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TheFandom Exclusive: A BOOK OF SPIRITS AND THIEVES Blog Tour, Plus Review

We present Morgan Rhodes and A Book of Spirits and Thieves Blog Tour

Today is TheFandom.net’s leg of Morgan RhodesA Book of Spirits and Thieves blog tour and we’re excited to share with you a few hypothetical questions we asked Morgan Rhodes regarding her characters from the novel.  And after, you can read my review of book one of the Falling Kingdoms spinoff trilogy.

1. If you were to be pulled into a magical land (aside from your own) through a book, which land would you most want to be pulled into, and which one would you least want to be pulled into?

I would love to visit the Harry Potter world (and not just the one in Orlando, which I’ve been to twice! FYI it’s awesome!). I would like to see magic for real and explore the halls of Hogwarts, visit Diagon Alley, have tea with the Weasleys, steal Hermione’s awesome TARDIS-like purse, and take some pictures of real dragons (from a safe distance). The world I’d least like to be pulled into…The Hunger Games. Even if Katniss was my BFF, it would still suck to experience that
world first-hand.

2. Since you’re a reality TV fan, which reality show would you like to see your characters be in?

I will like to see my characters from A BOOK OF SPIRITS AND THIEVES on Survivor. Crys and Farrell (from modern-day Toronto) would struggle. Especially rich-boy Farrell who’s used to limos and servants. They’d have to form an alliance with Maddox, from ancient Mytica, who is much more used to harsher living conditions, sleeping outdoors, and having no air-conditioning.

3. In your spinoff tale, Becca Hatcher gets somewhat whisked away into the land of Mytica. However, if Maddox was whisked to Toronto, what do you think would surprise him about modern-day Toronto?

As a boy who’s grown up in a land of evil goddesses, harsh laws, and death waiting around any corner, I think absolutely everything would surprise (and delight) Maddox. He’d probably assume magic is fully responsible for airplanes, iPhones, and television.

And there you have it!  Now read my review of A Book of Spirits and Thieves!

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**This book was graciously given to TheFandom in exchange for an honest review**

I admit it.  I had never read Morgan Rhodes’ Falling Kingdoms before.  I didn’t know anything about the land of Ancient Mytica and the people that ruled said land.  But it seems that I didn’t need to know any of that in order to read this book and understand what was going on.

Now, this is somewhat of a “spinoff” series, but I’m not sure I’d even label it as such. I don’t know if any supporting characters from the FK series is in this one, or if they’re mentioned in some way.  Aside from Mytica itself, that is.

What I believe is somewhat enjoyable in its unique way about this series is that Rhodes crosses two very different worlds together – that of Ancient Mytica and our very own modern day world, specifically the city of Toronto.  And it’s all through a special book that has some kind of power to make such a thing happen, hence the title.

The novel is from three points of views – two characters from Toronto, and one from Mytica.  We first find ourselves in Toronto through Crystal “Crys” Hatcher’s eyes.  We find out quickly enough that she’s kind of taken to doing things her own way, distancing herself from people, including her sister and mother, and finding only solace in taking pictures with her old Pentax camera.  But she wasn’t always like that as we find out more about her and her relationship with her family.

Then we meet Farrell Grayson.  He’s basically the type of person us regular folks don’t usually get acquainted with, either because he’s too rich to be bothered by us regular folks, he’s too snobby to be bothered by us regular folks, or he’s too hot to be bothered by us regular folks.  And yet, there’s something about him that us regular folks need to know more about.  The most promising factor about him is that he does care about his brother, so there’s that.

And lastly, we meet Maddox, a Mytica resident who apparently has magical powers, but being in Mytica, cannot reveal them in public for fear of being killed.  Sadly, you’ll find that he needs help in more ways than one, which he finally gets when he meets a girl in a rather unusual way.

How they are all connected is not really straightforward, which actually makes it all the more interesting and twisty, and though I’ve had a slow go at reading it, I did like that about it.  The story has twists and surprises and drama and humor and adventure.  And you get to meet a lot of supporting characters that really give the story more depth, including the siblings of both Crys and Farrell, and their parents as well.

Although Crys and Farrell do meet, it’s not the cute meet that you think it would be.  They have to deal with each other, but it’s their personal and familial issues that really connect them and not quite in a good way, either.  Crys is finding out stuff about her family that changes how she sees both her mother and father.

Farrell, on the other hand, is changing internally, and what he believes he is doing for good in the secret society he and his family have been involved in, is starting to look like something more sinister, only not to him.

Maddox, too, is changing, and learning and growing, and we get to see how all three change from the beginning of the book to the end.

I found this novel to be a fun read, and would probably pique the interest of those who liked the Percy Jackson series, although this is less humorous, but it’s still pretty adventurous and it doesn’t reveal its secrets too quickly.

There are major antagonists in the story as well, and it was intriguing how they’re connected.  They definitely have that evil-ness to them, but in an almost seductive and sophisticated way, to make people believe they’re doing good.

I don’t believe this book out to make a statement by being some kind of metaphor for our own world’s troubles or politics.  I believe it’s just a story that wants to entertain and maybe give you some protagonists that you’ll love because you admire them for what they’ve done.  And I think that’s just fine.  It’s always good to have good protagonists, or even characters that have problems and find ways to fix them.

I liked it for just being fun, and I think it’s a good first book of a trilogy.  I found Morgan’s writing to be simple and easy to read, not condescending or pretentious or preachy or dull.  But an exciting adventure with good plots and twists, and with easy-to-relate-to characters.  None of the feelings and relationships these characters go through and have feel forced, which is always a good thing.

If you find you don’t like one of the main characters, there are two others.  They are all pretty different in their way and the supporting characters are pretty interesting as well, so I think you’ll find at least one or two that you’ll really like.

Although it’s book one of a trilogy, there’s a sense of completion in this one while giving us something to look forward to in the second one without having the readers pull out their hairs having to wait another year or so for it.  I don’t know if this way of ending a book will happen after the end of book two, but I do appreciate getting that sense of completion after reading book one.  And I do appreciate that the story, from beginning to end, didn’t feel rushed at all.  It was refreshing.

See my rating below and add your own!  

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