I really like the premise of the story - an empire where any use of magic is deemed dangerous and forbidden. Josslyn - the MC and daughter of a former primer minister - is accidentally infected by magic and has visions of a warlock the Empire's Queen is set on destroying. With her life in danger, she seeks out the help of Jericho, a thief who has secrets of his own. There's some interesting twists and turns in the plot - some expected and others not.

Though I thought the premise of the book was really interesting, the writing style fell a little flat for me. It felt choppy and kind of rushed and I ended up skimming a lot of it. And the dialogue also felt kind of childish at first. (I do have to say that it felt like it improved the further I got into the book.) It was a pretty quick read though and I managed to get through it in a couple of hours.

The world-building was also a little on the weak side (I didn't really catch on to the time period). And I wasn't really sure how to feel about the romance. I love enemies-to-lovers but it felt like this was also a bit rushed and could've been developed more.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada for giving me the chance to read and review this E-ARC. This review will be posted to Goodreads, My Instagram, and Various Shops (Amazon Canada/Barnes & Noble/ Indigo Canada).

Echoes and Empires was a delightful and solid fantasy book. Josslyn was a fun character to read about, and Rhodes brings forth a fun cast of characters in this novel. All the characters, especially Josslyn and Jericho's' personalities, stood out in this book. I enjoyed following Josslyn and Jericho around this fictional universe.

The best parts of this story were the beginning and the end. I did enjoy the middle, but I felt it slowed down a bit in pace. I was hooked on the storyline and the character development. The storyline was also a bit predictable for a YA read.

I loved that the setting of this book was in a universe similar to our own. It had boutiques and modern technology. I also enjoyed how magic was portrayed in this novel. Josslyn viewed magic as bad, and Jericho was not against magic. These opposing viewpoints on magic helped to set the characters apart in tone.

The romance was probably my favorite part of Echoes and Empires. I'm curious to see how it will further develop in book two. This story plays on the amazing slow burn and enemies to lovers trope.

Overall, Echoes and Empires was a fun and quick read. The romance plays on the amazing enemies to lovers and slow-burn tropes. It was a solid fantasy read, and I'm excited to see what will happen in the sequel.

Josslyn Drake knows three things about magic: it’s rare, it’s illegal, and always fatal. When Josslyn is caught up in a robbery gone wrong at the Queen’s gala and involuntarily infected by a dangerous piece of magic that allows her to step into the memories of the world’s infamous evil Warlock responsible for the death of her father, Josslyn is thrown into her worst nightmare.

Desperate to rid herself of the magic before anyone finds out and has her executed, or worse, the magic has enough time to corrupt her, Josslyn finds herself striking a deal with the enigmatic criminal, Jericho Nox, who was responsible for the robbery that started this whole mess. In exchange for the magic he was supposed to steal, Jericho will help her find someone who can extract it from Josslyn. Though neither party is thrilled, Jericho and Josslyn soon learn that what they thought they knew of the other isn’t the whole truth. And when things go from dangerous to deadly, they need to learn to trust each other, despite the secrets keeping them apart. In an empire built on lies, the truth may just be the weapon they need to get out of this alive.

It’s just so lovely to live in a world where a new Morgan Rhodes book is a thing that’s happening. As long-time fan of Rhodes and avid devourer of the Falling Kingdoms series (and still weeping that A Spirit and Thieves never got its justified last installment), I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Echoes and Empires. And I was not disappointed.

Josslyn’s the daughter of the late former queen’s advisor who, thanks to the queen’s benevolence and her best friend who’s the daughter of the current queen’s advisor, has lived a very privileged life so far. Of course, Josslyn has her insecurities and problems but she hides them well behind faked smiles and an extravagant attitude. I can’t quite explain it, but the beginning of this book read like a supernatural Gossip Girl: Josslyn, who’s desperate for people to only see what she shows them, learns that her so-called friends regularly talk behind her back and pity her—not for the very public and painful loss of her father after an attack, but because of the way she acts. Having that sting followed by being caught up in a robbery that leaves her infected by magic—the one thing that could not only ruin her reputation but cost her her life—isn’t exactly what you’d call a walk in the park.

