A review by timsreads
Frozen Tides by Morgan Rhodes
4.0
Actual rating: 3.75 stars
My main difficulty when it comes to reviewing books is that I normally do not have much to say but that is completely a non-issue when it comes to the Falling Kingdoms series. Till now, I have had a love-hate relationship with Rhodes' writing and I don't think that's ever going to change. There were many moments during Frozen Tides, especially in the beginning, where I was extremely annoyed at some of the characters that I was ready to stop reading this series once and for all.
However, one thing got me through, Magneo. If it weren't for this relationship I would not have bothered with this book. Also as I have said in my past reviews, I really wanted to know what was going to happen to all the characters in the book. I honestly hate that there are two more books to this series because that means I still have to wait until then to be finally rid of it. I am aware how strange it seems. Why put myself through so much pain when I obviously hate it? I ask myself that question every time a chapter starts with a character I absolutely cannot stand. Those characters are Lucia and Amara. These two had WAYY too much page count and I constantly wanted to skip their chapters. Instead, I just skimmed over them. It did not really affect my reading experience as a whole which was a relief because I'd hate to be confused later on because I misread something.
Another thing I hated was that everything seemed way too convenient and unrealistic. All our main characters were bumping into each other constantly. Like are you kidding me? How is that even possible? ALSO another insta-love between characters was presented to us. How very predictable. The author really can't go a book without inserting some BS romance plot(other than Magneo of course). At this point it's equally amusing and frustrating to me.
Nothing else can be said without spoiling so now I am going to start talking in depth about the storyline of Frozen Tides.
Sigh Magneo. What a beautiful couple Magnus and Cleo make. I love them so much and I can literally read about them all day. I am so glad that they are still together at the end of this book though I have no clue what's going to happen next. Looks like King Gaius is still alive and as long as he is I am sure he's going to keep them apart which is SO NOT COOL. I am excited to see what's next. I am a bit surprised that by the end of this book we still don't really know much about the king's mom and why he killed off all the witches in Limeros. I don't have any theories about it but if you guys do feel free to comment them below.
Also who was not at all shocked in the least that the woman that King Gaius fell in love with when he was Magnus' age was Cleo's mom. I knew it straight after reading the scene when his family went to visit Auranos. Something was vaguely mentioned about it and she finally confirmed it three books later. It's funny to think that if they weren't broken up because of his witch mom, then he would have been closer to the ring that allowed Eva to control the power of the kindred. Though I doubt she'd let him kidnap Lucia from her birth mom so in a way it made sense why Gaius' mom ruined their relationship. Another reason that she was right is that Magneo would not have existed which is simply unacceptable.
Speaking of Lucia, what a b-word she's become. That scene where she kisses Magnus in hopes of manipulating him into telling her where the magic stone wheel is I WAS SO MAD. When that doesn't work, she ends up using her powers to tell him the truth anyway. First off why the hell didn't she do that in the very beginning??? I mean if she still regarded him as his brother why would she kiss him knowing she could have just used her powers to get it out of him. Plus it only ends up hurting Magnus further which is unacceptable. Towards the end of the book, I felt an immense amount of pity towards her because of the lack of people she has to rely on. I mean she thought the Fire God was the one person she could trust not to manipulate her and it turns out she was wrong about that too. I think I like her more than I did in the beginning but it's pretty fragile so let's see what happens in the next book before I decide that I truly like her.
In my opinion, this entire series is filled with young power hungry royals who are all after crystals. Amara wanting to be the empress which she ended up being at the end. Remember how she was convinced that without the crystals she couldn't be empress? Well she's empress and married to King Gaius and yet still on the hunt for all the crystals. Magnus too wants the crystals because in the beginning he thought he needed them to be a good king and destroy his father. Cleo wants them to get her kingdom back. Everyone just wants the damn crystals. You know who doesn't want them? Jonas Agallon. He's such a sweetheart now and I feel so bad for the guy. I can't believe Lysandra was killed off. Now both his best friend and the girl he loves is dead. I am really interested in the reason behind Olivia being sent to protect him and can't wait to see what happens to him next.
My main difficulty when it comes to reviewing books is that I normally do not have much to say but that is completely a non-issue when it comes to the Falling Kingdoms series. Till now, I have had a love-hate relationship with Rhodes' writing and I don't think that's ever going to change. There were many moments during Frozen Tides, especially in the beginning, where I was extremely annoyed at some of the characters that I was ready to stop reading this series once and for all.
