth not leaving his for an instant.

“I want you,” he whispered against her lips. “I want you so much I may die from it.”

“Yes . . .” Her breath was so sweet, so warm. “I want you too.”

When he kissed her next, all rational thought about the curse vanished from his mind. There was nothing except the maddening, blinding need to touch her, to taste her . . .

At least, not until he heard the footsteps approaching from behind him.

It was then that Magnus sensed that they were no longer alone.

Slowly lowering the princess back to the ground, Magnus forced himself to pull away from her and, shoulders tense, look upon their intruder.

Despite his intimidating stature and impressive muscle, Felix Gaebras looked positively sheepish.

“Um . . . sorry to interrupt? I was . . . uh . . . just moving through.” But he remained still where he stood, then raised his chin. “Pardon me for saying, your highness,” he said, looking at Magnus, “but you might want to be more discreet with the princess from now on.”

“Is that so?” Magnus hissed.

Felix nodded. “Nic has happily convinced everyone that you hate Magnus, princess. And that . . . didn’t look like an act of hate to me. He’s going to go out of his mind over this.”

Cleo stepped away from Magnus, her fingers pressed to her lips and her cheeks bright red.

“Please, Felix,” she said, almost desperately. “Promise me that you won’t tell Nic about this. Not ever.”

Felix bowed. “Don’t worry, princess. I won’t breathe a word.”

“Thank you.”

Magnus hid his grimace. Something about how she said it, how relieved she sounded that it had only been Felix who’d witnessed them together and not someone whose opinion she valued more, pained him deeply.

Frozen Tides stays my absolute favourite but this book was still amazing. I think this is the first book where I can bear most of the side characters. They accepted their fate as side characters, they were here to help fulfil the main quest without trying to steal the spotlight from the one we love. Surprisingly, Jonas became interesting and at last useful. He was more levelheaded and rational; he tried to think before acting, not driven by bitterness or grudge. His storyline evolved giving him a key role.

To me, Lucia was useless, I really would prefer a book without her point-of-view, but at least, someone gave her some sense back. She was boring but at least she was redeeming herself. However, I liked how she and Jonas met and had to put their hard feelings aside to collaborate for the greater good. Felix was good but we didn’t get his POV, and I’m like Taran who? Please, tell me what is the purpose of this character?

Last but not least, we got Amara. And I want to give her the award of the most annoying and boring POV ever made. At first, I could sympathize with her loneliness and her need to belong and be a part of something bigger, but now I just hated her. I was just like, okay, we get it, you want to be the empress of the world, man must kneel before you, you are oh-so-ruthless. Please, change the record now, will you?

“What do you care of Magnus’s fate, Cleo?” Amara asked, her voice holding a tremor that Cleo had never heard before. “I thought you hated him.”

“You’re wrong, I don’t hate him,” Cleo managed softly. Then stronger: “I love him. I love Magnus with all my heart. And I swear, if he’s... dead... if I’ve lost both Nic and Magnus today...” Her voice broke as she raised her gaze, seeing that the others now watched her with fear in their eyes. The bottomless sensation of cool, powerful water magic flowed just beneath the surface of her skin, as if waiting to be unleashed. “I don’t think this world will survive my grief.”

Now I’m so broken to wait for almost a year with that cliffhanger. Please Morgan Rhodes, take care of Magneo for me. I couldn’t survive if something happened to them. And also, some piece of advice, you can make a book with only those two POV, I think most of the fandom will thank you wink wink ;)

[Stacee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, each book in this series is better than the last one. Crystal Storm is no exception.

The story took a bit for me to get captivated, but that's usually the case with these books. There are so many characters and so many POVs, it always takes some time to get situated. However, once I was, it was amazing.

Lots of things I didn't see coming, alliances, backstabbing, kissing, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Oh, and one hell of an ending. I don't know how I'll survive the wait.

**Huge thanks to Razorbill for sending me a finished copy**

[Carolina Carriço · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edit #3

As expected I loved this book, so much! Magnus is my baby and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him. I also love Cleo, Jonas, Nic and a few others. Lucia was fine in this book but still...I'm not even close to forgiving her. Let's see how the next books go.