Despite that dilemma, though, Josslyn is a headstrong, stubborn, and fierce character. Watching her try to come to terms with everything that’s happening to her and finding ways to fix it truly is an adventure all on its own.

Then, of course, there’s the unlikely alliance between Josslyn and Jericho that captivated me from the very beginning. I’m a sucker for forced proximity and having to work together when all you want is to rip each other’s heads off and this dream team certainly delivered. Jericho’s dark wit and hidden past made him as enigmatic as enticing. Pair that with his wrong beliefs about Josslyn who has depths to her that no one really knows about and you have one hell of a communication problem. On the other side, we have Josslyn who’s been told her entire life that magic is the devil incarnated. Having to deal with the disillusionment of her beliefs while also discovering new things about herself all while being dragged through the mud to find someone who can help her get rid of this magic kept me on my toes the entire time I was reading. This, in parts, is attributed to the hilarious back and forth banter—or squabbling—Jericho and Josslyn have got going. I loved how the seriousness of this novel—Josslyn basically adapting to a new reality and Jericho running out of time to get his hands on the magic for his employer—was infused with the two of them wanting to have the last word in every interaction. Safe to say, I can’t wait to see how their relationship is expanded on in future installments.

What I think I liked most about this book was the pacing. Firsts in fantasy series can be boggled down by info dumping or stretched endlessly to keep enough space for the sequels, but this felt like such a well-rounded novel. There was never a dull moment on Josslyn and Jericho’s journey and yet, the reader does get some “breathers” between shocking reveals. And speaking of shocking reveals, Echoes and Empires proves that Rhodes’ still got it when it comes to unpredictable plot twists. While I guessed one pretty early on, I was so focused on that upcoming reveal that I was completely blindsided by a few others that happen in here.

Beyond the incredible characters, the snarky yet undeniable chemistry and intrigues and lies that go well beyond Josslyn’s widest imaginations, the world this story is set in of course also delivers. Rhodes manages to paint a clear picture of the setting of this novel (and of the places Josslyn and Jericho end up during their quest) and invites readers into a truly fascinating world. It’s a sort of effortless world-building that’s so easily palatable and truly my favorite in fantasy. Rhodes doesn’t forfeit complex magic systems or place descriptions but instead makes them such an intricate part of the story that you feel like you get to know the characters through the setting, which I really appreciated. All in all, Echoes and Empires was an amazing read. Rhodes’ talent of captivating readers with her authentic characters and unexpected twists is as present as ever and I can’t wait for the sequel!

With an enemies-to-lovers romance, heaps of deceit and plot twists that will leave you reeling, Echoes and Empires is a promising first installment in Rhodes’ new YA fantasy series. Intoxicating, eye-opening, and magical, Echoes and Empires is perfect for fans of headstrong heroines and witty bad boys banding together to make some magic!

Thank you to penguin teen for the opportunity to read an early copy for my honest review!

Joss Drake is a name everyone in the Empire knows. She’s the daughter of the former Prime Minister who was murdered by a powerful sorcerer. Magic is outlawed and anyone possessing it are executed by the Queen. So when an accident happens and Joss is possessed with magic, she must flee with a thief, Jericho, to help her extract the magic before she is found and killed. But she possesses a powerful memory one of the very powerful Banyon who all want dead. The memories show her that not all she grew up to believe is true and maybe the Queen herself is the evil one.

I really liked the concept of this story and I’ve heard Rhodes books were high in fantasy, but sadly this story fell flat for me. The world building was weird. We have modern day but set in a half in-between the past and now. I get where she was trying to go but it wasn’t executed as best as it could have been. What also was hard for me was the repetition. I swear one chapter was the repeat of the same thing but on different ways.. we get it, move on! Like how many times do you need to tell is she wants the magic out and he doesn’t want to be where they are. Because of that it took me till after 40 percent to even get into the story. It was like a back and forth bat intern game of me enjoying the story to irritated with it. In the end the adventure and the slow building romance saved it for me

All in all, I probably would have enjoyed this book if I was a bit younger

Want to kick that fantasy slump that you feel into in 2o21? This is the book to do it with.

