The one word that best describes Falling Kingdoms is epic. It's a sweeping drama full of magic, violence, and war. It's Game of Thrones for a younger audience.
Falling Kingdoms takes place in three kingdoms. Auranos is wealthy and bountiful, to the point that its people have grown hedonistic and lazy. Paelsia is the poorest kingdom. The people starve while all the farmland is used to grow grapes to make wine that is sold to the people of Auranos. Limeros is a devout kingdom, but they seek more power, which they hope to get by an alliance with Paelsia against Auranos. All they need is a spark to light the fuse.
Cleo, the Princess of Auranos, and her friends were travelling to Paelsia for some wine. Everything seemed fine, until Aron (Cleo's friend, blackmailer, possible future fiancé) gets in an argument over pricing. His offered price is insulting, and the wine seller's sons start to physically attack Aron. He pulls out a knife, and one of the sons is murdered. The fuse is lit. The other son, Jonas, vows to kill both Aron and Cleo (It doesn't seem fair, because Cleo didn't actually do anything and she was obviously upset during the incident). He pushes the kingdom towards an alliance and war.
Meanwhile, in Limeros, Magnus the Prince is in love with his sister. It's icky. He's also busy trying to man up and impress his father. His sister, Lucinda, is dealing with growing pains, which in her case is the awakening of strange new abilities.
There are alternating chapters, jumping between all four character. I was highly anticipating the point when they would cross into each others' stories, and I was not disappointed. The story is bloody and action-packed. I am upset to have to wait for the next book to see any continuation of the story. Falling Kingdoms is definitely a recommendation for anyone looking for a little bit of fantasy and a lot of action.
I received my copy of Falling Kingdoms from Edelweiss, courtesy of Razorbill. It's available for purchase now.
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