I have read most of Adrienne Young's books and this one did not disappoint (unless you count waiting patiently for book two). I especially enjoyed the dual point of view with past and present. The story takes a few chapters to understand some of the story. It has a greco-roman setting with political intrigue, mythological religious system, and forbidden love. I had a hard time putting this one down and really enjoyed the characters. Uhhh give me book two already!

Thank you to Netgally and Saturday Books for eArc.

I’m sorry but I had no idea what was going on in this book.

I felt like I was tossed in the middle of a story. I actually looked up previous books by this author to make sure this wasn’t a spinoff of another series. The alternate time jumps make it even more confusing. I would have preferred this told chronologically.

Too many characters. Too many weird city and civilian names. Some people were even called two different names. I couldn’t keep any body or place straight.

Overall, I didn’t like this book because I couldn’t comprehend what was going on. Maybe I just needed to read this and take notes on who was who and how this society worked…but that is too much work when I just want to sit and enjoy a book.

*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

HARD YES. I need book two immediately. The wait is going to be brutal. I will have to reread book one before the second book comes out, but that is NOT a hardship.

I fear I may have read this way too early. I have zero regrets, because this was sooo good!

We are thrown right into the story. So buckle up. This story is told in two 1st person POVs. Past and present. This added to the emotions of the story and helped give us the necessary background. We started at the end, and ended at the beginning. The forbidden love was delicious! I’m still reeling from the ending. This will need to be a reread when the conclusion to the duology comes out.

I felt many things while reading this. I know this will be a hit! I will read anything Adrienne writes. After reading her YA books and her more recent Adult books(especially June Farrow)—she has become one of my favorite authors and an auto-buy, no questions asked. I don’t even need to know what the story is about.

Thank you Netgalley and Saturday books for the eArc. All opinions are my own.

Fallen City by Adrienne Young is an intense and beautifully written fantasy that weaves political intrigue, ancient magic, and star-crossed romance into a gripping narrative. Set in the towering, walled city of Isara, the story follows Luca and Maris, two young people born into privilege but disillusioned by the corruption that surrounds them.
The worldbuilding is one of the novel’s strongest elements. From the power plays of the Citadel to the simmering rebellion beneath the city’s polished surface, Young creates a setting that feels rich, lived-in, and ready to explode. The blend of mythology and political drama gives the story weight without bogging it down in exposition.
Luca and Maris are compelling leads, especially as their paths begin to diverge. Their romance starts with quiet tension and deepens naturally, which makes the eventual divide between them all the more heartbreaking. The stakes feel real, and the emotional impact is earned.
That said, the pacing does falter slightly in the middle, and a few secondary characters could have used more development to really hit their mark. Still, the climax delivers, with twists that are both surprising and inevitable.
If you’re a fan of high-stakes fantasy with a strong romantic thread and a touch of the divine, Fallen City will sweep you up and leave you eager for what comes next. A solid addition to Adrienne Young’s already impressive body of work.

I really enjoyed this! The flow was interesting with the constant then and now perspective….at first I wasn’t a huge fan but it grew on me throughout the book! I felt like the world was very unique and captivating - it had both ancient and futuristic vibes which was captivating.

I am hooked on the story! The way the twists were revealed through the book thanks to the back and forth timeline….too tier. Really perfect for creating emotional attachment and reactions to several characters. Without getting into spoilers I will just say that I am fully invested and can’t wait for more!

3.5/5 A super solid 3.5!

This had some really cool worldbuilding, feeling quite Greek/Roman/for the mythology-loving girlies. This world is structured in its society, there are gods and children of gods, dual POVs, and a war. There's a complicated religious system (our main characters are a part of it, so we get to see a lot of it and I thought it was really cool, it felt very real and well thought out).

There were some random god inclusions (I don't know how else to explain that). The gods were explained as interacting rarely with everyone else, rarely blessing people...but the blessing thing seemed to happen quite often, in my opinion. It felt random and quite frequent for something that was supposed to never happen.

I can definitely see how this story and the system can progress and I do think I will be reading the next one! This book definitely felt like more of a set-up book than a book where the bulk of the action happens.

We also get a lot of flashbacks in this book!

Overall, I liked the concept of this book and am excited to see where it goes. I just really hope it all culminates to some action in the sequel, this one needed a bit more oomph.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Wow wow wow this was good. I personally love a book with interesting political intrigue, and this book delivered in spades. It was sort of a Romeo and Juliet type story, but not in a way that made it seem like a retelling. If you loved Divine Rivals, I would definitely pick this one up. It can be a bit confusing with the dual timelines, but as you keep moving forward in the story, it gets clearer and clearer.

