Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms #4)by Morgan Rhodes
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Synopsis:
Rebels, royals, and monsters wage war over the Mytican throne in the shocking fourth book of the Falling Kingdoms series, from New York Times bestselling author Morgan Rhodes.
CLEO: Reeling after a bloody showdown in Limeros ending with Amara’s abduction of the water crystal, and a vacancy in the Mytican throne, Princess Cleo must cast aside her feelings and look toward her kingdom with the eyes of a Queen.
MAGNUS: With the kingdom in chaos, Princess Lucia still missing and quite possibly in danger, and a shocking realization about Cleo, the steely prince is once again torn between love and duty, leaving him wondering whether he’s strong enough to rule his people.
LUCIA: The young sorcercess has had her vengeance after the cruel death of her first and only love. Heartbroken and unable to trust anyone, she allies with the awoken Fire god, who also seeks revenge.
JONAS: After escaping death by the skin of his teeth, the defeated rebel—along with a mysterious stranger–leader reunites with Princess Cleo, only to find himself a mere pawn in a dangerous hunt for the elusive Kindred.
KING GAIUS: Abandoned by Melenia and betrayed by his own children, Gaius flees Mytica and sails to Kraeshia, where he attempts to ally with the famously brutal emperor across the Silver Sea.
She raised her brow. “Thank me? Am I dreaming?”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure it won’t happen again anytime soon.” Magnus drew even closer to her, and her smile faded at the edges.
“Was there something else you wanted from me?” she asked.
If only you knew, he thought. You’d probably run away from here and never look back.
There’s something to be said about less is more…and perhaps I should just leave my ridiculously weird pre-review as my main review. However, it just doesn’t feel right to not talk about my favorite book of the series, yet. Sure, I’ve had butterflies and endless feels-all when it came to Magnus. I might have even became a little obsessed with him (COUGH a lot). But nothing-and I do mean NOTHING-has come close to how I felt during the last 20% of this book. NOTHING.
Magnus just stared at her, unsure if he was impressed or horrified by this poisonous tirade escaping the petite blond.
No, he was impressed. Very impressed and very happy.
Think about it-we have all been waiting for our dear stubborn enemies to finally unite…and you start to hear things about each new installment as you near it. Just wait! and It’s coming! or OMG I can’t wait until you get to THIS part! And, normally, I must say that these claims ruin what should be a normally pleasant surprise. Hype is a dangerous thing-Too many times I’ve grasped onto a shred of what people are saying and been let down when it doesn’t exceed my expectations or is underwhelming compared to people’s claims. But here, just this once…..the hype did not even begin to justify the choking and loss of breath I felt when certain things transpired.
Cleo wasn’t a romantic fool, a silly girl who believed a villain could become a shining hero overnight, even if he had saved her life once. She was a queen, who would reclaim her throne and destroy her enemies-all of them-once she possessed the magic and power she needed.
My heart broke so much in this book that I really thought I was going to have a mental breakdown. I mean, how many fucking times can we watch these two scratch, claw, belittle, and circle each other. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife. But more than once my heart would shatter, slowly piece back together again….and then shatter into oblivion for the millionth time. This cat and mouse game Morgan Rhodes has created is something else, and I haven’t felt this desperate in a long long time.
Magnus wasn’t any different than the king. He, too, was afraid of the princess. Her spirit was so bright, he’d been blinded by it.
And yet, he’d never wanted to close his eyes to block out that light.
And I do adore Magnus, he is literally my EVERYTHING when it comes to this series…So I guess that’s why it was all the more painful to see his inner turmoil and dark struggles in this book. He is a shell of a boy who only wants to belong, to be loved-Not that he’d let that show to anyone, least of all Cleo. He is cruel and hurtful and pushes away those who try to be close to him….and he is so slow to trust. It’s almost comical how blind he is. But then we see those assholes who are just plain…well….assholes to him and it made me see red. You. Don’t. Fuck. With. My. Magduck. YOU DO NOT.
We all know Magnus harbored questionable (cough) feelings toward his sister, Lucia, that are now just strong ties of memories, estranged friendship, and a sad wish to still be as close as they used to be as children-telling one another everything and watching each other’s backs. His internal pain as Lucia continues her path to being the biggest and most laughable moron of the series killed me inside, because she was all he had and now he [thinks he] has no one. I could go on. And on. And ON about this bitch….but I’ll just say this: That little trollop better watch her back or I’ll stab it. Here’s hoping the only main character death belongs to Lucia, because I’d even hate to see Jonas die…but if we’re choosing who lives and dies…..
OOPS.
NOT REALLY.
I don’t love long series because they scare me-more room to mess up ships, to kill people, to elongate a story that need not be elongated. But it seems that each new installment makes the villains more evil (or multiply), the story much thicker, and broadens an already far reaching world. It seems Rhodes has a direction she’s going and is pacing it pretty epically (it’s a word, look it up in the Chelsea dictionary), and I’ve yet to be bored by the story. And probably my favorite part (BESIDES YOU KNOW WHAT) is that she doesn’t change plots in each new book. Each story has a fluidity about it that continues what we were reading before without making it complicated by adding one hundred new reasons we needed said story. It just…exists. The story has flowed from book one on, adding mayhem and dirty dealings with a grace that makes it all the more dramatic-Subtlety is a specialty I’ve grown to admire from these YA fantasy authors.
There is so much more I could say, but like with all popular long series, it’s nothing that hasn’t been said before, so why say it again? This is by far my favorite book in the series and I have high hopes that the extreme feels I felt in this one will only continue. I have now seen book 5’s cover (OMG I CAN’T EVEN) and seen the synopsis. My only response for what’s to come?
I.
NEED.
THAT.
BOOK.
NOW.
That is all.
**********
I. COULDN’T. BREATHE. The last 20%. But this sums up my love for this story until I can write full review…
And, just for argument’s sake, let’s pretend Magnus is a chicken. Let me show you my extreme feels for him:
Or maybe he’s this unfortunate fish with young little me:
When….you know…that trust bone was thrown my way I may have done this…
And then obviously I was doing this until I closed the book…
so yeah. I was a mess, sitting there hyperventilating due to loss of breath, extreme butterflies, and over exaggerate desperation for my boy to live out the rest of the book without the loss of his life…and any limbs.
I LOVEYOU THANKTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU THANK YOU THANKYOU Morgan Rhodes
THANK YOU
WHAT?! I love Scream Queens OKAYYYYYY
I can’t even deal.
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