Member Reviews

If you love fantasy, forbidden magic and adventure then this book should be under your radar. I've read this book before it came out and it's one of ghe good reads I've picked up along the way!

Was this review helpful?

I liked parts of this story but overall it missed the mark for me. The writing was not great to me. Certain words were overused which is one of my pet peeves as it is distracting and I'll notice it more and more and it takes me out of the story.. Not a favorite for me, but could be good for middle school low level fantasy readers.
Full review to come on YouTube.

Was this review helpful?

5 stars for a gorgeous setting, but I ended up DNFing this book because I found the main character to be so incredibly annoying. Maybe she would grow to be less self-centered as the book progressed, but I just couldn't bring myself to read more than the first few chapters because the main character was so self-absorbed...

Was this review helpful?

I ended up having to DNF this title.

The story idea was really cool but I just couldn’t find myself caring about the characters or what happened.

I might pick this up again to give it another try because I was mostly enjoying the writing style.

Was this review helpful?

SUCH a good fantasy. Secret identities, a touch of romance, and an adventure for the ages! I can't wait for book 2 to come out!!

Was this review helpful?

This was a great, compelling fantasy read! I think I'm running on fantasy burnout right now, so I couldn't appreciate it quite as much as it deserved, but I think the right reader would have a very good time with this one. Thank you for the opportunity to read it!!

Was this review helpful?

This book was good but some parts felt a little long. I loved the magic aspect of it all and the character and where the plot was going. I just felt like it was missing something. It was still pretty good though.

Was this review helpful?

Living in a world where magic is banned what could go wrong. Josslyn is a socialite one day she possesses magic that comes with memories of an evil sorcerer. Along side Jericho, Josslyn begins this adventure to get rid of said magic. The world building is so intriguing. All the trials they must overcome have you going through these pages so quick.

Thank you PenguinTeen for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

A decent YA fantasy that has some things going for it and is a quick, fairly fun read, but isn't a standout. Echoes and Empires is the start of a new high-drama fantasy series set in a more modern feeling world technologically, but with royalty and magic alongside. Or rather, the royalty is trying to destroy all traces of "evil" magic. We follow a privileged young woman whose life is turned upside down by an encounter with a thief and the magic contained in a box.

This book is trying to do a LOT of things and is clearly setting us up for a twisty series. However, while most of it was competent, nothing was spectacular, probably because it's got so much going on. There were parts of the book that dragged. The characters and tropes feel typical rather than fresh, and most of the plot points were as expected. That said, the ending is very solid and really makes use of all the work the book has done developing characters, revelations, and twists so that we're left in a pretty interesting place for book 2. This has the potential to develop into a very interesting series, even if this installment was a bit lackluster.

Overall, a mixed bag, but a pretty fast and enjoyable read that I think many readers could enjoy. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Was this review helpful?

Ok so here’s my thing: when I review a book I base my review off of my overall enjoyment of that book- was I entertained? Was I invested? Did I want to keep reading? And in this case, yes yes and yes.

So while a lot of the plot points and twists in Echoes and Empires I could see coming a mile away- and this can definitely be considered ‘generic YA’- it was still overall a very riveting, engaging story with phenomenal character arcs and a lot left to explore.

And there’s nothing wrong with generic YA, I love and crave generic YA, it’s a comfort of sorts to know there’s a pattern you can follow along on while still enjoying a very interesting take on certain components of the YA genre.

What I’m trying to say is I really enjoyed Echoes and Empires. The corrupted empire with their prejudiced, brain washed ways here was done cleverly well with amazing character development that further signifies the message. Not to mention an amazing enemies to lovers romance and unexpected allies I actually did not see coming. The ending also left me absolutely burning with the need to read the sequel immediately BUT as E&E just released I will instead be eagerly counting down the days until a release is announced 😭

I highly recommend if you’re a fan of ya tropes such as- forbidden magic, ‘help me help you so we can be rid of each other’ enemies to lovers, and many many other amazing tropes I will omit due to spoilers- then this is your book!

Was this review helpful?

