Name: The Vanishing Throne
ISBN: 9781452128825

Elizabeth May

The second book in the Falconer trilogy is packed with surprises and suspense. Aileana Cameron, 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.

Book Two of the Falconer Trilogy

The Vanishing Throne

LOVEDDDDDD this one. I'm really liking this series, especially after reading some books where the plot was great, but the writing not so much. Well-researched in terms of fae and doesn't shy away from their nature! Still scratches that romance need, too. Some plot points you can kind of see coming, but it feels good when they do happen -- like you DID actually call it while sifting through the plot and that it wasn't super obvious at all. Rewarding and CANNOT wait to read the next one after THAT ENDING

(Bre)anne✨

TW to be added later

LOVEDDDDDD this one. I'm really liking this series, especially after reading some books where the plot was great, but the writing not so much. Well-researched in terms of fae and doesn't shy away from their nature! Still scratches that romance need, too. Some plot points you can kind of see coming, but it feels good when they do happen -- like you DID actually call it while sifting through the plot and that it wasn't super obvious at all. Rewarding and CANNOT wait to read the next one after THAT ENDING

When we last saw her, Aileana Kameron, the Falconer, disappeared through the fae portal that she was trying to close forever. When she escapes and reenters the human world, she finds her beloved city—indeed, the entire world—has been destroyed, and the fae world itself is slowly dying. Somehow Aileana is the key to preserving both worlds—but how? This much-anticipated second chapter in the Falconer trilogy "combines vivid world-building with action-packed fight sequences" (School Library Journal) "and a cliffhanger ending ensures that readers will follow Aileana to the very end of this trilogy" (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books).

Fatima Kadri 

dija

This book feels so nostalgic and i don't even know why.

My name is Lady Aileana Kameron. First the fae murdered my mother. Then they destroyed my world. Now I'm fighting for more than revenge. Aileana took a stand against the Wild Hunt, and she lost everything: her home, her family and her friends. Held captive by her enemy, and tormenting herself over her failure, escape seems like only the faintest possibility. But when she gets her chance, she seizes it . . . to rejoin a world devastated by war. The future is bleak. Hunted by the fae, running for her life, Aileana has only a few options left. Trying to become part of a society scarred by - and hiding from - the Wild Hunt; trusting that a fragile alliance with the fae will save her; or walking the most dangerous path at all: coming in to her own powers as the last of the Falconers . . .

Kacy Rulison

Good continuation of the series...Took a while for things to start heating up with the romance. Very slow burn. Several twists.

Absolutely loved this book, I thought it was a lot better than the first one! It was gripping, riddled with suspense, action, heartache and angst! 

Once the majority of the world building was done you were thrown right into the story. The characters are great, both flawed and full of depth. 

It surprised me and kept me in my toes, there was a LOT of twists and turns and the ending shocked me! 

Kira Louise Morris

Absolutely loved this book, I thought it was a lot better than the first one! It was gripping, riddled with suspense, action, heartache and angst! 

Once the majority of the world building was done you were thrown right into the story. The characters are great, both flawed and full of depth. 

It surprised me and kept me in my toes, there was a LOT of twists and turns and the ending shocked me! 

Chiara Vitale Zelaia

You may have seen in my review for 
  The Falconer
 that I predicted there would soon be a 5 star rating for me in this series. Turns out I was right! The Vanishing Throne was an exquisite sequel to an already amazing book. 

The lore of this series was one of the aspects that I enjoyed the most in the first book, but here it gets explored in even more depth and detail and that was absolutely beautiful. Because of that, even the moments of “down time” that made the first book less pleasant for me were so much more enjoyable to read. I was left with a constant thirst to learn as much as possible and I think it’s safe to say this is one of the most well done world buildings I have ever read. 