That ending was the absolute worst.

Edit #2

*screaming* COVER!!!!!!!! And it's freaking Magnus. MAGNUS! My baby!!!! I'm completely in love. ❤

Edit #1

ONE YEAR goddammit! No one even dares pushing this release date back. If this changes to 2017, I'll give up on life. And no cover changes. JUST NO.

MAGNUS AND CLEO

MAGNUS AND CLEO

MAGNUS AND CLEO

[Katrina♡••]

Magnus!!!!!
Magnus!!!!!
Magnus!!!!

Cover Reveal!!!!!!
December can't come fast enough
Magnus is on the cover!!!!!!!

Edit
The countdown begins! Just about 2 more weeks!!!

[ambsreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

WARNING: This review is incredibly scattered much like my thoughts and feelings for this series.

“When the storm comes, all will be revealed.”

For those who want to avoid my low-key spoilers which I may accidentally not mark: read this series for death, death and more death.



I almost wanted to make a drinking game of how many deaths are in this series. The only problem is I would be in the hospital by half of book one.

What's the worst cliffhanger you've ever read? Hold, and think about it for a minute. If you cried for days and stressed over it, the Falling Kingdoms series is for you. Especially, Crystal Storm. This book has left me, for lack of better word, shook. So much so that two days later I am still unable to truly write what I feel about this book.

I can't say much about the plot since this is the fifth book in the series and I want to keep this review as spoiler-free as I possibly can. However, if you read this series, and are of the legal age in your country, make sure to have an alcoholic beverage close by because damn.



When it comes to characters we have four leads, with the POV switching between them all and other characters who are introduced.



Lucia, Magnus, Cleo, and Jonas are the main characters, the ones who we have seen since the first book. They are not the same characters as they were then, though. The character development that Morgan Rhodes writes is absolutely amazing. I can't get over the subtle growth to bring all four characters into their power and kickass, AKA that scene where Cleo killed a bunch of people with just an arrow, sans bow. I mean, I hate characters I once loved and I love characters I once hated. That's talent.

It's not even just the characters that make this story. It is just that so many events happen over the course of such a short book that it is crazy. I honestly can't believe I now have to wait ten months for the next book. Especially with this ending.



On another note, can we appreciate the fact Morgan acknowledges Ian Somerhalder as her "future husband" like my TVD heart is screaming.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satisfied but disappointed.

Confusing, eh? This book was good; it hit all the right points (Magneo scenes <3), but at the same time I thought the book was very poorly planned out because some of the scenes did not make sense or seemed very contrived. It was actually very slow to pick up in the beginning since most of the characters were confined to exchanging barbs in an action-less environment.

SPOILERS Warning.

The Good.

Magnus. What did you expect? He was as sassy and sarcastic as ever. He didn't need killing and fighting to shine. He's a bright star that carried me through the first 50% of the book. His scenes with Cleo were especially cute, especially the haircombing scene and sketch-book note. I thought his concern about Cleo's safety was endearing, but it was pretty obviously a lie/trap so there you go, more forced angst. -eye roll- Otherwise, no complaints on his end.

Cleo. I'm so conflicted. I loved her scenes with Magnus, but I didn't understand the whole need to keep bringing up the whole "I held a part of heart back despite Magnus being a 101% sweetheart." It didn't help that I hated Nic with my entire being, so for her to constantly put Nic's feelings above Magnus's was very annoying. Taran-induced angst to Magneo was actually very minimal compared to what Nic put the couple through. So fuck you very much Nic, you little weasel.

Lucia. Again. Conflicted. I thought her character development was good, but a bit dramatic. Like she literally did a 180 on her personality, going from a bloodthirsty, I-give-no-shits bitch to an apologetic people pleaser. But hey, I guess pregnancy does that to you. I did love the fact that she acknowledged that as fucked up as Gaius was, he was a great father to her. Much better father to her than he ever was to Magnus, so her concern for his well-being, however misguided, was justified.