We follow Josslyn, the daughter of the former Prime Minister in a world where magic is illegal. She is a socialite, high in elite society, and a favorite of the queen. While at the Queen's Gala, she accidentally interferes in a robbery of a object that contains magic. When the magic is released and somehow ends up inside of Josslyn, she must work with Jericho, a criminal and Blackheart, who claims he will help her get rid of the magic.

This book is so well paced and every part of it was entertaining. There was never a moment in which I was bored or wished that the pacing was different. The revealing of information and the different turns in the plot are placed throughout that make it so that something new is always happening or being revealed. I just cannot say enough good things about how this book was written. There are also very unique elements that I'm so excited to see unfold.

Let's get to the characters. I love when one character is completely ignorant of magic and the other character is completely immersed in the magical world and that is exactly what is happening in this book. Both characters are also very sarcastic which makes for some *chef's kiss* banter. They are also flawed. This can be a thing that authors sometimes forget to include in fantasy books, but both Josslsyn and Jericho are flawed in such human ways that it made them more relatable and so enjoying to read about. I love that there are characters that play a very major role in the story yet you never meet them or they are in the book for only a few pages. I'm also verrryyyyy excited to see how they will interact with Josslyn and Jericho and the story in the next book.

My biggest issue with this book is the lack of world building. Besides the fact that magic is illegal and basic information about the royal family and the Primer Minister aspect of the government not much of the rest of the world is explored. Personally, I love good world building as it feels so much more immersive. I would love to see an expansion of the world in the sequel.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Well, well, well, color me surprised that I actually like this book. I definitely had some hesitation since I didn’t care for Rhodes’ Falling Kingdom series (I tried really hard to!), but overall I was very satisfied with this first installment of the series and enjoyed it.

I liked the mixture of modern (cars, photographs, electric lights) and fantasy (mainly magic). I’ll admit it was hard to like Josslyn in the beginning, as she sort of had that “I’m better than you” attitude. She and Jericho both were a bit annoying but their banter was really good. There is a strain of romance between the two but it didn’t feel like there was enough substance to make me believe they actually liked each other behind friendship.

This book definitely keeps you on your toes. I always find it interesting to read fantasy books where magic is seen as “wrong” or “evil” since so much fantasy encompasses the use of magic as a main plot line somewhere. So of course what happens to Joss leaves me guessing and I definitely didn’t see any of the rebels coming at all; it kept me on my toes and really made the book engrossing.

I’m intrigued enough to want to read the second book when it releases. However I wanted more world building and to find myself more captured by the setting. I hope we get more of that in Book 2.

I grew up reading Morgan Rhodes in 2012 and beyond, so it was a big deal to see her new duology releasing in 2022. I'm very honored to have received this eARC early because as a tween, I never would have guessed that I'd read her fantasies before they were published.
Anyway, I'll admit— I had very high expectations going into this novel. I think my overall enjoyment stemmed from me comparing this book to the Falling Kingdoms series, which is NOT GOOD of me to do. I know. I know. I couldn't help myself! The biggest difference is the personality of characters. Josslyn is the orphan of the previous Prime Minister, who was sadly assassinated roughly a year prior to the book's start. She's everything one would assume of a child of her status: spoiled rotten. She even references herself as one at some point within the novel. Now Cleo from Falling Kingdoms was the exact same with a bit of a spoiled, naïve streak to her nature. I don't dislike that trait in young adult characters (love growth in this household), but for some reason, Josslyn's shift into a more rounded character seemed very sudden, not natural. It felt awkward and off-putting. Maybe this has to do with how Josslyn handled the information given to her. She just jumped back and forth a lot in her beliefs, which can be understandable, but also, who believes in the opinions of people they only have known for a few days or at most two weeks? NOT ME.
Moreover, I feel like this novel suffers from set up syndrome. I'm incredibly excited for the sequel. The villains, not-so villainous characters, and even the mysterious witch for Jericho have me intrigued to my core. I wish we could've skipped over the middle plot of this novel and jumped straight into the reveals and interactions of all the characters in the castle. It just felt drawn out and unimportant compared to the beginning and end. The memories still could've been drawn out within the palace walls or something along those lines.
Again, the sequel has me hooked, but this was not a strong start for me.

