The Queen Of The Tearling by Erika Johansen

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

by Erika Johansen

Her throne awaits ...if she can live long enough to take it. It was on her nineteenth birthday that the soldiers came for Kelsea Glynn. They'd come to escort her back to the place of her birth - and to ensure she survives long enough to be able to take possession of what is rightfully hers. But like many nineteen-year-olds, Kelsea is unruly, has high principles and believes she knows better than her elders. Unlike many nineteen-year-olds, she is about to inherit a kingdom that is on its knees - corrupt, debauched and dangerous. Kelsea will either become the most fearsome ruler the kingdom has ever known ...or be dead within the week. Combining thrilling adventure and action, dark magic, mystery and romance, The Queen of the Tearling is the debut of a born storyteller blessed with a startling imagination.

Reviewed by Chelsea on

4 of 5 stars

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What I Loved

The characters were all fantastic to me. I loved our main character Kelsea because even though she didn’t grow up in the world she’s being forced into, she still tries to make the best of it. I’m excited to see more of our side characters like Fetch (umm yes please) and Mace because they seem so interesting but we didn’t get to see enough of them in this book. It was also really nice that there was no romance in this book though I’m sure one will develop over time. I’m actually really looking forward to a romance here because I think it can be done well. I also loved that we got to know some of her Queen’s Guard. I loved Pen especially, he was adorable. I’m mostly excited for the next book because I want to see more of all these characters.

The plot was pretty slow most of the way through the book for for some reason I really enjoyed it anyway. I loved seeing how Kelsea was learning to be a queen and not become her mother. Normally, I can’t stand slow plots yet I couldn’t put this book down. I guess I was just in the perfect mood for reading this book because it immediately sucked me in. I also loved that everything about this book (the plot, setting. character backgrounds) were all given to us but there was no massive info dump at any point in time. We got exactly the information we needed without being overwhelmed by everything.

What I Didn't Like

The world-building. I was so confused! I thought this was a completely different world and it kind of is, but not at the same time? Apparently it’s our earth that we’re currently living on (at least I am) but then there’s a new piece of land somewhere and that’s where this takes places. Not only that but they went back to a medieval-like time period when the rest of the world didn’t. I just found it weird that they were in this fantasy world mentioning things like Lord of the Rings and the internet which they don’t have here. It was just a strange world and there wasn’t enough detail for us to learn about it.

Who I'd Recommend To

I’d recommend this to patient fantasy lovers. I read this book with two other fantasy lovers and they had a hard time with it because of how slow it was. I think you need to be extremely dedicated to read this book because it is a slower paced book. Though if you’re a fan of some politics and like details of running a kingdom then you’ll be ok. It’s not as bad as some people are saying I don’t think.

See the full review at Books for Thought

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 May, 2016: Finished reading
  • 12 May, 2016: Reviewed