Jonas. Thank fuck for his development. He was literally grating on my nerves for the past 3 and a half books. I honestly had no idea how he even made it so far into the series when everyone else was dropping like flies. He was a lot more mature and knew that you had to make compromises, no matter how much you hated the other person. He was honestly SO MUCH better than Nic when it came to dealing Magnus, considering he probably had a more valid reason at hating Magnus than Nic ever did. However, I felt the reasoning behind his "magic" was forced and the only reason he even had it was so that he could be comparable to Lucia. I did think Lucia and him made a good pair. No matter where they end up - frienemies, comrades, lovers, whatever, they were good for each other, especially considering how fucked up they were before in the series.

So overall, the four mains were very well done.

The Bad.
I'm going to keep this short because I could rant for days about certain individuals....-cough- NIC -cough- but I don't want to put in the time or effort into him.

Nic. .....There is so much that I need to say, yet so little time. He made Magneo 10x more frustrating than it had to be, always instigating Taran to kill Magnus because he's too much of a coward himself to do it. Basically Nic was a huge coward, and in doing so, made Cleo a coward too. He hated Magnus, but wasn't willing to do anything about it himself because he knew he had no chance. Instead, he kept egging everyone else stronger than him to hate Magnus AND kept making passive-aggressive comments about him. He seemed to hate Magnus more than Gaius himself, the dude who actually killed his sister, for the sole fact that Magnus was "stealing away" Cleo...

And don't even get me started on his romance with Ashur... Welp, that trajectory felt like a plane crash... It was intriguing in the beginning of the series, but now it was just pathetic and embodied the "love is blind" cliché. Seriously, Ashur was fishy as fuck and EVERYONE (not just Magnus) was telling Nic that he needed to do something about it and get to the bottom of it. Yet, Nic basically followed Ashur around like a love-sick puppy, salivating for attention. He didn't provide ANY intel on Ashur despite him just disappearing one day. Instead, Nic narrow-mindedly blamed Magnus for everything while choosing to protect Ashur despite the fact that Ashur was the guy everyone believed had stolen the Kindred.

Ashur. The phoenix. 'Nuff said.
I don't think any character made me feel as strongly of "I can't" more than Ashur did when he waltzed up to Amara and gave her a "chance to surrender" despite knowing she had the upper hand. Like.....you don't bargain from that position unless you want to die.

Gaius. I'm conflicted on his character development. Yeah, it was nice that he stopped trying to kill his son and destroy the world, but I do not understand why he suddenly wanted to act like a father-figure to Magnus right after trying to kill him. He was genuinely concerned about Magnus's future... And all that is going on in my mind is "Dude, you tried to skewer him 1 week ago, you have absolutely no right to make decisions on Magnus's behalf for the betterment of his future."

Amara. I don't know if I hate her because she's the "villain" of the story or she was just goddamn annoying. Yeah, she was kind of badass when she stood up to her sexist guards, but she was such a terrible ruler, and that had nothing to do with the fact that she was a girl. She felt like she was lost most of the time, constantly needing guidance from Kyan on what to do next, and always blaming her lack of power/Kindred as the reason for her poor leadership... She didn't really do anything for the people but sit on her pretty throne and give speeches to appease the public...so basically Gaius 2.0.

Plot holes. I felt like there were a lot of plot holes if you were to look at the series as a whole. Off the top of my head, I still don't know what the Blood Road was meant for, yet it was such a big deal when Gaius first took over.

There is probably a lot more to say but I finished this book 2 weeks ago, so I barely remember much. If I ever re-read it, I will probably catch a lot more and update this review.

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I have to wait a YEAR before I get to read more Magnus and Cleo?

[Lucie V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

✅ Twists and deaths (again!)
✅ Shifting alliances
✅ Magic system
✅ Characters
✅ Angst and drama
✅🆗 Pace
✅🆗 Plot
❗️❗️ Intense ending / Cliffhanger (Yes. Again.)

The ending is worth 5 stars, but the first half of the book is worth more like 3 or 3.5 stars so I'll go with 4 stars...

“When on the very edge of death, matters such as fortune and legacy are meaningless in the face of knowing that someone who cares for you will hold your hand as you slip away.”