I enjoyed reading this book which is about Josslyn who teams up with a criminal to cure herself from forbidden magic. This book has an incredible writing style. I heard great things about Rhodes but this is my first book by this author. This book was fast paced and action packed to get more readers into the story. The world building was greatly described and wasn’t complex in a sense where you would he confused. The plot was greatly structured with a great storyline. I wouldn’t say it was exactly unique as I felt that I read a book similar to this. Overall writing was greatly done with an enjoyable story.

This book is written from Josslyn’s POV and let me say that she is a badass character. She is very well written with a great character development. I can’t wait to see more of her development in the upcoming books. The main side character is Jericho who’s the mystery boy criminal. I enjoyed his character too and can’t wait for more of him in the second book. I wish there were more main side characters or side characters in general and hope to see them in the next book. The romance in this book is enemies to lovers which is one of my favorite tropes and the steam level was 1/5.

The ending ended with questions that are left to be answered. There were also some twists and turns in the book but were predictable at times. This book was very well written and I’m excited to see what Rhodes has next in store for us. I did have some minor problems with the book but overall this was a great read. I totally recommend this book for fans of Caravel and of Silver and Shadow.

OMG! This book! I really loved the Falling Kingdoms series and I was so excited when I found out that the author was writing a new book and this one doesn't disappoint. I thought that the concept of magic being like an infection was a really unique take on magic systems and I think it worked really well in the book. I loved the characters and im really hoping for a sequel to be able to read more of these characters. There were a few times in the book where I wanted more than what there was (seen by the 4 star rating) but overall a really enjoyable read! Highly recommend for fantasy lovers

Jossyln starts off as a pretty unlikeable character where the only thing endearing her to the reader is her dead father. She is a gossip, endlessly drinks, and is constantly fake. Now, you only see that girl for one party, after that she is forced to change because of the circumstances. Throughout the whole book, I wanted to shake her and tell her to wake up to the lies she’s been told, but of course, she had to find out in her own traumatic way. At the end though, I find the unlikeable girl to be pretty likeable. Don’t even get me started on Jericho. I love me a bad boy, and with the added bonus of being a little broken? I couldn’t stop myself from rooting for him. Some of the plot twists were easy to see coming but others have me excited for the next book to come out. For me, this was a 4/5.

If you like party girls turned rebels, kidnappers who become ride-or-die, or want a new book boyfriend, this is the one for you. 

I received a digital copy of this book free from Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Echoes and Empires follows Jossyln Drake - a spoiled 17 - year old. She’s the daughter of the former queen’s advisor but her father gets murdered.

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

Magic of any shape or form is evil and illegal in Ironport, and anyone found having anything to do with it is summarily executed. So when Josslyn Drake, the daughter of the former prime minister and the Queen’s favorite, stumbles into a robbery during a royal gala and accidentally gets infected by a piece of said forbidden magic, she is desperate to get it out of her and realizes there is no one she can trust to help her – except the thief himself. Criminal Jericho Nox offers her a deal: he will help her remove the magic in exchange for the magic itself. But as she sees the world outside her luxurious life in the city, it raises more and more questions about the facts she has always taken as granted, and the shocking revelations that come to light will change her life forever.

“I wore red on the night I slammed headfirst into my destiny.”

I was so excited to learn that Morgan Rhodes has a new series, after such a long break following the Fallen Kingdom series (which I absolutely loved), and I’m honestly kind of surprised how low key this book has been so far – I literally only heard of it last month when I requested the ARC. The ‘magic is forbidden’ trope is always a good one, and combined with plenty of political intrigue, it certainly makes for a winning combination. I’ve really missed this author’s writing style and it was so easy to be drawn into the story right from the first chapter. I loved the many unexpected twists and turns, and just when I thought I could predict what was coming next, there was another shocking reveal waiting around the corner, which made this a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Josslyn was a strong protagonist and I really liked her character arc, as she goes from leading a privileged life to getting her world turned on its head and questioning everything she ever believed in. The dynamic between Joss and Jericho is really interesting so far, and given how well Morgan Rhodes writes enemies to lovers romances, I can’t wait to see how this develops.

