Saturday, February 20, 2016

Audiobook Review: Frozen Tides by Morgan Rhodes

Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms, #4)Title: Frozen Tides
Author: Morgan Rhodes
Narrator: Fred Berman
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: December 15, 2015

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.


Warning:  There will be spoilers for the rest of the series in this review.  If you haven't read up through Gathering Darkness... you probably shouldn't have read the synopsis lol.  Another warning: I listened to these in audio form so I'm not sure how to spell everything.  Sorry if I derp it up.  Please don't jump down my throat.

So, where to begin?

Frozen Tides takes off right after the end of Gathering Darkness.  With the betrayal and death of Alexius, Lucia is grief-stricken and takes a turn for the dark.  Magnus and Cleo finally make it to the Limerian palace.  Nic mourns the loss of Prince Ashur and Amara heads back to Kraeshia with the water kindred.

Much of this book takes place in Limeros in contrast to Rebel Spring that is mostly in Auranos.  It's really cool to see more of this kingdom and some of the citizens.  They're not all crazy like King Gaius.  Some of them are super nice (like Lady Sophia).  And picturing it... It's such a pretty place.  I would never want to live there (all ice and snow), but it sounds beautiful.

As usual, the world-building in this series is on point.  And the characters grow a lot.  I totally loved the Magnus chapters.  Fred Berman does his voice in a wonderful Scottish accent, and he's just so dark and sassy and broody.  He's quickly become one of my favorite book characters.

Let's talk about the romance.  I was so sad with what happened at the end of Gathering Darkness.  I totally shipped Lucia and Alexius (and I'm still holding out hope that he will somehow come back).  So it was nice to have a little more romance added back in to Frozen Tides without it taking over everything.  Of course, I'm sure it didn't seem like that to Magnus.  Since everything he did was pretty much dictated by his love for Cleo.  Everything in this series has been leading up to this.  And I can't say how happy I am that it finally happened.

So what about Lucia?  Yea, she was pretty crazy for a while.  But it seems she may have sobered a bit.  Enough that I don't hate her anymore.

And that end?  What can I say about that end?  Total killer cliffhanger.  There was one aspect of it that I had suspected throughout the book (and was totally ecstatic for).  I mean because Amara's grandmother mentions that Ashur went to the apothecary at some point for a potion.  I just had that feeling that was what would happen.  I didn't think he would be so stupid to just leave himself so vulnerable to his greedy, power-hungry sister at the end of Gathering Darkness.  But even with my suspicions of that it's still a killer.  Gaius and Taran?  I don't know what to do.  I need the next book stat!

Overall?
This was amazing.  It was one of my favorites in the series and I absolutely cannot wait for the next book to be released.  Recommended to YA and fantasy fans alike.

1 comment:

  1. OOoh nice! I LOVE this series, but these endings! Man they kill me! I need a refresher though of Rebel Spring! Starting to think I need to just wait until the series is done and then binge the remaining! Morgan really knows how to leave us screaming at the endings here! LOL! Great review!

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