The) - The Queen of the Tearling - A Novel (Queen of the Tearling

I loved this book beyond measure. I fell in love with the characters, the plot and the kingdom. If you love fantasy, you will love this book! The heroine is strong and smart and just amazing. I wanted to jump inside this book in fight alongside the queens guard. The best book I've read in a very long time.

Amazing story about a strong female character. Quick, and enjoyable read for anyone who likes this genre. I would highly recommend reading this novel and can't wait to read the rest of the series as it is released!

A female protagonist who could form a club with Arya Stark and Lyra Bellaqua. Awesome world building like ASOIAF, magical elements like A Wise Man's Fear, a country road trip like Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT? I wish this book existed when I was 13, but enjoyed it very much at 32. I cant wait to get my hands on the sequel.

Kelsea is a girl turned to woman in this book, and not just any woman a queen!

There's magic,treachery,maliciousness, and above all love in all of the pages.
I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

More of a 4.5. I like the plot, the characters, how the story turns out. Can't wait for the next instalment. My only problem was with the romance, uh rather infatuation, not romance. I do not like the I saw hime I love him theme. The male protagonist did nothing to evoke a romantic feel in the heroine. If this starting infatuation will turn out to be life lesson for our heroine then I won't mind, but if they stay the main pairing I am not a fan.

This series is a builder. The world, characters, and plot are built slowly but steadily over the course of the trilogy. The plot doesn't cut out on a cliffhanger, but you will not have many answers by the end of the first book, and you won't quite have all of them by the end of the second. If this sounds like something that would drive you nuts, skip this series. Personally, I loved it.

It's not a matter of leaving loose ends; rather, the author knows where she's going and she's going to take her own time getting there. And she WILL get there. I like complex world-building stories, and this one feels like a comfortable entry-level offering. The writing doesn't have the lyrical quality of Name of the Wind, or the driving action of The First Law, but I was just as absorbed by this series as I was by those two. Kelsea, as a heroine, actually managed to feel fresh, not very cliché at all. My only complaint would have to be that the simplistic writing style felt better suited to a younger audience, and this series is definitely for older teens and adults. I don't really care about sex (and in fact there isn't much of it), and the violence wasn't notably gruesome, but there was a surprising amount of rape. At least A Song of Ice and Fire feels like an adult story. This series reads like the younger end of YA, which made it that much more jarring. I will say, though, that it does not glory in it.

All in all, though, this is an excellent series, and an author to watch.

Don't read it. Seriously, just don't. And do not let your daughter read it. As other reviewers have described, it is extremely graphic and deals with very mature subject matter. I mean, "why is she bothering to save this world I hate these people" subject matter. See the other reviews for good descriptions of what is wrong with this book. The idea that it has been optioned for film is just an insult to all the good writers out there who don't have a book/film deal. Self publish, people. Self. Publish.

I have no idea why this book has four stars. That beautiful cover has been wasted on this story. The editor should be fired for incompetence. I finished The Queen of the Tearling a couple of days ago. I intended to give it two stars because I actually finished it despite it's failings. But I find myself so irritated at how bad this book is that I have to subtract a star on principle. It's like they just went looking for another female author to follow up the Divergent/ Hunger Games bandwagon, found Erika Johansen and said, "There's a woman who wrote a book about a girl. Let's give her a lot of money. She's not a good writer? Oh well. We just the book to create hype for the movie." (BTW, Emma Watson is far too pretty to play Kelsea. She's described more like Brienne but without any skills).
The preachy, atheist, social justice politics is really annoying. She's trying to sell us a world built on monarchy while telling us how evil monarchy is, then trying to fix it with a new monarch. No explanation of why there are only Queens, no Kings. Historically unrealistic and completely impractical to maintain a ruling family for three hundred years. No explanation of why they have birth control but no antibiotics. No dystopian society that lost 90% of the population would practice birth control. It takes a lot of people to feed a society with no technology (seriously, none? Not even steam engines? Completely unbelievable.) People would be their greatest resource, children would be vital to the survival of the family, yet they allow this weird sex trafficking slavery.

The whole thing is just a mess. And it has so much potential. It's sad, it's annoying, and it's undeserving. Skip it. If you encourage bad writing by giving the publisher your money they will just publish more bad writing. There is so much good writing out there. Go find it. Not this.

This reminded me of a Sleeping Beauty retelling. The princess is sent away for her protection in the forest. There she learns and grows into a strong young woman. At the age of nineteen, her dead mother leaves instructions withs her guards to fetch her, meanwhile being hunted by mercenaries and an evil queen.

This has a lot of similar elements of other high fantasy strong heroines that are princesses or queens or rulers/ the one foretold. I enjoyed it and will probably read on.

A nice read, a pleasant distraction. You don't have to take it too seriously.
I hear a susurration from the margins. It is the author gaining confidence and building momentum, about to blow us away.
The scene is set; Begin!

I'm having a hard time getting through this book. I even read a whole series while I was in the middle of it. First, I kind of hate the "love interest" as he seems to be. A pedophile doesn't not encourage one to keep reading, no mater what sort of era.
Hopefully it gets better. I'm near the end of chapter 7

While I was not that impressed by the writing and story concept, the actual story was enthralling and kept me turning the pages. I bought the second book immediately after finishing, because I had to know what happened next.

This book is a fast paced adventure, good against evil, master thriller and a fast read. The story is eloquently written. It has a good balance of everything. Though the first chapter is slow, it picks up rapidly in the next. The story sucks you into a world of evil and hope. It's hard to put down. I loved the protagonist. Unlike the sterotype description; the protagonist being a beautiful helpless queen, this has a refreshing and realistic touch, except for the magic. A definite must read for people who like reading about dystopia and dysfunctional societies.

I liked this book a lot. It was very fast paced and unique. Very different than many of the books about an imagined future. The main character is interesting and intriguing. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys distopian literature.

Probably my favorite book, ever. It is amazing. Erika Johansen knows how to write. She doesn't just string words together that somehow forms a story. She tells a tale in a way that transports you to the tearling. It's a story of adventure and self discovery and very real despite it's "fantasy" theme. These people suffer real issues and have conceivable dreams and desires. I've honestly not read a book this detailed and this GOOD in years. I'm glad I picked it up, but now I don't ever want to put it down. Not even after my second read through. .

Why did I wait so long to read this amazing fantasy? This was a 5 star read for me it keeps you on the edge of your seat I found it VERY hard to put down. Characters you actually care about.....I have the paperback form but I think I will kindle the other 2 because the print was a bit small for me. I really really enjoyed this world and must know what happens next.

This book was outstanding. It has been a long time since I have read such a well written book.
The characters pulled you into the story. I was unable to put the book down.
I want to thank my daughter for suggesting I read this book. It was great.

When i read this book i really got the feeling i was reading historical fiction. The year was mentioned, but based on the primitive state, it seemed really old. It was a great book though. I have recommended it to many of my friends.

This is a very odd story. The author seems to have thrown every possible story into this including the proverbial kitchen sink!!
You name it , Game of thrones, Robin hood, Zorro, time periods are weird. Middle ages, but they have plastic surgery!!
I doubt if I would be interested in any sequels.

This has the potential to be a better series than His Dark Materials, The Hunger Games, or The Abhorsen Trilogy, all of which I love. Characters and relationships are thoughtfully and intelligently developed throughout, and I cannot wait to read the sequel!

There were some odd parts, but over all this book was amazing! I absolutely cannot wait for the movie, and even though I think Emma Watson is way too pretty to be Kelsea, it's still super exciting and I think she'll be great!

Loved the heroine and the rest of the intriguing and complex cast of characters. A coming of age story packed with adventure and political unrest, set in a mysterious future that more closely resembles the medieval past. A real page Turner!

4 stars because while I enjoyed this book, I had a hard time grasping that a 19 year old who was raised in isolation could have such a mature voice. It felt more like the authors words than the 19 year olds, so it rang in a sense inauthentic to the character she is building. It also didn't suck me in as swiftly as i'd hoped but maybe that's my issue.

Loved the entire story. The characters are defined very well. The glimpses of the mystery make the book hard to put down. My only criticism is the descriptive violence. I find it unnecessary and disturbing. But it did not diminish my desire to read the next two books.

My quest for fiction was satisfied. Imaginative & suspenseful. An infant princess raced off to the woods, to be raised hidden away from danger, only to reclaim the kingdom in her 19th year. Courage wrapped in a "plain" cover.

I am so glad that I don't weigh other people's reviews heavily when I decide whether or not I am going to read a book. If I had, I probably would have never tried this series. As it happens, what I discovered was a deep, complex, interesting, and engaging post-apocalypse fantasy that I flew through in four days. It also shattered my expectations and made me want to immediately start book 3. Erika Johansen is one heck of a writer and I am anxious to see where she takes this series. Reading an interview of her recently she states that one of the books will be a backstory and history of how the Tearling came about and what cataclysm occurred to force the people of a long ago time to flee and shun technology in favor of a medieval lifestyle. Tremendous! I can't wait.

I struggled with this book. Overall, there was too much foul language and it went too far in describing the vileness of the Red Queen and others. It was untasteful. It seemed endlessly repeated how horribly men raped/abused/mistreated women. I'm for social justice and I actually appreciated Kelsea's strong stance for doing what was right regardless of the personal cost, but there are better ways to demonstrate deplorable behavior.

Faith content: Johansen must not think very highly of Catholicism and Christianity to portray them so poorly. Honestly, it just makes me sad. In her story, the two have morphed into one religion called God’s church, which is apparently corrupt and not to be trusted. This church has turned a blind eye to all things immoral and only cares about increasing its power. The one priest we meet who isn’t corrupt is still a poor example of a good priest. Christ’s name is only ever mentioned in the abuse of it.

Political: Pro-socialist. Kelsea outright states she’d take from the rich and redistribute it. All nobles/rich individuals are portrayed negatively, while the common person is lauded. (Yes, let’s blame the rich for our problems, so selfish and uncaring because they’re rich.)

Morals: Pro-abortion. Strong opposition to slavery, sex-trafficking, domestic abuse. Kelsea wasn’t sexualized, but there was definite TMI with other characters. Kelsea admires a man called the Fetch, against her better judgment, who is known for thievery and murder.

Structure: Drove me crazy. The chapters were incredibly long and were broken up into multiple POVS, though mostly Kelsea’s. I found myself asking myself multiple times why I was hearing from a character’s POV when I didn’t really care for that character. It just slowed things down, and was where most of the unsavory content was.

Plot: Others pointed out there were major holes. I agree. All of the Tearling’s doctors conveniently died on one ship during the crossing, technology disappeared, people have forgotten how to make modern weaponry. In addition, Kelsea is too well-adapted for having lived in isolation her whole life. It would have been better off in it’s own world. also, the climax wasn’t inspiring.

Characters: Seemed fairly flat aside from the ones given sections from their POV. They never talked about themselves, in part because it wasn’t their place to talk about certain things from the past. This greatly stifled character development. I liked Kelsea as a character for her passion for social justice. She was brave, not vain, flawed. I didn’t like her views on politics and faith that came out of nowhere (well, I think the author projected her own views on Kelsea).

Craft: I think Johansen writes well...so it is a major point of frustration that there were so many things wrong with this book. So many things. So sad.

There were too many negatives for me to recommend this to anyone. I finished it, I liked the protagonist (kinda?)...but if I had known all this before, I never would have picked the book up. I was deceived by the innocent-looking cover, positive reviews and naively thought it would get better. It just didn’t.

I devour books, even bad ones, and after awhile it seems like there's just a cycle of plots that just go through changes of names for the main characters. Love triangles, girl says she's not strong/brave/smart/talented but it turns out she is, bad boy isn't bad even though he gets framed for some terrible thing, good guy is so good he lets the girl go with the bad guy because good guy realizes the bad guy is really a good guy and the better good guy is SUCH a good guy he doesn't fight over the girl and lets her go, all of society depends on the actions of girl who doesn't think she's the one but really is, etc., etc. It doesn't diminish the joy of reading, but it can make for some boring patches.

When I chose The Queen of the Tearling, I was expecting a bit of some plot that has become rote in YA and lo and behold, I wasn't disappointed. Heroic, overly good 'good guy', cookie cutter bad guy, girl caught in between who needs to save/rule the world. If the 'Incarceron' books by Catherine Fisher and 'The Girl of Fire and Thorns' Series by Rae Carson got together, 'The Queen of the Tearling' would be their bouncing, baby offspring.

The biggest problem I had wasn't the plot mash-up, but the bits that make a reader go huh??? The queen is educated in the middle of the boondocks but is somehow qualified to rule? No socialization, no experience with people, no experience with society, suddenly tossed into a role that she rocks at. A stunning level of book education cannot make up for 19 years of isolation. It's implied that her necklace is what could be behind her amazing intuity and ability to read people. After being dormant all her life, once she assumes rule it begins to take on a life of it's own. One minute Kelsea is scared of her Captain of the Guard, the next she's wanting to fondle his bare chest. The author puts us into a future where the people have eschewed modern technology by choice and chosen to live a simpler way of life, but the only place she ever really clues us in to the back story is on the book jacket. Upon embarking to this new way of life, the people were allowed to take 10 books with them. The book is set well into the future of this society, and it's considered bizarre if someone doesn't know how to read. Well, even though people could take books with them, there's no guarantee that they CHOSE to take books with them. There's no guarantee that those books weren't turned into fuel for a cold night, or that they got lost somehow. We live in a society today where thousands of people don't know how to read after going through 13 years of primary school and even after going to four years of college. Unless a premium was put on everyone having the ability to read, it is wholly conceivable and understandable that over the years once again a portion of the population didn't have the ability to read.

Overall, the story isn't a bad one, but it isn't anything that will blow your mind. It's a pleasant way to pass an afternoon. With the right screenwriter, this book should make a pretty good film adaptation unless it's hacked apart like 'Eragon' was, or the Percy Jackson series. I plan to read the next installment because not every writer hits it out of the park on their first try, and with this being Erika's first book, I look forward to seeing her hit her stride.

This series must be read in order. This is the first book.

