The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling, #1)

by Erika Johansen

"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."--

• ISBN10: 0062290363
• ISBN13: 9780062290366
• Publish Date: 8 July 2014
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

This.....this one is hard to rate. I devoured it. I spent any time I had available at work to read. It was long, yet I was enamored. But, despite this, I also had many issues with it. This book is a contradiction to me. There were some things that really bothered me, yet I still read this greedily.
Full, confusing review to come.

I found the premise of the plot intriguing and the characters enjoyable. This is definitely a book that was intentionally written with a second book in mind, so there are questions and situations that have not been answered in the end. If you think you might like this book, be prepared to purchase the next one. If you think you might hate it, be glad that the torture has an intermittence.

Truthfully though, for 434 pages, I felt that it lacked action and development. Most of the "it's getting good" part was in the last few pages of the book, but overall it did hold my interest long enough to keep me turning the pages. I hope that the continuation picks up the pace a bit though. This first book felt slow in comparison to similar genre readings, but might be worth more stars later if the lag time was worth it. (Only the continuing book to follow will tell for certain.)


Overall, I enjoyed the book enough to probably search for the 2nd book after it's release, but it's not necessarily on my "I must have it now" shelf. I think it's one of those stories that will either be a sensational read after the next book, or a complete let down depending on what the following book reveals.

Disclaimer
*I received an uncorrected Advanced Readers Copy of this book in a First Reads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book or the content disclosed in my review. *