This time around, having established the characters and their plotlines in the first book, the story moved forward with more secrets being revealed.

The characters were equally fun to read and their chemistry was smooth.

This was such an anticipated read for me because the first book, Echoes and Empires, left us hanging. It was great to catch up with the characters and see the story progress through more action and secret reveals. I loved it!

Morgan Rhodes left readers itching for the sequel to her 2022 release Echoes and Empires. Now that it’s June 13th, fans of the first book finally get to read Legends and Liars, the conclusion to this duology. However, I got a sneak peek at it and I can’t say I was too happy with what I found…

Honestly, I was so excited for this book and thought I’d be able to dive right back into Josslyn’s world, but I found it a bit hard to get back into the story since it had been so long since I’d read the first book. I also think I expected a lot more depth in this book because I thought this series was going to be a trilogy, not a duology. Once I realized towards the end “Oh this is it. There’s not going to be a book three…” I found myself a little disappointed because I felt like there were so many think kind of glossed over or cast aside. I was expecting much more action and death, so I found this book to be pretty uneventful in the grand scheme of things.

Despite being a little disappointed in this book, the duology concludes pretty nicely and I’d definitely be interested in reading more of Rhodes’s books, but I just found myself wanting more excitement by the end of this book.

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.

I don't know what's up with me, but Morgan Rhodes books have not been as great since Crystal Storm released. I keep finding myself disappointed and craving that feeling I had went I first read Falling Kingdoms/the spinoff books. I'm unsure if its the genre and world of Legends and Liars that doesn't mesh well with me, but I cannot connect to any of the characters. Therefore, I'm DNF-ing this book. I'm rating it a 3 star as a neutral stance since I did not finish it. Maybe one day I'll check it out again. I'm currently in a YA Renaissance via my reading, so this was a very surprising fail.

I was ecstatic to receive the sequel on Netgalley because I loved the first one so much. I still enjoyed it even if it fell short of my expectations and wasn't as fantastic as the first one.

Without being repetitious, the author did a fantastic job of reminding the readers of the significant incidents from the first book. Returning to Jocelyn, Jericho, and all of the supporting cast was the nicest part. This installment's character development looked a little flat, but it was still entertaining.

There was romance, and it was excellent, but not as much as in the last novel. More "will they won't they" scenarios is what I would have preferred. At one point, it appeared as though they were together, but

3.5

I absolutely loved the first one so I was super excited to get the sequel. Although it did not live up to my expectations, and I didn’t find this one as good as the first one, I enjoyed it still.

The author did a great job reminding the readers of the important events from the first book without it being repetitive. The best part was being back back with Jocelyn and Jericho and all the side characters. The character growth seemed lacklustre in this instalment, but still enjoyable.

The romance was there and it was good, but lest angst then the last book. I would have wanted more “will they won’t they” moments. There was a point that they seemed like they were together, but they weren’t? I just wanted more.

My main gripe with this book was the plot points. There were scenes that seem unnatural, but was out there so a secret could be revealed or new information to be told in order to move the story along. It just felt forced and I natural.

This series isn’t for everyone. But I enjoyed it over all. I’m glad it was a duology because I felt like this book dragged a little (probably because there were so many random plot points.

Thank you to Penguin Teen Canada for an eARC of this book.

I liked the book ok. I wasn't absolutely taken with it and probably wouldn't read again. The story as a whole didn't piece together as well as I would have liked.


Thanks for the opportunity to review this book!

I was really looking forward to the sequel, which all in all was a good read. However I felt the world, characters lacking a bit more development, a bit more interesting plot.
Still enjoyable and the writing style of Morgan Rhodes’ is attention grabbing!

I enjoyed this book and I could not put it down. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing was really well done. It made you want to keep reading.

1.5/5 stars, it got better towards the end but I just couldn't get into this

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group & Razorbill for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

This book took me literally all of July to read because I just couldn't get myself to sit down and finish it, and I really just wasn't feeling enthused about it. The first book was also just sort of in the middle for me and didn't make me fall in love with the world or characters. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't able to either and I was left feeling disappointed at the end of this.

