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A review by freadomlibrary
Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes
4.0
Actual rating 4.5 stars
Getting better but damn some of these characters though
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Check out my series review for the first three books here: https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/series-review-falling-kingdoms-1-3-by-morgan-rhodes/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
much more exciting than the first one but still boring beginning, it’s full of action, betrayals, magic, violence and death, the folklore and legends are developed and expanded on, this one is also much darker than the first book, the world building is also much greater in this one
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
multiple and distinct POVs, visual, descriptive, engaging, easy to read, more fast paced though the beginning is still slow, the author tends to use declarations of love/romance and deaths as shock factors which become sort of predictable after awhile
Characters – 4 out of 5 stars
Cleo is definitely getting a bit of backbone in this book. She’s got her vengeful spirit on and she’s fierce against the people she does not like. However, she can get easily distracted from her goal by other things and she gets easily persuaded by other people. Yet I loved her determination and I hope she succeeds.
Oh Magnus. He’s still a little arrogant douche but he has a vulnerable side that is slowly coming out. He kind of gets kicked around a lot and he has a wounded pride. But he’s still fierce and determined to be a badass. But I don’t know how I feel about him completely.
Lucia just makes me want to give her a poor hug. She’s lost and vulnerable and doesn’t really have anyone to talk to. Her powers are beyond her control and there isn’t anyone around who can explain things to her but I feel like she will become a force to be reckoned with.
Jonas just can’t catch a break. He lets his emotions get the better of him and is always angry. He makes decisions and jumps into dangerous situations without thinking them through rationally. He’s definitely not the smartest rebel leader but his heart is in the right place.
Emotionally
After not really loving the first book, I didn’t know what to expect from the second book but I’m glad I enjoyed it a lot more.
The plot is dark. We’re back in Mytica with our eclectic cast of characters. Each are in different stages within the plot but they’re all constantly in danger. There are so many different things going on all at once that it almost became too much to keep up with. The rebel cause has started growing but they don’t have the man power or the courage to start making any real difference in their situations. The world itself and how the author built it in this book was a lot more in depth. We are traveling deeper into each kingdom so we get to see more of the lives of the people who aren’t directly in the plot. We’re also given a lot more insight into the magic system. The prophecy, what certain things are used for and how much each character knows about it all comes together and it’s really interesting to see how far apart but close they all are. Even with all of that, the plot was still slow in the beginning and I’m not completely sold on the story. The tension and high stakes are missing for me. There are so many different POVs that as a reader, I feel all knowing and that makes it so not even the plot twists surprise me anymore. I know there’s going to be a lot of deaths, I know things won’t happen the way they’re planned and it takes away from my overall enjoyment of the book. Yet I’m still intrigued and interested to see how things will play out in the next book.
Cleo is definitely much more tolerable in this book. She’s kind of between a rock and a hard place considering she’s basically a prisoner of war. She’s not as annoying because she is more focused on vengeance and getting her throne back but she gets easily distracted and lets boys cloud her judgement too easily.
Magnus is still an arrogant little shit head but we get to know a lot more of his personality and intentions in this book. He has a softer, kinder soul than he lets people see and I liked that contrast about him. But I’m still not sold.
Jonas is turning out to be a stupid hothead and that makes me kind of mad. I really liked him in the first book because I thought he had his shit together and was the smartest but this book destroyed that idea. He’s getting reckless, not thinking his plans through and it definitely costs him a lot. It makes him vulnerable to the evil he’s fighting which is not good.
I consider Lucia to be officially a crazy lady. The girl is turning out to be a psycho. She’s super powerful and everything but I think the power is controlling her instead of visa versa. And even with all of that, she’s still the most easily manipulated character in the entire series. And. It’s. So. Frustrating. Girl needs to get her act together and something needs to pop off with all these people.
Overall, I was hoping this series would be an instant favorite for me but it wasn’t. It took me a long time to be really invested in the story and into the characters. I wish it was more action packed because that’s how I like my fantasy but there is a lot of potential in the last few books to make it an explosive ending which I hope happens. I am thinking of trying to read the Book Of Spirits And Thieves trilogy as well since it feels like it has more elements than this one.