Raised in complete isolation with not even one playmate Kelsea was groomed almost since birth to become the next Tear Queen. Without any knowledge of current events or her mother's rule she doubts her ability to effectively rule... If she even makes it to the Throne alive in the first place. Barty showered her with love and taught her basic outdoor survival skills and how to use a knife. She dreads leaving the jovial gentle giant behind. Carlin, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. Her stern disapproval and many lectures have always left Kelsea feeling like a complete disappointment an fraud. How will Kelsea manage to rule a whole country when she is clearly so lacking ? What was her mothet like? Why did Elyssa give her up truly? Who is her father and is he alive?

This is not your averge fantasy adventure. For starters it is set in world that at one time way surpassed ours in scientific achievement and has suffered a cataclysmic event tht caused them to leave almost all science behind. After the "Crossing" event to whatever place they live now there cam about actual magic and supernatural gifts even though the people live fairly primitively. The world was entrancing and i can't wait to read Invasion Of The Tearling!

***This series is suitable for mature young adult through adult readers who enjoy a little mystery and suspense in their futuristic post post apocalyptal coming of age fantasy adventures with loads of intrigue and a dash of magic :)

This book sucked me in from the first page, and was so hard to put down! The characters were varied and real and I pretty much liked all of them.

I recognize that this book has a lot of problems. I had so many questions while reading, and still don't have a lot of answers. I'm pretty confused by the concept of 'the Crossing' and what time period they are supposed to be in, but I wasn't frustrated and angry through the book because of it like I normally would be. It just caused me to want to keep reading in anticipation of getting more answers. I'm hoping that I will still get the answers to my questions in the next two books. I hope to find out why the the magic is so strange. Yeah, I have high hopes for book 2 so we'll see where that gets me.

I found many aspects of this book reminiscent of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, which I also really enjoyed.

I can easily see why this book became a bestseller. Kelsea, the heroine, is a teenage girl caught in a dark world full of plots and schemes. She finds a strength within herself that surprises herself and everyone else. This a common formula and the key these days of formulaic writing is to find a common theme written in a way that stands out and impresses. There needs be both an element of familiarity and of surprise and this book has both.
I picked up this book on the recommendation of my mother. I had already been considering after seeing glowing reviews online. There are a few things that I would like to point to others looking to pick up this book. #1 I have seen several people call this book a Young Adult novel. This is most definitely not what I would call a YA novel. Simply because the main character is a teenager does not make this appropriate for children. I would recommend this for older teens and even then I would suggest that parents discuss the story with them. Not to patronize them as they are very nearly adult but I personally think that if I had read this as a teen I would’ve struggled with some of the darker aspect of the story. #2 This book has been compared to The Hunger Games and I’m not sure why. There is very little similarity so if you go into this expecting Katniss be prepared because you’re getting a character much more like Elisa from Rae Carson’s A Girl of Fire and Thorns. Except on the subject of piety and faith Elisa and Kelsea are very similar. #3 Right in the description, it states that romance will play a role in this book. It didn’t really. She had an infatuation but there was no romance. The book doesn’t suffer for it all but if you’re hoping for romance, you won’t find it here.
With that being said, I like this book. I was impressed, fascinated, and curious to see where the author would go with this world she had crafted. I can see where the frank discussions of rape and sex had enhanced setting the scene of a dark world but it toed the line of being almost gratuitous. It didn’t cross the line but came rather close. The main character herself was rather chaste and modest. Kelsea was multi-dimensional and fascinating. She also has a keen mind and is a bit kick-butt at times. The supporting characters were fleshed out and real. The side characters that stuck out to me were Lazarus and the despicable Regent, Thomas. Lazarus was everything you could hope for in a protector character. He was fierce, intelligent, and occasionally humorous. Thomas was a horrible regent and easy to despise but this is where my respect for the author comes into play. She managed to wrestle an inkling of pity from me for this pitiful man. Well done Ms Johansen. Two thumbs up.

“The Queen of the Tearling introduces readers to a world as fully imagined and terrifying as that of The Hunger Games, with characters as vivid and intriguing as those of The Game of Thrones, and a wholly original heroine. Combining thrilling action and twisting plot turns; it is a magnificent debut from the talented Erika Johansen”

I do not agree with the Marketing / PR statement.

The intended hype:
This magnificent debut, as the Marketing department insinuates, by the talented author, is already signed for a seven-book deal, film rights to the entire book series already sold to Warner Bros with “Harry Potter” producer David Heyman on board and best of all Harry Potter star Emma Watson signed on to play the lead in the saga.

“Harper Collins will publish the trilogy, which has been described as a female “Game of Thrones” beginning in 2014.”

I particularly don’t care about this “female” bulls***, as if I (a woman) should not like GoT but wait for a female version of the same? Now if the responsible for this logorrhea reads my review: Dear Sir or Madam, I hate women's parking places, because I almost always see males parking there their big cars as they can’t be bothered to use the smaller parking lot 5 meters away. I don’t like being told that women can’t drive, spent endless time in front of the mirror or collect shoes en masse. If you read the book you’ll find out that our heroine is especially a character described as un-female-like.

Apart from my personal misgivings with the marketing I’d like to refer to the four points mentioned in the blurb:

1. A world as fully imagined and terrifying as that of The Hunger Games
2. Characters as vivid and intriguing as those of The Game of Thrones
3. A wholly original heroine
4. Thrilling action and twisting plot turns

1. A world as fully imagined and terrifying as that of The Hunger Games

Why do we always have to compare things to “The Hunger Games”, “Game of Thrones”, “Harry Potter” or “Twilight” or whatever? This book is no copycat; the world building is “same same but different”. It’s the typical fantasy world setup: a fictional European, feudalistic, medieval world with a backwards technological status.

What makes it unique is the background history: William Tear, an utopist from our time, decided to cross an ominous ocean to an unknown new world on ships together with 2000 followers building a better world. His dream was that of pure socialism, leaving behind technology and religion (the false gods, so to speak). They land in a country of scarce resources. The great socialist vision of William Tear erodes after the Landing ending in a coup complete with assassination and finally initiation of a royal monarchy and the reawakening of religious fascism with some parallels to the National Socialism (->Cardinal Anders wore a small gold pin in the shape of a hammer, a memento of his time spent on the Regent’s anti-sodomy squads). The story starts a few hundred years after the Crossing. I was fascinated by this setup but found it rather disrupting to the flow. For example, a few times characters refer in dialogues to fictional or real characters: Caesar, Helen of Troy, Brother Grimm, Scheherazade or Leonardo da Vinci.

“What exactly are you asking for, Scheherazade?”
“Devotion to your God and your church is more important than your understanding of the things of Caesar.”

Whatever those names should have achieved, they didn’t sway me. A lot of books are mentioned, talked about or read: J.K. Rawlings’ seven-book-bundle of Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and the works of a historian called Barbara Tuchman.

The mentioning felt out of place, superimposed and constructed like when the Red Queen tells us she is a geneticist, perhaps the most advanced geneticist since the Crossing, or when a normal talk is interrupted by the mentioning of plastic or transplant surgery, eBooks, etc. For me this always felt more like a waking gong. Bam! It just didn’t fit at all with the entire magical, medieval world.

Having said that, there are also other references that I found totally awesome: A lot of well-known elements are integrated into the plot without being too obvious but still discernible: There is an almost Robin Hood like secondary character playing an important role, there is the “True Queen” element of the Arthurian Legend, there is of course the very plain addition of the Red Queen (no other name is known), a Lewis Carroll character from Through the Looking-Glass, we also have a lot of Scottish, Welsh, Irish mythology thrown into the mix. Names and nicknames are very important to the story. I won’t take your fun away looking them up. But I found this really a nice add-on. I like to look things up, and to see that an author has put some thought into naming characters and integrating folklore elements when it fits. Just a small example, the Robin Hood-alike is called The Fetch. This is a supernatural double or apparition of a living person in Irish folklore. It is largely akin to the doppelgänger, and sightings are regarded as omens, usually for impending death. The Fetch was easily one the most intriguing characters for me throughout the story.

2. Characters as vivid and intriguing as those of The Game of Thrones

No, no, no. Simply said the characters were not that intriguing as those of GoT. A lot of the secondary cast was quite flat or one-dimensional. There were almost no characters with duplicity or hidden motifs. As with the world building sometimes also the characterization seemed too technical, straight out of the textbook. The Red Queen, even though we have her POV, is typical evil, ordering slaves killed for snoring. Arliss, the new Treasurer, is a bookie and black market business man, with a lame left side; tufts of white hear sprouting out of his ears and the acrid smell of old flesh. There are also spiderlike, cunning, evil characters, crazy albinos and self-pitying, fat and illiterate adversaries. It is overdone, in my opinion. You are simply not guessing long who is standing on which side. If someone claims those characters are as vivid and intriguing as those of GoT, then I simply have to say, no they are not. But I still liked reading about them. It would have been maybe better to integrate more POV like those of Javel, leave the Red Queen POV out and make some of the characters less obviously loyal and more ambiguous.

3. A wholly original heroine

I’ll keep that one short. Kelsea is original, I’ll grant that. She is intelligent, calculative so far so that someone even compares her to a computer, a machine who can compare many variables at once. It is not a too farfetched observation as Kelsea really seems very rational and even cold / offish at times. Outwardly she acts and thinks well above her 19 years. She was born and educated to be a (good) queen other than her vain, superficial and helpless mother. But her character is overdone. She is not only plain, but almost pudgy. This circumstance is being conjured a lot throughout the story. As if not enough she also has to wear an armor (that flattens her breast) and to cut her long hair at some point, which to me was not that necessary. At the end of the book she has almost no feminine qualities left and looks just like a chubby, young soldier. Can’t an intelligent girl be also kind of nice looking? She doesn’t have to be beautiful but at least leave her some female appeal. It disappointed me a little bit to see Kelsea’s character reduced to a virago.

4. Thrilling action and twisting plot turns

I don’t complain, but this is a long read. There is a lot of introduction, set-up and bit of info-dumping in the beginning but not too much. The action is limited to a few chapters but it is thrilling, with a lot of blood and amputated arms and legs flying around the battle. Gory! But plot turns? Not much. I think this might get better in following books but in this one the plot flows fairly lineal and predictable.

1. If you have been raised to the age of 19 only interacting with two people, it will noticeably affect your interactions with others when you enter the world. You will not be able to judge character and interact easily with others right away.

2. Guards don't drink and sing around a campfire when they are being actively hunted unless they are abominably inept or actively trying to get caught.

3. Why is the main character so obsessed with how she looks and how attractive everyone else is while she is actively being hunted.

I found this quite annoying to read.

Original Review Link: http://asdreamsaremade.com/2014/07/book-tuesday-the-queen-of-the-tearling/

Hmmm…I don’t know how I feel about this book.

Kelsea was raised in hiding by her foster parents Barty and Carlin to be the next Queen of Tearling. On her nineteenth birthday she is escorted on a perilous journey by Mace and the rest of the Queen’s Guard to the Keep, where she will rule. She faces assassination attempts from her Uncle, the Regent, and the threat of the Red Queen in the neighboring Mortmesne.

I have to be honest, I was intrigued by the plot (because this is totally up my alley!), but I mainly picked it up because I saw that Warner Bros. and David Heyman (Harry Potter producer) acquired the rights with Emma Watson attached to star. I don’t know if this affected my view of the book or not, but I kept trying to picture Emma as Kelsea and I just didn’t see it. Kelsea is constantly described as plain, not that thin, and almost mannish in appearance. Emma is just too pretty, but I know, I know it’s Hollywood and they need to sell tickets. I’ll try and wait to pass judgment until after the movie comes out.

Now, onto the book!

It started out great, but it got a lot darker as it progressed. I wasn’t really expecting that so it caught me a bit off guard. This book deals with some heavy issues for YA such as slavery, sex, rape, and language. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read books that are far more graphic (Game of Thrones anyone?), I just wasn’t expecting it in a YA novel. Adult or New Adult yes. YA, no.

Another issue I had was the setting/world building. At first, you think it’s a completely new land/world, but then contemporary things are mentioned such as “the seven books of Rowling” and the “Hobbit”. Even France and America were mentioned. I came to the conclusion that Tearling was based on a new land discovered in our world that lost most of it’s technological advancement? At least, I think it is? It was a bit confusing.

Those issues aside, the characters were great. Kelsea really comes into her own and you can’t help but root for her as she takes control of her kingdom. I loved the complicated Mace, the captain of her Queen’s Guard, and the enigmatic “the Fetch”, king of thieves.

You can tell that this is a first in a trilogy, as Ms. Johansen left many questions and mysteries still unanswered. I will definitely be reading the sequel, I was just a bit underwhelmed with this one.

Synopsis:

Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn was only a baby when she was sent to be raised by two strangers for her own safety. She was raised in exile, away from the intrigues of court, away from her pretty, vain mother, and away from the powers that would smother her in her cradle before she grew into a threat. On her nineteenth birthday, Kelsea finds a cadre of knights have come to escort her back to Tear’s capital to ascend the throne. The journey isn’t easy as magic and deadly assassins dog her trail.

The journey, however, is the easy part. Upon entering her capital, she finds she has internal enemies that fear the changes she represents, and a foreign empire ruled by a deadly Red Queen that demands tribute of slaves, chosen by lottery. As she sets out to break her kingdom’s shackles, she must seek allies and discover her enemies within her own kingdom. She also has the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of great magic power that she must learn to use if she is to survive the coming conflict with the Red Queen.

Review:

Queen of the Tearling is Erika Johansen’s debut novel. It is written as a coming of age story. Kelsea comes to her throne feeling very insecure. It seems to be a position that she grows into. This is less action and adventure, and more a story of intrigues that are common in tales that are in the political arena. Kelsea herself is a sympathetic character. Erika Johansen has taken time to develop her characters, though not at the expense of story telling. We meet the competent Queen’s Guards, including her dedicated captain, Lazarus. A master of thieves known only as the Fetch. A gate guard who is sucked into a plot against her, about which he has deep misgivings. We also meet the Red Queen, a woman who seems to have it all but with her own deep insecurities and not entirely in control of her own destiny.