While Josslyn is still our main character, the story now involves lots more people and other magical beings to try to fix this memory magic she has stuck inside of her. There's also an internal struggle happening in the government that's affecting the main city. Frankly, the synopsis didn't sound more interesting than the last book, but I wanted to finish the series and see if it got any better because I had hoped it would. But the plot is really what the synopsis says, and that's it. Nothing felt surprising enough to be a big plot twist or something crazy in the story, even the ending was something I had predicted from the previous book. It was just...simple, and too simple at that.

Even the worldbuilding was lacking, while I did enjoy seeing magic in a kingdom that appears modern or urban fantasy that didn't translate as well into the second book. It felt like a normal fantasy book in a magical kingdom and when there were moments with technology and magic, it felt strange and pulled me out of the story. This could have been blended better and I just wasn't a fan of how the setting maneuvered around the plot in this book. I also really think that Morgan Rhodes' writing style doesn't work for me, at least in this series, I just find it really bland in comparison to other fantasy books and books in general that I've read. There's a lot of telling not showing in my opinion.

Finally, the characters were really nothing special, Josslyn was the same as she was in the last book and she isn't very interesting besides this weird magic she has inside of her. Jericho fell too far in my opinion into the "dark-haired morally gray character" because it really seemed like he had no other traits. He was also mean and rude sometimes for no reason and just, didn't click with the story in the way I wanted him to. Even the "villains" felt bland and like a second thought. Don't even get me started on the romance with no connection.

While the plot did pick up a little more around the 75% mark I couldn't justify giving this book any higher of a rating because of my dissatisfaction when I was reading it. It's not memorable even after a day, I'm beginning to forget things, and there are better fantasy books to read in my opinion. There were also so many loose threads left at the end of the book that should have been addressed, things were not fleshed out or thought of enough for this to be a crazy good book.

[TW: death and murder, fire, knife wounds, blood and gore, kidnapping, gunshot wounds]

I appreciated this follow up to the first! I tend to enjoy Urban fantasy and I feel like this put a fun twist on that that gave us a little fantasy and a little modernization. Legends and Liars gives the additional character development needed to push the story forward! We still got a solid and unique magic system that was fun to see. I wish there had been more of the fun flirty banter that we got in the first book. I just feel like I lost some of the chemistry that had me turning page in book one. I also wished some of that quick paced action would have been there from book one. There was a little too much meandering for my taste but I think it was still a good storyline with some nice closure. All in all it was a fun, easy read and YA readers will appreciate this solid addition to the series. Thank you penguin for my ARC.

I really loved the first book, but this sequel let me down just a bit.. I found the character interactions to be forced and a let down overall. I wanted more from this story to make it more rounded.

This sequel was a bit of a letdown for me. I loved the first book but found this one to be flat by comparison. The romance didn’t really do much and I felt like both MCs reverted back to their “before they were in love” personalities way too much. Additionally, the flow of the story was really slow at some parts and too fast in others. Everything fell into place too easily.

I still love Morgan Rhodes’s writing but this was not my favorite of her books.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was alternating between skimming and cringing through this book. The romance was forced and the characters were all so one dimensional and "woe is me". The first one wasn't my favorite but i thought I'd give the sequel a chance and it didn't work. out.

I really liked this series and the first book was amazing. This one kind of fell flat for me. I felt like it wasn't as action packed as the first one and it isn't really sticking in my memory. What really brought down my rating was the ending. I didn't like how everything was resolved and it just seemed way too easy. I also feel like the story would've benefited from an epilogue a few months or years later to show what happened to the world after the big reveal in the end of the book.

I was so excited to read this sequel and it absolutely lived up to my expectations. The flow and character growth was outstanding. Getting to see how these characters have changed over the books has been so gratifying.