Echoes & Empires is about Josslyn, the daughter of the former prime minister, who lives in a world where magic is strictly forbidden. She gets caught up in a theft gone sideways and the book is mostly about how she copes with what happens afterward.

I have mixed feelings about this book; I honestly think it was just an okay read. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing special, either.

To be fair, a lot of my issues with this novel start with me. Usually, I’d just dump this extra info under my “Setting the Scene” section, but there’s a lot this time and I think it deserves a proper explanation.

I’m a mood reader that was going through yet another reading slump in December when I started reading Echoes & Empires. And because this was set to be published in early January, I forced myself to read it before my NetGalley ARC expired. Did I mention I’m a mood reader? Yeah, that’s an automatic barrier this book had to clear and it didn’t do the best job of it.

I wasn’t in the mood to read it and the storyline and characters didn’t help. I thought of DNFing it because I had such a difficult time getting through the first few chapters. Thankfully, the novel did pick up a little after the halfway mark, but not before I may or may not have already desperately peaked at the ending. Which was, of course, a mistake. It ruined one of the major plot twists of the book and didn’t really help encourage me to continue reading.

It wasn’t just my mood that affected my reading experience of Echoes & Empires – my expectations certainly didn’t help. Let’s just say I made some assumptions about the story based on the synopsis and none of those assumptions turned out to be true. Needless to say, there is a direct correlation between my disappointment with this book and how its synopsis sells it.

And finally, I’ve been enjoying more upper YA and NA books lately – I’ve just been having a harder time connecting with and enjoying stories about younger characters. Echoes & Empires kind of skews younger YA to me. Both the writing and the maturity of the main character feel slightly more simplified and immature. Which is interesting given the ages of the characters – I’m pretty sure our female main character and her male love interest are around sixteen and nineteen, respectively.

If you plan to read Echoes & Empires, I strongly advise that you both A) don’t read the synopsis (or base your expectations on it) and B) don’t skip to the end. Learn from my mistakes.

My weird personal issues aside, there are still some elements of Echoes & Empires I enjoyed and disliked that are more related to the book itself and not me, as a reader. Starting with our main character.

I think the main reason why I feel “meh” about the book as a whole is because that’s exactly how I feel about Joss. I don’t hate her, but I definitely don’t like her either. I enjoyed watching her grow a bit through the novel, but that’s about all I liked about her. She’s kind of shallow in both personality and how she’s written. To be fair, if I remember correctly, she’s sixteen, but I just wish she didn’t make being self-absorbed her main personality trait.

The world-building didn’t help either. There wasn’t a lot of it and when it was discussed, it was mainly your typical “magic is evil” speech. The magic wasn’t too magical, especially when it’s responsible for a lot of info-dumping about the kingdom. There just wasn’t really anything about it to make it stand out from all the other magical YA worlds where magic was banned, except for Jericho, the male love interest, and his relation to magic.

Now that, that, I can get behind. Not so much Jericho, because like with Joss, I don’t have any particular feelings about him. But how he got involved with magic is so fascinating and part of an overarching mystery I want to solve. I wish that was explored more instead of kept kind of on the back burner. Then again, looking back, Echoes & Empires kind of just feels like a long setup for its sequel, which will hopefully spend more time focusing on that topic.

I can’t believe I’m saying this after the rocky start I had, but I’m kind of excited to read the sequel. The second half was more interesting and I had a nice time seeing all the pieces of the slow beginning fall into place. And the cliffhanger at the end (which I spoiled for myself) was an interesting conclusion. Despite the fact that I didn’t particularly enjoy Echoes & Empires, it definitely makes me curious about what’s going to happen next. I may or may not read the sequel if I remember it.

IN CONCLUSION…
Echoes & Empires is a nice quick read but nothing too special, except for the mystery surrounding Jericho, the main love interest, and his magic.

Was this review helpful?

Echoes and Empires was a fun surprise! In this world, magic is considered dangerous and is very illegal. When Josslyn Drake and Jericho Nox cross paths she learns just how sheltered she'd been in her life and what all is truly out there. This book is a lot of fun and keeps you guessing, Rhodes manages to keep the typical tropes refreshed so that everything isn't predictable.