The author kept drawing attention to the fact the Kelsea was rather looking, which I think was unnecessary. It would have been better to mention it once and let the audience be drawn to that core of inner strength. The pacing was a little slow, and I could not quite call it a page turner. However, Erika Johansen’s writing style shows promise, and the book is still quite enjoyable.

I'm giving this three stars. I'm glad I took it out of the library, rather than spending money on it. It's not bad, but it's very frustrating that the author describes the setting in drips and drabs interspersed throughout, and never really gives a complete overview of the history, so many of the plot devices are confusing. The reader clearly understands that the setting takes place in some far-flung alternate future, where American and British and other European colonists have established a 'new world', in a process called "The Crossing", but it's never really quite clear if the Tearling is part of a new Atlantis-like continent on Earth, or if we are on a different planet altogether. The author refers to "ships" and "waves", but we would have to posit some sort of dramatic reduction in the technology level of 2015 in order to see this as anything but a euphemism, especially considering that JK Rowling's Harry Potter books are explicitly mentioned. I hardly think the Potter books will be remembered for their literary merits, though they are exceedingly popular. And yet, we are supposed to accept that magic exists in this 'new world', only to be told late in the book the supposed witch queen is really a geneticist? Which is she? Both? Why? Where is this all going?

And how many books do we need written about Yet Another Fantasy Monarchy, as if it is believable that Americans, British, and French (presumably, "Mortmense" is derived from the French) colonists, some of them socialist utopians, have devolved to absolute monarchy? Really, I think starting the book with Kelsea as Queen on the very first day of the story is limiting. Kelsea herself is fairly likeable, but almost too perfect, and her relationships, if one can call them that, with Lazarus and "The Fetch" are an immature and kind of annoying infatuation/idolisation that grates on the nerves.

I'll read the second book, though, because there's something here that I think has potential. It's easy to point out flaws, but harder to nail down precisely what it is I like about this book.

I have heard so much about this book online. Many people flat out hate it and I don't really see why. I know the ending because I was spoiled while reading negative comments, and while the ending seems kind of flat, I thought this book was written well. There are plenty of descriptors which I think does make it a very dense read, akin to GoT. I thought Kelsea was a great character and really grew into her role as queen right from the moment she knew she was going to be. I think that she also showed a ton of compassion and the makings of a great leader.

Opening line: "Kelsea Glynn sat very still, watching the troop approach her homestead."

Summary: Kelsea Glynn is the next queen of the Tearling. She was raised in the back country by two of her mother's closest friends who taught her to be queen and not to be vain. The only promise they made to her mother was that they didn't tell Kelsea about her mother's mistakes or anything about her reign. Kelsea is thrust into the throne at 19, a little pudgy, unprepared and the only thing marking her as the queen are two silver necklaces with blue stones and a burn on her arm. She travels to her kingdom while being chased by assassins and learns how corrupt her kingdom really is. The Red Queen from the neighboring kingdom has slowly helped the corruption along and is labeled a villain. Kelsea is learning the ropes of queenhood but assassins and her lack of confidence keeps getting in the way of her ruling.

My Take: This book could have been so much more!! It needed to be edited so badly. So many contradictions throughout the story. She thought her guard were ugly old men but then she stared at a guard to her side and found him handsome and young. WHAT?! She also has no curiosity towards her necklaces that she wears around her neck. They glow and burn but she thinks its normal? She doesn't really grow in this book so I'm hoping the next one she will be. She kinda just kept the same throughout. She had her moments when she stood proud and tall and was a queen but then most of the chapter she was a young girl complaining about her being plain and ugly and her love of a guy she met for 3 days.That was annoying. She didn't really change/grow into another person which I was expecting. The Red Queen was an interesting character and I want to know more about her..you almost pity her at times too.

Highs: This is possibly being made into a movie? Though I hope they do a better job with it than in the book. That Kelsea is obsessed with books as much as I am. She complains how little books are taken seriously.

Lows: The confusion of the world and the inconsistencies in writing. The world could have been better explained.

Closing line: "My kingdom."

I really want to not read the second book, but I know I will. I have invested in the first book and I want to finish the series and see Kelsea grow as a Queen and find out more about the Red Queen.

I've been listening to the audiobook, borrowed from the library, and really enjoyed this. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series, with the fantasy setting containing artifacts of modern Earth, along with strong abolition themes and gritty politics. I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the series, and it's one of the few I've considered getting the print version so I can read when I'm not driving.

The audio element of production is also truly excellent, with good voice acting from Katherine Kellgren; she has good timing and separates the major voices well.

I read a lot less fantasy than I did as a teenager because a lot of it is depressingly formulaic and bland. I only picked this up because I found a copy on a clearance rack and had some time to kill. I could not put it down and I'm ordering the sequel: I was delighted. Here we have a young (but still adult) woman wrestling with heavy problems which include (but are not limited to) a kingdom that's falling to pieces, a seriously dangerous threat of invasion, well-meaning protectors who undermine her, and being unattractive in a world that doesn't value women for much beyond their looks. Her struggles are very modern in some ways, but set in a post-modern sword and sorcery context. Fascinating world, messily human characters, a little bit for the court intrigue set, a little for the action set...it may not stand the test of time as a piece that redefines the genre, but it's a heck of a lot fresher than most of the fantasy that's come to my attention in a while. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

This one started out really slow for me, but honestly there was a lot going on in my life since I picked up this book, so that may have been just me. As my first book going back into reviews I couldn't have been happier. I heard a lot from other readers who stated "Better than Hunger Games!" I disagree. I disagree on a level that this is NOTHING like Hunger Games, and making such a statement will give others a certain expectation of a book. So let's stop that phrase now, please?

We begin the story with a somewhat naive girl named, Kelsea, and trust me when I say that Kelsea will suprise you at every turn. I didn't always agree with her, but I'm not a Queen, and by the end of each decision I was amazed by her. She's strong and brave and passionate, and in no way a steriotypical princess/queen. Once I was hooked into this book it kept me up at night thinking of the characters and their responsibilities. Dudes! I have my own life, can we not think about fictional ones too? K, thx.

I loved this book and would recommend anyone who likes distopian, historical fiction, fantasy, and magic to read it, even if this book is only one of those.

Good luck and happy reading all!

There are plenty of reviews here that will discuss the books and characters. You may think this is a spoiler, but I just want to warn people that there are multiple references to child rape in these books. A sentence or two here and there regularly, just enough to make you feel terrible and get the image stuck in your head. It's like this in the 1st and 2nd book (haven't read 3rd yet).

I'm really conflicted about how to rate this book. There were a lot of things I like about it, but several things that needled me the entire time I was reading.

On the plus side I liked the characters. Each had a unique voice, and I felt a connection to almost every one. The writing style was engaging and very easy to follow. The pace of the story ebbed and flowed. The beginning of the book was short on action and crammed with political intrigue, but during the last half of the book both the pace and action picked up considerably. The last few chapters had me glued to the pages and I had to take an extra-long lunch at work so I could finish it.

On the minus side I think the world building portion of the story was very lacking. Even now, after finishing the book, the world of Tearling has me confused. What happened on Earth that prompted the "Crossing", and more importantly what were the From and To points of the crossing? How long ago did it take place? Was Tearling on some new continent that formed after some catastrophic event? And why leave all technology behind? Was technology the cause of the catastrophic event that changed the face of the Earth? And what about all the magic, and demons, and oracles? How/why does magic suddenly appear in Tearling? So many questions, so few answers. I would have preferred the story to be set on another planet with the Crossing traversing space rather than an ocean. At least then all the world-building inconsistencies wouldn't have bothered me as much.

So all-in-all an okay book. Nothing to set the world on fire, but a promising start for a new author.

I will admit there are flaws in this story, chief of which is a disconnect with a timeline. Too many references to historical events which did not ground me in whatever year or age this is supposed to take place made for moments of beinging pulled out of the narrative. However, I found the protagonist refreshing and genuine in a genre overrun with heroines who fear their own power, are always devastatingly beautiful and must have a love interest who saves the day. Kelsea fights her own battles and isn't afraid to tell the people around her that she's in charge. I look forward to the next book.

Wow! I really liked this book! It was very action packed and I was actually disappointed when it ended. I wanted it to keep going! I'm so glad that it has a sequel and I can't wait to pick it up.
The writing in this book and the wording used is very intelligent and descriptive. I could so easily picture everything going on and I was so hooked the whole time. The characters in this book I grew to love and have hopes for. There were a lot of different characters in this book and when that is the case it can be very easy to get confused about who's who. In this book it was very clear and their personalities were distinct and so well written.
The concept and plot of this story are so unique and well planned. The world depicted has some elements of ours but far in the future. It talks about how after electronic books took over regular books were no longer printed and it also talks about modern medicine and drugs. The author touched on the value of literature and also on the dangers of addiction. It kind of gives us a glimpse of the dangers of these things in our world and I thought it was brilliant how she wove it into the story.
What I didn't like about this book were some elements added that in my opinion truly did not need to be there. I find it frustrating when authors put in inappropriate language or actions just for the sake of having them in the book. It doesn't add anything at all to the story and I would honestly have given this book five stars had it not been included.

Did you read The Hunger Games series and think, “I’d like more of a political rebellion storyline, and less of a fight-for-survival storyline”? Did you read the A Song of Ice and Fire series and wonder, “What if Dany didn’t have dragons but gemstones instead?”

The Queen of the Tearling series, by Erika Johansen, is an amalgam of several genres. The first, obvious genre is Fantasy. Our setting, when we begin is a medieval world. Our main character appears to be a nineteen year old country girl—Kelsea—who is being collected by her mother’s guard. We learn very quickly that Kelsea is the daughter of her country’s long-dead queen, and that she’s been in hiding since birth. Now that she’s come of age, she is faced with accepting her birthright, turning her desperately broken country—the Tear—around, and somehow freeing the Tearlings from the oppressive control of a neighboring country—Mortemense—which is reigned over by the mysterious and powerful Red Queen.

Of course Kelsea’s options seem to be few. Even fewer when she makes an irrevocable decision that will inevitably draw the Red Queen’s army into the Tear. What will she do? How can she succeed? Luckily, she has a few aces in her corner. The first, in the form of the Mace.

He is a wise warrior and surrogate father figure for Kelsea, her most trusted adviser and captain of her Queensguard. Her tasks may appear hopeless, but fortune favors the brave, right? Kelsea, above anything else, is brave and preternaturally wise for her age. Along with Mace, she gathers around her many devoted and advantageous connections. A seer, a priest, and the grudging respect of a person known only as, “The Fetch.”

Finally, Kelsea, her whole life, has worn an heirloom sapphire necklace. Upon leaving her childhood home, she is given a second one that she never knew about. It is promptly confiscated by the Fetch (basically taken hostage), so for the first book she only possesses the original sapphire she’s worn since birth. This nifty gem is a guide, in a way. Unexpectedly (it’s never “spoken up” before), it jolts her when it wants her to make a certain choice, and the draw to never remove it seems to come from both her and the gem itself. Luckily the gemstone doesn’t seem to house the soul of a despot, so the decisions it guides Kelsea to make are always the seemingly best ones. In fact, we don’t know anything about what makes the sapphire special, and the mystery surrounding it doesn’t go away.

I want to move on to the second book, so I’ll leave the rest for you, Reader.

I really appreciated this story. I was craving a rich, epic fantasy read, and this turned out to be exactly what I needed.

I LIKED:

• The main character, Kelsea. I didn't connect with her deeply, but she was sooo refreshing. A truly bada## character who managed to be so without any physical prowess. She was courageous. She was gutsy. She was not intimidated by anyone. We need more examples of FEMALES like this in literature. I hate that I even have to say this, but it's true.

• The side characters. Again, I wasn't deeply attached to them, but maybe I didn't need to be. They were each interesting, and the author managed to make me care about them sometimes in just a few pages. (That takes true storytelling skills!!)

• The feminist theme. Not in your face, but very meaningful and very well-handled.

• The theme of "dying clean." This was a great concept. A great way to look at living. I know it'll stick with me. :)

• The villains. I was able to HATE them, and it's not often that I encounter villains so well-developed that I have such strong reactions to. Even still, they felt like real people; they still had fears and vulnerabilities, too. I liked that.

I DIDN'T LIKE (sort of??)

I don't have anything LEGITIMATELY negative about this book, just some things that literally made it not my favorite, if you know what I mean?? Not complaints... just personal preference.

• The writing style isn't what I like the most. A little too direct, when I prefer more poetry; also a little more detailed when I prefer cutting to the chase.

• The characters were very good, I just didn't LOVE them, for some reason. Probably me, not the book.

• The plot itself didn't feel very direct. But it was interesting the whole time, so this isn't necessarily a problem.

Again, these are just my personal tastes, not real flaws. *shrug*

OVERALL:

I enjoyed this book. It made me genuinely happy while reading it. It honestly filled some empty little cavern in my soul. Thank you, Erika Johansen, for writing exactly the book I needed to read. ^_^

Rating: 3.5 stars, rounds up to 4. :)

P.S. A side note on the genre: Some people complain, saying it's not a "real" fantasy novel, since it's technically set in the future. However, there is magic, and that's all that's needed to make a story "fantasy." If you like high/epic fantasy, it has all the same feels (monarchy, swords, etc.). So what if it's different from the norms of the genre?? I say that's a good thing! I prefer fresh takes on old genres. So there. :)

This is one of my new favorite series.
We've got our lead Kelsea who is a very real character. What do I mean by that? She is a nineteen-year-old who has been brought up in an isolated cabin for her entire life (okay, so maybe that part of her life isn't that relatable unless you're Rapunzel or Cress or Luna from Reign of Shadows ) and now she suddenly has to claim her birthright and RULE AN ENTIRE NATION. No biggie, right? Not to mention that the Tearling has been crumbling for the past two decades under the reign of an incompetent Regent and is only still in existence because the former queen made a deal with the (super scary, intimidating, sorceress, possibly immortal, definitely tyrannical) Red Queen of the neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne. Kelsea's reaction to all this (most of which her caretakers had vowed to keep her in the dark about all these years): she has no freaking clue what to do.

