“Rebel Spring,” sequel to “Falling Kingdoms,” made a phenomenal world even better. Character development is the basis of every great story, and Morgan Rhodes definitely hit the ball out of the park with this book’s development. The story is developed through many points-of-views once again, this time adding in a few more supporting characters to the forefront of readers’ minds.
The story begins where “Falling Kingdoms” left off with the capture of Princess Cleo by Prince Magnus. Princess Cleo is not as prominent in the plot as she was in the first book, partly because there are more characters in Auranos. She does have heavy character development, though. She had a short-lived, blown out of proportion romance with Theon in “Falling Kingdoms,” and Rhodes decides to put her in another one in “Rebel Spring” as well. This is irritating seeing as Cleo has great potential to be in a serious, long-lasting relationship through multiple books. Her character seemed shallow in the first book of the series because of the obnoxious reaction to her guard’s death, but in “Rebel Spring” her reactions are more level-headed and shows the serious side readers all knew she had in the first book. Cleo’s character, in “Rebel Spring,” has a subtle love triangle but it is not in the forefront of the story. Romance in this series is never in the forefront, which is greatly appreciated in the young adult genre. The love triangle is a bit lopsided, however, with one relationship being a fast-paced, surely to disintegrate romance and the other being slow-burning and long-lasting.
Next to Cleo is Prince Magnus throughout the entirety of the novel. Their new-found relationship is one containing some of the greatest banters back and forth between two characters in a young adult novel. Prince Magnus’ love for his sister dies down in this book due to Princess Lucia’s very own character development and leaves his heart wide open for questioning his love for others. His character develops because of  his romantic situation and his new relationships.
Princess Lucia obviously develops within “Rebel Spring” due to the discovery of her elementia in “Falling Kingdoms.” Jonas Agallon develops with his leadership of the rebellion against King Gaius’ iron fist rule. His character becomes mainstream than in “Falling Kingdoms” due to the role of the rebellion in this book, and readers are glad of it. Jonas went through many tortures in “Falling Kingdoms” with the death of his brother, and the torture continues in “Rebel Spring” as well.
“Rebel Spring” is a character-driven book that continues to surprise its readers through the twists of its plot and the minds of its characters.