ARC Book Review: Legends and Liars (Echoes and Empires #2) by Morgan Rhodes

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Author: Morgan Rhodes
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: June 13th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This riveting sequel to Echoes and Empires sees Joss and Jericho team up with some of their greatest enemies—including two of the most powerful mages in the world—to bring an end to the queen’s empire of lies, from New York Times bestselling author Morgan Rhodes.

Josslyn Drake is in over her head—again. After fleeing the Queen’s palace with Prince Elian in tow, she’d hoped to finally find a way to solve both of their magical problems in one fell swoop, with the help of criminal-turned-ally Jericho Nox. But Valery, Jericho’s boss—and a notoriously powerful mage—has other plans.

It soon becomes clear that Valery can’t, or won’t, provide assistance. And with her relationship with Jericho more confusing than ever, Joss realizes that she’ll have to find her own way out of this magical mess, with or without help from those around her.

Amid high tensions, Joss sets out to learn to control the memory magic—along with her own natural powers. As the struggle between Lord Banyon and the Queen threatens the people Joss cares about, she stumbles onto hints of a monumental royal secret. Her unwanted power just might hold the answers she needs to solve all her problems—but she’ll have to work quickly, because the fate of an empire hangs in the balance.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

I AM FEELING LET DOWN.

I LOVED the first book, Echoes and Empires. Clearly that meant I went in hoping for a great conclusion and instead I feel like I got this meandering story that had lost its charm and ended too simply.

Where did the romance go?! I loved that Jericho and Joss worked together and there weren’t any undue separations. Yet, the snark and banter and tenderness that I saw in the first book was hardly here. I lost that connection with them.

I also don’t think much happened? There were a lot of little plot lines that did come together (and were wrapped up way too neatly in a bow) yet the progress to fixing the problems in the world and figuring out the magic system hardly occurred.

And the big secret that Joss took the whole book to figure out??? That was a joke. And the ease of which the ending happened had me wanting more rather than feeling satisfied.

The book is written well and I do love the main characters. The world is an interesting mix of fantasy & urban which I liked too. I’m not UPSET I read this, I was just hoping for a more comprehensive conclusion.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy
Language: a little mild
Romance: kisses
Violence: moderate
Trigger/Content Warnings: weapons violence, physical altercations, kidnapping, near death experiences, loss of loved ones