What we get as a result is a maturing character grow into herself as a woman and as a sovereign. It's a super strong, well-written story and I highly recommend it to any fans of fantasy books, especially if you're interested in the political intricacies of such kingdoms, of which this book is chock full. While the beginning is a bit slow, every scene is relevant to the masterful creation of these characters. I definitely recommend this book and those which follow in the series.

I think this is a fantastic debut novel by Erika Johansen! The main character is super likable and is very relatable. Her relationship with the Mace is one of my favorite aspects. They are somewhere in between father and daughter, teacher and pupil and queen and subject. I'm so excited to see where this relationship goes in the story. Her infatuation with the fetch is a feeling most girls know all too well. Kealsea is strong and smart and is entering a dying kingdom which has no hope for survival. She has to find the way to help bring her kingdom back from the bottoms. I can't wait to read the next book in this series!
I think some of the reviews are a little too harsh. Seriously, this is a YA fantasy. You need to just relax and read and let the story envelope you and take you to Tearling. There are some areas that are lacking but the book left me wanting more. I'm giving it 5 stars.

At first I was reluctant, partially based on what I thought sounded like a silly title. I am so glad I gave this book a chance. I am an avid reader and have been since I was 5 years old, but it has been a long time since a book has caught my attention and strummed my emotions like this one. Give it a chance, you won't be sorry.

Queen of the Tearling sounds like a redone and overdone plot about the hidden heir to the throne, raised in secret until time to emerge and gain the kingdom to which she is entitled. There are staunch friends, and powerful enemies. Intrigue and action. The romance is very understated and barely there in actuality. Still, and all, This book takes an old plot and works it into a masterpieces of fantasy with moral and object lessons at every turn. The main villains are villainous, the heroes are heroic..., but all are first real people with whom you become acquainted and from whom you don't wish to depart.

Kelsea Raleigh Glynn emerges from her lifelong (19 year) exile in hiding to tackle issues such as slavery, greed, injustice and non-noble, selfish nobles and is well on the way to creating a better society based on fairness, loyalty and justice by the end of this first book. But, the main danger of invasion from the wicked queen of the conquering land of Mortmesne looms on the horizon. I downloaded the 2nd book this morning and will be starting it any moment. This author is indeed one to watch.

I read this book twice and the first time I gave up on it. The second time I really stuck with it and paid attention and actually really enjoyed it. The beginning half is slow paced and very introductory. Kelsea has her very vain moments in the beginning and it bothers me really bad but she ends up turning into a very good Queen towards the end. This book has it all though it truly does, magic, politics, drama everything. Now that I completed it, I can’t stop thinking about it and wondering what I would do if I never picked it back up again and gave it a second chance.

I was very iffy on this book at the beginning. There was just something about the story that was falling flat for me and I found myself dragging my feet about picking it up again.

That being said, things really picked up in the latter portion. The horrible goings on in the Tear Kingdom were getting thrown into the light and revelations were being shown about the past and the various characters.

I finally found a needed hook when Kelsea started getting her strong visions.

I enjoyed reading this book, although I acknowledge some of the issues other reviewers brought up. There were a few plot instances or character developments that left me a little incredulous, and it definitely borrows on character tropes from the fantasy genre. However, unlike much of the fantasy genre, the female characters were powerful, interesting, and essential to the plot, which I found refreshing. Obviously this book needs more than, "Has strong female characters!" to recommend it if it is going to stand the test of time. But I appreciated it all the same.

I didn't find her instant attraction to "The Fetch" very believable--however, I appreciated that it humanized her. She's a 19-year-old girl who is suddenly finding herself among eligible men for the first time. I think about my 19-year-old self going to my first party and swooning over the first idiotic college guy I saw and it makes a little more sense. I can see how people would be irritated that a strong heroine thinks about her figure and "plainness"; but again, it helped me see myself in her. When you are constantly in the public eye (and constantly compared to someone else who is known for being beautiful, aka her mother), it is pretty natural that it would cross your mind from time to time. I just liked that I could relate to her.

Overall, it was a fun read that I pretty much got through in one sitting. I am looking forward to reading the following novels. Is it the best literature out there? Definitely not. Is it worth all the buzz? I'm reserving judgment. I could see Emma Watson kicking ass in this movie adaptation, for sure.

Honestly it reminded me of the chapters of Game of Thrones which were narrated by Daenerys. It felt good to have a woman be able to see injustices happen (especially to other women) AND THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Rather than have the narrator go, "Oh well, that's the way things are!" and move along. Is this the level of quality writing that GoT is? Probably not. But if you are turned off from GoT by the super descriptive violence, rape, and constant cursing--this is like a light version for you to enjoy. Still some of the grittiness, but you don't feel like you need to take a bath afterward.

Overall--I'd recommend!

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend. She said "Oh, I envy you that you're just starting this series!" Fairly slow at the beginning, it took me a while to catch my interest. If you're tempted to give up, make sure you at least get past the first few chapters and see if it doesn't suck you in; you'll be glad you did. This is not quite at the Game of Thrones level in the sex and violence, but it does contain a fair bit of both. If that's a deal-breaker for you, pass this one by.

I chose 4 stars because the plot and story are rich in detail and wonderfully written. I think one of the few things I didn't like was the discrimination of religion, but that is because of my personal beliefs. I was happy with the character of Father Tyler as an example of what believers should be.
There are a lot of surprise twists in the series, and it can feel extremely slow getting answers to some questions. This will definitely stick with me for several days, giving me thoughts on a variety of different points.

I had this book for some time before I got around to reading it. I had selected it early on before it was actually published as I felt this new author looked promising. Now I know that she is more than promising. She is a new fresh voice in the fantasy genre and a joy to read.

I fell in love with Kelsea right off and what a wonderful strong character. There are so many characters here that readers will love. Each reader will most likely have a favorite character and each one of them has a story to tell as well. From the moment she sets out to take her throne she is beset by doubters, many of them not sure about her right to rule. Every page brings a surprise and the heroine's true character is formed brick by brick. At the end readers will be hungering for the next book not just to see what happens to the Queen of Tearling but what happens to all of the wonderful characters, bad and good. If you love fantasy and want to immerse yourself in something truly special then you have to read this book.

For myself I can't wait to read the sequel and hopefully there will be more coming after that.

I don't typically read adult fantasy novels, but when I noticed this book's protagonist was a young adult, I figured why not give it a try. I am so happy I did! I devoured this fantasy tale about a girl saddled with great responsibilities. While this is technically an adult novel, I feel it reads a lot like YA novels aimed at the upper tier of the genre. The story flows well and the characters are interesting. Those looking for romance will have to wait, though, as it's only hinted at in this novel. (I expect that to change as the series goes on!) Overall, I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys stories with strong female characters and a touch of otherworldly politics.

I felt this was a well written and interesting story line. It made me think of the political turmoil in the world today. Erika Johansen was able to make the characters come to life. The reader could not help but see each characters role in society. If only we had the ability to see the future. Compassion for our fellow man, and equality in our responsibilities clash. Even in a fairy tale a perfect world could not exist.

The Tearling trilogy hooked me early, with its tale of a young girl forced to leave behind a life of simplicity for the daunting mantle of a Queen. With no idea of the dire state of her kingdom, Kelsea’s core values come into play very early. I liked the pace and the way it built – sometimes gradually and sometimes suddenly. I applauded Kelsea’s bolder decisions, agonized with her when they had unforeseen repercussions and her temper reminded me so much of mine. I loved Kelsea as a heroine and the Red Queen as villain.
But this series was so much more than an adventure story. I truly admired the way the author dealt with very difficult and real topics, without ever sounding preachy or opinionated.

I love this book!!! Ms Johansen is a gifted storyteller. This story just reaches out, grabs you, and drags you into Kelsea Glynn's life and times. It was a wonderful day for me when I won a free copy of "The Queen of Tearling," as a giveaway in the good reads first reads program. I have been introduced yet again to another great writer and can hardly wait to move along to the next book in this series. For anyone who loves a rollicking good tale filled with secrets, obstacles to be overcome (some of which seem insurmountable), and a story that will restore your faith in good triumphing over evil...this is the book for you.

Quick Review: A bit slow in the beginning, slightly infuriating main character and an idealistic tone. However, full disclosure: I liked it enough to give the sequel, The Invasion of the Tearling: A Novel (Queen of the Tearling, The), a try.

Synopsis: The Queen of the Tearling: A Novel (Queen of the Tearling, The) is set in the 24th Century, three hundred years after the Crossing, when a group of people sailed away from a ravaged society in order to start a technology-free, greed-free new world. This new world is similarly set to the Middle Ages, with a feudalistic rule, littered with castles, knights and horses.

Kelsea Raleigh Glynn was secretly raised in exile in the woods by a cold, intelligent woman, Carlin, and a sweet, affable man, Barty, after her mother, Queen Elyssa Raleigh, was assassinated. On her 19th birthday, the Queen’s Guard arrived to bring her back to her kingdom to become crowned as the new queen and to take over rule from her uncle, the lazy, indolent Regent Thomas Raleigh. During her journey, trained assassins pursue her, sent by the Red Queen, the evil, magical ruler of Mortmesne, an affluent neighboring country. Kelsea must prove herself to the Queen’s Guard, escape the clutches of the Red Queen, displace her uncle as ruler and retrieve her crown in order to turn her country, the Tearling, around.

Full Review: This felt like a slightly grown-up fairytale to me, but it still remained in its adolescence stage.
With a pretty slow beginning, the storyline plods along for quite a while as Kelsea and the Queen’s Guard attempt to make their way back to the Tearling. During this time, Kelsea attempts to win over the Guard, particularly the man called Lazarus (nicknamed Mace) who is the second-in-command, with pretty childish antics to prove her courage and worth. The only member of the Guard that seems to like her right away is Pen Alcott, who also happens to be closest to her in age. Quite frankly, the beginning of the book bored me a bit, even though it was punctuated with pursuing assassins and hand-to-hand combat.

The one part of the journey that actually stood out was when she was captured by a mysterious man known as “the Fetch” and his men. The Fetch is apparently the most talented thief known throughout the kingdoms, and he is famous for always wearing a mask. Infuriatingly, it is love at first sight for Kelsea when she meets the Fetch, even though we are left in the dark as to his age (it is insinuated that he has lived for a VERY long time), his allegiance, his intentions, his backstory or even his thoughts regarding Kelsea. I would like to be able to tell you that all of this becomes clearer later in the book, but alas, I would be lying.

Once she arrives in the Tearling, Kelsea is faced with several challenges that were left behind by her late mother, Queen Elyssa, including the dethroning of her uncle, who has basically used his position as the Regent to bankroll his decadent, Dionysian lifestyle. This part of the book becomes quite political, and it is obvious that Kelsea has very idealistic (childish, simplistic) principles, tenets that were taught to her by Carlin Glynn. Using these beliefs in order to rule the Tearling, Kelsea ends up antagonizing the Red Queen, fracturing the peace treaty that had been put in place by her mother.

Overall, the book is entertaining and what I would consider to be a good beach read. I actually listened to the The Queen of the Tearling: A Novel while driving back and forth to work, and I found it easy to follow. There are aspects that will certainly infuriate several readers, such as the idealism that pervades the book and the incessant commentary, and ensuing importance, which is placed on all of the characters’ looks (Kelsea is described as plain, but everyone else seems to be handsome/beautiful). In addition, I found Kelsea to be an unsophisticated main character, and I hope that she portrays more knowledgeable and mature attributes in future books.

Just an FYI, in case this sways your reading decision, Warner Bros. has already bought the rights to the movie, and Emma Watson is reportedly going to star as Kelsea and produce the movie.

www.olivesfantasyreads.com

I really enjoyed reading this book. If I finish a book within a few days or less, that's a clear sign that the story captivated me and I really enjoyed reading it. I do want to note that this is NOT a YA book and there's a reason why this book isn't in the YA section in bookstores. There are some explicit wording and content that really isn't suitable for someone to be labeling this book YA. I'm not saying someone who does fit into the age category of "young adult" shouldn't read this - anyone is free to read whatever they want - but just putting that out there for those who don't want to be triggered or offended by any of the wording this book uses. With that said I personally enjoyed the storyline and especially the main character. People say the storyline isn't original but what is these days? It's got a good combo of Game of Thrones, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc. that will get any one of these fans excited to read this book. I really appreciate how the author created a strong, relatable, smart and refreshing female main character while also throwing in socio-political issues. It's not surprising that Emma Watson liked the character and story so much to produce and star in the movie version. I highly recommend this book, especially to those who are looking for a strong, feminist lead.

This post-apocalyptic fantasy was a little bit underbaked, but I still enjoyed it for the most part. (It helps to have a protagonist whose first act as queen is to storm in Daenerys-like, freeing a bunch of slaves and setting fire to their empty cages.) The book has its share of flaws -- especially in its pacing and worldbuilding -- but there's a certain charm to it that makes me want to read on and see if those flaws are addressed in the sequels.

There are worse books. I'm giving it a second chance and I'll read the sequel when it comes out. It's a bit like King of Thorns (which I didn't like) in the fact that it's a world of fantasy (witches, knights, etc.) that is a post-modern world (somehow we go from today to a fantasy setting although they don't explain how). There's a strong female character so that's a plus, although she's 19 and therefore a bit childish (as is the book in general). It's not the best book (it's defenitely not on par with Game of Thornes, Wheel of Time,Stormlight Archives or Name of the Wind as some other reviewers suggest) but there were some good bits of reading in it.

If I could give this a 4.5 I would. Great, epic story that borders on fantasy, SciFi, and medieval. Very strong female lead who wasn't annoying or hard to connect with. Not for kids, some language and sexual inferences, but no where near the adult content in game of thrones.

Can't wait to read the next one!

What an awesome read. I was a little nervous at first because it definitely started off slow, but I was so hooked when the action started happen (I think I was about 15-20% in when it happened). The slower parts were necessary as far as describing the world and such, but when that action started it STARTED. I could not put it down once things really started to happen. Kelsea is awesome and not at all what I expected. She has an amazing list of people alongside her helping her along and I adore them. Excellent read. Looking forward to book 2!

