Reviews

The Vanishing Throne: Book Two of the Falconer Trilogy by Elizabeth May

xtinemarieclaire_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense

5.0

juliapatt2007's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I zipped through this book just as quickly as the first and enjoyed the development of the characters. The reader’s imagination is stretched when Kam is trapped in the fae realm. This book didn’t end on as big of a cliff hanger as the first one but it still pulled me to read the third and final book ASAP 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

The Vanishing Throne added much needed depth to Aileana’s character, during the first book she was portrayed as a cold blooded killer desperately trying to avenger her mother’s murder. In the second book Kam (Alilean) works through her mother’s death and fights against her own demons. Her world begins to fall apart quite literally as the fae take over Scotland and the world. Kam’s relationship with Kiaran grows stronger and more physical throughout the book. Kiaran is fighting against his birthright as the king of the Unseelies and struggles with his human side he has created for Kam and his fae side, who he was born to be. Kiaran and Kam’s relationship does take a physical turn during this book but there is only one sex scene and the author mostly portrays the events leading up to and after the event. I felt that the author handled the scene appropriately for a YA audience and the scene added a dash of realism to the characters. It did feel much like Kam and Kiaran’s first kiss kind of a “Hey the world is ending and we like each other alot but neither of us know if we’ll live through it… so you wanna have sex?” Unlike some YA novels the couple’s relationship doesn’t fizzle out after having sex, like the only thing holding them together was the tension of promised intimacy.

priya_amrev's review against another edition

2.0

Did not finish. Not interesting enough right now.

crimsoncor's review against another edition

4.0

Biggest strength of this series continues to be its ability to avoid predictability. What would be a lot of stock characters in other hands, are dynamic and interesting here. Looking forward to the finale.

caitybell's review against another edition

4.0

While most of this book seemed a bit short in the plot department, I really enjoyed reading about the aftermath of the cliffhanger from book one. The main theme of the book is simply ‘survive’, and May’s weaving of Victorian steam punk with rich European folklore continues to be dazzling and thoroughly entertaining. Kam and Kiaran, go on to be a complex and heartbreaking couple—which gives me life! The accuracy in which May writes of trauma and PTSD is very insightful and quite frankly refreshing, it’s rare I read anything with trauma and feel like it was done well. There’s more action and many unveiled secrets in this one, I’m excited to see how this all comes to a close in the final book!

astots_22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

aranafyre's review against another edition

4.0

Way better than book one.

baileycowen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

eireen's review against another edition

5.0

Wow wow wow...

Setelah dibuat agak kecewa dan kesal dengan ending dadakan di buku pertama, ternyata buku The Vanishing Throne ini berhasil mengobati kekecewaan tersebut. Sungguh enggak menyesal memutuskan untuk langsung lanjut ke buku kedua.

Aku jauh lebih suka dengan sekuelnya kali ini dibandingkan buku pertama. Di sini emosi dan karakter si pemeran utama, Aileana, terlihat lebih berkembang. Chemistry antara Aileana dan Kiaran terasa lebih nyata. Aileana menjadi karakter yang lebih kuat, secara fisik maupun mental. I like her now.

Buku ini juga dipenuhi dengan banyak adegan action, bahkan mungkin lebih banyak dari buku pertamanya. Tak terhitung sudah berapa kali Aileana dkk angkat tangan dan pedang melawan musuh. Plot cerita pun jadi lebih menarik. Ada banyak banget misteri-misteri dan rahasia-rahasia di buku pertama yang akhirnya terpecahkan dan terjawab di buku ini. Kalau pas baca buku pertama rasanya lebih sering bertanya 'kenapa', di buku kedua kali ini jadi lebih sering berkata 'oohh'. :D

Tapi cerita Aileana ngga usai sampai di sini. Perjuangannya masih terus berlanjut di buku ketiga. Semoga buku berikutnya bisa sama baiknya atau bahkan lebih baik lagi dari yang ini. I have so much hope for the last book.

heatherlovesreading's review against another edition

5.0

One again THAT CLIFFHANGER!!

This book was even better than the first one. We got so many more details about the world, the faerie powers, and a new direction with the plot. And the complexity of the characters arcs were just amazingly increased. Getting the backstory for our main characters definitely helped pull me further into the story.

I'm so excited to see where things go next with some new powers at play!