Review: Echoes and Empires by Morgan Rhodes

What Josslyn Drake knew for sure was that magic is evil evil — that is, until she became “infected” with it. Now she and the criminal, Jericho Nox, must find a way to remove it.

  Echoes and Empires is the type of novel I was waiting for. Characters come alive from the very first pages, particularly the two main protagonists who are so well thought-out and developed, especially Josslyn. She is a teenage girl I could heavily relate to and not because of any specific personality trait described, but for being a realistic character through and through.  Josslyn didn’t suddenly come across amazing power or skills she didn’t have before. Rather, she utilised what she knew already. Her development was well planned out, from the pampered girl, favoured by the Queen of the Empire, to the young woman she’s becoming as she learns more about the world around her and herself.

The author did a fairly good job setting up the world for this story to take place, but it lacked cohesion at times. This might be because the majority of world-building took place mostly through dialogue. As Josslyn figures out how it all works, we as readers learn along with her.

  The storyline was well-paced in the first half of the book. After that, it continued effectively but it became apparent that the plot won’t be fully resolved anytime soon and it’s all a set-up for a series. I don’t mind it one bit though, because, when the time comes, I’ll be very excited to jump back into Josslyn and Jericho’s story.

Joanna Kleibauer