The first news I heard about The Queen of the Tearling was that Emma Watson is going to both produce and star in the upcoming Hollywood movie. As a big fan of both Emma Watson and fantasy, this definitely caught my attention. That being said, I was left immensely disappointed upon completion of this novel. After being compared to Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, and Games of Thrones, I was expecting so much more than there ended up being. Now, I never take reviews and blurbs that make those claims too seriously because, really, you just can’t even begin to compare. Especially not to Harry Potter. Anyway, I can definitely see this book being made into a wonderfully exciting movie, but as a book, not so much.

The Queen of the Tearling is set in a post-apocalyptic world and focuses on Kelsea Glynn, a young woman who is heir to the throne of the land of Tearling, but has been raised in seclusion her entire life. The book begins after Kelsea’s nineteenth birthday when she is retrieved by the Queen’s Guard and whisked away to travel back to the crumbling city of Tearling and retake control of the kingdom from her uncle, who had been acting as regent.

I would definitely say that this book should be targeted towards young adults and more mature audiences. There is a fair amount of language, dark subject matters, and a fair amount of some rather graphic violence. Now, on to the review!

As I was reading, I found myself wondering at what point the world/character setup would finish and the meat of the plot would begin; I also realized this when I was more than halfway through the book. The setting of this novel is meant to be in a futuristic dystopian world; it is supposed to be set in futuristic setting that strongly resembles medieval times. I knew about this before I started the book, but I had forgotten by the time I started the novel. I was about halfway through before I realized this, which is an extremely unique and challenging concept to attempt.

Johansen does a remarkably detailed and intricate job of describing the worlds she creates, as well as creating elaborate histories and backstories for all of her characters. She definitely does not leave any detail untouched, which is really nice for readers who enjoy having a complete history or knowledge of a book’s setting or current political and economic situation. That being said, if you are not someone who likes a vast amount of detail and slow-paced book, then this is likely not going to be the best option.

Despite the slow-moving qualities of this book, it is surprisingly action-packed, with many fighting and chase sequences that could easily satisfy most action lovers. In spite of this, one large area that I felt this book was rather deficient in was character development. I really did not notice too much change in the characters’ attitudes or personalities. I will say, however, that Kelsea’s confidence throughout the novel does grow stronger, and she does also seem to become a slightly better leader. But for the most part, however, she just appears to bounce onto the scene with an extremely strong and stubborn personality that remains with her throughout the story. I never felt ant strong connection to Kelsea, I just knew that I should be rooting for her to save the day. The supporting cast also stays relatively static throughout the novel as well, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does not particularly lend for exciting characters either.

A second area in which I feel Johansen did not execute well was her use of multiple POVs. I have always been very picky about the use of multiple POVs; if an author is going to use this technique, they must go all the way and use it extremely carefully. Unfortunately, Johansen did not. The use of multiple POVs was extremely sporadic, and only seemed to be used whenever Johansen felt she needed to add in some backstory information that would help the readers later in the novel. To be completely honest, I groaned inwardly whenever I realized that the next chapter or section was going to be from another POV. None of the characters were overly likeable or relatable, and I just had a hard to really investing myself in the novel.

As I said before, I really do think that this will make a really great and popular movie, especially with Emma Watson as the star. Unfortunately, the book itself lacks a great deal of energy and substance. Overall, I did find it a interesting idea and storyline, but the plot itself could have used better execution. This book left me disappointed and not overly satisfied, but for some reason it has left me curious to see where Johansen is going to go with the rest of this series. I will more than likely give the second book a read when it comes out, because there are many series where the first few books are a bit sluggish to get through. If you enjoy books revolving around strong female leaders, magic, monarchs, strategy, or war, then this book is definitely one that you should check out.

The heroine of this book is extremely likeable. She never lets her insecurities about her less than ideal personal appearance drive the difficult choices she needs to make. She is tough and brave. This is a tremendously well written adventure story full of imperfect yet sympathetic and likeable characters. There are also some truly evil characters and part of the story is told from their points of view. Warning there is alot of rape and murder of women and children in this book. The worst of war, slavery and dark magic is included. I had to skim some parts and I don't recommend this book at all if those things really disturb you. I was given this book as a gift or I might not have read it.

Book 3 does not deliver. Book 1 and 2 were very enjoyable. However book 3 felt very forced, flowed poorly, and the ending failed to follow through with completing all the plot lines, it was rushed, did not make any sense, and overall just very bad. Book 2 just stops, and had book 3 completed the series, it would have worked. If you want an enjoyable, quick read, and can handle loose ends, book 1 might be worth your time.

I'm having a hard time getting through this book. I even read a whole series while I was in the middle of it. First, I kind of hate the "love interest" as he seems to be. A pedophile doesn't not encourage one to keep reading, no mater what sort of era.
Hopefully it gets better. I'm near the end of chapter 7

Picked this up on a fluke and glad I did. Excited to see where this trilogy goes, but at the same time found this ending to be a satisfying rather than complete cliffhanger. I am assuming/hoping that the history of the Crossing ie why this world exists is covered in the next book, but otherwise it felt self contained and was an excellent job at world creation, enough mystery to keep you going back for more, but enough detail to keep you interested.

This book is set in a world where the Queen's Guard, the best and bravest fighters in the land, get drunk and sing bawdy songs all night while 'protecting' the queen from the assassins they know are following her. A world where a princess raised in secret is the only hope to right the wrongs wrought by her mother and the Regent when she takes the throne is taught absolutely nothing of what went wrong or why. A world where this young queen judges everyone by their apperance, even becoming smitten with a man who kidnaps her and threatens to kill her.

Pass.

And worse, instead of it just being a plain old pseudo-medieval setting, it's actually some sort of future. The Tearling is the country set up by the American and English who boarded some kind of ship and undertook some king of 'Crossing'. I like to imagine it was some sort of Noah's Arc-like escape from cataclysm, because we know nothing about it at all except that there were ships and a Crossing.

So... yeah. Pitched this one in the bin instead of wasting any more time on it.

The Queen of Tearling ? 2.5/5 ⭐️'s.
This book like many other books talk about a young girl turning to a queen but what's different about this is that girl knows that she's a queen and she was trained for that her whole life, you actually get to see the way she adapts to being a queen and how her actions can effect her whole country. This book is good but it didn't interest me at all, in fact for me it was slow paced compared to other books that have similar stories but at the end of the book i felt like 20% of me got interested in the book and the other 80% of me was like "WHY IS TAKING SO LONG??!?! PLEASE END MY MISERY" ?? I'll read the second book but not soon.

If I was to sum up my reaction to this book in one word it would be "disappointed." There was a lot of potential in the story and the writing. I felt that way too much time was spent on discrediting religion as a whole and focusing on the sexual needs of the evil queen. Kudos to Johansen for not shying away from some of the more unpleasant aspects of war without being graphic. Also, way too much about the world is unexplained. About a third of the book was unnecessary to the plot, character building, or world building.

So, in a nutshell, great potential that just wasn't realized.

I loved this book so much! It's one of my favorite of 2015. I think the character of Kelsea was strong and I loved her. Another of my favorite characters were Mace, The Fetch and Pen.

This book takes you on a wonderful journey. I am so excited to read the next books.

For my full reviews because of their length you can read them here.
MY REVIEWS:
http://melissa413readsalot.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-queen-of-tearling-by-erika-johansen.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1388538383

This reminded me of a Sleeping Beauty retelling. The princess is sent away for her protection in the forest. There she learns and grows into a strong young woman. At the age of nineteen, her dead mother leaves instructions withs her guards to fetch her, meanwhile being hunted by mercenaries and an evil queen.

This has a lot of similar elements of other high fantasy strong heroines that are princesses or queens or rulers/ the one foretold. I enjoyed it and will probably read on.

First and foremost, you need to know that The Queen of the Tearling is NOT a YA Fantasy. As far as I can tell, HarperCollins is not marketing the book that way, but when I read this, "Young Adult" was listed as the second shelf on the Goodreads' genre list (which of course means that Goodreads users are labeling it that way), but it absolutely isn't---Kelsea, the MC, is 19 y.o. and an adult, there is language that at times borders the obscene, and there are circumstances and (hideous) war stories that have no place in YA literature.

I'm kind of at a loss with what to do with this book.

On the one hand . . . I really (REALLY) liked it. On the other hand . . . there are problems that absolutely cannot be ignored.

I think it's time for another list.

What I liked about The Queen of the Tearling:

1. It held my attention despite the numerous problems. It more than held my attention; I couldn't put it down. I read ALL OF IT in less than 12 hours (and this was not a short book). Maybe in less than 10 hours. Should've timed it . . .

2. Kelsea is not perfect. She's a typical 19 y.o. girl with all of the inherit insecurities and inexperience. She's not exceptionally beautiful or talented, she's just a girl who loves history and books who happenes to be born royal.

3. Lots of important social and political messages.

4. New and mind-blowing world-building premise:

So check this out---something (we don't know what) happened (we don't know when) and the Americans and the British left (for parts unknown) on ships to rebuild civilization. And life has reverted back to the Medieval period. But with MAGIC, so it's like a real world fantasy. Pretty cool, I think.

What I didn't like about The Queen of the Tearling:

1. We don't know what, we don't know when, we don't know where.

2. And this is the real problem . . . There are so many similarities between this book and other books I've read that I'm not entirely convinced that the new and mind-blowing world-building premise is really new and mind-blowing, and not just from some other book I have yet to read.

Sound harsh?

Well, there are unignorable similarities between this book and no less than THREE other book series/movies that I have read/seen, and a strong argument can be put forth for a . . . fourth. (<------can things like that happen in any other language besides English?)

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan---a "Tearling" is a person from Tear, which is also the name of one of the world powers in WoT, Almont Plain is a mere one letter away from being the Almoth Plain, which lies between the WoT's Arad Doman and Tarabon, and Kelsea is a young and somewhat sheltered royal with a fascination, but not much understanding, for the curses that men much more readily use (in her world), very much like a certain royal in the WoT (Elayne Trakand, the Daughter-Heir of Andor).

The Fire and Thorns Trilogy by Rae Carson---if I were to try to enumerate everything that The Queen of the Tearling has in common with this trilogy, there would be room for nothing else. Kelsea is in possession of interlocking blue stones that give her prophetic dreams, guide her both physically and mentally, and instill her with magical power of some kind. There is a huge emphasis on religion (this time as a manipulative political machine). The adult charged with protecting Kelsea underestimates and undermines her, and is thus nearly sent away from her (male instead of female). Kelsea is overweight and unattractive, rather than the typical and beautiful princess-type, etc. Like I said, I could go for days.

V for Vendetta---The IMDB synopsis for this movie is, "In a future British tyranny, a shadowy freedom fighter plots to overthrow it with the help of a young woman." The Fetch is a shadowy (harlequin mask-wearing) freedom fighter who plots to overthrow TWO governments with the help of a young QUEEN whom he manipulatively tests to ascertain her true feelings/intentions. Just. Like. V.

So no matter how entertained I was by this book---and how could I not be? It's seemingly based on two of my favorite book series and one of my favorite movies---I can't in good conscience rate it highly.

But will I continue with the series? I honestly don't know. There was an interesting development in the last 10(ish)% of the book that I'm curious to see where the author is going with, and I have this morbid curiosity (almost schadenfreude) to see if the pattern continues . . . but does the curiosity outweigh the incredulity at these blatant similarities? I guess we'll see . . .

Queen Kelsea is a cool headed, strong willed, smart and humorous Queen, capable of magic, fighting with swords, and saving innocents.

Being an alternate history of our world, I was taken on a wild ride, one filled with as many characters as possible. Plot abounds, as well as beautiful writing.

Recommend for fans of Sarah J Mass, Suzanne Collins, and epic fantasy, I give this book an enthralling five stars!

I really enjoyed this book, despite it having numerous problems. The enjoyment factor absolutely outweighs the problems in the book, and I definitely recommend this for anyone of an appropriate age.

Let me address the age, first - for some reason, some sites are marketing this as a young adult novel. Perhaps because it does bear some strong similarities to other popular YA novels out right now. However, this is certainly not a young adult novel. There is sporadic harsh language, and most off-putting, a couple instances EXTREMELY graphic descriptions of war crimes - of all sorts.

Now - as for the story. The author has done a fantastic job putting together a fascinating world - it's set in our world, sort of. Something (we don't know what) has happened, causing the major countries of the world to send immigrants to this new land. We don't learn all that much about the Crossing, as she calls it, in this first novel - but, as the series progresses, I hope and assume we will learn more about how this came to pass.

The main character is a believable 19-year old girl. A lot of stories have a tendency to have their younger characters acting a decade or so older than they are (I'm looking at you, Game of Thrones!), or vice versa. Alternatively, a lot of authors fall into the trap of trying to show age by making their hero do something wildly more immature than they should. This doesn't happen here. She has her faults and immaturities, but they're appropriate for her age. I never forgot how old the main character was, in either direction - and that's hard to achieve for a heroine of this age.

The story is gripping, and (for the most part) devoid of coincidences that save the day. Without spoiling anything, the story is about a princess hidden away from society to keep her safe until she is ready to take back her throne and save her kingdom. The book starts there, with the princess coming of age.

The story has a lot of political and social messages, but it manages to keep it from getting boring. Conversely, I was always interested to see how the heroine was going to handle something or why she would be making her decisions.

On the downside - some of the character change was... abrupt. Not in the main character, but in the supporting characters. A lot of things were resolved way too easy without any real challenge for anything. Her guard was borderline supernatural in his abilities. The villains are almost too black-and-white evil, although I'm hoping that they will be fleshed out more in the later books. The social decisions the heroine would make were... great and ideal - but there was never any downside to doing the right thing. They never had to worry about money, or upsetting nobles, or anything like that.

Overall, "fun" is the word I'd use to describe the book. It had some glaring flaws, but it was still an enjoyable read.

