#regards reads the queen of the tearling

[regardstosoulandromance]

the queen of the tearling chapter one: there’s an evil woman called the red queen

me: sounds hot tell me more.

[secretlyatargaryen]

thehummingbirdsound

It does bother me that we don't see other forms of govt besides monarchy. I guess we don't really know how the air nomads society was structured, but the Fire, Earth, and Northern water tribes all seem to be monarchies and the show never questions it. It just implies that you need good monarchs to rule people, which isnt great.

Yeah, and like I said, I’m kind of whatever about it because it’s a fantasy cartoon show, and tbh part of the problem with Game of Thrones was that they tried to have their cake and eat it too in this regard, and ended up with a mess by trying to pretend it was more democratic for Bran to be god-king at the end with his sister getting to be an independent queen through nepotism. I’m not sure if the high fantasy genre CAN answer those questions in a satisfying way specifically because of the trappings of the genre. The only place I’ve seen it addressed well was in Queen of the Tearling, specifically because the world is established as a monarchy that was created from the ashes of a future dystopia, so the characters DO have a reference for what a more democratic system looks like, but I remember the second book being iffy and I think there’s a third book that I never read so I don’t know if that series ever pulled it off.

[shadowtearling]

does The Raven Cycle count as fantasy? Adam is a well of quotes about this theme.

you could try His Dark Materials. i’m thinking specifically of Will’s trauma— but honestly that series is traumatizing to the reader

also I know you haven’t read it, but The Invasion of the Tearling deals with this theme HEAVILY. there’s some level of it in Queen and some in Fate but in Invasion, it’s fully there.

idk if you’ve read it, but The Sea of Ink and Gold series by Traci Chee also deals heavily with trauma regarding the love interest bc of his past. it’s touched on in all books. book one is kind of the acknowledgement of it, and books two and three are working through it. book three specifically has scenes with signs of PTSD.

ALSO i’m not sure of its fantasy status but A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is just the most devastating thing ever. and a bonus, if you haven’t read it yet, you can finish it in a couple of hours (+ some sobbing)

I’m working on a project guys, and if you wouldn’t mind giving me a little help. I’m trying to find quotes from fantasy novels about trauma or survival. So if you know books that deal with those themes, could you send them my way, even if you know I’ve read the book. In fact, I’m trying to only use books I have read so I know the context. But just submit any book or a specific quote, just make sure you have a source.

[comprosedreviews-blog]

Wednesday with Colleen (again)

Hey look! It’s me again (for the third week in a row)! Summer has proven to be a lot busier for us than previously expected and we are so sorry! Monica’s job has been chaotic and things are popping up left and right for both of us. I know I’ve said this a lot and it’s getting really repetitive. Okay, so enough excuses.

Today’s review: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Hey look! Not a Star Wars book! (That rhymed and I am sorry.) 

Genre: Fantasy? Dystopian? Both? I have no idea. 

My rating: 4.5/10 Goodreads Rating: 4/5

This book was weird. An interesting concept but not executed as well as it could be. Going up to the genre classification - what genre is it? I honestly couldn’t tell you. It had elements of fantasy like magic, elements of dystopian like the fact that it’s set after this thing called “The Crossing” where all of the humans moved to a place called New Europe?? It doesn’t fit any genre at all. It started as a medieval fantasy and then totally took a different turn.  

This book is 100% a Love It or Hate It book. A lot of people love it, a lot of people hate it. 

