The Plan Commences

The Rising, Book 2

By: Kristen Ashley

Narrated by: Liz Thompson, Dina Pearlman, Stella Bloom, Joniece Abbott Pratt, Esther Wane, Gemma Dawson, Robin Miles, Clara Francesca, Lance Greenfield, Jakobi Diem, Ralph Lister, John Hartley, Rupert Channing, Sarah Coomes

Length: 23 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the unparalleled imagination of New York Times best-selling author Kristen Ashley comes Book Two in The Rising, an enchanting new fantasy romance series that will sweep you away! 

Once upon a time, in a parallel universe, there existed the continent of Triton. The land was filled with beauty, but it was also splintered by war. Out of the chaos grew a conspiracy to reawaken the Beast, a fearsome creature who wrought only tragedy and devastation. The only way to stop him was to fulfill an ancient prophecy: Triton’s four strongest warriors must wed its four most powerful witches, binding all nations together and finally bringing peace to the land.      

This is the story of their unions: the quiet maiden Silence and the savage king Mars. The cold warrior Cassius and the fiery witch Elena. The steadfast soldier True and the banished beauty Farah. And the pirate king Aramus and the mysterious queen Ha-Lah. Their unions will not be easy, but each couple must succeed, for the fate of their world is at stake....

©2019 Kristen Ashley (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Onto Book THREE

LOVED I love the female characters, really the best In all KA history. They are strong, loyal, loving, brave, fierce, funny, smart, flawed in different ways but even with their flaw they better themselves each time you see them. My two favorite males are MARS and TRUE.... Cassius and Armus need to catch up. that's all I'll say HAHA, they have such great potential, but their words when they are hurt go over the line for me personally. I love the world-building, the secondary characters, the political plots, the beast plot and seeing some old but LOVED characters. A lot happens in this book. moved way smoother and faster than the book before. DISLIKED The three-way couple!!! lol let me just say Open relationship... I just could not care for them, I wish the main couples took up that space. OTHER THOUGHTS The villains are way too many and I get confused by them at times lol I wish someone made a graph. There is the rising, the society and something else, IDK tho. I feel so bad for Elena's older sister, she was a complete B but my god if she finds out what is being done to her, it could actually break her....I feel like KA was way too harsh on Elenas older sister then she was on any other characters *Cassius, tadre, aromas or even on any other characters. TBH is not like she has done any worse then Cassius or armus in her words or actions. It breaks my heart that she is being deceived in the worst way ever! In a way, It's a little of Elena and her mother's fault for allowing her behavior to get that BAD especially with the power she carries. She was not told her behavior was unacceptable, she went on without consequence. I feel like she was deeply insecure because she felt like she did not deserve to be queen but to save her ego she told herself that she is Firstborn and that she will be the queen. No one told her any differently when you love someone you have to be able to tell them the things they are doing are harmful and unacceptable. Hiding the truth will hurt everyone.

Not for the shy

This book is not for the sexually shy, but it’s not as viciously explicit as book 1. We start the book with executions from the attack on Mars’ palace, then Mars and Silence’s wedding, then Sophia’s funeral. The couples each find ways to spend time alone, and the three overcome barriers to their intimacy. It’s only True and Farrah that wait until their wedding day, which is beautiful and deadly. Even the Beast has found a mate - and is more active than anyone is aware. I love the multicast narration.

I can't . I tried.

The story was already a little complicated in the beginning because of all of the characters. But the women in this book oh my God!!! It's ridiculous. I'm all for strong female characters, but they were beyond. They were not strong, they were stupid. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be harsh. But please, please, please next time make the female characters have more sense. I had to skip to the end and I've never had to do that, ever.

What happened to the strong FMCs??

This second book is driving me crazy! What happened to all of the strong female leads who knew their minds and could speak their words? As soon as any of their overbearing men so much as look at them, they become mindless swooning nitwits. I don't know if I'll be able to finish this book, much less buy the next books in the series. And what's the point of having 4 separate couples if they're basically all covering the same trope of "I'm a worthy woman but I won't speak my mind when this man tries to push me around and instead of meaningful communication and mutual growth, I will stew silently. I also won't ask anything of this man OR talk to my fellow women going through similar issues and instead remain hurt, upset and confused." AND "I'm the man who knows everything and don't have to include this woman in any decision making or even care about basic needs. And I definitely won't stop to think that maybe the woman might need support while acclimating to this totally unfair power differential." UGH

On The Edge Of My Seat

I have been anticipating this series for some time... KA has been teasing us with it for months. I have been dedicated to listening to this book..... with each new part I hear I become more addicted <3 Mars and Silence are my favorite couple!! I have become an adoring champion for each couple! The first two parts have definitely packed a punch with each installment. I do not know how I can wait til Jan 21 for the next part. We are left with a huge OMG moment! PSA to those who are not fans of curse words, detailed sex, and violence should probably not start this series. The violence is not in ghastly detail, but mentioned. I am a huge KA fan will be counting down the days till the next two parts!!

Boring sex and trad wife princesses

The story could be good but she destroys it with exceptionally boring sex and badly written female characters. I mean I like some dom sometimes but this book makes the writer sound like a trad wife. At only 6 hours left, I’m giving up listening to it.

No thank you

I DNF this book but made it 80% of the way through it. Too many characters and I didn’t care about any of them. I liked book one; book two dragged on and on. And on. And on. The only movement in the plot was the couples finally having sex, or getting close to having sex, but I don’t need 23 hours of that.

From one of your oldest (73) fans

As usual loved the two books ! I’m sure ill read them more then once. Love the extended cast too !

can't stop listening

I love this series. So full of intrigue and magic. I love the full cast of voices that Audible had to bring the different characters to life. It allows for what could possibly be a very confusing story, with its multiple POV, to become engrossing as each voice takes on a POV. It's a story that has so much potential and so many possibilities that as soon as I'm done with one, I'm quickly on to the next book.

Confused

I love me a good KA book however I do not like the narrative's in this book. The men are horrible & mean to these women and they just accept it so easily. 75% done going to finish but that's alot! FINISHED: On to Book 3!

Brilliant telling of an epic tale

This second instalment in this epic tale continues to have everything thing you could wish for. There is intrigue and suspense set against wonderfully crafted descriptions of place along with Kristen Ashley's deft hand at creating the intimately intense feelings of her characters. On top of this the cast of narrators is exceptional.

Amazing

What a fantastical series. It’s compelling listening. Once you start you can’t stop it’s that good! One of the best series I’ve ever listened too

3.5 stars

Mostly good book, but a lot of the sex seemed forced into the book to titillate, rather than it adding to the story - and not all of it came across that naturally. Also, having rape as a plot mechanism just seems distasteful and gratuitous and many other scenarios could have served the same purpose in the book. Using rape to sell books is just off.

Enjoying it alright

Second title in the series, still loving it. Could not even wait until the next one so pre ordered it. It is True this series will not be Silence-d! 😆