The Vanishing Throne: Book Two of the Falconer Trilogy (Young Adult Books, Fantasy Novels, Trilogies for Young Adults)

Actual Rating: 4.75 out of 5In The Falconer, Aileana Kameron was seeking revenge against the fae for killing her mother. Now, in The Vanishing Throne, she's fighting for survival instead. Trapped in the fae realm due to her failings, Aileana is tortured by the sinister Lonnrach for memories and knowledge that might save his world. And when Aileana escapes with an ally's help, her joy is short-lived: The Scotland she once knew has been demolished, and the remaining survivors (human and fae alike) hide underground. The only way Aileana can save both her home and the fae realm is by finally waking the dormant Falconer powers within her. But at what price? And can she do so before it's too late?I had enjoyed Elizabeth May's first book The Falconer, but with some reservations. So, I was not - absolutely NOT - expecting to fall head-over-heels for The Vanishing Throne. The expanded world-building and Scottish fae lore, vivid writing, break-neck action sequences, laugh-out-loud humor (thank you, Derrick and Aithinne!) - in short, there was more of what I had enjoyed most about The Falconer, and marked improvements on what I hadn't. I even found myself rooting for Aileana and Kiaran's romance this time, especially since we learn more about Kiaran's past and see him at his most vulnerable. It was also great to see other female characters like Aithinne and Aileana's childhood friend Catherine rise to the occasion, and remind us that women don't need to wield weapons to be "strong."What I loved most about The Vanishing Throne, though, was Aileana's growth. She's shed her desire for vengeance, and is now battling the demons in her head as well as the evil fae who want her dead. This lends to a darker, more mature, and ultimately more compelling story than The Falconer. I did miss Aileana's tinkering with inventions from the first book, and her escape from the fae realm dragged on a little too long. Otherwise, The Vanishing Throne thrilled and captivated me from its harrowing first pages to its stunning last chapter. If you aren't reading this series yet, you need to get on it - right now!

Not nearly as “fun” as the previous book, but that’s because Aileana is going through some “Stuff”.I’m sure there are some readers who would find the story and narrative to be a bit repetitive (I won’t say why because of spoilers). But as someone who has gone through trauma, obviously not even close to the same level as Aileana has, it felt real to me.When trauma is fresh, all of those thoughts and memories will just constantly pop up and invade every ounce of your being. There’s no stopping it. It takes time for your mind and body to heal from such terrors. So I appreciated the realness in Aileana’s narration.I am knocking a star off because some things at the end of the book felt a bit too rushed for my liking. But I’m really excited to see how the story concludes in book 3.

The hunter has now become the hunted. After failing to seal the portal, Aileana is spirited away to a world which was once the Unseelie Kingdom, where she is tortured for secrets she did not know she was keeping. Cruel and unforgiving, her captor holds absolute power... until Kiaran's sister, Aithinne, pulls off a daring and successful rescue attempt. Relieved to be free of her prison yet haunted by the memories, Aileana is devastated by the state of the world that she was unable to save but is left with no time to grieve as her captor pursues her through her world. Aileana is reunited with Kiaran and Derrick and whisked away to a place where perhaps she can find safety for a little while... but will there ever be a place of safely and peace when Aileana is being hunted?After reading the first book in this series, The Falconer, I was hooked. The world Elizabeth May created is creative and unique; the writing is vivid and the characters memorable. The story line was addicting: I needed to know what happened to Aileana, what Kiaran would do next, and how they would work together to save the world. Their chemistry wasn't just limited to the battlefield. Aithinne was a fitting addition to the story -- a story that gradually revealed itself... woven and twisted by a wonderful storyteller. Each new revelation kept me on the edge of my seat, revealing a new piece of a complex and beautiful puzzle. This was an extremely hard book for me to put down. The second in the series, this book was just as enthralling as the first and leaves me guessing as to what is planned for the third and final piece of the trilogy. I can hardly wait!!Note: In my opinion, this book is best suited for mature readers because of the sensuality in Aileana and Kiaran's relationship.I was given a copy of this e-ARC through NetGalley and Chronicle Books in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions above are my own.

Wow! This book blew me away!I enjoyed the Falconer, but I felt as though it had some really fast world building. The main character was only ruled by vengence. It got a little old in the first one.This book, the main character, and all of the other characters, address the faults in the first book. Not in a boring explany way, but showing that they have been through so much and completely changed. The characters, world, dialogue, and love story in this novel are all amped up to a level I didn't even imagine with the Falconer.I would easily say that this is the strongest in the trilogy so far and I cannot wait for the 3rd installment to be out in June.This is an author to watch, I know she is working on a couple of other stories that hopefully will be taken up by publishers as well. i am very excited to enjoy more of her writing.

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?As the first book, The Fallen Kingdom is written in 1st person, with Aileana being our narrator. The book is very easy to read and the chapters are short, ranging from 4 minutes long to 16 minutes long on kindle. It's very easy to fall back into the story too, as it had been a while since I had read the first book The Falconer, and I had no trouble at all. There is a romantic part to this book, more so than in the first one. But nothing is explicit and things are kind of summed up than described and we get a fade to black scene too. However, there are some grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes, only a few that I noticed, but still, it can distract you from what you are reading sometimes when you spot one. Not that I found it a problem here.I enjoyed this book, I liked how Aileana's story continued on and what happened with the fae. We meet a few more of the fae in this book and their history which is great. There are also quite a few moments of humour in the book, which helped balance out some of the more darker parts I thought. I also liked Aileana's character development in this novel, I don't think her story was pushed aside at all. Though I do think Aileana has a bit of a hero complex, which makes her a little annoying at times, especially with the actions she takes. But these do further the plot, so it's not a.huge annoyance.I don't think there was anything about this book I didn't I didn't like. The things I didn't like, were more niggles really and not worth really commenting on. I've just got to.read the last one now!

