Even though I’ve already uploaded two reviews this week – since that’s how many books I finished – here’s a bonus one! This is one of the reviews I wrote a while back on Instagram, but I am editing and extending them for the purpose of my book blog.

Hope you enjoy!

Original review written on Instagram in September – edited and extended here November 22nd.

Title: The Queen of the Tearling

Author: Erika Johansen

Series Status: The 1st book in a trilogy

Publisher: (UK) Bantam Press/Transworld Publishers  (US) Harper Collins

Number of Pages: 488

 

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(Note – Found on the back cover. The Goodreads synopsis is much longer)

It was on her nineteenth birthday that the soldiers came for Kelsea Glynn.

They came to escort her back to the place of her birth- and to ensure she survives long enough to take possession of what is rightfully hers.

But like many other nineteen year olds, Kelsea is unruly, has high principles and believes she knows better than her elders.

Unlike most nineteen year olds, she is about to inherit a kingdom that’s on its knees – corrupt, debauched and very dangerous.

Kelsea will either become the most fearsome ruler the kingdom has ever known…or be dead within the week.

I was very excited to read this book, it was surrounded by so much hype. This, along with the announcement of Emma Watson starring in the movie, made me have high hopes for the story.

From the start I enjoyed this book very much. It seemed more informative in the beginning, with having to explain the world and its ways, but I found it really intriguing. The story is very much more politically based rather than action, with the main character – Kelsea – having to learn how to rule her kingdom, however this being woven in with some dramatic scenes resulted in an addictive story line.

I think the world building is done well, with it being set in a kingdom in near ruin thanks to years of war. It does feel like it has a historical fiction aspect, even though it is complete fiction. There’s a suggestion that history repeats itself, so there’s a never ending cycle of war and peace – all of which Kelsea has to try and live through deal with.

“The future was only disasters of the past, waiting to happen anew.”

I was happy to see a map in the front of the book. I love seeing maps in fantasy books! This one had quite a bit of detail drawn out too, with lots of places labelled to help you imagine Kelsea’s journey.

Even though a lot of information is revealed throughout the book, there still seemed to be an air of mystery surrounding the story. I enjoyed how magic was pieced into the plot line, as it was quite subtle in a way that reminded me of Game Of Thrones – where magic is heard of, but not really that common.

The overall atmosphere of the book was quite dark and mysterious, but strangely compelling. To quote Emma Watson’s line on the back…“I couldn’t put the bloody thing down”. This is so true! I enjoyed this story very much, and I need to buy the next book soon to continue the story!

Rated 4.5//5 stars!

Order from Amazon!

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Have you read this book? Let me know what you think!

If not, is it on your TBR?

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