Ahh! Stop it with the killing and almost killing already. I think that in every single book of this series there is at least one relatively important character that dies... They sometimes come back to life or miraculously survive, but still, my poor heart. 😭

The plot of Crystal Storm is good, but it was still a little underwhelming when compared to Gathering Darkness and Frozen Tides. While A LOT of things happen when it comes to plotting and making alliances, overall I felt that the plot did not progress that much. The characters allied and betrayed each other so quickly, that it was hard to feel their relationship building. Some characters seem to be on almost friendly terms now, but I didn't see this development.

The same can be said for the pace, while many things happened, the first half of the book bored me honestly... I couldn't wait for something to happen, it was just getting so long and pointless.

We follow Lucia quite a lot in this book, and since I don't particularly like her (and I still don't get why she's one of the main characters), it was tedious at times. I would have much rather spent more time with Cleo and Magnus than with Lucia and her issues. Lucia is not as bad as she was, I dislike her less in this book, but still, I'm not a huge fan of her. Her whole “new maturity” is refreshing because the spoiled brat act was really getting on my nerves, but where the fluff did this maturity came from?! She just woke up one morning, discovered that she was pregnant and suddenly became mature? We don’t see this development in her so it just felt like a completely different character took over in this book.

“Sometimes it doesn't take years to know someone. A handful of conversations can be more than enough to know someone's heart.”

Talking about Cleo and Magnus, can we take a moment to appreciate how they carry this whole series?! Their sass and humor are still intact after 4 books and even though they admitted their feelings for each other, they still give us angst and hate/love vibes! Rest assured that we also have sweet moments and love between the two of them... Can this get more perfect? I think not.

Amara is still a fucking bitch (sorry for the bad word, but it is what it is). Some characters (#Ashur I'm talking about you here) are also being very shady (or maybe it's me being paranoid) and it seems like everything is going to shit... But not in a bad way? Some characters can now summon magic, Gods are possessing people, some characters can't seem to be able to die... I'm telling you, it's becoming chaotic, but a good kind of chaotic? I like this series, but at the same time a part of me is wondering where this is all going, some parts of the plot just seem to get out of control in this book and I am not sure that I will like where it's headed... I'll see in the last book I guess...

I realize now that my review is not very articulate... Anyways... True to herself though, Morgan Rhodes gave us an intense ending with twists, betrayals, deaths, and a lot of action and emotions. I only have one book left in this series, and although a part of me is happy because while I am greatly enjoying this adventure, I'm scared that it will become repetitive or boring, or a complete joke (like the fact that everyone betrays everyone and lies to everyone every single freaking day?! Or that Jonas is falling in love with half of the girls in this series? Or that he is described as a strong and great leader..?) if it continues for too long, but another part of me is sad to be almost done with Falling Kingdoms.


0.5 Crimson Dagger ⭐⭐⭐
1. Falling Kingdoms ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Rebel Spring ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
3. Gathering Darkness ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Frozen Tides ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


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[Yusra ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

so yeah, this was a disappointment. 2.5 stars for my favs (who are not so much my favs anymore)
truth be told this is why I don’t go for long ass series like these because I know I’m going to be soooo tired of the same old shit the characters will be playing and guess what? yeah that’s what happened here.

Jonas seriously has no purpose (maybe he does but it's a purpose I could care less about), every one of his POV makes me want to slam my head against a wall.

Nic is just the most stupid character EVER. it's just reached unfathomable heights, the stupidity.

Lucia is so bipolar I can’t deal with her bullshit any! longer! like stop.

Amara and Ashur are their own whole messes. huge messes but I just pretend they don't exist.

I’m literally only here for Magnus, and Magneo... even Cleo was pissing me off this book.

LIKE SERIOUSLY IM ONLY HERE FOR MAGNUS LUKAS DAMORA.

and that CLIFFHANGER OH GOD
&the ending was around 4 stars but the beginning was solid 2 stars so here we are.

big yikes.

buddy read with Jessica ofc, who finished before me cause I’m slow :)