By: Erika Johansen
Published: July 8, 2014
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 434
Edition: Paperback
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Dystopian
A YOUNG WOMAN. A KINGDOM. AN EVIL ENEMY. A BIRTHRIGHT FORETOLD.
With the arrival of her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn is ascending to her rightful place as the new Queen of the Tearling. Surrounded by enemies, including an evil sorceress possessed of dark magic, the young ruler stands little chance of success.
But Kelsea possesses fearsome weapons of her own, including the Tear sapphire, a jewel of immense power and magic.
As an epic war draws near, Kelsea's quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny begins -- a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend... if she can survive.
Yet another one of my impulse purchase.
I knew nothing about the book except that it has a really beautiful cover!
I almost gave up on this and regretted ever buying it because the beginning of the story was just so boring.
The book is divided into 3 parts and honestly, for me, the story only picked up during Book III. It was really slow-paced. I can't say why exactly, there's just something to it. The world building became such a chore to read through. You can't help but think "This is irrelevant!" while you flip page after page after page.
Thankfully, the characters were interesting! If it I didn't become curious of where they came from, who they really are, and what their roles are, I would've totally gave up on it and just abandoned the book in my shelf to look pretty and gather dust.
The Queen's Guards were my favorite characters. Mace, Pen, Mhur, Dyer, and the rest of the gan whose names always escape my memory because there were far too many characters in one book. I liked the idea of a solid foce (even if there was a traitor) that is so loyal to Kelsea even if she hasn't proven anything yet as a queen other than be naive. I also loved the idea of this force being the reason that young Thomas Raleigh wanted to be brave and useful. He kept thinking that the right thing would be what the Queen's Guards will do. It goes to show that being one of the guards is a real honor and is a proof that an individual is someone special to be considered as one.
I did NOT know that this is a DYSTOPIAN book! I probably wouldn't have caught on if it weren't for the line that said: "They found the seven volumes of Rowling with no help at all". I sat there staring at this specific line for like 10 minutes, trying to see if it meant what I thought it meant. Apparently, the Queen of the Tearling is reading the Harry Potter series! My mind was blown. I confirmed that it really was dystopian when further on in the book, Kelsea handed a green book to someone and she claimed that it was her favorite adventure book of all time. I only know one green book full of adventure and I was correct: The Hobbit.
I really still can't believe that the entire setting of the story is our future. They live like medieval people! They ride horses and live in castles and farm for a living and use torches and have monarchy. Can you really believe that's how our future will be like?
No wonder I felt disoriented when Kelsea was complaining about their kingdom not having a printing press anymore. Apparently, in neighboring kingdoms, electronic books are taking over. Imagine knights reading ebooks.
Anyway, I was a bit disappointed when they've been telling us horror stories about the Red Queen of the Mort. The book built this whole mood of fearing and preparing for the arrival of the Red Queen but she never did. We only got glimpses of what she was doing at a particular time (which was just sleep around with slaves, wake up with a migraine, and kill a child). Aside from that, she wasn't in the book at all.
The entire book was just about Kelsea chasing after wagons with slaves on them. 400+ pages and that's all that happens.
I wish we learned more about the Red Queen. Also, I wish there was more about the Fetch. Who is he? Where'd he come from? Is he a friend or foe?
I suppose we need to read the 2nd book to the series "The Invasion of the Tearling" to find out.
Have you ever read a book that you thought belonged to a particular genre but after reading it, you realize it belonged to a totally different genre?
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