LIKES
* Intriguing setting. The Queen of the Tearling starts as a classic fantasy set in an imaginary world but later bits of our culture appear in it. I can’t wait to read the sequel and find out more.
* Solid and steady pace. A lot of modern fantasy novels are focused on a spectacular twists or gruesome fight scenes. The Queen of the Tearling has a classic development. It reminded me of the old fantasy novels I read as a teen.
* Great personal growth. Kelsea learns that dreaming about being a fair and loving queen is much easier than actually ruling the kingdom. I loved the parts of the books that dealt with Kelsea’s idealistic vision of her mother. As Kelsea, grows up, that vision changes too. The Queen of the Tearling is a wonderful, coming of age, story.
* Bookworms rule. Bookish heroines always hold a special place in my heart. And Kelsea adores books.

DISLIKES
* Not very original. Don’t get me wrong, I liked The Queen of the Tearling, but this is for sure not a first novel about ruined kingdom and noble heroine fighting to rebuild it.
* Illogical behavior of Queen’s Guard. The Queen’s Guard are the best knights in the land. They are incorruptible and loyal only to her. Imagine they are escorting the queen while being tracked by best assassins in the land. How would the Queen’s Guard behave? I can bet that your answer is not: make a big camp fire, get drunk and sing until dawn.
* One-dimensional villain. Evil Queen from Snow White had more character development than the evil queen of Mortmesne.

IN THE END…
The Queen of the Tearling does not have the spectacular flare of modern fantasy, but if you find yourself yearning for a charm and wholesomeness of old fantasy novels, The Queen of the Tearling will make an enjoyable read.

Disclaimer: I received this ebook from Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Some people hated this book and others claimed they absolutely loved it; I have no idea how I felt about it.
I wanted to keep reading so that says something about it, but there was a lot of darkness. Reading it I found a lot of similarities to the easy-read fairy tale spinoff Cinder series. Very very similar storylines, but this one has had much better character development and quite a few more disturbing scenes laced throughout. Better writing too.
I will finish the series because I only cannot when I am truly disgusted by a book and because the story is intriguing enough that I want to know what happens.
I expect Kelsea to grow even more as the story continues and hope that I am satisfied with the ending.

Why did I wait so long to read this amazing fantasy? This was a 5 star read for me it keeps you on the edge of your seat I found it VERY hard to put down. Characters you actually care about.....I have the paperback form but I think I will kindle the other 2 because the print was a bit small for me. I really really enjoyed this world and must know what happens next.

A really good fantasy novel always hits my reading sweet spot! It’s the genre I love the most, my book “comfort food” per se, and I find myself instantly wanting to read a novel when I learn it’s a fantasy. One of the latest fantasy releases to earn that sweet spot distinction? The Queen of the Tearling.

There are quite a few reasons that I enjoyed this one so much! It’s got a powerful political situation, rife with plots and subterfuge and difficult economic and social conditions. There’s a great + varied cast of characters, spearheaded by an awesome (female) main character named Kelsea. The world-building is pretty solid too, with vividly painted settings and a determined culture, though I do wish my review copy had a map.

But this novel’s biggest accomplishment lies in the fact that it successfully crafts setting, political and cultural climate and characters… without indulging in an info dump. I seriously never encountered a moment where I felt like too much information was being laid on my head, as everything was integrated seamlessly into the actual scenes where they were needed. This is a rare skill indeed, and Johansen definitely nailed it – and in her debut novel too!

So, in terms of story, The Queen of the Tearling is a pretty solid fantasy novel. Kelsea, the true Queen of the Tearling, has been hidden away for years for her own safety. She’s grown up taking lessons in just about everything she needs to know from two trusted members of her mother’s court – except nobody has ever told her about her mother, or what’s really happened to the Tearling kingdom. On her 19th birthday, her escort arrives in the form of the Queen’s Guard, all leftover from her mother’s reign save a few new members. After a harrowing journey, complete with encounters with their enemies, they arrive at the Tearling capital, where Kelsea unseats her Regent uncle and rises to take her place, and bear all the responsibility that comes with being Queen. Torn between protecting her people, fixing the Tearling economy and preventing war with the neighboring Mortmesne, Kelsea’s got a load on her hands and many people watching to see how she does.

I summed up the basics for you, but this story seriously reads so, so well. I was caught up immediately in Kelsea’s story, from her journey across the country to her arrival at her palace seat to the new situations that arose as a result of choices she makes. It was captivating, and I could not tear myself away (and wound up reading until 3AM). It’s got the right combination of action, subterfuge and introspection, elevating Kelsea’s tale into something pretty extraordinary.

All of this story, of course, wouldn’t have worked half as well without an excellent main character. Kelsea is, without a doubt, one of the strongest female fantasy leads I’ve encountered in a while. She’s skilled in just about everything you’d expect, including history, self-defense and surviving in the wild. Even though she’s not sure what lies ahead for her, even though she could potentially ditch her destiny, she doesn’t run from it but embraces it and stands her ground. Her compassion for others weaves the strongest thread in her desire to embrace being queen. And it is her strength, determination and cleverness that helps her succeed! (Seriously, something of the physical things she’s had to endure were crazy, but the girl just took it all!). I admired her greatly, and felt not one iota of doubt in her success even when it seemed to be in peril. If I were a Tearling subject, I would definitely be loyal to her!

Though The Queen of the Tearling ends on a note of finality, there’s definitely room for more to come. What is to be done about Mortmesne and the Red Queen that rules it? Who is the Fetch (a favorite character of mine) and what will he do to or for Kelsea? How will Kelsea and her household and her guard manage to maintain the safety of her home? Can Kelsea help her people recover from their suffering and bring her kingdom back to a time of bounty and peace? All these questions, give or take a few, linger in my mind and have me eager for the next installment to be in my hands already.

The Queen of the Tearling really caught me off guard, but in the best way possible. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did! While I do wish there had been a smidgen more of a connection with and between characters, overall, this was really, really good. It’s definitely a book I’m adding to my fantasy series shelf!

Kelsea is the reluctant heir to a throne she knows little about, but she is determined to do her job well. This story tells about the challenges she faces in a world far in the future of the one we live in - but one that seems more like it is set in the past. There are elements typical to stories about the dark ages as well as magic and some dystopia. The story will appeal to anyone who likes fantasy and is unlike the other futuristic dystopias so popular today.

I was immensely disappointed with this novel. I'd heard that it was going to be made into a film (featuring Emma Watson, no less) so when I found this book in the bargain books section at BAM for $6.97, I thought, why the heck not? I honestly could barely even finish it. The characters were not engaging, they are entirely too predictable, and the overall background of the story was just confusing. As an avid Sci-Fi and Fantasy reader, I understand that there are going to be things of an impossible nature in books like The Queen of the Tearling, but there also has to be some kind of logic and explanation for WHY a thing has happened, especially if the book is going to be set in some kind of post-apocolyptic Earth. I found myself questioning everything, instead of being swept up in the epic adventure and political intrigue that the book supposedly presents. There simply is not enough reasoning for anything that happens within the novel to be feasible. I was confused most of the time, and hopeful that perhaps at some point things would be explained, but there was nothing. Nada. Zero.
While it had an interesting enough plot to give it some potential, there just wasn't enough to make me feel like it was worth it. To those of you that have enjoyed this novel, perhaps you are more open minded than I am and I applaud you for that. But as I sit here and try to write a honest review, I have to say that I cannot, and will not, recommend this book to my fellow fantasy reading friends.

I couldn't finish this. It was awful. Why did the author feel the need to constantly reiterate how plain and unappealing the main character is? I returned it several references in, but I found it degrading and offensive. Would this happen if the character had been male? NO. Beyond an initial description of our characters, her apparently being "plain" should not be the most remarked upon aspect of her person. Plus, I was having trouble forcing my way through the first part, anyway.

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I took it onto a plane flight with me, and it kept me completely riveted from San Francisco to Detroit -- quite a feat! There's some great characterization with the new queen, Kelsea, who has been raised in obscurity for her protection. She's idealistic, but at the same time this book gives a price to pursuing those ideals. There's also a nice harsh reality to the dangers that she's facing - Kelsea is actually stabbed and attacked multiple times over the course of the book, and there's real loss around her. Kelsea is an interesting, strong character, and we also get to see her grow and develop over the course of the book.

The secondary characters are also interesting -- I enjoyed all of the POV shifts that the book offered, and particularly liked the character of Mace, Kelsea's head of the guard. Another thing that I really liked about this book is that Kelsea has working relationships with the men around her -- they are fighting for the future of their country -- but not romantic ones. She doesn't pine for their attention, and they don't fall in love with her. Instead, everyone is committed to a common goal -- the good of the country -- though there are many disagreements about how to get there. There's some nice political business in this book. I also admired how Johansen described the character of Kelsea as homely, and actually means it. Kelsea is plain faced and struggles with her weight, and she actually has to wrestle with these issues and accept who she is. Those around her recognize that Kelsea isn't attractive, but end up valuing her (though not, thankfully, falling in love with her) because of her character and bravery -- and also her fatalism. I really was interested in Kelsea because she was so committed to her duty to her country -- even if her duty might mean that she would die young. The Red Queen is a fantastic and promising villain, and there's a strong streak of the brutal reality of war crimes that fans of G.R.R.M. will respond to.

There are a few things that struck me as awkward in the narrative -- one or two scenes were a bit clunky, and I have no idea why Johansen decided to make this world one that evolved out of our own (I cannot express how irritating I found the references to Rowling and Tolkein to be) -- it seemed much more complicated than it was worth. There's a great conflict between atheism and religion, and a monarchy vs. totalitarianism vs. socialism, but I just don't think that the worldbuilding was necessary to include these themes, and it became distracting at times. However, these were ultimately minor issues for me compared to how much I enjoyed this novel. I highly recommend this, and will be eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Queen of the cheerleading was our March 2017 bookclub choice. I finished it in sync with the end of the month. It's an interesting story, somewhat similar to other books we've read while at the same time not being like any other book that we read. I look forward to going out to books 2 and three to find out more about Kelsea and her guards, and the identity of her father.

I finished reading “The Queen of the Tearling” by Erika Johansen and I was so impressed! When I first picked it up the premise seemed so interesting, not necessarily original, but definitely open for some great storytelling and adventure. I was not disappointed! Erika Johansen writes simply and clearly, focusing on the development of the characters and the world that they live in. Her protagonist Kelsea was strong and interesting and very flawed, but that just made her all the more relatable. I would highly recommend this book (the first in a trilogy) to anyone looking for a fun, easy read!

For more reviews check out my blog: corkbug09.wordpress.com

I wanted to like this book, SO MUCH. Like...you have no IDEA how much I wanted this book to be amazing. I wanted another Seven Realms, or The Queen's Thief, or Lumatere Chronicles, or even The Winner's Curse. Sadly, I didn't get anything close to any of those books. Instead, I got a book that was full of inconsistencies, annoying characters, propaganda, and often just plain boredom.

The story starts off well enough, if you know some of the background. I knew going into the book that it was set in the future, but had reverted back to medieval times. This becomes evident over time, but people may be confused if they don't know that when they start. I enjoyed the beginning, with Kelsea being taken away by the Queen's Guard. Their journey was exciting, and I liked that Kelsea, though naive, was somewhat self-aware, and tried her hardest to be strong, brave, and adaptable. I enjoyed the way the guard slowly changed their opinion about Kelsea, after she proved herself to be different than her mother.

Looking at my goodreads updates, it was about page 79 when I started to get a little annoyed with Kelsea. This was about the time she started fawning all over a man who kidnapped her, beat up her Guard, and threatened to kill her. As a matter of fact, she practically swooned over every man she met. There was no romance AT ALL in the book, yet I still found myself annoyed at the romance. How is that possible? Because Kelsea spent the entire book fantasizing about a man that she knew practically nothing about, who had done nothing but tell her that if she didn't meet his criteria of a good Queen, then he'd track her down and end her. I just can't even.

There were other things that bothered me as well. To name a few:

The Mace was supposed to be this amazing Guard, who had some sort of supernatural ability to suss out people's intentions, yet he was constantly screwing up, letting Kelsea get attacked, again and again. He talked the entire book about how he'd "never let that happen again" or he'd never let so-and-so best him again, yet it happened over and over.

Then there was Kelsea herself. She's supposedly so learned. She spent her entire life being taught lessons, and scouring thousands of books, yet she's never heard a cuss word before? Because there's no cussing in books...

Also, she has a necklace that she's worn her entire life, that kind-of has a mind of it's own. Other people are familiar with the necklace, but when it starts doing strange things, she doesn't question it at all. She never asks anyone about it. I would think, if I had worn a necklace my whole life, that everyone seemed to know about, and it started glowing when I got angry, that I would be like, "Hey! What's up with this glowy necklace thing? Anyone happen to know why it's on fire?" But....apparently not Kelsea.

Then there were the "villains" of the story. I don't know about you, but I find that most people have reasons behind why they've done the bad things they've done in their lives. Other than, they're just evil. The villains in this story were so.....Disney. They're just bad for the sake of having someone for Kelsea to fight. The "Red Queen" was absolutely vile, because she just was. Kelsea's mother was repugnant, because she just was. Kelsea's uncle was completely despicable, because he just was. The only one that had any kind of depth was one of the Gate Guards.

And speaking of gratuitousness. I felt like all the rape and child sacrificing was just in there for shock value. *spoiler* There's a woman who Kelsea finds bound to her uncle by a rope, who has been repeatedly raped, forced to perform horrible sexual acts, and otherwise abused. When Kelsea comes in and "saves the day" this woman changes in an instant. Now she's perfectly happy and teaching the children. Apparently she wasn't too torn up about it. *end spoiler*

Then there was the fact that everything was just too easy. Anything bad that happened to Kelsea was just magically resolved, easy peasy. People want to kill her as a baby? No problem, she just hides in a house where nobody comes to find her, even though it would've been easy if they actually tried. *spoiler* She gets attacked by the Caden (who never, ever fail)? No worries, the Fetch shows up just in time. An assassin sneaks in puts a knife to her throat? Oh! Glowy necklace saves the day! The bad guys haul off a batch of people and set them on fire? Glowy necklace to the rescue again. There's a traitor in the Guard? Well, let's just ride that one to the end of the book when suddenly, for no apparent reason, they all just magically figure out who it is. *end spoiler* Everything was just WAY too easy.