I enjoyed this book much more then the first book. It is a dark mix between survivors guilt, anger and revelations. I think it has the right mix of action and story. Though I would like to say I would have liked a bit more action but I understand why it was more focused on the story and revelations. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is because it is a bit slow, and a bit too much repetition.In this book we learn the origins of most of the characters as well as the fae race themselves. Every character is changed from the first book, and they do develop a bit in this one as well. Aileana, in this book is on biggest change. In the first book I did find her a bit annoying, but here she is remade tougher stronger and in a way more relatable. If not relatable but I defiantly felt more empathy for her, (not that I have been locked away and tortured for 3 years), as witnessing her experiences made me feel a bond with the character.All in all a good book of revelations, though it is a bit slow and you might be given enough clues to figure some (not all) of these out a little ahead of time. A good addition to the series, for me this is one sequel better then the original.

I loved The Falconer, the first of the trilogy of the same name, by Elizabeth May. We’re talking big, big love. Faeries are my thing. Give me faeries. I’m also somewhat partial to incredibly kickass girls who hunt and kill fae by night to avenge their mothers and fight against the gnawing grief and PTSD, apparently. When you add in everything else that made The Falconer amazing—war and ancient feuds and secrets and good fae versus bad, and also romance and swords and that sort of thing—it’s no surprise that the bar for The Vanishing Throne was set very, very high.Things were very tense for Lady Aileana Kameron at the end of The Falconer and The Vanishing Throne sees her pulled through into a world she has no business being in. She failed, and now Scotland—and beyond—will pay the price, letting the fae and the Wild Hunt free in the human realm after centuries trapped and hungry. The fae are bent on destruction, and now Aileana isn’t there to fight them. And even if she were, what use is she? She might be a Falconer, but she was powerless before. They lost.Now she’s trapped by Lonnrach—and nobody is coming for her. She’s alone and breaking, prisoner of both her own mind and Lonnrach’s sadistic interrogations as he rifles through even her most mundane and private of memories in search of something he’s certain she has. Aileana is strong, but she’s been through too much, and the pain and fear of what Lonnrach does to her sends her into a spiral of her own mind.But she’s not been forgotten, and soon, help arrives. And just in time: there’s only so long someone can remain strong for, and this time Aileana might just have been about to break. Before long, aided by possibly the strangest faery she’s ever met, and she has met (and killed) a few.Soon she is on her way back to her own world, back to Edinburgh, and she can only guess at what awaits her. The fact that the faery sent to aid her won’t tell her anything of the people she left behind? Not reassuring. Not reassuring at all.After managing to flee Lonnrach and return to Edinburgh, she realises more than she could have imagined has changed—and it’s all her fault. But some things remain the same, and in spite of everything that has happened, everything she has been through, Kiaran is still there and they might just have a future together. Possibly.If they survive everything, that is. Which seems less and less likely with the odds that keep mounting. Still, with steadfast allies and the threads of a way to foil Lonnrach coming together within reach, they press on together and seek to do whatever they can to save what’s left of the world they barely recognise any longer.But as things progress, secrets about the past are revealed and however deep Aileana thought the truth might run, however twisted and buried the secrets might be, she could never have guessed at the truth that lies at the heart of things.It is an unimaginable truth—one that changes everything.With so much lost already, Aileana will fight to the last for everything that remains. And she won’t do it alone.The Vanishing Throne is a gorgeously-written and gripping adventure that took the story of The Falconer and turned everything up to eleven. The stakes are massive and game-changing and the Aileana we know and love is more fragile than she’s ever been, but in that fragility there’s a strength even she can’t see half the time. That’s what makes her so much moremoremore in this absolutely stunning sequel. May’s writing has evolved to a completely new level of wow and I couldn’t love this book more. I was barely three pages in when I had to stop and send a garbled email about just how much I loved this book.That’s how much I loved this book.The friendship, the romance, the sheer raw violence and grief and everythingness is so astoundingly stellar that it’s hard to believe that the book is over and now I need to wait for the third. I don’t quite know what it is about May’s prose, but there’s something that makes it sing off the page to me. Reading The Vanishing Throne was a pure joy and occasionally I had to stop to just hug my Kindle and then hug my beautiful hardcover of the book.I love big things in books, where writers aren’t afraid to really, really do something huge and epic and wow. May gave me precisely this for the finale of The Vanishing Throne, upping the tension and stakes even higher than I’d thought possible (and I usually dream pretty big).Everything is gorgeous and powerful and saturated with yesness. It is a magical, exciting adventure of war and loss and fighting and never giving up, all interwoven with beautiful and delightful friendships that feel real and are so utterly right that they shine off the page, every bit as important and glorious as the romance (which also shines very brightly, as it happens).The Vanishing Throne is one of those books that couldn’t possibly be allowed to end, because then it would be over. Whatever it is about May’s writing that draws me in and keeps me gripped, keeps me enchanted, it’s here in double measures in the second book of this trilogy. I’m addicted and don’t even care.Let’s just say that I really, really, really need book three.

This series was as heartbreaking as it was beautiful. The vivid Edinburgh backdrop and the setting were stunning. The Scottish backdrop definitely added a mystical atmosphere to the story. Kieran was the typical dark brooding fae that struggled with his love for a human and his unseelie tendencies. Aeliana was strong and fierce and I just loved the relationship she had with Derrick her pixie. This series had everything; from beautiful characters, pacy story and amazing plot and I just loved it. It’s definitely a highly recommended read.

Not as good as the first book. A bit too gloomy. Also it downloaded to my kindle with a very weird font that is very off putting. It is fine on the tablet.