Here’s the summary: 

An untested young princess must claim her throne, learn to become a queen, and combat a malevolent sorceress in an epic battle between light and darkness in this spectacular debut—the first novel in a trilogy. Young Kelsea Raleigh was raised in hiding after the death of her mother, Queen Elyssa, far from the intrigues of the royal Keep and in the care of two devoted servants who pledged their lives to protect her. Growing up in a cottage deep in the woods, Kelsea knows little of her kingdom's haunted past . . . or that its fate will soon rest in her hands. Long ago, Kelsea's forefathers sailed away from a decaying world to establish a new land free of modern technology. Three hundred years later, this feudal society has divided into three fearful nations who pay duties to a fourth: the powerful Mortmesne, ruled by the cunning Red Queen. Now, on Kelsea's nineteenth birthday, the tattered remnants of the Queen's Guard—loyal soldiers who protect the throne—have appeared to escort the princess on a perilous journey to the capital to ascend to her rightful place as the new Queen of the Tearling. Though born of royal blood and in possession of the Tear sapphire, a jewel of immense power and magic, Kelsea has never felt more uncertain of her ability to rule. But the shocking evil she discovers in the heart of her realm will precipitate an act of immense daring, throwing the entire kingdom into turmoil—and unleashing the Red Queen's vengeance. A cabal of enemies with an array of deadly weapons, from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic, plots to destroy her. But Kelsea is growing in strength and stealth, her steely resolve earning her loyal allies, including the Queen's Guard, led by the enigmatic Lazarus, and the intriguing outlaw known simply as "the Fetch." Kelsea's quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun. Riddled with mysteries, betrayals, and treacherous battles, Kelsea's journey is a trial by fire that will either forge a legend . . . or destroy her.

Summary courtesy of Goodreads 

Heads up, this book is more adult than most. It can be a little gory and talks about murder, rape, and abuse openly. 

Oh, and I get a little rant-y in this review. I apologize. There’s a lot about this book I wanted to say. 

Why I liked this book:

The book started out as really interesting. The plot moved along at a steady pace, alternating moments of calm with bursts of action. The characters were well rounded and motivated to begin with. There was just enough mystery to keep me interested but not so much that I felt lost or confused. The worldbuilding was extensive and mostly well done but the author tended to go into excessive detail. So much so that you had to wade around until you found the important stuff. Mace (also known as Lazarus) was a really good character. He was exceptionally done and the more of him we see the more mysterious he is until we finally receive a whole flood of self-disclosure as he becomes comfortable with Kelsea. The Queen’s Guard is probably my favourite group of characters ever. They are hilarious, engaging, courageous, and dedicated. But more importantly, all of them are different, they all have names and pasts and dreams. They aren’t just Guard #1 and Guard #2 like a lot of stories. They don’t just fill plot holes. Their names are important to their role. Mace is called Mace because he carries a literal mace. I am a huge believer that characters are the most important part of a work. If I’m not invested in the characters, I’m not invested in the plot. 

Why I didn’t like this book:

The main protagonist. Let’s start with that. Kelsea’s background is the whole “girl destined to become a queen has to hide to stay safe” cliche. For almost the entire novel, she has no individuality. She has been conditioned, trained, and taught how to be a queen. She doesn’t branch out beyond that. And once she moves on her way to becoming Queen she has very little regard for some of her actions. 