Thank you SO much to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the ARC!

Beginning was hard to get into… keeping up with government structure, gods, military… was a little overwhelming. I almost didn’t want to keep reading.Wasn’t a big fan of jumping back and forth in time, and back and forth with characters.
I did enjoy the story for the most part. Choosing different sides and dealing with consequences.
Ending made me roll my eyes though. I wasn’t left with burning questions or wanting more. (less)

My first book by Adrienne and it was a masterpiece! Gained a reader for life.
I loved that you were plunged head first into the world and slowly figured things out yourself.

I really enjoyed this Ancient Rome inspired fantasy romance (NOT romantasy). Maris and Luca love each other but the gods have plans for them beyond happiness. I thought it was extremely creative, and Adrienne Young is an excellent writer. I think I would've enjoyed a little more world-building but overall I really recommend this book! Looking forward to the next installment of the duology.

As always, a delight to read Adrienne Young. This was an interesting departure from some of her other work and really shows her ability to write a range of genres. Loved this tale.

This was a ride for sure! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the digital ARC of this book. All opinions are my own :)

I enjoyed the time I spent reading this, although I did have a few hangups. The premise was interesting, and although you are immediately thrown into the story, with little context as to what is happening or why, it was not long before I became drawn in.
We follow, in dual POV and dual timelines, Maris and Luca, the magistrate's daughter and a legionnaire, who against all odds, fall in love amid internal political strife. Initially planning to form an alliance and start making change of within, a series of events ending in catastrophe end up pushing them apart, with Luca now the symbol of the rising rebellion.

This structuring of the story got me hooked fairly quickly, as not knowing the full story in either time had me desperate for answers. The writing is incredibly descriptive and detailed, and I could clearly imagine some of the settings and scenes (particularly the forum).
Throughout the novel, the plot itself in terms of politics and the involvement of the gods was what had me most gripped. There is so much to delve into, and I really wished that there was a bit more focus here. The reader is pointed to, slowly and painstakingly, over the course of the book, the bare outline of steps that led to the rebellion. Here I feel the dual timeline worked against it a bit, as much of the time I just wanted to get to the why of what was happening. The entire concept of the forum also, I feel, was underutilized. I understand everything is crumbling, but the scenes (and mentions) of Maris's mother, the Consul and the political plays the Magistrates would make had me wanting more focus on this aspect of the story. In a similar way, the Priestess and Philosopher (though less so) were characters who also had big roles to play in terms of plot development but felt underexplored.

In terms of our main characters, they were ok. The romance felt a bit... instant and we are told that they mean the world to each other but I don't feel the chemistry that much. The flashbacks helped here, but still I think we walked the line of insta love.

Overall, I had a good time! There were many layers to the story, and I am interested to see how they developed in the sequel (and conclusion).

Fallen City completely pulled me in with its intense story, strong characters, and beautiful writing. Adrienne Young does a great job building a world that feels real—harsh but also full of heart. The plot moves quickly, with just the right mix of action and emotion, and the character relationships felt really authentic. I especially liked how the book balanced big, dramatic moments with quiet, thoughtful ones. It kept me hooked from start to finish, and it’s easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. 5 stars! Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I’m really disappointed. I thought A Sea of Unspoken Things was just okay but was hoping it was a fluke since I really enjoyed The Unmaking of June Farrow, but I had to DNF this one. I was at 23%, nearly a fourth of the way through the book, and I did not care at all about the characters and still know next to nothing about this world.

I understand the idea of starting the story when the rebellion is nearing it’s end, but ultimately I don’t think it worked. Paired with the Before/Now structure, I felt disconnected from the plot - lacking needed world-building to understand or even picture the world, missing character backstory to be at all invested or to understand motivations, and a lot of telling us and not showing.

I think she wanted to use the Before/Now story structure so she could keep doing “reveals” and referencing backstory, which was all dumped in exposition that continually took me out of the plot and felt like wasted story space. Presumably the reason for the rebellion would be one of the reveals through the Before timeline, but without it the story was left without crucial context.

The story structure left me completely confused on the timeline as well. I couldn’t clearly figure out how long ago the rebellion even started. Supposedly the two main characters we follow have feelings for each other but I was distracted wondering how long they even knew each other to try to add some context to whatever is supposed to be between them.

The first 20% kept telling me there was some kind of feeling between them (in very vague or surface level ways), with no prior backstory or development, that by the time we see how they met I feel like I’ve simply been told to be interested in them instead of actually being interested. They are both so underdeveloped at this point, I’m not even invested in them as characters, let alone invested in their opposite-sides relationship.