Getting better but damn some of these characters though
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Check out my series review for the first three books here: https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/series-review-falling-kingdoms-1-3-by-morgan-rhodes/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
much more exciting than the first one but still boring beginning, it’s full of action, betrayals, magic, violence and death, the folklore and legends are developed and expanded on, this one is also much darker than the first book, the world building is also much greater in this one
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
multiple and distinct POVs, visual, descriptive, engaging, easy to read, more fast paced though the beginning is still slow, the author tends to use declarations of love/romance and deaths as shock factors which become sort of predictable after awhile
Characters – 4 out of 5 stars
Cleo is definitely getting a bit of backbone in this book. She’s got her vengeful spirit on and she’s fierce against the people she does not like. However, she can get easily distracted from her goal by other things and she gets easily persuaded by other people. Yet I loved her determination and I hope she succeeds.
Oh Magnus. He’s still a little arrogant douche but he has a vulnerable side that is slowly coming out. He kind of gets kicked around a lot and he has a wounded pride. But he’s still fierce and determined to be a badass. But I don’t know how I feel about him completely.
Lucia just makes me want to give her a poor hug. She’s lost and vulnerable and doesn’t really have anyone to talk to. Her powers are beyond her control and there isn’t anyone around who can explain things to her but I feel like she will become a force to be reckoned with.
Jonas just can’t catch a break. He lets his emotions get the better of him and is always angry. He makes decisions and jumps into dangerous situations without thinking them through rationally. He’s definitely not the smartest rebel leader but his heart is in the right place.
Emotionally
Spoiler
There is so much hype for this series that I expected a lot more. The first book was underwhelming, the second one was a bit better and by the third one I realized I have a love/hate relationship with this series.After not really loving the first book, I didn’t know what to expect from the second book but I’m glad I enjoyed it a lot more.
The plot is dark. We’re back in Mytica with our eclectic cast of characters. Each are in different stages within the plot but they’re all constantly in danger. There are so many different things going on all at once that it almost became too much to keep up with. The rebel cause has started growing but they don’t have the man power or the courage to start making any real difference in their situations. The world itself and how the author built it in this book was a lot more in depth. We are traveling deeper into each kingdom so we get to see more of the lives of the people who aren’t directly in the plot. We’re also given a lot more insight into the magic system. The prophecy, what certain things are used for and how much each character knows about it all comes together and it’s really interesting to see how far apart but close they all are. Even with all of that, the plot was still slow in the beginning and I’m not completely sold on the story. The tension and high stakes are missing for me. There are so many different POVs that as a reader, I feel all knowing and that makes it so not even the plot twists surprise me anymore. I know there’s going to be a lot of deaths, I know things won’t happen the way they’re planned and it takes away from my overall enjoyment of the book. Yet I’m still intrigued and interested to see how things will play out in the next book.
Cleo is definitely much more tolerable in this book. She’s kind of between a rock and a hard place considering she’s basically a prisoner of war. She’s not as annoying because she is more focused on vengeance and getting her throne back but she gets easily distracted and lets boys cloud her judgement too easily.
Magnus is still an arrogant little shit head but we get to know a lot more of his personality and intentions in this book. He has a softer, kinder soul than he lets people see and I liked that contrast about him. But I’m still not sold.
Jonas is turning out to be a stupid hothead and that makes me kind of mad. I really liked him in the first book because I thought he had his shit together and was the smartest but this book destroyed that idea. He’s getting reckless, not thinking his plans through and it definitely costs him a lot. It makes him vulnerable to the evil he’s fighting which is not good.
I consider Lucia to be officially a crazy lady. The girl is turning out to be a psycho. She’s super powerful and everything but I think the power is controlling her instead of visa versa. And even with all of that, she’s still the most easily manipulated character in the entire series. And. It’s. So. Frustrating. Girl needs to get her act together and something needs to pop off with all these people.
Overall, I was hoping this series would be an instant favorite for me but it wasn’t. It took me a long time to be really invested in the story and into the characters. I wish it was more action packed because that’s how I like my fantasy but there is a lot of potential in the last few books to make it an explosive ending which I hope happens. I am thinking of trying to read the Book Of Spirits And Thieves trilogy as well since it feels like it has more elements than this one.