Review-Falling Kingdoms

This book was pitched as ideal for Game of Thrones (which I have never read) and Graceling (which I wasn't awestruck by like most people) fans but it sounded good and it was on of the Breathless Reads books, so I thought, why not ask for it?  It took me some time to get to it with school and all, and at first I wasn't sure about it because of the multiple POV that it bounced between.  The chapters were labeled by the kingdom the characters lived in, but as the characters moved around the kingdoms changed for all of them, which was jarring at first. Now that I'm finished with the book though I can say I did enjoy it more than I expected to.  I will admit I haven't read a lot of high fantasy, maybe 5 at most that I'm aware of, and it can be a little confusing to delve into a world that is so rich but different from ours.  The world was amazing, I was pleased with all of the characters most of the time, and with two male and two female narrators it will easily appeal to both sexes.  In the market today I feel like the spotlight is placed on romance in novels, which, don't get me wrong I love, but it's not out there.  I'm also under the impression dystopian is the new vampire novel, so some really great novels that don't fit that bill get pushed off to the side.  This book will probably turn into something huge, and I'm very pleased with that, because it's something that can be enjoyed by all (preferably by those 16 or older). I also wanted to say that despite the high fantasy element there were so many REAL things in this book, mostly the feelings.  There was SO much hate between the people in the three kingdoms, it was sickening at times.  Some may see this as a bad thing, but to me it was good for two reasons. One, books that make you feel things, especially ones that aren't set in real life are really rare, and so they should be celebrated.  And two, if you look at it, put things in modern times (and get rid of the magic) what is happening in the book is the same thing that's happening all around the world today.  Sometimes it takes fiction to help you see what is right in front of you on Earth, and even if that's no the point if even one person, like me, sees it that way, it could help change things.  The other small thing that bugged me was that there were modern swear words used, not many, I only counted three, but since it was pointed out to me by a bookseller I've been looking, and they stood out and rubbed me the wrong way when they popped up. But besides that I can't think of a reason why I didn't love this book, and I can't wait to see what happens next! I also highly hope there will be more than two books in the series.

Out December 11, 2012

4.5/5 dust spirits