Without the backstory or character development I was simply disconnected from the story. I was confused with the world-building. There would be mention of the Old War, the godsblood, or the judgment stone and I barely knew what they were referencing. I could not imagine the world at all because all of these elements were not well explained from the start and seemed detached from the actual plot.

It would have worked so much better if it was linear, especially for a fantasy setting that needed to set up a whole different world. If it started with Before and was rewritten to actually show us more of the character’s backstory then we could become invested. It would allow more clear world-building, with the opportunity to flesh out the world by saving time not relying on info-dumping or having to reference backstory we didn’t know yet for “suspense”.

Fallen City plunges readers into a gritty world marked by loss, survival, and the consequences of power struggles. Young crafts a tense atmosphere that feels both immediate and unforgiving, with a story that wrestles with themes of loyalty and redemption amid a decaying cityscape.

I found the world-building immersive and raw, which helped ground the darker elements of the narrative. The characters are flawed and human, struggling with their choices in ways that felt believable. However, at times the pacing felt uneven, and some plot points didn’t land as strongly as I had hoped.

While I connected with the emotional core of the story, I wanted a bit more depth or nuance in certain relationships and motivations to fully invest in the characters’ journeys. Still, the novel’s weighty themes and grim tone offer a compelling read.

Overall, Fallen City delivers a serious, emotionally charged story that explores the fallout of desperation and ambition. It’s not perfect, but its raw honesty and atmosphere make it worth considering for fans of darker literary fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I’ve never read a book by this author before, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I must say, I had a good time.

The forbidden love present in this book is absolutely everything! There’s a lot of political intrigue in this book, so if you’re not a fan of that, I’d stay away. But if you do like political intrigue, I would absolutely check this one out.

I flew through this book. It’s not the quickest paced, but it’s captivating enough that you certainly feel like it is.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book. This review contains honest opinions.

This story is told in dual POVs from Maris and Luca and flips between past and present. Two kids in love from opposite upbringings, Maris is a Magistrate's daughter and Luca is a Legionnaire who was raised to take his uncle's spot in the Forum to continue as his heir, even though he grew up in the Lower City. Gods-blood is a gift that is being taken advantage of and the Gods haven't shown their favor in a while. Until one day Luca does something in the heat of the moment and is branded a dim halo over his head from the Gods. What this means, we don't know but it is a shock to everyone. As tensions rise between the Citadel and the Lower City due to political power, Maris and Luca must find a way to survive while keeping their love a secret and trying to keep each other safe from opposite ends of the river.

Honestly I'm not sure how exactly to rate this one. It kept me glued to the screen and I needed to know what happened next, but at the same time I also found all the different people and statuses/jobs hard to keep track of. It was a bit confusing and while I enjoyed the book I'll admit I don't have a full grasp on all of the information since I don't feel it was explained well. There isn't much info on what the Gods' role actually is and why certain people were gifted and for what reasons. I also didn't like not really seeing why Maris and Luca fell in love. They just looked at each other and did. Hopefully the 2nd book in the series clears all of this up because I do enjoy the story itself!

I adore Adrienne Young's writing, and I have been anticipating Fallen City since she announced it during the pandemic. I've been hooked on the idea since she only released the one-line pitch—and I think that's where this fell short for me. Early on (like chapters 1-2, but this issue continued throughout the book occasionally), I felt the writing pull one of my pet peeves: the first line is super lyrical, quotable, very clearly written for merch and marketing—and then the rest of the scene doesn't reference that line until way later. From the first page, this brought down my enjoyment—but as I continued, I wasn't really drawn to the main characters because of this first impression. My favorite things: the gritty world and the political system were both impossible for me to enjoy because of the impression I had about the main characters—which unfortunately reduced the stakes for me as I was reading.

I did end up putting the book down around 50%, because of the writing and the slower/inconsistent pacing. But I would be open to reading it again if reviews for the sequel set it up to be better than this first book, as I do enjoy Adrienne Young's writing... usually.

I loved this book with my whole heart. The writing feels ancient and intimate at once like you’ve stepped into a city steeped in power and grief and gods that never look away. The prose is lush and devastating with this sense of quiet momentum that keeps pulling you under. I adored how the story let its emotions breathe without rushing through them. Every choice felt hard and earned and the heartbreak was beautiful because it meant something. The romance felt sacred and terrifying and tender and it carried this ache that never let up. I could not stop thinking about Luca’s internal war or Maris’s quiet courage or how their love felt like the one honest thing in a city built on lies. It made me believe in fated love again but it also made me ache for the kind of strength it takes to fight for a future no one else can see. I can’t wait for book two already.