------------------------------ Spoilers Below 

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She sets all the people for the Mortmesne offering free and burns their cages. This automatically declares war. The Mortmesne offering is literally an offering of peace. By not sending it, they have the right to invade and declare war. Throughout the book we hear members of her staff and people ask her what she is going to do about the fact that she just condemned her people and she just puts it off and doesn’t think about it. A ruler, or member of power in any government must look at all sides of the issues and be prepared for any occurrence. Yes, it was a very beautiful scene and characterized Kelsea as someone who cared deeply about her people but she is unwilling to look beyond the present moment to see the consequences of her actions. Before she was even queen, she endangered the lives of everyone in her kingdom and ruins the shaky relationship her country has with a much more powerful and brutal nation.  And her interests are so superficial. She sends her lead guard to go retrieve 2000 books from her old home. Okay, I get it. I love my books, they are important to me but I wouldn’t send my guard on an errand across a huge countryside. Kelsea also instantly falls in love with a man just by looking at him. She is willing to sacrifice everything for a man she barely knew just because of his looks. I had to put the book down and just close my eyes for a second when I read that. She is so judgemental of looks it’s beyond okay. There’s a woman who is strikingly beautiful and was raped because of her looks. Kelsea is jealous of her looks even though it got the poor girl raped. She also calls out an old woman for trying to be beautiful. Kelsea’s ‘parents’ are pretty terrible people. They were supposed to be teaching the girl how to be a Queen. She was destined to be a Queen and yet when she does become a queen she knows NOTHING about her kingdom or its history. Her parents didn’t give her any information because it was ‘too risky’. THEN HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO RUN A COUNTRY IF SHE HAS NO IDEA ABOUT HOW IT WORKS???? That would be the equivalent of taking someone from the middle of nowhere America and making them Prime Minister of England with no background information about the position/duties. How can they claim they ‘prepared her for her throne’ if they kept her sheltered from the world? She has only ever met two people. How is she supposed to connect with her people if she only has experience with two people? And basically everything Kelsea knows came from a book. She knows how to spot alcoholism in a man but has never seen alcohol. She knows all these weird things because she read them in books but she has no idea about the politics of her country. Didn’t her parents ever give her a history lesson? Her guard is having to explain treaties and partnerships her kingdom has. She should have known that going into the job. How do you expect a teenager to run a country if she has NO IDEA ABOUT IT! Oh and right at the end of the book, Kelsea has a nightmare she insists is a real vision and drags ALL OF HER GUARDS ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTRYSIDE ON A WHIM. Her guards try to stop her, telling her it’s not real and she throws them across the room with her mind. Like, chill out Kelsea! Maybe you should listen to the people who have at least some idea about how to rule a country. Seriously, Pen and Mace need to take over for her. They need to become kings. 

The second and final reason (that I’ll get into in this review at least) on why I didn’t like this book is because the whole backstory was super weird. So it’s set in the future where the entire human population (which is a lot less than the current population) makes this thing called ‘The Crossing’ because this dude William Tear said they had to? But only certain technology survived. They have contraception and geneticists but they don’t have printing presses or doctors? What happened to everyone? Why don’t we have all these things? People ride horses and carry swords but they have birth control? And they burned books for fuel instead of using the wood from the massive forests that cover the land? 

Yeah, you heard me. They burned books for fuel instead of getting firewood from the massive forests that cover the land. 

Oh and the book is split up into three ‘books’ that break at the most inopportune times. Like seriously, everyone is laying on the ground about to attack a village and WHAM the end of book two. Book three picks up literally at the exact same point in time. It’s such an unnecessary division, it drove me nuts.

This book’s main protagonist has many faults and the worldbuilding needs work but this book has a fair amount of potential. 

- Colleen 

[fic-dreamin]

Mixed feelings I loved QUEEN OF TEARLING and have been recommending it right and left. I'm hoping this book is just the 'sophomore' slump you see with many middle books of trilogies, and perhaps the concluding book will make the second book more relevant in retrospect. In interviews, Johansen said she really wanted to explore the pre-Crossing world more. The Lily chapters do this, but I found them incredibly boring. If you've read THE HANDMAID'S TALE and some dystopian YA of late, you've read that story already- and it's better told elsewhere. After a while, I skipped right over the Lily chapters so I could return to the Tearling world. I'm also very disappointed in some choices Johansen made in regards to Kelsea's appearance; in her interviews after the first book she stressed the importance of having a plain heroine. I really hope she hasn't jettisoned that perspective. I would give the Tearling chapters 4.5 stars and the Lily chapters 1 star, so I'm averaging it out to a 3. I look forward to a more-Tearling-focused final book! Go to Amazon

A Review of the 3-Book Series Spoiler alert! This is a review of all three books, and spoilers are involved, so if you haven't read it all, stop now. I don't normally read this genre, but I enjoyed the entire series, although the books were progressively less successful. So in summary, I have mixed feelings. Go to Amazon

Not as good as Queen of the Tearling, but not bad! When I read "The Queen of the Tearling", I remember being so blown away that I cried every time I thought about it (and still choke up months after reading it). It was a book I'd seen before it came out and bought a year after it released; something told me to get it when I first saw it, but I never did, so when I finally got it and read it, I was upset that I waited so long to read it! Go to Amazon

Ok Enjoyable and Interesting Read Five Stars Five Stars Great series!!! Great Fantasy Series Thsi was a good read. The third one in the trilogy, however, was a let down. a fantastic book, not my favorite of the series Loved it A great finale

[whittybooks]

So as we can see I have been TERRRRRRIBLE about keeping up with this.  I will try and do better!  I need to go back and review the books I have read so far.  It hasn’t been many thankfully.  I’ve had a slow start this year.  

