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A review by libralita
רוחות וגנבים by Morgan Rhodes
5.0
First off, there will probably be a few references to the Falling Kingdoms series in this review so if you haven’t read up to Gathering Darkness, then I suggest you don’t read this review.
Hey, Crystal you should be more appreciative. You’re in Canada, I’m pretty sure you get free college unlike us Americans.
Crystal and Becca’s mom get a mysterious book from their aunt. It then makes Becca collapse.
We then meet Farrell (stupid name) who is getting drunk when his little brother, Adam, texts him asking for help. Farrell goes and his new friends basically want to rape this drunk/drugged woman. Stay classy.
Then we meet Maddox who gets stupidly tricked by a thief but then his abusive guardian, Livius, helps him out. Maddox goes to this noblemen’s house to “purge” an evil spirit. They’re actually just conning a gullible rich guy. However Maddox doesn’t have some kind of special power to see spirits because then he sees Becca.
This brings up an interesting question, how do these time lines work? Maddox is in “ancient Mytica” and since Valoria is still around I’d assume this takes place far before Falling Kingdoms. But then in our world it’s modern day. How does that work? Does time in Mytica just move way faster than it does in our world?
Back to the story, so Crystal’s sad that her sister is a Coma and reaches out to her dad for answers.
So Farrell is from this really rich family and they got this secret society called the Hawkspear Society and it’s time for Farrell’s younger brother to join the club. So they go through these secret underground tunnels to get to this theater.
Before the meeting starts, Lucas calls over Farrell. Lucas is Farrell’s dead older brother, Connor’s best friend. Lucas says that Markus King, the leader of this society wants to bring Farrell into his inner circle. Farrell really can’t say no but the meeting starts.
Then things go from weird to what the fuck because Markus calls up Adam, they bring out this drug dealer. They decide that he’s evil and so Markus just straight up murders him because that’s his job, to destroy evil. The blood of the drug dealer gives the members of the society power because it’s blood magic. Then Adam is offered to join, he says yes because he’s not an idiot, Markus carves a symbol into Adam’s arm and now he’s part of this fucked up cult. Farrell’s parts are intense.
“‘It’s a daguerreotype,’ she said, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose. She had already known the answer, but there was a descriptive plague right next to it that explained everything which she read from. ‘‘Named for Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, iodine-sensitized silver plate and mercy vapor.’’
‘Sounds like a lot of effort.’
‘Too much. I wonder what this guy would have thought of digital.’”—Page 83
Hey! It’s totally worth to get that sharp, reflective style! It’s like a mirror. Sad face. If you don’t get this reference please go play Life is Strange.
I’m a quarter of the way through and I really don’t give a shit about Crystal.
“‘Yes, really. With Connor, I had such high hopes—that he would be famous artist, that he’d soon get married and give me grandchildren. That he’d carry on the Grayson name. For Adam, his teachers say he has an incredible mind, that he’s meant for medicine, law, business. Whatever he chooses, they believe he’ll be successful. But you…’ Her discerning gaze swept him from head to toe. ‘I have no reason to think you’ll ever amount to anything of note. Therefore, I expect very little from you.’”—Page 101
Well, Farrell’s mother is officially irredeemable. Who the hell says that to their kids? Rhodes better not try to make this character sympathetic because there’s no coming back from this. I’m pretty sure when she and King Gaius die, they’re gonna meet up in hell and high five each other because they were both equally horrible parents.
Also your eldest son committed suicide, I’m pretty saying shit like this is only going to make the number of your dead sons only increase.
Maddox and Livius are in the dungeon and they’re going to meet Valoria.
Livius will not be missed.
Farrell is now a part of Markus’s inner circle, he’s given a mark that makes him a tineye, like in Mistborn.
I just realized something Markus…Mark us. Well played Rhodes, well played.
Farrell’s first assignment is to see what Crystal is up to.
Why are Limerian guards, no matter what time period it is, always just fucking dicks? Is it because they’re always under a repressive regime? Like first was Valoria and then King Gaius who’s basically Valoria.
I ship Becca and Maddox so hard, Becca trying to motivate him and saying that she’s his friend is just so nice.
So crazy Barney comes into the cell with Maddox (and Becca) but he turns out to not be crazy. His name is Barnabas, he knows about Maddox, he wants to break out of jail and destroy Valoria before she can destroy Mytica. Why is Mytica always hanging in balance and about to be destroyed?
It is revealed that Valoria is looking for the golden dagger that Markus has.
So Farrell was attempting to flirt with Crystal to try to do his mission but Crystal (kind of hilariously) rejected his efforts to focus on Becca. Now Farrell is incredibly pissed off but he’s no a date with Felicity, a girl his mom wants to hook up with. He decides to get his little brother because he’s drunk and coked up. It ends with Farrell almost beating a dude to death, clearly this is Markus’s mark doing this.