Was this review helpful?

A new series by Morgan Rhodes is an automatic must read. Echoes and Empires is definitely attempting to set up a new epic fantasy series but it fell a bit flat for me. Joss wants nothing to do with magic but walks in on a thief attempting to steal magic - but she ends up breathing it in. They team up - classic enemies to lovers story.
Magic is forbidden is a wonderful trope that I’m finding I love to read about and I think had some fun aspects but too much is going on. There are some twists that could set up book 2 being a better story - so I look forward to seeing how it all progresses.

Was this review helpful?

Initial Thoughts
I loved Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes and I loved that series so much, I binged all six books in like 4 days. I was super excited to see Morgan was diving into a new series.

Some Things I Liked
Sci-Fi elements. This was an unexpected twist. Falling Kingdoms was so clearly fantasy that I was almost expecting Echoes and Empires to be in the same vein. I was very excited to see this departure.
Thought provoking elements. I loved that the society and the world building filled me with questions and was super thought provoking. I can't wait to keep reading about this world and I think this is a super strong start to a longer series.
Enemies to lovers romance. I always love this.

One Thing I Wasn't Crazy About
A touch predictable. The plot twists and reveals were not shocking enough for me. I feel like I saw both major reveals coming from the jump and wished there had been a bit more surprise.

Series Value
I'd definitely keep reading. I have a lot of unanswered questions and am eager to know more about this world.

Final Thoughts
I really liked this book and I think it's very different from Falling Kingdoms. I can't wait to keep reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Was this review helpful?

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Young Reader's Group for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book was a DNF for me at around 30% and I will not be continuing with it. The main character, in my opinion, was pretty insufferable. I found myself rolling my eyes every time she spoke, and since it's 1st person POV, you were in her head literally all the time. In addition to that, the writing felt a little bit clunky and was just not for me at all.

Was this review helpful?

This book was a delightful surprise! We follow Josslyn Drake, who lives in a world where magic is considered dangerous, volatile and definitely illegal. But when she crosses paths with Jericho Nox, she learns she has been living in a bubble and that nothing is what it seems. Even though this book features a lot of the common YA fantasy tropes, Rhodes twists them and makes them entertaining and refreshing. I really couldn’t put down this book after I got into the world, and I’m so, so excited for the sequel! I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen and Net Galley for giving me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is one of the best fantasy books I've read recently -- I've been having more trouble finding stories that I couldn't put down, but this one was awesome and had me hooked. I liked the characters; the main character was a little annoying at the beginning but became more likable throughout the book, and I loved Jericho. We all love the morally grey, troubled love interest, right?

I liked the idea of outlawed magic not being as evil as the main character thought. The whole "illegal magic" thing was done well and overall Echoes and Empires was unique. One main thing I look for in books is that they don't remind me too much of other plots I've read, and this one definitely met the criteria.

I highly recommend Echoes and Empires! It's a great fantasy that isn't too hard to understand -- there's just enough worldbuilding without being overwhelming -- and moves quickly, and the characters are likable and interesting.

Was this review helpful?

I loved the blend between fantasy and modern world. There was a lot left that I cant wait to read in the next book and I hope the love interest develops more, I love a good enemies to lovers trope. What i truly appreciated about this book was the pacing. This book did well in still world building but not making the entire first book about that.

Was this review helpful?

There is a lot going on in this story which lead me to believe it will be the start of a longer series. Most of the book was good but some parts did drag on. Overall there is nothing spectacular about this book. The last few chapters and ending though are where it got better for me and I found I was more engaged. Hopefully that sets it up for more engaging sequels!

Was this review helpful?

****DNF.

I decided to stop reading this book because I had no interest at all in what was happening. I didn’t care for the characters, plot, setting, nothing. It was very bland and just not enjoyable. I also really really hated the main character. She was very annoying. I made it 55% through and I didn’t want to keep wasting my time.

Was this review helpful?