King’s Cage

re-read of Queen of the Tearling and The Invasion of the Tearling

The Fate of the Tearling

The Name of the Wind

The Wise Man’s Fear

The Slow Regard of Silent Things

The Queen of the Night

[feminist-dreaming]

Yesterday Julia and I managed to get a butt-ton of bookstagram and book club stuff done! We also took a crazy amount of photos for the newest #bookofthemonth for the #livthebookclub book club! In July we are reading #TheGlitteringCourt by @reallyrichelle! This sounds like a mix of The Selection, Throne of Glass, Red Queen & Queen of the Tearling so I'm super excited to dive into this one 😍 . . This photo was styled by the amazing @jujuthereader and snapped by me. Shout out to Juju for being the best book club co-host & best friend a girl could ask for! 😘 . . 📚| •The Glittering Court •The Selection •Throne of Glass •The One •Glass Sword •A Court of Mist & Fury . . ✨Follow @livthebookclub for more information regarding the book club and read-along! . . {#bookstagram #bookishtower #booktower #jujuthereader #livthebooknerd #livthebookclub #bookclub #booktube #bookworm #booknerd #booknerdigans #redqueen #theglitteringcourt #wintersong #throneofglass #acomaf #acourtofmistandfury #theselection #theelite #theone #kieracass #victoriaaveyard #richellemead # #sarahjmaas #blog #blogger #bookporn #}

[inkdropsreviews-blog]

The Queen of the Tearling - Erika Johansen review

Rating:  ★ ★ ★

I had been dying to read this novel. I’ve heard only great things about it, and so when I got my hands on it I was so excited to finally tear through this female-oriented fantasy adventure novel. Although this book was a great read, and I enjoyed the political side of it and the protagonist, I think it was just a bit too uneventful.

The story follows Kelsea Raleigh, daughter of the late Queen Elyssa of the Tearling, who takes to the throne of her troubled kingdom at 19. Kelsea has been brought up in hiding, away from those who are trying to kill her. Although she has always known that she will be Queen, the downside to this form of being brought up is that Kelsea knows next to nothing about the problems plaguing her kingdom, from the black market trade, to corruption within the Keep and widespread poverty. 

Unfortunately, this aspect to the story is something that I really didn’t understand. Kelsea’s upbringing and education has been so deficient considering that her foster carers are supposed to be raising her to be Queen. She isn’t told anything about her kingdom, current events - nothing! I understand that they were under strict instructions to do that, but apart from the previous Queen being shortsighted and not realising that her daughter might need to know something about the country she was supposed to rule, I couldn’t see why this was necessary. 

On the other hand, the actual setting itself is interesting, and the only positive to the illogical nature of Kelsea’s upbringing is that we learn along with her. We get to see her learn about all the things that have happened to her people, and decide how she will rectify it. The setting itself is interesting as well; it is set in the future, but society has reversed back so that it is a more medieval rather than futuristic society, and I was intrigued by the suggestive hints regarding what happened to make our society reverse so drastically.

My favourite thing about this book was that, despite being about a lost princess, it did not fall into a ‘princess character’ trap. Kelsea is anything but your usual princess. I loved that the emphasis is not on Kelsea’s appearance – not because I have a thing against pretty characters, but because it was nice to see her build her reputation based on her decisions and leadership rather than her looks. Kelsea is smart and knows what she wants. Even though she doubts herself, you know that she will deliver what she says, and I almost felt like I was cheering her on for most of the book, wishing I could whisper in her ear that she can survive! Also, I feel like Erika Johansen deserves a massive round of applause just because she took the pretty brave step of not forcing a romance into this book.