I did, however, have a little trouble with the world-building. This appears to be a magical realism kind of world, a genre I always have trouble with. But on top of that, everything seemed to be described in rather vague terms and I had a really hard time visualizing any of it, which made the reading experience rather choppy for me since I had to keep stopping to figure out what worked in this world and what didn’t. The magic system as a whole was also not very well described, but since we see it entirely from Joss’ perspective whose only understanding of magic is that it is evil, that is much more understandable. With the revelations in this book, I’m hoping that the sequel will delve deeper into the nature and types of magic in this world.

The ending was basically twist after shocking twist and while it wasn’t exactly a cliffhanger, it’s going to be a long and painful wait for book two. This was a promising start to a new series and I’m looking forward to seeing where this story goes. Echoes and Empires was a fast paced and intriguing read that you will not want to put down, and I would highly recommend it for all fantasy fans!

3.5 stars
This is the first book of a duology so with that in mind I had a feeling things would end in a cliffhanger. Josslyn Drake is the main character and we read from her point of view only. Right off the bat you know she’s one of the popular rich girls that isn’t liked by many. At times she had me rolling my eyes but I did enjoy reading her perspective. I liked Jericho, the main male lead as he is sarcastic and made me reminiscent of the broody Young Adult leads I used to read more of when I first read YA books. I also liked that he had a darker past to him and gave off mysterious vibes. This book had many twists yet I found some to be predictable. I really liked the magic elements within the story and seeing how the pieces played together with the echoes. I definitely want to read the sequel as this book kept me reading and entertained even if at times predictable!
Thank you to @penguinteencanada and NetGalley for the review copy.

Josslyn Drake has been brought up in a perfect Empire led by the beautiful Queen Isadora. In her world, magic is the route of all evil and must be eliminated. Little does she know, this information has been tainted to serve Queen Isadora's purposes. Josslyn is placed in what seems to be an accidental situation when a box of memory magic is placed inside of her. Now, Josslyn involuntarily sees the evil Lord Banyon's memories. Queen Isadora claims Lord Banyon to be the worst keeper of magic and has filled Josslyn with lies of his treachery, including killing her father. Josslyn has to discover the truth about magic and the Queen's motives, as well as understand her own identity.

I enjoyed this book. My younger self would have thrived reading it. I loved Josslyn's journey through understanding her own identity and the lies taught throughout the Empire. Plus, there were so many plot twists I did not catch! I cannot wait to see how the second book ties it all together, and I am excited to see more of a relationship between Josslyn and Jericho!!

I need the next book ASAP!!!

If you’re a YA fantasy fan, this book does NOT disappoint. Josslyn Drake knows that magic is evil; so, when she gets infected with it, she knows that she has to get it out of her before it corrupts her. The only person she can rely on? Jericho, who happens to be a criminal AND the reason she got infected in the first place. As they work together to find a way to remove the magic, they uncover far more than they bargained for.

I couldn’t put this book down. At first, Josslyn kind of turned me off because she seems like an airhead. However, she really grew on me as a character. Plus, the action starts right in the beginning and it doesn’t slow down at all. There are no boring parts to this story. It made it difficult to put the book down because I wanted to know what happened next. I could guess some of the plot twists, but others took me by surprise. Even the obvious plot twists were interesting because their back stories were unique. There wasn’t a ton of world building which made it easy to really get into the story. It doesn’t have esoteric language that scares some people away from fantasy. I think that people trying fantasy out and hardcore fantasy lovers alike will enjoy this story.

Also, I absolutely adored Jericho.

All in all, I can’t wait for the next book. I really enjoyed this one and I can’t wait to see how the story plays out. I 100% recommend this book if you enjoy YA fantasy!

Morgan Rhodes is fantastic at building a world with intriguing magic systems and this is no different. Josslyn is the previous Prime Ministers daughter and we start off with her entire world crashing down around her. This slowly leads to everything she once believed in proving false at every turn. She was raised to believe all magic is evil and she finds herself in a situation where that may not be the case. This book had many twists and turns and the details at every turn are so important to figuring out what is going on. A magical read that is infused with mystery and enemies to lover trope. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I went in blind as I always do.