The characters, of course, also had a special role in my rating. Aileana. And Kiaran. And Aileana and Kiaran together. My heart was absolutely put on a rollercoaster ride! We see Aileana at her lowest at the beginning of this book, dealing with the consequences of the events at the end of The Falconer. We see her PTSD, but we also see her putting herself back together. Once again I found her to be an incredibly inspiring female lead, and one that so many more readers should be talking about!
And then there’s Kiaran. I swear this man has taken my heart by storm and I must make it my life’s journey to have more people talk about him. He deserves to be in the book boyfriend list of us all just as much as a Maas Illyrian Warrior. There is so much to learn about my beloved reading the pages of this book, and not one of those things makes him less fascinating and dreamy. What can I say? The more tormented and dangerous and vulnerable they are, the harder I fall. KIARAN MACKAY, I WILL WORSHIP THEE. 
Put him and Aileana together and you have the ship of dreams. My heart rejoices and breaks and lives every time the two breathe the same air. And when they’re LITERALLY breathing the same air…well…*wink*

Another aspect that I really loved was how much more space was given to some of the secondary characters that I had loved from the first book, but without losing the focus from Aileana and her journey and, of course, Kiaran.
I loved getting to see Catherine outside of her comfort zone, showing her true, fierce colors. What I loved about her even more is that through her character we see that a woman does not have to be a warrior to be strong. It was so relatable and so inspiring to read! We also get to learn more about the Seers, not just through Gavin (that was surprisingly not as hateful in this one) but also through multiple new characters that are introduced and that really help add to the incredible world Elizabeth May has created. And, to my joy, we get to see more of Derrick—a lot more! My beloved little one has so much more page time and plays such an important role for the storyline. I’m like a proud mother!
But my favorite secondary character (who is one of the new entries of the story) was certainly Aithinne, Kiaran’s sister that we only saw mentioned in the first book. Aithinne was an incredible addition to the story, not just because thanks to her we get to learn so much more about Kiaran’s past and the mythology of the story, but because she was another amazing example of female resilience, fierceness and power of which this story is  full . 

Of course, this book ends with one of those cliffhangers that rips out your heart and throws it across the room. It should come with a warning for the frail of hearts because I WAS SCREAMING. As I write this, I am already starting 
  The Fallen Kingdom
 and I’m so nervous I’m biting off my fingers. Pray for me to the bookish gods.

Recommended for EVERYONE. JUST READ THIS DAMNED SERIES. THANK YOU. YOU’LL THANK ME LATER.

Heather Solov

One again THAT CLIFFHANGER!!

This book was even better than the first one. We got so many more details about the world, the faerie powers, and a new direction with the plot. And the complexity of the characters arcs were just amazingly increased. Getting the backstory for our main characters definitely helped pull me further into the story. 

I'm so excited to see where things go next with some new powers at play!

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia

I can't think of anything smart to say because I am still an emotional mess after the roller coster of emotions this book made me feel.

Wren Hardwick

You know what really upsets me? When only the first book in the series is an audio-book and you can’t even get a physical copy because all the libraries around you only have the digital copy. Like, what type of BS is that? 

The audio-book for the first one was so incredibly great that I was so pumped to get back into this world but then there was no audio-book. That’s called trickery and I’m not happy about it.

Ugh. I’m never going to get over this. I’m moving on.

So the reason my rating is a little lower than what it actually should be (besides the bloody audio-book drama I just laid out there) was the writing. She would Italicize flashbacks, which wouldn’t bother me at all (and it would actually be really helpful), if it wasn’t every other paragraph. I found myself getting aggravated with the constant flashback lines. 



But what kept me going...

...were the twist. My goodness she threw a huge twist in there about 2/3rds of the way in. My heart literally tore open for the characters. Aileana going through some serious PTSD was written so well throughout the whole book; proving you can’t just shake it off and that it will change the whole you do things. Derrick proving he has humanity and showing everyone his home and opening it up to those who need it. Kiaran standing up for those who he loves (and proving that he can love) and revealing a huge secret that involves his sister Aithinne.

There were a lot of things I loved about this book. The continual building of this world is phenomenal. There are different layers that we get to see and experience. May does a great job of not keeping you in the dark when it comes to describing the weapons and the people. 

I am already reading the third book, and I am ready to see how this catastrophe comes to an end. 

---

RTC. I did NOT see that ending coming! 

---

I'm sorry, Kiaran/Kadamach is who and his sister Aithinne is what? I did NOT see that coming. Nope. 

---

Me: hi I just figured out how to get this book on my kindle can I keep it longer? 
Library: no
Me: but I'm like half way through
Library: no
Me: Well I guess I'm buying it then.

The Vanishing Throne Book Two of the Falconer Trilogy