So, with Maddox, Barnabas escape the Limerian palace, killing Valoria’s snake and stealing this magic box. Barnabas reveals that Maddox is a necromancer and seems to know a lot about who Maddox is…
Any way, with Crystal she’s walking along when she’s Farrell in his car and sees that Lucas in the limo with him. She recognizes him as the guy who mugged her and realizes that he’s been playing her for a fool.
She then meets with Markus, who is also the golden boy at the university. He reveals that he and Crystal’s grandfather had cofounded the Hawkspear society.
“‘Why were you at the university that day?’ she asked.
‘Simply because I take classes there.’”—Pages 255-256
See Crystal? Even possibly evil immortals understand the importance of higher education.
Also that motherfucker Markus knows about Vega and the Bronze Codex. He knows pretty much everything, let’s be honest.
Crystal you just spring all this Hawkspear shit on your mom, when she’s barely had her coffee? Cruel. But seriously we get a whole bunch of plot twists. First that Jackie and Markus were madly in love with each other, had a baby and that baby was Becca.
Back in Mytica, Maddox is drunk and tells Becca how he’s so sad that she has to leave. My poor baby.
So Julia goes to pick up Jackie, Crystal goes to Vega to find out that he was mugged by Markus’s goons and got a bunch information out of him, including that Becca is in a…book induced coma? Then it’s discovered that Becca has been kidnapped by Markus. Crystal gets a call from her dad to get the Bronze Codex and she’ll be picked up in 1 hour.
So the ugly witch’s sister “betrays” them to Valoria and it’s revealed that Barnabas is the hunter that Eva fell in love with. I didn’t see that coming, but I did see coming that Barnabas was Maddox’s daddy. Also the fact that Sienna didn’t really betray them and this was all a trick to get Valoria there.
Valoria was stealing magic before it was cool.
The trap doesn’t work but Maddox ends up using his magic, that will probably turn him crazy like Lucia, to make her go away. I’m surprised that Barnabas is still alive but now they’re going on a quest to find the lost heir.
And finally, Markus decides to give Crystal and Becca all three marks, however Daniel double crosses them. He had called Adam to pick them up in the elevator of the fancy restaurant. Daniel ends up snapping Lucas’s neck, but lets Farrell because…main character, let’s be honest.
Then Markus, I think is making Farrell his right hand man. He forces Farrell to kill Daniel, then gives him the third mark. Now Farrell is under Markus’s complete control.
Hey Adam, you better not get in the way of my Maddox-Becca ship.
But the book ends with Jackie taking Crystal and Becca into hiding. This was an amazing book, Crystal still hasn’t really grown on me but I still really enjoyed it. I’m excited to see where the story goes and I think the next book comes out soon, so I’m excited to read it! On to Frozen Tides!
Hey, Crystal you should be more appreciative. You’re in Canada, I’m pretty sure you get free college unlike us Americans.
Crystal and Becca’s mom get a mysterious book from their aunt. It then makes Becca collapse.
We then meet Farrell (stupid name) who is getting drunk when his little brother, Adam, texts him asking for help. Farrell goes and his new friends basically want to rape this drunk/drugged woman. Stay classy.
Then we meet Maddox who gets stupidly tricked by a thief but then his abusive guardian, Livius, helps him out. Maddox goes to this noblemen’s house to “purge” an evil spirit. They’re actually just conning a gullible rich guy. However Maddox doesn’t have some kind of special power to see spirits because then he sees Becca.
This brings up an interesting question, how do these time lines work? Maddox is in “ancient Mytica” and since Valoria is still around I’d assume this takes place far before Falling Kingdoms. But then in our world it’s modern day. How does that work? Does time in Mytica just move way faster than it does in our world?
Back to the story, so Crystal’s sad that her sister is a Coma and reaches out to her dad for answers.
So Farrell is from this really rich family and they got this secret society called the Hawkspear Society and it’s time for Farrell’s younger brother to join the club. So they go through these secret underground tunnels to get to this theater.
Before the meeting starts, Lucas calls over Farrell. Lucas is Farrell’s dead older brother, Connor’s best friend. Lucas says that Markus King, the leader of this society wants to bring Farrell into his inner circle. Farrell really can’t say no but the meeting starts.
Then things go from weird to what the fuck because Markus calls up Adam, they bring out this drug dealer. They decide that he’s evil and so Markus just straight up murders him because that’s his job, to destroy evil. The blood of the drug dealer gives the members of the society power because it’s blood magic. Then Adam is offered to join, he says yes because he’s not an idiot, Markus carves a symbol into Adam’s arm and now he’s part of this fucked up cult. Farrell’s parts are intense.
“‘It’s a daguerreotype,’ she said, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose. She had already known the answer, but there was a descriptive plague right next to it that explained everything which she read from. ‘‘Named for Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, iodine-sensitized silver plate and mercy vapor.’’
‘Sounds like a lot of effort.’
‘Too much. I wonder what this guy would have thought of digital.’”—Page 83
Hey! It’s totally worth to get that sharp, reflective style! It’s like a mirror. Sad face. If you don’t get this reference please go play Life is Strange.