However, one thing got me through, Magneo. If it weren't for this relationship I would not have bothered with this book. Also as I have said in my past reviews, I really wanted to know what was going to happen to all the characters in the book. I honestly hate that there are two more books to this series because that means I still have to wait until then to be finally rid of it. I am aware how strange it seems. Why put myself through so much pain when I obviously hate it? I ask myself that question every time a chapter starts with a character I absolutely cannot stand. Those characters are Lucia and Amara. These two had WAYY too much page count and I constantly wanted to skip their chapters. Instead, I just skimmed over them. It did not really affect my reading experience as a whole which was a relief because I'd hate to be confused later on because I misread something.
Another thing I hated was that everything seemed way too convenient and unrealistic. All our main characters were bumping into each other constantly. Like are you kidding me? How is that even possible? ALSO another insta-love between characters was presented to us. How very predictable. The author really can't go a book without inserting some BS romance plot(other than Magneo of course). At this point it's equally amusing and frustrating to me.
Nothing else can be said without spoiling so now I am going to start talking in depth about the storyline of Frozen Tides.
Spoiler
Okay so let's start with the insta-love: Amara and Felix. After eight nights together, Amara was falling in love with the guy. EIGHT NIGHTS. Not even days okay NIGHTS where they barely even SPOKE. Amara has been with dozens of guys okay and somehow this one's the one that she falls in love with when they barely even KNOW EACH OTHER. It's so baffling to me. If this happened in the movies, it would be kind of acceptable because they are normally two hours long but there is no excuse for developing a poor romance plot time and time again. The only romance that she put any effort in is Magneo. It makes no sense and I am sure this won't be the last time we see this type of crap in her future books.Sigh Magneo. What a beautiful couple Magnus and Cleo make. I love them so much and I can literally read about them all day. I am so glad that they are still together at the end of this book though I have no clue what's going to happen next. Looks like King Gaius is still alive and as long as he is I am sure he's going to keep them apart which is SO NOT COOL. I am excited to see what's next. I am a bit surprised that by the end of this book we still don't really know much about the king's mom and why he killed off all the witches in Limeros. I don't have any theories about it but if you guys do feel free to comment them below.
Also who was not at all shocked in the least that the woman that King Gaius fell in love with when he was Magnus' age was Cleo's mom. I knew it straight after reading the scene when his family went to visit Auranos. Something was vaguely mentioned about it and she finally confirmed it three books later. It's funny to think that if they weren't broken up because of his witch mom, then he would have been closer to the ring that allowed Eva to control the power of the kindred. Though I doubt she'd let him kidnap Lucia from her birth mom so in a way it made sense why Gaius' mom ruined their relationship. Another reason that she was right is that Magneo would not have existed which is simply unacceptable.
Speaking of Lucia, what a b-word she's become. That scene where she kisses Magnus in hopes of manipulating him into telling her where the magic stone wheel is I WAS SO MAD. When that doesn't work, she ends up using her powers to tell him the truth anyway. First off why the hell didn't she do that in the very beginning??? I mean if she still regarded him as his brother why would she kiss him knowing she could have just used her powers to get it out of him. Plus it only ends up hurting Magnus further which is unacceptable. Towards the end of the book, I felt an immense amount of pity towards her because of the lack of people she has to rely on. I mean she thought the Fire God was the one person she could trust not to manipulate her and it turns out she was wrong about that too. I think I like her more than I did in the beginning but it's pretty fragile so let's see what happens in the next book before I decide that I truly like her.
In my opinion, this entire series is filled with young power hungry royals who are all after crystals. Amara wanting to be the empress which she ended up being at the end. Remember how she was convinced that without the crystals she couldn't be empress? Well she's empress and married to King Gaius and yet still on the hunt for all the crystals. Magnus too wants the crystals because in the beginning he thought he needed them to be a good king and destroy his father. Cleo wants them to get her kingdom back. Everyone just wants the damn crystals. You know who doesn't want them? Jonas Agallon. He's such a sweetheart now and I feel so bad for the guy. I can't believe Lysandra was killed off. Now both his best friend and the girl he loves is dead. I am really interested in the reason behind Olivia being sent to protect him and can't wait to see what happens to him next.