I vaguely knew this was a fantasy. And it is but it's definitely more of the urban fantasy variety which I honestly haven't read in the longest time. I wasn't sure at first how I was going to like this BUT I can tell you that it only took about 20-30% for me to become was a mad woman that kept tapping my kindle screen anxiously waiting for the next surprise.

This is a world where magic is evil and anyone in possession of it will be executed. Joss is a bit self obsessed at first...really into what others can give her and how it can take her into the spotlight. When magic finds its way to her at an unexpected time...she is forced into an unlikely partnership and her life is thrown into a complete spiral.

Now, maybe I'm slow but there were so many twists I didn't see coming. Perhaps I just read this book for a dark horse with a snarky attitude and great lines. Maybe it was the underlying mystery. Or maybe it was just the whole dang thing combined. Overall this feels very YA, but in a really fun and addictive manner. This one completely surprised me, and I love being surprised.

For sure one I will definitely be recommending in 2022, and I already can't wait for book 2 (alas book one isn't even out yet haha). This was my first book by Morgan Rhodes but I'm definitely giving her backlist a good look!

Thank you Penguin Teen for the advanced Earc. Loved It!

Well…In all honesty, my notes are all over the place for this book and so are my feelings. But, I did enjoy it so let’s dive in!

Let’s start with some good things…

So first I think it’s worthy to note that I read this book and could NOT put it down over the span of 2 hours on the plane. That’s a great sign!

One thing I loved was the plot. I loved how every time I thought something was going to happen and would think to myself “oh so and so is going to realize they have had magical powers all along…and so on” it DIDNT. That in of itself is amazing.

Also, I did love some of the characters writing. I went into this book with a “trust no one” sort of mindset. Due to the fact that this book is kind of dystopian, that was smart because well…not everyone could be trusted!

Another thing I loved was the fairy tale element. I loved the representation of kingdoms and magic, as I feel they fit in with the plot. I myself am an absolute sucker for fairytale book spins and this one reminded me of a modern version of rumpelstiltskin with some Cinderella elements for more reasons then one. But, without giving too much away I’m going to not go into that further. Also to elaborate on the magic, I think the idea of going back and seeing memories is so cool and super original! Definitely held my interest. When it came to world building of the stage for this book, I enjoyed the system of government as well. I liked the modern add on of the prime minister and the monarch version of the queen. I know in modern days both can be seen in one government, but it just felt fitting here.

Now as for the characters and the good things. I genuinely felt pain when something bad happened. And that, even though I’m a cancer sun, is hard to do. The characters were really relatable and a lot of their dialogue (like Jericho’s back and forth during interrogation) was HILARIOUS and had me cracking up!! Most of them weren’t annoying like you’re average MC (messy bun and pick me) and most showed great character development. Albeit this, I do hope to see more I did like one character’s development that stood out to me the most and that’s Josslyn’s. She has a good start and I really want to see where she ends up :) More on this later.

Now as for the not so good things.

One of my major irks was writing. A couple times there were many modern aspects and elements woven into this book, some I liked and some I felt out of place. For example, talk of cancer and security cameras and THERAPISTS (which had me dying laughing) threw me off. It kind of made me question what time area I was in and took away from me really picturing the empire. I couldn’t tell if it was more modern or if there were more medieval aspects. I just felt like it snapped me back to the real world a little too much.

Another writing issue I had was characters going back on dialogue and events that happened. There would be many times with Jericho where the author would try to create a sense of mystery by having this character say something and then “you’re not ready hear about that.” This would happen with many characters too. I feel like this got repetitive and was used too much. At one point I did write “Why does no one in this book want to talk about anything” to accentuate my point.

One last writing issue I had was world/magic system building. I feel like there wasn’t as large of an explanation as there should have been. Yes, I understand the MC is still understanding magic and her powers, and maybe the author’s goal is to let us glean more as she does. But we don’t know much about the world or the magic at all. I don’t really think the history of the banning of magic was really talked about. I just think we need more to go off of in the beginning. But about the government, if someone asked me about the world building and what it is, I would fail to tell them because nothing was discussed. Another thing about the world building and the settings is that it was not as descriptive as I’d have liked. You had a lot of work to do to conjure up a picture in your head of what you think was going on and what the area looked like. I just wish there was a little more given.

