Erika Johansen: The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling #1) | Lara
Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler—and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her.
On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. 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.
But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend . . . if she can survive.
“Even a book can be dangerous in the wrong hands, and when that happens, you blame the hands, but you also read the book.”
And here’s another book I read weeks ago, but decided to start reviewing it just now. To be honest,
the reason for delaying this book’s review probably lies in my inability to rate it. This book was a
rollercoaster of emotion; at some point I was really excited or surprised by some twist or Kelsea’s move, but two chapters later I wanted to put the damn thing down and die of boredom. I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews, but I can’t say I didn’t like this book, really. It had its ups and downs, but I am glad I read it and it deserves three solid stars.
I enjoyed in medieval elements of this book, and the world building seems interesting if only we knew a little bit more. It is futuristic world, with medieval elements, after some sort of Crossing (I thig from continent to continent). I could assume some things that happened from Kelsea’s narrative, but there was never any clear explanation of what happened, where are they how did it happened, and what is going on with the rest of the Earth. The idea itself is good and interesting, but not developed and described enough, which will hopefully happen in other books.
The biggest problem I have with this book is its plot. I convinced myself Queen of the Tearling, since it is the first book in the trilogy, is kind of an introduction and the rest will be more dynamic. Dynamics. The exact thing this book is so short of. As much as I like to read about court schemes and political issues, this book has to many deciding, ruling, walking around, travelling, bathing? and much other unnecessary scenes that could have been described less. Scenes where Kelsea travels from place to place with literally nothing happening along the way, or some of her thoughts that are not that interesting (but stretch trough several pages) are way too long and lengthily described. Not to mention there is no any major plot development or twist until the very end.
From the other hand, I really enjoyed the concept of this book and the way politics and ruling are described. Kelsea inherits Tearling basically in really bad state, with collapsing economy, slavery and handful of enemies who want her dead. She has to start anew and transform Tearling after years of bad leadership by her uncle, who was more interested in food and women than in wellbeing of his people. Right now, book has left me with a lot of unanswered questions, like what is with those necklaces and who is Kelsea’s father, and I am looking forward to see in what direction is this trilogy going.
“The future was only disasters of the past, waiting to happen anew.”
Characters were probably the weakest part of this book. I liked Kelsea, but aside from her there were no other characters that felt important. Except for Mace, only that he reminded me of some sort of grandfather, or Queen of Mort, but she turned out to be and evil witch, so…
Kelsea is one really well-developed and interesting character. I always love good rulers, willing to do anything for their country and always putting their people first. She did everything in her power to save people of the Tearling even if it meant war, she had no chance of winning. She put aside her appearance and, in one moment, even cut her hair so she could march with her guards in order to save her people from enslavement. I would like to see more of her development as a character, aside from her as a queen and as a ruler, because I feel there is a lot more to her character, personality and past than was showed in Queen of the Tearling.
Romance was nonexistent, and I was relieved to read something that had no love triangles, drama and that the looks of mc were put aside by other important things (she wasn’t described as beautiful all the time).
I have nothing more to say about this book, except that I will continue this trilogy and see where it goes since my expectations are literally nonexistent.
Would I recommend this book? I don’t know. If you plan on reading it, then I recommend lowering your expectations and deciding for yourself whether you like it or not.
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