I’m a quarter of the way through and I really don’t give a shit about Crystal.
“‘Yes, really. With Connor, I had such high hopes—that he would be famous artist, that he’d soon get married and give me grandchildren. That he’d carry on the Grayson name. For Adam, his teachers say he has an incredible mind, that he’s meant for medicine, law, business. Whatever he chooses, they believe he’ll be successful. But you…’ Her discerning gaze swept him from head to toe. ‘I have no reason to think you’ll ever amount to anything of note. Therefore, I expect very little from you.’”—Page 101
Well, Farrell’s mother is officially irredeemable. Who the hell says that to their kids? Rhodes better not try to make this character sympathetic because there’s no coming back from this. I’m pretty sure when she and King Gaius die, they’re gonna meet up in hell and high five each other because they were both equally horrible parents.
Also your eldest son committed suicide, I’m pretty saying shit like this is only going to make the number of your dead sons only increase.
Maddox and Livius are in the dungeon and they’re going to meet Valoria.
Livius will not be missed.
Farrell is now a part of Markus’s inner circle, he’s given a mark that makes him a tineye, like in Mistborn.
I just realized something Markus…Mark us. Well played Rhodes, well played.
Farrell’s first assignment is to see what Crystal is up to.
Why are Limerian guards, no matter what time period it is, always just fucking dicks? Is it because they’re always under a repressive regime? Like first was Valoria and then King Gaius who’s basically Valoria.
I ship Becca and Maddox so hard, Becca trying to motivate him and saying that she’s his friend is just so nice.
So crazy Barney comes into the cell with Maddox (and Becca) but he turns out to not be crazy. His name is Barnabas, he knows about Maddox, he wants to break out of jail and destroy Valoria before she can destroy Mytica. Why is Mytica always hanging in balance and about to be destroyed?
It is revealed that Valoria is looking for the golden dagger that Markus has.
So Farrell was attempting to flirt with Crystal to try to do his mission but Crystal (kind of hilariously) rejected his efforts to focus on Becca. Now Farrell is incredibly pissed off but he’s no a date with Felicity, a girl his mom wants to hook up with. He decides to get his little brother because he’s drunk and coked up. It ends with Farrell almost beating a dude to death, clearly this is Markus’s mark doing this.
So, with Maddox, Barnabas escape the Limerian palace, killing Valoria’s snake and stealing this magic box. Barnabas reveals that Maddox is a necromancer and seems to know a lot about who Maddox is…
Any way, with Crystal she’s walking along when she’s Farrell in his car and sees that Lucas in the limo with him. She recognizes him as the guy who mugged her and realizes that he’s been playing her for a fool.
She then meets with Markus, who is also the golden boy at the university. He reveals that he and Crystal’s grandfather had cofounded the Hawkspear society.
“‘Why were you at the university that day?’ she asked.
‘Simply because I take classes there.’”—Pages 255-256
See Crystal? Even possibly evil immortals understand the importance of higher education.
Also that motherfucker Markus knows about Vega and the Bronze Codex. He knows pretty much everything, let’s be honest.
Crystal you just spring all this Hawkspear shit on your mom, when she’s barely had her coffee? Cruel. But seriously we get a whole bunch of plot twists. First that Jackie and Markus were madly in love with each other, had a baby and that baby was Becca.
Back in Mytica, Maddox is drunk and tells Becca how he’s so sad that she has to leave. My poor baby.
So Julia goes to pick up Jackie, Crystal goes to Vega to find out that he was mugged by Markus’s goons and got a bunch information out of him, including that Becca is in a…book induced coma? Then it’s discovered that Becca has been kidnapped by Markus. Crystal gets a call from her dad to get the Bronze Codex and she’ll be picked up in 1 hour.
So the ugly witch’s sister “betrays” them to Valoria and it’s revealed that Barnabas is the hunter that Eva fell in love with. I didn’t see that coming, but I did see coming that Barnabas was Maddox’s daddy. Also the fact that Sienna didn’t really betray them and this was all a trick to get Valoria there.
Valoria was stealing magic before it was cool.
The trap doesn’t work but Maddox ends up using his magic, that will probably turn him crazy like Lucia, to make her go away. I’m surprised that Barnabas is still alive but now they’re going on a quest to find the lost heir.
And finally, Markus decides to give Crystal and Becca all three marks, however Daniel double crosses them. He had called Adam to pick them up in the elevator of the fancy restaurant. Daniel ends up snapping Lucas’s neck, but lets Farrell because…main character, let’s be honest.
Then Markus, I think is making Farrell his right hand man. He forces Farrell to kill Daniel, then gives him the third mark. Now Farrell is under Markus’s complete control.
Hey Adam, you better not get in the way of my Maddox-Becca ship.
But the book ends with Jackie taking Crystal and Becca into hiding. This was an amazing book, Crystal still hasn’t really grown on me but I still really enjoyed it. I’m excited to see where the story goes and I think the next book comes out soon, so I’m excited to read it! On to Frozen Tides!