Book Review: Children of Fallen Gods, Book Two in Booktok’s Latest Fantasy Romance Obsession
The War of Lost Hearts series continues to pick up steam on Booktok and Bookstagram, and I can now fully understand why. It’s SO good. While I thoroughly enjoyed book one (check the review here), it didn’t quite reach five star status for me. However, book two, Children of Fallen Gods, stole my heart. We’re introduced to a completely new POV, and I was obsessed with this character’s story. While there is plenty of romance in this book if that’s your cup of tea, this book is also full of political intrigue, questions on loyalty and revenge, and its ramifications.
Things to Know:
It’s book two in a completed trilogy (hallelujah!)
Multiple POVs
Complex Villains
Some spice
Skip the audiobook—the main narrator is not great
We’re introduced to a new (or old?) character’s POV, and I was living for it. Aefe is fey, and you’re not sure where in time her POVs are coming from, so it was fun spending a large portion of the book keeping track of details. Maxantarius and Tisaanah are both fighting in a war they don’t want and spend some of the book separated, which I think contributed to me being more invested in Aefe’s stories and chapters for a time. I still love them, but I could have read an entire book of Aefe. Tisaanah exudes a little bit of a savior’s complex that I found annoying at times, but it’s not overwhelming.
“Is love frightening?” Reshaye whispered.
I wasn’t sure why I answered. “Yes. It’s terrifying. It’s a painful thing. To be seen. To be given something to mourn. To be reminded of what has already been lost.”
The magic system is still all over the place, but it did get even more complex with the world of the Fey opening up to the reader. Did I still enjoy it? Yes, but I do wish there were some more parameters and rules. This book is also very violent. There’s war and torture, and Broadbent doesn’t shy away from showing you the ugliness of it on all sides. And the moral quandaries every character undergoes. And I love complex villains. Who are the real villains?
“But isn’t having built something worth more than the fear of it being destroyed?”
“I think it is.”
There were a couple things characters did that seemed out of character to me—specifically with Reshaye, but I’m happy with what did happen. There’s also a great reveal towards the end that I did call, and you’ll guess if you’re paying attention. I’ll just say, I cannot stand Nura or Zeryth. Full stop.
“Maybe one day you’ll stand where I do. You’ll cut away every weakness. You’ll make every sacrifice. And then the world will look at you and sneer at your inhumanity, as if you didn’t just become everything they told you to be.”
This book’s pacing was a bit slower than book one, but didn’t bother me. Again, I love complex villains, where you start to empathize with them, and I honestly think if the situation was different, our two main couples would be besties. Alas, as we leave it in book two, they are not.
“Home was a pair of mismatched eyes, an accented voice, and a heartbeat that followed the same cadence as mine. And I was so, so homesick.”
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