I think this book was overall weaker than the first in the series. It had been a while since I had read the first book, Scion of the Fox, and I felt like I had forgotten parts of the story. I definetly would refresh yourself before you dive into this one.

It took me a while to read this book since I had to go back and reread Scion of the Fox. I thought Children of the Bloodlands was a good follow-up. I was a little sad that the whole team was split, but I was still engaged by the story. I was sucked into Roan's world once again and parts of the story had me holding my breath. I am looking forward to more from this author in this series. I definitely recommend this book to YA readers and fantasy lovers. I think the storyline is unique and well thought out. You will need to read Scion of the Fox first though.

I thank ECW Press and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this wonderful book!!

His tale is frightening but utterly thrilling. Twists and turns, which will engage the reader from the outset. Great read.

DNF @ 24% because like an idiot I didn't realize this was the second book in the series. What I did read was okay and it warrants a 3 star rating.

This second book in the Realms of Ancient trilogy starts off months after the defeat of Zabor, but Roan, Eli, Natti, Phae, and Barton are separated when new threats rise. There is a plague that has taken over and a new demon that calls itself Seela is after the Calamity Stones which each Paramount possesses. This book kind of sees the Five Families working together to fight off the darkness.

Roan is on her own personal journey in Scotland and is trying to learn to control her newly acquired stone and powers. She learns that her grandmother is not who she thought she was at all. This book is a total struggle for Roan because she has to fight against her own darkness and find her own strength outside of the Stone. It doesn’t help that everyone keeps calling her the Paramount, but it’s not a power she ever wanted. She also discovers more about her family that she ever thought she would and kinds of loses herself a bit.

All the other friends find themselves on their own journeys as well, which each have to do with the five Calamity Stones. This book is all about sacrifice and self-discovery and it’s a lot darker than the first book was. It’s definitely got less of the snarky dialogue and strikes a more serious tone, but that’s most likely because everyone is trying to save the world.

I really loved that the characters each got to travel to different places! This book goes everywhere from Winnipeg , Nunavut, Scotland, Russia, and Korea. It also involves travelling to different realms as well, which was super fun. The story is kind of building towards a kind of apocalyptic ending and I can’t wait to see who comes out of the story alive at the end of the third book. Also, the chemistry between characters is totally there but never acted on and it’s killing me! I kind of like that romance is on the back burner, but the suspense!

The premise of this book was great, what I got to read of it was great, unfortunately my ARC copy was scattered (missing sections/paragraphs) so it made it difficult to read. I think that it is a great story and will likely try to finish/reread it when I can get a published/complete copy.