So before I start this review I want to say that I absolutely loved the Falling Kingdoms series and while I thought book one of this series was just ok, I figured that it would get better like the falling kingdoms series did but unfortunately for me it didn’t. I liked how Joss grew more as a character from the first book but the rest fell pretty flat to me. The world building was never really built upon so I was still confused about that from the first book, nothing really happened and the “big” reveal at the end was pretty predictable. I also didn’t like the romance in this book and felt it was a little lacking from the first one. Overall this one was fine but I was just expecting more

June 13, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 STARS

This is book 2 in a YA modern fantasy duology.

Synopsis:
Picking up right where it left off, Joss tries to find a way to rid herself of the magic inside her. As secrets are revealed through the echoes, she begins to realize she might be able to control the magic and it can actually help her.

I liked this book a little better than the first one. I think Joss’ character was much more developed and was more likable to me. The magic system and concept of the echoes were unique and I really liked that part. I didn’t even mind the rushed ending because it would have been too long of a book if things were explained more.
If you are looking for a YA fantasy set in a modern world, you will like this one.
I will be reading her other books for sure!

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the ARC! 🖤

Reviews Posted June 12, 2023
Goodreads
Storygraph

I think that this book suffered from a second-book slump. I expected the high I felt from the first one to carry on in this one, but things just kept falling flat. The plot was just intriguing enough to see me turning the page, but I get that much of it was predictable or just needed for the larger picture. For how much was happening to the characters, I just didn’t think that they developed enough or that I got to know them any better. The romance also felt off and awkward to me and that probably pulled me out of the story the most.

Overall I think this book was just okay. There is nothing about it that was bad, but nothing was great either it was all just fine.

Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Teen Canada, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having fled the palace with Prince Elian in tow, Josslyn and company have made their way to Jericho Nox’s boss Valery, a powerful witch, in the hope that she will have a solution for them both. A way to remove the memory magic from Joss and a cure for Elian’s death magic induced condition. But when it’s clear that Valery isn’t interested in helping, Joss is determined to find the cure herself, and in the middle of all this, she begins to realize that she might be able to control the memory magic which is revealing increasingly interesting and critical secrets to her – including a hint of a staggering royal secret that could prove to be the answer to all their problems.

This was one of the highly anticipated sequels on my TBR this year, so I was very excited to get an early copy (though the formatting was terrible and slowed down my reading pace horribly). I had some doubts going into this book because I read the first book over a year and a half ago and didn’t recall much, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared.

Plot-wise I feel like there wasn’t too much going on, I could probably sum up the entire book in half a dozen lines or so and most of the time was taken up going from place to place with the real work of solving the problems the characters have run into happening in approximately the last quarter of the book.

The world building was better this time around and the magic system made more sense though it was still pretty vague with not much explanation of the details. The magical realism type world was a bit jarring to me previously but not as much with this one, and I remembered more from the first book than I realized, so it was easier to slip back into the world and characters.

This was pretty fast-paced throughout and the narrative never dragged at any point, making it a quick and easy read.

Joss definitely came a long way from the spoiled girl we met at the beginning of Echoes and Empires, there was some great character development in her arc. I also loved her friendship with Celina and how it stayed so strong even through all the craziness. Jericho felt much the same to me in this book as the last, I didn’t feel like there was much growth for his character though I did like how his and Josslyn’s romance arc was developed and I wish there was more page time devoted to it. It would have been nice to see more of a sibling dynamic between Elian and Joss as well but the tone of their scenes didn’t really change much from the first book despite this new knowledge.

The ending was way too rushed in my opinion. The big reveal of the secret that the queen had been keeping could have easily been a starting point for a third book in this series, and with how the narrative was moving, I fully expected this to turn out to be a trilogy even though it was already announced as a duology. The secret itself honestly wasn’t that big of a surprise – it was pretty logical conclusion to draw based on what had been revealed up to that point. Regardless, things moved extremely quickly after this and while all the loose ends were wrapped up in a manner more or less satisfactory, the last couple of chapters were a very hurried conclusion.

Overall, Legends and Liars was a fun ride, but I feel that this plotline had much more potential and this book felt more like this middle book in a trilogy than a finale. If you liked the first book, I would definitely recommend picking up this sequel! I’m looking forward to seeing what Morgan Rhodes will write next.