Book Review: The Forbidden Realms – The Fallen Light Series Book 2 by H.C. Newell

*May contain slight spoilers for book 1 – Curse of the Fallen*

The Forbidden Realms was an action-packed adventure which unfolded the world of the Fallen Light series beautifully.

From the get-go, H.C. Newell invites the reader to a visual experience with her beautifully crafted world. The reader follows a defeated Nerena venturing back to an old town, where her magic is seen as evil. Hiding in the shadows she is determined to make amends to a fallen friend’s family, but she must be careful. It soon becomes clear that Neer is not safe here and she must remain on guard and find somewhere safe to hold up for the evening. Unfortunately for her, no where is safe and she is discovered, her secret is out, and she once again needs to flee.

With the help of new friends, she makes it out alive and crosses past with Aélla. A woman with the ancient magic of the Dur coursing through her veins. Aélla and Neer’s destinies align, and they will need to work together to gather the magic of the elements in order to enter the forbidden realms.

Unfortunately, I can’t give away too much more of the plot without getting into spoiler territory for book one, but know these books are a lot of action heavy fun.

There are a few praises worth mentioning for the Forbidden Realms, the first being the scope of the world. It was obvious in book one that this world was huge, there are several different species, cities and lifestyles waiting to be discovered. Book two introduces us to a few different characters each with their own unique histories and prejudices that prove a point of contention for our band to work through. Perhaps the most important of these new species was the Vaxros. A tall, red skinned race with beautiful scaring all over their bodies. We encounter these creatures several times and learn all about their complicated history with humans and other magic users. It was very clear they had little trust for Neer, Aélla and the rest of our party which made for some excellent conflict.

Another thing worth mentioning is how the author calls herself out on convenient plot points which is something that shocked and delighted me as a reader. She actively has her characters question the why and how these things have come up at such times which allowed an exploration of the world, a quick recap into past foreshadowing or humorous banter within the group. It was almost like she had reached into my mind when I thought “that was oddly convenient” then explain why it has been done that way.

Once again H.C. Newell absolutely slays the friendship vibes in book two. The dynamic between Aélla and Neer as they learn to know, trust, and feel genuine friendship for each other is beautiful to follow. We have a friendship dynamic which toys with the “will they or won’t they” vibes but Nerena sticks to her guns, and we see how complicated that can be, and once again the banter was on point. This group feels like a friendship group that has been thrown together by circumstance and that is exactly what they are. Nothing feels disingenuous between them as they learn about each other.

In terms of character work, Nerena has shot up to one of my favourite female protagonists. She is smart, quick witted, knows how to fight and when to pull back. She asks questions that matter, she trusts and loves hard and learns as she goes. I also really liked one of our baddies Thorne. Thorne (without going in to too much detail) has been hired by the Order (book one) to capture Nerena on her quest. He kept showing up and it made my heart jump nearly every time. It felt like that boss in a video game that just doesn’t want to die and keeps upgrading themselves to the point they are nearly impossible to defeat. This was an excellent tie to the overall plot, and it served as a reminder of the end game is for our main protagonist.

Now, I have one small critique for the Forbidden Realms, there was perhaps too much action for the 450-page count in my opinion. Each chapter had a flow and our characters ended up in a dire situation in nearly every one. As a reader, it did make me wonder what the heck could take them out at the end of each chapter and if we would see the action or if we would get a fade to black and wake up with the consequence. While it did make the book extremely fast paced and fun, it did also make me lose some of the plot points along the way and I would need to re-read passages to rejog my memory.   

Overall, I think H.C. Newell has done a great job in continuing the Fallen Light series in a way that reminds us of Nerena’s motivation but also opens the wider world and magic systems for a bigger story. These books are perfect as quick reads to sneak in at the end of the month if you want to hit your reading goals!