Review: Echoes and Empires (Echoes and Empires #1) by Morgan Rhodes

Echoes and Empires

(Echoes and Empires #1)

by Morgan Rhodes

January 4, 2022

Goodreads Summary:

A snarky seventeen-year-old must team up with an enigmatic criminal to cure herself of dangerous forbidden magic in the first book of a new fantasy duology from Morgan Rhodes, the New York Times bestselling author of the Falling Kingdoms series.

Josslyn Drake knows only three things about magic: it’s rare, illegal, and always deadly. So when she’s caught up in a robbery gone wrong at the Queen’s Gala and infected by a dangerous piece of magic—one that allows her to step into the memories of an infamously evil warlock—she finds herself living her worst nightmare. Joss needs the magic removed before it corrupts her soul and kills her. But in Ironport, the cost of doing magic is death, and seeking help might mean scheduling her own execution. There’s nobody she can trust.

Nobody, that is, except wanted criminal Jericho Nox, who offers her a deal: his help extracting the magic in exchange for the magic itself. And though she’s not thrilled to be working with a thief, especially one as infuriating (and infuriatingly handsome) as Jericho, Joss is desperate enough to accept.

But Jericho is nothing like Joss expects. The closer she grows with Jericho and the more she sees of the world outside her pampered life in the city, the more Joss begins to question the beliefs she’s always taken for granted—beliefs about right and wrong, about power and magic, and even about herself.

In an empire built on lies, the truth may be her greatest weapon.

Review

I binge-read and really enjoyed Morgan Rhodes's Falling Kingdoms series not too long ago so naturally anything new she wrote would show up on my radar. A fast-paced story, Echoes and Empires held my attention with its catchy plot.

While I was able to guess the twists and turns in Echoes and Empires, I still looked forward to each big reveal. Each discovery made the story more complex and more interesting. The characters were in for some major awakening that'll forever change their perception of their world.

The one thing that I found a tad difficult to process in Echoes and Empires was the time period. The present setting took me by surprise. With the governing body being royalty and all the talk of magic I was under the impression Echoes and Empires was set in the past. My bad. The blend of modern language and fantasy world definitely took some getting used to but it wasn't the end of the world.

Josslyn Drake came off as super whiny at the beginning of the book. So much so that I honestly couldn't sympathize with the predicament she found herself in. However, she grew on me. Each truth Joss uncovered, made her stronger. She became less the obedient socialite and more the only daughter of the most powerful warlock in the empire.

I had a lot of fun watching Joss and Jericho interact. Most of their conversations were super snarky making me laugh out loud. There was the occasional banter but I have to say I was only 60% sold on them becoming an item. I didn't really sense the change in their feelings towards one another. I'm all for a good tortured love story so please give me more romantic tension between Joss and Jericho.

All in all Echoes and Empires was a really entertaining read. I enjoyed the characters and the unexpected mission and extra drama they found themselves in. Book two is a must-read because I must see where the story goes and how these characters fare!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the copy I received.