Jaime Arkin's Reviews > The Vanishing Throne

I distinctly remember grabbing The Falconer off my shelf on my way to BEA in 2014 and becoming so engrossed in it that I didn’t care about our delays, and I refused to leave the hotel room until I turned the last page because the story was absolutely amazing. The Vanishing Throne quickly became the book highest on my ‘OMG I must have it list!’

Let me just tell you that this second book was well worth the two years it took to arrive in my hands!

If you read The Falconer, you know how it ended… Aileana became trapped in the portal that she was attempting to close, and now Lonnrach spends all his spare time torturing her, stealing her memories to find the information he will need to save his world, all while Edinburgh becomes a wasteland.

We all know that second books in series can sometimes be hit or miss and I worried so much that this might be the case because I loooooved The Falconer, but I can tell you that this book was even better than the first for me, despite a bit of a slower start.

Aileana… her memories have gradually been taken from her as Lonnrach tortures her, digging through her mind trying to find the information he needs. Trapped in the Fae world but never truly giving up hope that she’d escape, the opportunity arrives from someone unexpected. But the horror that she finds when she finally gets home forces her to realize that she will need to awaken the powers hidden within her. Aileana holds the key to saving both the city and the lives of her friends and family, but it requires her to figure out how to access her Falconer powers, and the price to doing so could be incredibly high.

When Aileana finally reunites with her friends she realizes that she’s been gone for three years, and not only has the outside world changed, but those she was closest to have as well. Among those she’s reunited with is Kieran and while I liked him in book 1, I found that I loved him here. We learn so much more about his past as Kadamach and the horrors he dealt. Now Aileana has to come to terms with the idea that Kieran, this Fae that she has come to know and care for in very deep ways, did these things and determine if she can be okay with that.

I will say that the tension and romance between these two was so well done. The relationship has always kind of been there under the surface for them, and the one person that Aileana is able to hold on to while she’s being tortured is Kieran, so upon her return, she often turns to him for comfort and support and we definitely get to see their connection deepen and move forward.

His hands are on either side of my face, the gentlest of touches. ‘Aoram dhuit.’
I will worship thee.
‘You said it was a pledge. Do I make it, too?’
‘No, Kam.’ His eyes lock with mine just before he presses a kiss to the pulse of my throat. Then his lips are at my ear, whispering, ‘You let me honor my words.’

May does an amazing job of bringing the secondary characters into this story a bit more. Of course we have Derrick, Catherine and Gavin, but my absolute favorite became Aithinne, I really loved the connection that formed between her and Aileana… unfortunately their common ground wasn’t due to happy times, but it really bonded them in ways that no one else could understand.

We also get a lot more of Sorcha and all I can say is that I can’t wait for her to get hers because .. UGH.

So the ending… you guys it’s a bit cliffhangerish, but despite that, I am so glad I read this one when I did. I am so excited to get my hands on book 3.

If you haven’t started this series yet, I can’t tell you how much you need to change that. This series will have you so enthralled… crafted with a steampunk feel, filled with action and twists and turns you won’t see coming, it’s a story you don’t’ want to miss.

Thank you to Chronicle for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.