Unfortunately, most of the aspects of this book that I liked are tempered by the fact that this book was just so slow. Reading about Kelsea’s decisions as a new Queen was exciting, but the whole second half of the book was building towards something (spoilery) that never happened. The ‘Red Queen of Mortmesne’ sounded like a brilliant villain, but we never got to see her do anything related to the story itself. I couldn’t put the book down, but mainly because I was eager to see what would happen, and nothing did. I felt like rather than this book being part one of a trilogy, it could have been condensed to become the opening of a book. 

I hope that I will get to read the sequel of this book soon, although to be honest, it is not high on my list of priorities. I feel pretty betrayed by the fact that nothing much happened in this book, and I doubt I’ll be rushing to get The Invasion of the Tearling. 

[regardstosoulandromance]

update on reading the queen of tearling: electronic books????????????? what do u MEAN electronic books? what is the lore here

[fic-dreamin]

Mixed feelings I loved QUEEN OF TEARLING and have been recommending it right and left. I'm hoping this book is just the 'sophomore' slump you see with many middle books of trilogies, and perhaps the concluding book will make the second book more relevant in retrospect. In interviews, Johansen said she really wanted to explore the pre-Crossing world more. The Lily chapters do this, but I found them incredibly boring. If you've read THE HANDMAID'S TALE and some dystopian YA of late, you've read that story already- and it's better told elsewhere. After a while, I skipped right over the Lily chapters so I could return to the Tearling world. I'm also very disappointed in some choices Johansen made in regards to Kelsea's appearance; in her interviews after the first book she stressed the importance of having a plain heroine. I really hope she hasn't jettisoned that perspective. I would give the Tearling chapters 4.5 stars and the Lily chapters 1 star, so I'm averaging it out to a 3. I look forward to a more-Tearling-focused final book! Go to Amazon

A Review of the 3-Book Series Spoiler alert! This is a review of all three books, and spoilers are involved, so if you haven't read it all, stop now. I don't normally read this genre, but I enjoyed the entire series, although the books were progressively less successful. So in summary, I have mixed feelings. Go to Amazon

Not as good as Queen of the Tearling, but not bad! When I read "The Queen of the Tearling", I remember being so blown away that I cried every time I thought about it (and still choke up months after reading it). It was a book I'd seen before it came out and bought a year after it released; something told me to get it when I first saw it, but I never did, so when I finally got it and read it, I was upset that I waited so long to read it! Go to Amazon

Five Stars Great series!!! Great Fantasy Series Thsi was a good read. The third one in the trilogy, however, was a let down. a fantastic book, not my favorite of the series Loved it A great finale Invasion of the Tearling Best book Still uneven, but an improvement over the first book

[fic-dreamin]

Mixed feelings I loved QUEEN OF TEARLING and have been recommending it right and left. I'm hoping this book is just the 'sophomore' slump you see with many middle books of trilogies, and perhaps the concluding book will make the second book more relevant in retrospect. In interviews, Johansen said she really wanted to explore the pre-Crossing world more. The Lily chapters do this, but I found them incredibly boring. If you've read THE HANDMAID'S TALE and some dystopian YA of late, you've read that story already- and it's better told elsewhere. After a while, I skipped right over the Lily chapters so I could return to the Tearling world. I'm also very disappointed in some choices Johansen made in regards to Kelsea's appearance; in her interviews after the first book she stressed the importance of having a plain heroine. I really hope she hasn't jettisoned that perspective. I would give the Tearling chapters 4.5 stars and the Lily chapters 1 star, so I'm averaging it out to a 3. I look forward to a more-Tearling-focused final book! Go to Amazon

A Review of the 3-Book Series Spoiler alert! This is a review of all three books, and spoilers are involved, so if you haven't read it all, stop now. I don't normally read this genre, but I enjoyed the entire series, although the books were progressively less successful. So in summary, I have mixed feelings. Go to Amazon