The thing that bothered me the most, though, and the thing that probably made all the other things stand out even more (because I probably wouldn't be so picky if I wasn't so annoyed), was the blatant political agenda. I wish authors wouldn't try to "teach" political lessons. It comes across forced and incredibly naive. OH JUST FEED AND HOUSE ALL THE POOR PEOPLE! Of course! Why hadn't we thought of that sooner?! Where does the money come from? According to Kelsea..."I'm sure you'll figure it out, Lazarus." There are so many examples of times where Kelsea makes these types of statements, basically bashing certain political views, or religions, but her solutions are so incredibly stupid and unrealistic. I feel like, if she were alive today, she'd just walk into the White House, tell Obama how horrible he is because there are homeless people living in his city, and tell him that if he was a good leader, he would've let them all live in the White House with him. That's how absurd her solutions were. It was so distracting and completely pulled me out of the story. I feel like if this aspect had been left out, or at least wasn't so obviously forced, the other things in the book wouldn't have annoyed me so much.

There were things I liked about the book. I did like the idea of it being set in the future, but reverting to the past, though I'm not sure it was pulled off entirely. I liked the adventure, and I did like the Mace, for all his flaws. Kelsea had moments of likeability and moments of complete annoyance, but she's young, so I guess that can be expected. But she's also incredibly arrogant, which makes it somewhat difficult.

I feel like there is definitely room for Kelsea to grow. I think that the future books could get tremendously better, or horribly worse. I'll probably just wait for everyone's reaction before deciding whether or not I'll read it.

Have you read this book? I'd love to hear your thoughts, good or bad! But for now, I'm just going to go sit in a corner and cry over the loss of my excitement for the Tearling Queen...

Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen is a free Goodreads FirstReads advance reader copy of a paperback book that I received in mid-July. With what looks to be a mini portfolio of promo materials, I might add, so thank you for that.

Okay, so the material claims that the heroine of the book goes through similar plights as those in the Hunger Games while in a world much like Game of Thrones (aka the Song of Fire & Ice series). I can rule straight out that Kelsea Glynn is not a bit like Katniss Everdeen, unless you consider the life Catnip would've had if the Hunger Games never existed (i.e. where the Capital would have just hustled the districts and continued to not let them make their own decisions, despite the occasional yet fruitless attempt to overthrow them). However, Queen of the Tearling is a little like Song of Fire & Ice in the sense that each chapter ends with a kind of a cry for help or a semi-lurid threat of violence and/or disorder, that there are so many names as well as more names in the origin mythos of the ruling class' family, and a younger potential king or queen has advisors or immediate family members that they cannot trust. Where it departs altogether from Song of Fire & Ice is Kelsea's lack of initiative (outside of acting like a confused, unlikely princess), there being no fully-fleshed characters that you can really glom onto, and no real, noted, game-changing plotpoints. The fact that this book might be produced into a movie comes somewhat as a shock to me, yet I hope that it doesn't go the way that the Mortal Instruments or Percy Jackson series went.

This book ended up somewhere between YA and adult fantasy/sci-fi for me. I'd personally label it as more YA but I also don't believe in completely shielding young readers.

My husband and I read this book together. The world is well crafted and interesting. I really enjoy the references to science fiction (reminiscent of Sharon Shinn's "Archangel" series) but over all the book has a fantasy feel. There are some darker elements to the story, the characters, and their history which enriches their development.

The characters are complex enough to be interesting and often show some growth but over all the story didn't go very far by the end of the book. It's very obvious that the author is setting up a sequel or trilogy because it ends with a cliffhanger. If this turns out not to have any further books then I'm deducting a star.

Over all I would recommend the book because of its positives but will have to see where the story goes to make a full decision. I'm interested enough to continue reading. Right now it feels very incomplete.

**Update: 2nd book is about to be released! Will certainly read. I'd like to see more of the sci-fi play into the 2nd book's plot.

I think it's safe to say that publishing houses would, without question, reap the benefits of this piece of advice: STOP comparing books to other books. And for the love of all that is epic and beautifully narrated, STOP comparing them to fantastic, well-loved books. You unfairly set your readers up in a "there is no way you WON'T love this" mindset, and then completely obliterate their hopeful bubbles when the book ends up being sub-par, at best. The Queen of the Tearling was entertaining, despite being poorly developed, BUT, it was not, in this universe, or any other universe in existence, a melding of The Hunger Games, and The Game of Thrones. Let's just pretend that comparison wasn't even made, and move on...

I won't rehash the synopsis of The Queen of the Tearling, because the one that exists is already quite wordy (note: this is appropriate foreshadowing for the narrative you will find within). The book started off with a strong sense of intrigue: the entire royal guard has come to collect the new Queen at her humble forest home, so she can be returned to the castle, and claim her rightful place on the throne. What adventures lay ahead? What will we learn of this strange new land? OH the anticipation of-SQUIRREL!....Oh, where were we? Ahh, that's right, we were describing that leaf over there. Wait, that's not right, we were being given a fantastically complex breakdown of how this new world came to be. We were delving into character developments, focusing on the strength, and endurance, of our main character, and we were falling in love with this epic new series.

No, we weren't. I was correct the first time, we were describing that leaf over there...

And so it goes, through almost a third of the book. A spew of overly descriptive writing, with only a peep-hole of glimpses and explanation into the area of world-building. I had an inkling, eventually, through multiple mentions, and references to Harry Potter (!?), but it wasn't until I read professional reviews that I discovered that this book was apparently set 300 years into our future-it took place right here, in our very own backyard. It was at this point that I gave up on trying to communicate with my good friend, logic. Johansen was successful in confusing the heck out of me, and I couldn't understand why she chose this particular route for her story's backdrop-it just made no sense. WHY has society backtracked into such archaic times? WHY did some simple technologies (i.e. birth control) make it, while others didn't? The inconsistencies in this book were many, and close together. The narrative just couldn't make up it's mind, and I refused to adopt the "IT JUST WAS, okay?" theory. I wanted more explanation, I craved it.

All perplexities aside, The Queen of the Tearling was a good attempt at something that had far greater potential. The characters were built to be inhabited by much stronger, and better developed, personalities; the world of "New Europe," was literally begging for it's history to be recanted with a voice and hand that paid it's respect to the eager and not-easily-fooled minds of it's readers. I was disappointed by this book, but still read it, in it's entirety, and was entertained enough to keep turning the pages. The characters, mainly our star lead, and new Queen, Kelsea, managed to squeeze herself into some downright head-shaking moments. I definitely wanted to know how she would salvage her messes.

I WILL be reading the rest of this series, if only to find out if it redeems itself in it's second installment. Also, c'mon, a movie adaptation with Emily Watson playing the lead? This book is going to sell itself on that fact alone...pity.

It's puzzling to me that this book has so many reviews and (clearly) purchases. It's not bottom of the barrel of self-published novels bad, or anything, but it's just not... very good. The writing is serviceable, but the characters are very flat, one dimensional tropes, with one or two minor exceptions. The biggest problem with the book is that very few things make any sense. To cherry pick some random examples, it is extremely irritating how the people in the book apparently decided to leave all technology behind(sure.. whatever) but the author picks and chooses modern concepts and technology that they decided or just happened to keep. Most of these details simply don't make sense. They tried to keep a bunch of medical technology, but dumped everything related to engineering, power generation, manufacturing, etc? Okay......... I don't think the author understands science or technology at all.

The author also appears to have a poor understanding of socialism. The ancestors of the people in the novel apparently left a broken modern society behind to build a socialist paradise, but socialism isn't anti-technology and in fact automation is one of the cornerstones of the emancipation of the worker. It's absurd and nonsensical to suggest that a socialist revolutionary would not only be a luddite, but convince thousands of people to follow him.

Perhaps the message is supposed to be that the ancestors were just very stupid people, which could explain the apparent extreme stupidity of the people in the present as well. I really don't know. I'll be honest, though, this isn't any worse than the Divergent series which is also wildly popular for no good reason.

I'm not even going to touch on Kelsea's upbringing or the reasoning behind her choices and those of others around her, because I. Just. Can't. Do yourself a favor, and Don't, yourself.

At first glance it would seem that this story is a fairly well-used plot about an heir to the kingdom in hiding, a return to the capital to assert the right to rule, a violent display of power, genuinely evil adversaries, and well-meaning allies that believe in the heir's right to rule, but don't quite understand who the heir is...

The author has skillfully taken this timeworn story and flipped it, tossed it, twisted and turned it into her own creature---giving life to Kelsea and her Queens Guard, a rising strength to her newly born ascendance as she struggles to understand this horrifying fate of becoming the Queen of the Tearling. Kelsea becomes more than just a weak beacon of hope in the miserable dark despair suffered by this slave country, she rips open her chrysalis, stepping out to take hold of the despairing populace by their miserable throats and lifting them up....to stand again, to all they were meant to be...

Religion has power here, as well as magic, illiteracy, and a sword welded in anger. Kelsea uses the solid knowledge she gained from growing up in a well-read household to take her stand against the institutions in alliance against her; but she accepts her weaknesses as her natural caution balances out the raging urge she carries(with the insistence of the magical Tearling sapphire she wears) to set her poor country to rights and free her people from the tyranny of the Red Queen in neighboring Mortmesne.

Kelsea runs a gauntlet, facing down red-caped assassins, disbelief, betrayal, arrogance, death and slavery; she throws down her own challenge in return.....for decency, literacy and education, freedom...and responsibility. She adjusts the mantle of the Queen to fit her on her terms and vows to end this terrible chapter in her country's history.

Many thoughts here...about excellent secondary characters, well-wrought scenes of battle and dialogue, placement and portrayal. Also the burning desire to read the next in the series As Soon As Possible......that being said, I look at little things that drew me deeply into the narrative: the titles of books on Kelsea's shelves, the mystery of who her father was, the wildcard outlaw known as the Fetch, the history of the Crossing 300 years past, how the magic in the Royal gemstones came to be, Lazarus and his losses...the dance Kelsea did when she dressed up in Carlin's court attire...Father Tyler and his love of books superceding the hierarchy of religion surrounding his life.

And I like the use of opposite POVs, like Javel and Thomas, to get a sense of the hopeless opportunist who had no allegiance to his fellow Tearlings and the hopelessness of one who did lose everything yet still tried to undo a terrible wrong...

I've already put the next book on hold at Seattle Public Library, even though it's on order...
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This is one of those books that I was utterly intrigued about since I saw the summary, but given the mixed reviews from many of my canaries, some very positive and other very negative, so I just couldn't decide whether to read it or not.

Then I saw another review that simply made me excited for it, won a giveaway and decided to choose this one as one of the books, and not only that, this was also one of my Alyssa Recommends books!

As soon as I started this book I realized that I was intrigued and within the first two chapters I was well and truly hooked. Kelsea was a character that I couldn't help both frowning at and rooting for her all through the book. She had self esteem issues which were complex and well developed, she was taught to rely on her brain and not to care about her physical looks, but she still wishes she was more like her mother, the beautiful Queen. But her will to do what's right, to try and fight for her people and then her absolute love for books completely conquered me!

The world building was both intriguing and maddening, we get hints and pieces of history before each chapter and we get snippets of information now and then, but it's like working ona gigantic puzzle being given the right pieces but not knowing what the final image will look like. We are given enough information to know that there's certain dystopian-ness to it, but it's also very clearly fantasy, so it seems like a very interesting mix of genres.

Kelsea was hidden for most of her life, knowing she had to train to become a queen when the time came but she was kept in the dark about her mother's past, the current going-on's in the kingdom and even her own parentage. Then her Queen's Guard arrive to take her to be crowned, if she can survive that long. And there starts the adventure, with attacks on her life, trying to prove herself worthy of being called Queen, and discovering that she can have unexpected allies, like a half Mort woman that will become her Seer and the Father of Thieves and the Queen's Guard, not only by duty to the institution but to herself as Queen.

There's murder, betrayal, abuse, missuse of power and a wonderful analysis of the need for religion and how history seems to repeat itself, with or without our knowledge of said history. A fantastic and fascinating book that I enjoyed loads, very much deserving of 4 to 4.5 stars. Now I cannot wait to find out more in the sequel!!

I received a physical copy from the author in exchange for an honest review and participation in a blog tour.

As a rule, set forth by myself, I normally don't venture too far out of my comfort zone with my reading material. Normally every story has to have some sort of romance in it to keep me locked into the story. The Queen of the Tearling was my first real delve into epic fantasy. I was a bit unnerved and skeptical that I was going to like it, but as I usually am with books I receive for review from TLC Book Tours. I was so wrong.

The story opens on a nineteen-year-old girl reluctantly being taken from her beloved foster parents to take her place as the Queen's heir. Kelsea has been taught all her life what she needed to know about her kingdom and their policies, but it's quite different for her actually have to follow them and make decisions that can totally rock the known state of things within her kingdom. She learns that once things are set for decades, not many are willing to change even if it's for the better. She thought she was going to take the throne and govern over existing laws and keep order within her kingdom. Instead she finds discord and suffering among her people. Never the kind of person to sit idly by, Kelsea sets out to change her kingdom and free her people from pain and torment.

As with any great change, there are always people who rebel against it. One of those people is Kelsea's uncle, the Regent. He wants to keep his place on the throne and keep his kingdom how it was. He didn't care about the shipments of slaves he sends to the Red Queen every month or the evil deeds running rampant in his streets. All he cares about is his women and his wine. Kelsea threatens his happy life and so he sets assassins to sniff her out and dispose of her accordingly. But he's not the only one plotting against her. She has no one she can trust. Not the dashing King of Thieves who causes her cheeks to brighten every time she thinks about him and not her Queen's Guard Captain who seems to always have her best interests at heart.

Can Kelsea overcome the enemies surrounding her and learn to rule her kingdom in the best interests of her people or will she lead her kingdom right into ruin?

I could not get enough of this story. The writing flowed so well and the language used wasn't too complicated or too simplistic. It was not a story riddled with tough subject matter and it wasn't a fluff piece that was too busy avoiding hard issues to get to the root of the story. The characters were realistic and relateable. I found Kelsea to be much the same as me: bookish, hungry for knowledge, sympathetic, plain, and strong willed. I noted a bit of a love triangle possibly forming (fingers crossed!) and I am dying to read the next book in the series. Erika Johansen did spectacular in her debut book and she has made it onto the prestigious list of my top 10 favorite authors.