Now another major irk: characters. I kind of got to this already, but oh well. My only request for characters is that we get more development. They’re on a good track now and I just want more of them!!!

One last irk: execution of the plot. The plot was interesting and such a neat concept! I love the idea of it and think it truly has potential. I just don’t think it was executed in the best possible way here :/

Romance: now this was not an irk but I’m going to put it in here! I thought the romance is cute and can see the little blood blooming! It definitely is there but doesn’t take away from the plot. Still wish there was more though!! It’s a good start, but I can tell there’s more to come :)

Ok so to wrap up:
Did I enjoy this book?
Yes
Would I recommend it?
Yes, I think it’s cute and now I realize it gives off land of stories vibes! So if you like land of stories, read this!

OVERALL RANKINGS:

Characters- 4/5
Plot-5/5
Writing-3/5
Romance-2/5
Overall: 3/5

I'd like to talk Penguin Teen for the opportunity to read an eARC of this upcoming release! Sadly, this one was a huge disappointment to me; I thought about DNFing it at around the 40% mark, and I honestly should have.

This was the worst world-building in a fantasy book that I've read in months. Now, I don't know if the people shelving this book as "high fantasy" have actually read it or if they're going off the misleading description. This is a weird, contemporary fantasy that takes places in the modern world... sort of. By that I mean there are cellphones, paparazzi, a mysterious state-controlled "newsfeed" that is frequently mentioned but never explained, helicopters, cars, boutiques filled with designer clothes, and guns. However, there is also a queen who is the ultimate ruler over an empire of 2 billion people (apparently she and/or her predecessors conquered many lands to create this empire, but shocker, everyone in the book is white). She throws balls and makes aspiring members of her Queensguard compete in the Queensgames, which are duels fought with swords. So yes, in order to be part of her modern-day army, who use guns, you need to prove your skills with a sword.

The elements that makes this seem like it might be a medieval fantasy setting are introduced in the first few pages and the modern elements come in later, which means you spend the first 20% of the book trying to figure out what the heck is happening here and what time period this story is set in. I can't tell you anything else about this empire because nothing else was explained. The magic system is the standard one with four elements - water, earth, fire, and air - and the only information we get about that is that earth magic can heal and fire magic sets things on fire.

I could forgive some of this poor world-building if the characters were interesting, but they were all annoying and exchanged a lot of stilted dialogue filled with "snarky" comebacks instead of actually communicating with each other. I was actually happy that Joss was interested in fashion and gossip instead of being "not like other girls" at the beginning of the book; unfortunately her only other personality traits were being a blabbermouth and a borderline alcoholic. The amount of times we were told that her greatest asset was her charming personality was astonishing, considering the fact that I'm hard-pressed to think of one character in this story who actually liked her. Besides the love interest, of course, a handsome rogue who spends the entire book being a total jerk to her until she falls for him. Seriously, these two had zero chemistry and the standard "distracted by the other person's mouth" scenes get old fast.

To sum it all up, the plot, relationships, characters, and magic system for this one were straight out of 2008. I also had high expectations for Morgan Rhodes, but you can save yourself some time and skip this duology.

I love the magic is evil trope and when paired with enemies to lovers, everything feels right.

Josslyn Drake, a privileged and snarky 17-year-old, knows three things about magic: it’s rare, illegal and always deadly. While attending the Queen's Gala, she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time as a thief attempts to steal a mysterious box. The botched robbery quickly turns Joss' life upside down, as she becomes infected with forbidden and dangerous magic. Worried she'll be executed for treason, Josslyn makes a deal with Blackheart criminal Jericho Nox, promising to give him the magic in exchange for extracting the magic from her body. As the two work together, Josslyn begins to discover the world isn't as black and white as she had been taught and begins to question what she thought she knew about magic, power, the empire, and even herself.

At the beginning I was enjoying the pace of the story, but as it progressed, I felt it moved very slowly. In other words, while I loved the concept, I struggled to really engage with the characters and their arcs. "Echoes and Empires" didn't go exactly in the direction I expected, despite being able to figure out some of the twists in advance; maybe I've gotten a little too used to the formatting of dystopian stories. I felt slightly let down. That said, I would still read the concluding book in the duology as I'm curious to see where the author takes it next.