In the great walled city of Isara, political turmoil ignites a rebellion one hundred years in the making. But when a legionnaire falls in love with a Magistrate's daughter, their love will threaten the fate of the city and the will of the gods.
Luca Matius has one purpose—to carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city's Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people.
Maris Casperia was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel's inner workings, and she knows what her future holds—a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives.
As a secret comes to light and throws the city into chaos, Luca and Maris hatch a plot to create a calculated alliance that could tip the scales of power. But when an execution forces Luca to become the symbol of rebellion, he and Maris are thrown onto opposite sides of a holy war. As their fates diverge, they learn they are at the center of a story the gods are writing. And even if they can find their way back to each other, there may be nothing left.
Luca Matius has one purpose—to carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city's Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people.
Maris Casperia was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel's inner workings, and she knows what her future holds—a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives.
As a secret comes to light and throws the city into chaos, Luca and Maris hatch a plot to create a calculated alliance that could tip the scales of power. But when an execution forces Luca to become the symbol of rebellion, he and Maris are thrown onto opposite sides of a holy war. As their fates diverge, they learn they are at the center of a story the gods are writing. And even if they can find their way back to each other, there may be nothing left.
Title: Fallen City (Fallen City Duology #1)
Author: Adrienne Young
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
Review:
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I was actually listening to this one when it popped up as available on the site. I have a copy of the second book and I was reading this so I could read and review that one. I grabbed this and decided to do an immersive read. Which was really fun. The narrators for the audio did a great job with the characters and their development. I'd not listened to either of them before so it was nice to experience new narrators.
This book has a fantasy/dystopian vibe for me. Young does a fabulous job developing out the world and winding in a ton of political intrigue. The political side was what struck me as making the book both fantasy and dystopian. These two genres combined make it into an epic story.
I liked that the book is told from alternating POVS or the FMC and MMC as well as flash backs so we can see how things built to begin with. There were so many layers to what was going on. These characters are very flawed and human. That really shows itself throughout the story. They face many impossible choices that make their involvement with each other messy and real.
I will say the "magical" aspect left me a little confused. I know it has a lot to do with the Gods they believe in and I would have liked to see just a bit more building in that area.
This is also not your typical romantasy and I'm honestly not sure I would mark it as such if I were the one putting it into a genre. The romance is nice, and there are a lot of things that are revealed throughout the story so you really need to stick with it to understand the romance. There's a lot of complexity to their relationship. There is much that takes place off page, though, so you don't see quite as much in the romance area as I would have liked to see making it a bit harder to completely understand the attraction between the couple.
The pacing is a bit on the slower side for this one. Probably because there is a lot of information and world building being brought in. The last 25% of the book is packed with movement, though. And it leaves things on a sort of cliffhanger.
I'm looking forwar to the second installment in this series.
Author:
Adrienne Young is the New York Times and international bestselling author of the Sky and Sea duology, the Fable series, and Spells for Forgetting. When she’s not writing, you can find Adrienne on her yoga mat, on a walk in the woods, or planning her next travel adventure. She lives and writes in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
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Instagram: @adrienneyoungbooks
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