Loved the book! Disenchanted by the narrator :(

What made the experience of listening to Falling Kingdoms the most enjoyable?

The story, love, betrayal, witches, cruelty of kings, all the good stuff!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lucia. I feel like she has so much more to explore and she had a kind but strong-willed heart.

What didn’t you like about Fred Berman’s performance?

I don't understand why he read every characters lines with such staccato! Mostly what you hear is him taking a deep breath before every line. Then each line is delivered in a hurried rush of words. His narration of the book outside of characters lines is normal but when he speaks in character its harsh, short and gives no life to the character. I didn't connect with his performance at all, which was sad because I LOVED reading this book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I liked the scenes between Cleo and Jonas. I think they both surprised each other. I also like Lucia's scenes because that's where you see her come into her powers.

Any additional comments?

I just wish there was a different narrator. I just purchased the second book to read on my own but I don't think I'll be purchasing the audio book.

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1 person found this helpful

Surprisingly good!

Would you listen to Falling Kingdoms again? Why?

Yes, There is a lot going on in this book. Sometime I had to take it back to listen to it again but it keeps you listening to the end. And then wanting more. The only bad part was that the beginning was slow and kind of confusing till you get into the book. You need to know this book is about 4 different people in 3 different countries. They all come together but it takes time.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cleo,she goes through so much in this book that you can't help but root for her.

What about Fred Berman’s performance did you like?

He did a really good job.

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12 people found this helpful

Abandoned halfway

I realized this morning that I was dreading picking up this book where I left off.

I couldn't face yet one more character making a stupid, irrational decision. The iron hand of fate is making their decisions for them: there's no motive anywhere except that the author has arbitrarily decided that character X will do something dumb and character Y will respond illogically. I just can't take it any longer.

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6 people found this helpful

narrator ok

The narrator is a mouth breather, which made it unappealing to listen to. The story however is quite entertaining.

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I am always looking for some good fantasy books.

“Falling Kingdoms” by Morgan Rhodes was our second book club pick. I actually ended up listening to the audiobook more than reading the book itself. I will cover the audiobook towards the end because I have thoughts on that too.

I feel like I read this a bit late. I think if I would have read this when it came out, I probably would have been more impressed. Since I Read this years later, I feel like there is a lot better fantasy books out there. With that being said, I don’t think it was a bad book, just not the greatest.

I am always looking for some good fantasy books. I read a lot of dystopian but I like to mix it up with some fantasy and contemporary too. I have a desire to keep myself rounded. With this being my newest fantasy try I was wishing for more fantasy elements and less drama.

What I liked:

I love that two of the leads are women. I tend to find that a lot of fantasy books have male leads, so I do like when the genre gets mixed up a bit and there are female leads.
I love the cover. I do think this should count for something.
I am intrigued by the world. I don’t think the world building was terrific but I am very curious about it.
Magic. I want to know more.
What I disliked:

Why are there so many characters? I feel like “Falling Kingdoms” had way too many characters. I had a hard time trying to keep up with everyone. I feel like it didn’t give the reader enough time to get to know the characters.
So many different plots and sub-plots. I feel like this book had a lot of things going on. I didn’t know what to focus on. I was listening to the audiobook and I finally had to give up on keeping track of the kingdoms, so that way I could just try to keep track of the characters. It felt like every character had its own plot and several sub-plots. I think there is way too much going on.
The magic was confusing and not focused on much. I really want to know more. I hope it develops better.
All the blackmailing. I have never read a book with so much blackmail. Don’t the characters have better things to do?
Wrap up:

I am interested in the series enough to read the next one. I really hope that the story line improves because I am not impressed at this point in time. I feel like “Falling Kingdoms” is no where near as good as some of the other fantasy stories out there. Like I said, I am interested in finding out what happens next, so it does have that going for it.

The audiobook was really confusing in the beginning. I feel like I finally got a hang of it a few chapters in but it was very hard to keep track of all the characters and kingdoms on the audiobook.

“AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

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Very intriguing and fast paced

What did you love best about Falling Kingdoms?

I enjoyed every minute. The narrator did a superb job.

What did you like best about this story?

Different POV and moral ambiguity of the characters.

What does Fred Berman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Passion. He was able to make me believe he "was" the characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both.

Any additional comments?

Must read!

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10 people found this helpful

A struggle

My review is honestly more so about the series then the first book together. If I am being 100% honest, this book requires fighting to get through. The characters aren't developed at all, you will hear about a fairly minor plot point described 100 times in the exact same way, and will want to give up on the book. The romance is extremely forced between characters in the first two books, and one of those romances (which isn't a slow burn by any means) will continue to be brought up until the end of the series at this point.

That being said, don't give up. The first and second books almost lost me as a reader due to the problems stated above, but I had extra credits and needed something to listen to while driving, so I kept going. When you get to the later books the characters begin to have so much more to them and it really feels like Morgan Rhodes becomes much more comfortable in her writing style. This honestly becomes a strong series, and I would highly recommend this series to anyone, but again YOU WILL NEED TO FIGHT THROUGH THE FIRST BOOK AND A HALF MINIMUM before you really enjoy it.

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5 people found this helpful

Fabulous

It by far met my expectations! Such a thrilling fantasy. In the beginning I had trouble figuring out who was who between the kingdoms and characters but the story was so intriguing that I quickly caught on. I'll be diving in to book two straight away.

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Meh

The story is decent, character development seems okay, I liked it overall. the narrator was awful absolutely garbage, I rather read the book then waste my time listening to his trash voice. His girl to guy voice all sounded the same and hard to tell who was talking.

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"I'm not caught, but I'm biting"

I liked a couple of the characters a lot, most of them enough.

I liked that important characters died--I wasn't expecting most the deaths.

I liked the more or less unique take on elemental magic.

And I liked how I have no idea who is going to end up with whom, though I do have strong suspicions.

It wasn't my favorite, and I imagine I'd have taken forever to finish it if I hadn't gotten it on audio, but I did already order the second book--so four stars it deserves.

The narrator was quite often confusing to listen to. I think it was partly because there were so few he said/she saids, so conversations were hard to follow even between a girl and a boy.

I don't know. I just didn't like the narrator.

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5 people found this helpful