Early Review – The Vanishing Throne (The Falconer Trilogy, Book 2) by Elizabeth May (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Release Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1452128825
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Falconers Trilogy
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Aileana Kameron, the Falconer, disappeared through the portal that she was trying to close forever. Now she wakes up in the fae world, trapped and tortured by the evil Lonnrach. With the help of an unexpected ally, Aileana re-enters the human world, only to find everything irrevocably changed. Edinburgh has been destroyed, and the few human survivors are living in an uneasy truce with the fae, while both worlds are in danger of disappearing altogether. Aileana holds the key to saving both worlds, but in order to do so she must awaken her latent Falconer powers. And the price of doing that might be her life.

Rich with imaginative detail, action, fae lore, and romance, The Vanishing Throne is a thrilling sequel to The Falconer.”

This was a wonderful continuation of this series. I love May’s writing style, it is so beautiful and descriptive it really makes the characters and world come alive. I continue to enjoy all the fae elements to the story combined with all of the steampunky goodness.

Aileana goes through a lot in this story and comes out changed; I loved watching her transformation even as I hated seeing her go through so much. I love Kiaran as well and really enjoyed him throughout the story; he is just such an awesome male lead and him and Aileana complement each other beautifully.

However, my favorite part of the story was Kiaran’s sister Aithinne. Aithinne is in the story a ton and she was an absolutely delightful character; she is complex, powerful, hopeful and wounded all at once. I loved her and was just thrilled that she was in the story so much.

A lot happens in this book and it is all very intriguing and engaging. The world as Aileana knew it before her imprisonment is gone and it’s up to her, Aithinne, and Kiaran to ensure that humanity survives the wrath of the Fae. There is a ton of action and the plot really kept me guessing.

Overall I adored this book and I can’t wait to see how everything wraps up in the third book. I pretty much loved everything about this book; the writing style, the characters, the plot, and the world…all of it was magnificent and I absolutely could not put this book down. I would recommend to those who enjoy dark fantasy involving the fae.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– Pick Your Genre (Steampunk) Reading Challenge