Not as good as Queen of the Tearling, but not bad! When I read "The Queen of the Tearling", I remember being so blown away that I cried every time I thought about it (and still choke up months after reading it). It was a book I'd seen before it came out and bought a year after it released; something told me to get it when I first saw it, but I never did, so when I finally got it and read it, I was upset that I waited so long to read it! Go to Amazon

Thsi was a good read. The third one in the trilogy, however, was a let down. a fantastic book, not my favorite of the series Loved it A great finale Invasion of the Tearling Best book Still uneven, but an improvement over the first book A solid follow up Great world building Great Characters

[fic-dreamin]

Mixed feelings I loved QUEEN OF TEARLING and have been recommending it right and left. I'm hoping this book is just the 'sophomore' slump you see with many middle books of trilogies, and perhaps the concluding book will make the second book more relevant in retrospect. In interviews, Johansen said she really wanted to explore the pre-Crossing world more. The Lily chapters do this, but I found them incredibly boring. If you've read THE HANDMAID'S TALE and some dystopian YA of late, you've read that story already- and it's better told elsewhere. After a while, I skipped right over the Lily chapters so I could return to the Tearling world. I'm also very disappointed in some choices Johansen made in regards to Kelsea's appearance; in her interviews after the first book she stressed the importance of having a plain heroine. I really hope she hasn't jettisoned that perspective. I would give the Tearling chapters 4.5 stars and the Lily chapters 1 star, so I'm averaging it out to a 3. I look forward to a more-Tearling-focused final book! Go to Amazon

A fantastic second novel in a great trilogy. Highly recommended. When it comes to trilogies, it is rare to read a second book that truly is better than the first. I loved Erika Johansen's debut novel The Queen of the Tearling. To me, the main character, Queen Kelsea, while not without her flaws, was a strong and principled young woman. When faced with the shambles her Queen mother and regent uncle had made of the Tear, she bravely made decisions that made her unpopular with the neighboring country of Mortmesne. It also started a war. Go to Amazon

Slower than the first one but still a page turner I have some reservations about this one but overall I wanted to get back to it when I had to put it down and now I have kept thinking of it after finishing it which are rare for me. I found the first book far more fast paced pace than this one. I didn't mind the change of perspective as the story alternated characters in the first book as each one moved the story forward and did more showing than telling. I didn't feel that was the case with this book. It opened strong with Hall preparing for the Mort invasion but that was the wrong idea to give readers when the rest of the book would have very little action. The main perspective of the book did not feel like Queen Kelsea but her seeing through the eyes of Lilly who was in America Pre-Crossing. The author is a great writer and I find no fault with any of her perspective changes but Lilly is a repressed battered housewife living in a stark world that is very different from this fantasy novel. If I had wanted to read such a book I would do so but I wanted an epic story of good and evil in the Tearling. Lilly's chapters were frequent and long and I was missing the Tearling. I did not feel there was any pay off to those chapters as there usually are when a character is followed. I think it was obvious what was going on with her and her future. If the author wand to write so much about Lilly she should have done so in a prequel novella and I would've known what I was signing on for if I had chosen to read it. I liked the character Fetch in the first novel so I was also disappointed that after so much build up in the first novel he was mostly behind the scenes in this one so I hope he comes back stronger in the next book. I cannot express how much I disagree with how the book ended for Kelsea. I think after everything she had gone through to get there it made no sense. Now in spite of all that criticism j did enjoy the book. As much as I didn't want all the Lilly chapters I still wanted to read the book. As a voracious reader some books drag and I get to a point where I don't want to read them. I always wanted to see what would happen with this one. I only wish I had discovered this series a little later so I didn't have to wait so long for the next one. Go to Amazon

Worth Every Minute Lily and Kelsea Intriguing but highly political Excellent! I loved it! Great story line and well rounded characters Totally would recommend to anyone in need of such thing. Some reservations but still a page turner ugh... Hmmm