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adventureinlit's review
5.0
A phenomenal read through and through! Forging Darkness is the second book in the Fallen Legacies series and focuses on the angel-born world that Julie Hall created!
Emberly is the main character in this series – we initially met her and her learned her back story in Stealing Embers. She is a half-angel with manifesting powers of the likes that the other angel born at Seraph Academy have not seen before. At the end of Stealing Embers, we learned that her love interest and fellow academy student, Steel, has a twin sister that everyone assumed was dead but she’s returned to take revenge and Steel has left to seek her out.
In Forging Darkness we follow the troop of friends as they try and find Steel so they can help him with his goal of catching and killing his twin sister, but SO MANY other things happen that really take the story in a deeply profound direction. Watching Emberly continue to develop not only her personal skills after a life of living on her own and not understand what she was. It was akin to a motherly moment for me watching her really start to define herself as a confident and strong young woman.
We meet a handful of new characters that will be essential to the conclusion of this story coming in BOOK 3 Unleashing Fire and we also learn a lot more about Emberly’s angel powers. It was an incredibly emotional and exciting ride through this entire story and I’m on the edge of my seat for the final installment.
Let’s just say, BOOK 2 ends on quite the cliff hanger!
Emberly is the main character in this series – we initially met her and her learned her back story in Stealing Embers. She is a half-angel with manifesting powers of the likes that the other angel born at Seraph Academy have not seen before. At the end of Stealing Embers, we learned that her love interest and fellow academy student, Steel, has a twin sister that everyone assumed was dead but she’s returned to take revenge and Steel has left to seek her out.
In Forging Darkness we follow the troop of friends as they try and find Steel so they can help him with his goal of catching and killing his twin sister, but SO MANY other things happen that really take the story in a deeply profound direction. Watching Emberly continue to develop not only her personal skills after a life of living on her own and not understand what she was. It was akin to a motherly moment for me watching her really start to define herself as a confident and strong young woman.
We meet a handful of new characters that will be essential to the conclusion of this story coming in BOOK 3 Unleashing Fire and we also learn a lot more about Emberly’s angel powers. It was an incredibly emotional and exciting ride through this entire story and I’m on the edge of my seat for the final installment.
Let’s just say, BOOK 2 ends on quite the cliff hanger!
onestrangebunny's review
3.0
This series is great, I cant wait to find out what happens next and how everything comes to a conclusion. However, I feel like it's slightly predictable and a little drawn out. That being said there has been great character development and some small surprises. It's definitely a good read!
skiwoman94's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
The sequel was interesting because we got to learn more about the fallen and Emberly’s ancestors. Thorne was so close to being an epic dynamic anti hero character, but it was lost for me when I found out he was just his moms lap dog. I wish there was more of a build with him and Emberly where they connected.
Steele at this point kind of bores me. I think their romance just happened too fast and there wasn’t enough to root for them as a couple. I started wanting Thorne to be the real love interest.
Steele at this point kind of bores me. I think their romance just happened too fast and there wasn’t enough to root for them as a couple. I started wanting Thorne to be the real love interest.
flpanthersfan13's review
5.0
Well that escalated quickly! I thoroughly enjoyed the second book in this series and the adventure took me to unexpected places. Emberly and Steel certainly kept the tension going and it was interesting to learn more about Silver and about the forsaken. This world keeps I’m evolving into more complex layers than I could have imagined and I can’t wait to see what happens next. I am certainly very intrigued by Thorne and what his driving force is. Plus, the rest of the crew is just as hilarious as always. Loved it!
koistyfishy's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
There are a lot of reviews that say that this book is better than the first one and on some level, I do agree since it felt slightly more mature and serious. But then on others it just went downhill fast and I ended up in a situation where about 60% in I was slogging through to get to the end or trying to distract myself from reading. Basically I wasn’t as enticed as I was reading book one.
Don’t get me wrong, it is enjoyable and I will be picking up the third book, if for only the reason to see the series to completion as it wasn’t that bad that I want to DNF the rest. This book just isn’t as memorable as the first in my mind.
This will contain spoilers for book one so proceed at your own risk.
This book starts off a few months after Steel has left to go search for Silver. Emberly has been receiving strange stalker-ish “heavy breathing” phone calls from him in the middle of the night and so after informing her friends that Steel has found Silver, they concoct this “brilliant” plan to go help him find his forsaken sister. In so doing, often making seriously juvenile mistakes ALL OF THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF THE DAMN GIRLS DIDN’T WANT TO GO TO A STUPID CLUB there is an obvious trap that ends up with Emberly captured (and kidnapped again). She is then taken to the spirit realm and held in a Fallen and Forsaken fortress ruled by a mysterious someone like her, another seraph-born…Thorne.
This book starts off a few months after Steel has left to go search for Silver. Emberly has been receiving strange stalker-ish “heavy breathing” phone calls from him in the middle of the night and so after informing her friends that Steel has found Silver, they concoct this “brilliant” plan to go help him find his forsaken sister. In so doing, often making seriously juvenile mistakes
The world building does take it up a notch, and we do get to see more of the spirit realm that was hinted to and briefly glimpsed in the first installment. We also learn quite a bit more about Emberly’s heritage and unknowns about the Forsaken and Fallen that the Nephilim don’t know about.
Emberly’s character does develop slightly more and she does have a few more layers added to her but that’s about it in terms of everyone’s character development. She still is very clearly a teenager who has had the worlds problems thrown on her shoulders, so she try’s to solve these problems like a teenager would. You don’t get a lot of interaction with her friends, and the banter and exchanges between her “found family” can actually be felt missing and is one of the reasons this book is not as good. I was giggling in book one and for this one, I don’t think I laughed once…
Then there is Steel. Even though we get a few glimpses into character and a few chapters of his POV he is still very one-dimensional and I don’t like him as a love interest. His whole persona of “alpha moody broody handsome guy“ doesn’t get a lot of depth and his love for Emberly almost feels out of nowhere. It happens too fast and basically the first time they see each other since Em is taken is him telling her:
“Don’t you know by now that I would do anything for you? I would search for thousand years and tear down ten thousand doors to reach you. I’d rip the world apart and then find a way to stitch it back together if you willed it”.
As much as the quote is enduring…They haven’t had more than a couple of kisses! It’s quite a declaration of love in comparison to the minimal displays of affection they’ve had.
The plot also feels quite repetitive and by the fourth time I had to read about Emberly and Steel having their asses handed to them and being beaten in a fight…I kind of got over it and was bored.
The only cool addition to characters was Thorne. I feel like there was a missed opportunity for a love triangle that was hinted… and for a moment I was actually hoping he and Em would end up together as he had a little bit depth to his character and I love someone morally grey. However I found this series because of Supernova and know HE is the love interest in that sooooooo there goes that hope!
Overall, it’s okay. I’d recommend a slog through this to get to book three to finish the series as I am intrigued to see what happens in the end. If you like YA paranormal Angels, you might actually love that the characters are pretty face value and this is primarily just plot….
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit
ashleym10148's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
lawsam's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
bsv's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
deann_f's review
4.0
Intriguing Storyline!
Forging Darkness kept making me wonder what was going to come next for Emberly. Will definitely be coming back to find out what happens next in this series
Forging Darkness kept making me wonder what was going to come next for Emberly. Will definitely be coming back to find out what happens next in this series
elsatriin's review against another edition
1.0
What the actual fuck.. so disappointed. Review later this week.