If you like adventure, suspicion, political maneuvering, and tales of survival set in a fantastical world of magic, The Queen of the Tearling is the book for you!

Review Posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com

I happened to develop a girl crush with Kelsea Raleigh. What sold me on the book, The Queen of the Tearling, was the very first review by the San Francisco Chronicle. The newspaper compared Kelsea to the badass Katniss Everdeen. Sold!! I threw the book into my Walmart cart without hesitation, never reading the blurb, and never turning back! Kelsea is more than a badass! She's FIERCE!! Everything good and everything driven is in her and you fist pump throughout Erika Johansen's books. I'm not sure why Johansen hasn't written more or why her books aren't the latest craze because I've never promoted a book more. The Queen of the Tearling is a post apocalyptic/sci-fi. It's hard to explain. Many reviewers have bashed Johansen saying the book doesn't fit the sic-fi mold but it has a bit of everything and if you're flexible you'll love it!! Definitely expect to fall in love with a character that will have your back!!

THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING by Erika Johansen

This book caught my eye while browsing in Chapters bookstore and I was intrigued by the description.

It the first book in a new series.

Wow! What a tale. And that is exactly what this book is, it is a tale, just as THE LORD OF THE RINGS is a tale. This series has that sort of potential. This book reminds me of the GAME OF THRONES series. Not the storyline itself, but the epic proportions of the plot.

I read the entire 434 pages in a single day. I had plans for the day, but little did I know when I started, that I would be unable to put this book down. Literally!

I was immediately drawn into this make-believe world. This novel is both fantasy novel and dystopian fiction.

Kelsea Raleigh was whisked away as a baby and raised in seclusion. She is the heir to The Tearling, a post-apocalyptic state that is more like a medieval
kingdom than what we think of as a typical post-apocalyptic world. This could be due to the fact that several generations have passed since "The Tear."
Kelsea is destined to become Queen of The Tearling on her nineteenth birthday. But her only living relative, an Uncle who has been acting as the kingdom's regent for many years, has other ideas. Kelsea knows that he would have already had her assassinated if he had known the location of hidden sanctuary.

On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, is a plain looking and serious girl who loves books and learning. In fact, given a choice, she would have been content to stay in the hidden cottage for the rest of her life.

While growing up Kelsea had been told very little about her deceased mother, Queen Elyssa. Her guardians wanted Kelsea to become her own woman without trying to emulate her mother.

When the Queen's Guards arrive at her hidden cottage to escort her back to the capitol city, Kelsea quickly realizes that she has a lot to learn.

From Goodreads:

"But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown."

"Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust."

The Queen of the Tearling introduces readers to a world that is complex, vivid and terrifying.

Readers will find themselves enjoying an immensely satisfying wild ride as they join the new Queen on her journey. She reaches inside herself for the strength to make changes for the good of her people and like every good heroine, she battles through her own doubt and insecurity to find that her inner core is made of the strongest iron.

I love the scope of this story. It is not limited to a single kingdom and each kingdom has it's own distinct beliefs, rulers, political structures and even religions.

The characters in this story are well developed and no matter how minor the character's role, they still come across fully and with surprising depth. I also love the fact that both leading characters are female. They are both strong women, and yet they are distinctly unique.

My rating for this book is an enthusiastic 5 out of 5 stars. I just hope the wait for Book Two isn't too long.

Add this book to your MUST READ list. You will not be disappointed.

To read more of my reviews, visit my blog at http://amiesbookreviews.wordpress.com

Rating: 3.5/5

When I started The Queen of the Tearling, my husband saw the cover and asked me teasingly, “What is this Game of Thrones book you’re reading?”

The cover is only one similarity among many. There is the “Queen’s Guard,” an uncomfortable metal throne, and scheming insiders vying for that throne. There are brave knights and evil whoremongers. There is a creepy red queen. There is magic and weirdness and fantasy.

The book even begins with a map of The Tearling that is vaguely reminiscent of the GOT opening theme/credits.

But, for me, The Queen of the Tearling is way better than I imagine the Game of Thrones books to be (I can't bring myself to read GOT, even though I love the show--the books are too long, and there's too much going on). And here’s why: it is much more limited in focus. There aren’t seventy-five different, tangentially-related plots that are battling for your attention. Instead, there is just one. And it’s an interesting one.

For her protection, baby Kelsea was sent away from the Keep by her mother, Queen Elyssa. She was raised in a secret hideaway deep in the woods by two of Queen Elyssa’s faithful servants. Growing up, she was provided very little information about the kingdom or her mother’s reign. She knew only that her mother had died, leaving her uncle, the Regent, on the throne.

The book begins when Kelsea has reached adulthood and is ready to reign. She is retrieved from her hideout by the Queen’s Guard (her mother’s Guard, that is). Their duty is to get her safely to the Keep, where she will be crowned. There are, of course, many people (including the Regent) who would prefer to see Kelsea killed than to see her crowned, so the Queen’s Guard’s protection is vital.

Kelsea soon discovers that the Queen’s Guard (and Barty and Carlin, who raised her) were all forced to swear an oath to her mother to keep certain secrets about the Tear and its governance from Kelsea. Upon arriving at the Keep, Kelsea begins to learn that her mother’s reign was not all sunshine and rainbows. Kelsea must make some rapid and potentially dangerous decisions about how she will reign and whether she will follow in her mother’s footsteps. These decisions set in motion a series of events that Kelsea must face as she finds her footing as the new Queen of the Tearling.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and it definitely reads that way. Most of the book is introduction/exposition, and the vast majority of it is character driven. A lot of time is spent giving you a feel for who Kelsea is, what kind of Queen she wants to be and will become, and how her decisions will be shaped by her Guard.

Luckily, Kelsea is extremely likable. Long before this book was released, Emma Watson had already signed on to play Kelsea in the movie adaptations of the books (you can read more about that here). And she is a good fit–Kelsea is kind of like a grown-up Hermione. Kelsea is somewhat unassuming in appearance but smart and fair. She is brave and just. She is not constantly (or ever, really) enmeshed in mindless romantic affairs. She loves to read. She makes tough decisions. She stands up for what she thinks is right. And she has a magic necklace that makes her an even bigger badass than she would be on her own. She is, without question, a great female protagonist.

The book is long, yes, but it reads like YA (that is to say, the pages fly by pretty quickly). It contains some action, but the action is not super climactic. It feels more like a taste of what’s to come. The stage is set for the real evil to be waged by the real villains in the coming books.

The Queen of the Tearling does not read like a standalone book, which is a mild pet peeve of mine, but it did leave me wanting to read the second book in the trilogy.

I liked this book personally though it dragged heavily at times. I kept pressing on though cause I found a great deal of liking in Kelsea. She's got a lot to deal with and to learn and she does seem to be doing the best she can with what she's got. She has her own faults but that's what I like about her. She's very human. I was frustrated during a high action bit that the author spent so much time on little details or bits of a charters past that could have been either just cut out or used somewhere else. Honestly I don't care about what your lost loved one would think of you in this situation when there are others getting slaughtered. Dang it, keep focus!! But still, I do want to know what happens and I will probably end up reading the others once they are out. Don't expect a ground breaking story from this book but one that will pass the time and keep you mildly interested or entertained. Again, I like it, but I can easily see why others might not.

The Bookbabe Reviews: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johnasen

I came upon this book last year during the summer but had not decided to purchase it until I saw it in paperback this spring. I had heard some wonderful things about it. Calling it Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones; honestly I do not understand the Hunger Games reference but, it does have that GOT feel. In The Queen of the Tearling, Johansen gives us a head strong, unlikely young Queen in Kelsea Raleigh. Kelsea is a bookish, plain and slightly overweight young woman. She has spent the past 19 years of her life living in secret and away from "The Keep" and the problems plaguing her homeland. She is taught history, politics, war strategy, etc. However, nothing prepares her for being taken from the only home she has ever known and being whisked away to New London and "The Keep". Once there Kelsea has to witness the hell that her subjects live in. There is little or no food, jobs, medicine, doctors, and educational opportunites. Worst of all villagers names at put into a lottery at birth; and once a month folks are chosen to be taken as part of a shipment to Mortmense. This shipment helps keep the peace with the Red Queen of the Mort; it was part of the treaty between Kelsea's mother, Queen Elyssa and the Queen. Once Kelsea witnesses the men, women and children being loaded into cages she orders her guard and the army to stop the shipment. Stopping the shipment means that she has now violated the treaty; giving the Red Queen the right to invade the Tearling and take its citizens by force. During the course of the novel we see Kelsea try to come to terms with what she's done but we also see her trying to right some wrongs within her kingdom. This includes getting rid of the Regent, her uncle. We see him expelled in grand fashion during the first assassination attempt when Kelsea is wounded. It is during this moment that I really begun to respect the character. Kelsea has what it takes to be queen and she will not back down. This becomes an important character trait as we approach the climax of the book.
Johansen also does an amazing job at leaving some very poignant and important questions hanging in the air; and even though they go unanswered they do not overshadow the novel. Such as where did the Red Queen come from? Why does she not have a name? Who is Kelsea's father, and why does no one know? Also, how did a modern America end? The latter question is the most interesting to me because Kelsea mentions the "crossing" and America frequently; not to mention J.K. Rowling's seven "volumes" and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The saddest parts of the book comes when one of the queens guards is found out for treachery. This is the point where we see what type of person Kelsea is: compassionate. What she does in the moment is sad and heartbreaking even though it is necessary.
Another thing that I loved about this book was that the author really builds the tension. Making it every easy to keep the pages turning and yearning to find out what happens next. Of course, the story did have its bumps and the beginning is very slow. Also, there are things that are mentioned in the beginning that are not thoroughly explained and we all know what a turn off that can be. But overall I liked it. I will definitely read the entire series because I just need to know what happens to Kelsea but also because I want to know more about the Red Queen.

Quotes I Loved:
" I am death. I come quickly, I come slowly, but I am not cheated"

"Everyone dies eventually. I think it's better to die clean"

"Barty always used to say there were three things men were stupid about: their beer, their cocks and their pride"

"Even a book can be dangerous in the wrong hands, and when that happens, you blame the hands, but you also read the book"

"I see this land flowing with books, Father. Widespread literacy. Books everywhere...."

"Children conceived by this woman would only be cannibalized by her womb....."Then you don't risk in the lottery, do you? You have no children, you don't look strong enough for labor, and you're really too old to appeal to anyone for sex."

"Once, he'd explained to Kelsea that addiction wa like having a crack in your life. "It's a deep crack, Kel, but you can build guards around it. You can put up a fence."

"I've been dead since the invasion, sir. It's only the past few years I've begun to rot"

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"The Queen of the Tearling: A Novel" by Erika Johansen will most likely be a better movie than it was a book. There was a good deal of heavily worded descriptions and not enough dialog. So things just didn't make sense because there was so much grandiose buildup with a lot of the vital details missing. To me, it read more like a movie proposal than a novel. I was annoyed by so many little things like people yelling at someone but we never find out what they were saying to upset the character. There were too many points in the story that left me lost in exactly what was happening or losing interest in the story.

I was also perplexed by the combination of a dystopian world combined with magic and royalty for futuristic medieval fantasy. It just didn't work for me at all.

I'm a little shocked that this is a YA novel. The heroine is 19 so I guess that is what makes it for that genre. The language is quite crude and there are lots of sexual scenes (not necessarily action, but lots of discussion about action).

The story itself isn't bad. I can tell that the author went to a lot of trouble to set up her world and the major characters. The story is about a 19 year old queen who inherits the throne along with the troubles her country has had. She makes decisions as best she can. She deals with deception, sorrow and all the feelings a 19 year old would feel if they were raised in solitude and then put into the position of running a country.

The descriptions and scenes tend to get long, but that's expected in a first novel. I'm at least assuming there will be more. The ending is satisfactory, but leaves a ton of things that can be resolved too.

My advance reading copy didn't have the map in the front and I found myself really wishing it did so I could better visualize the terrain/area.

It took me a while to get into this book. I am not sure why? Maybe I've found myself in the midst of the dreaded reading drought? Or maybe it was the drop-off at the beginning of another school year. It could have also possibly been the fact that beginning of this book is slightly confusing. The author purposefully starts the reader blind, and slowly reveals cryptic bits and pieces in order to keep the reader constantly in the dark. SPOILER...THIS IS NOT A MEDIEVAL TALE OF KINGS AND QUEENS BUT IN FACT A DYSTOPIAN ALT-HISTORY?! And here is where it loses a few stars. I really did enjoy the bits of magic, the characters were interesting, Kelsea (our leading lady & queen) was both likable and not too cliche, BUT the setting was infuriating. I did enjoy the fact that the author slowly revealed that the world was post-apocalyptic England? I still am not 100% sure on that one, but that's definitely a problem. Why is the reader never really given a clear understanding of where and why the Tear exists? I think it's a cool way to reveal a setting and all but I still feel a bit confused as to where and why this kingdom exists in the first place? Also, while the evilness of the enemy (the Red Queen) is often times eluded to, we never spend enough time with her to know the extent of her cruelty or her powers. She answers to some evil shadow force...but that evil shadow force is rooting for the good queen Kelsea? Huh? I guess my final assessment is that I liked the story, I enjoyed seeing the heroin evolve throughout, I just felt like the world-building and conflict could have used a clearer path.

Final Recommendations: if you like queens, knights in shining armor, magic, evil queens, mysterious rogues

The books starts off sooooooooo slowly. So much so that I stopped reading it. Twice. And the third time, I made it through the first 3 chapters and then I didn't put it down after that. SO so SOOOO good!

What a great book! I picked this up on a whim not expecting such a great read. I couldn't put it down. I haven't read anything as good since Deborah Harkness' first book in the trilogy of Witches. The world created is believable and the characters sympathetic. I will find it very difficult to wait for the second installment. I hope the next book goes into the history of the world and the crossing. All I can say is hurry, hurry, please with the next book.