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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
4.5
I loved seeing Kelsea's character progression in this sequel! But my favorite part of the book was probably Lily's journey and the origin of the Tearling, which surprised me because I was rather uninterested in Lily at the beginning.
I loved seeing Kelsea's character progression in this sequel! But my favorite part of the book was probably Lily's journey and the origin of the Tearling, which surprised me because I was rather uninterested in Lily at the beginning.
Easy read and super fast. Finished in a day. LOVED the story and can't wait for the next in the series. I want to know what happens nooooowww!!!!
This book is much better than the first one. It's less boring and it has more action, suspense and we got to know the Queen/Evelyn more.
[edit: After reading the last book in the series, I had to lower the rating. I just had to. That ending man.]
1.3 ☆
Ok wow. Like.
I cannot fathom for the life of me why this book is being this highly rated.
I mean, you do you, but I can’t even count on one hand all the problems I had with it and at several points I had to roll my eyes so hard I think I sprained them.
Maybe I’ll write a complete review with everything that’s just fucking wrong with this book when I got the time.
In a nutshell: Kelsea is a dumb, whiny, hormonal brat up on her high horse and I bet Erika Johansen has never in her life picked up a book to actually do some research on warfare, armour, weaponry, city planning or actually ruling in general.
That being said, at least I wasn’t bored.
1.3 ☆
Ok wow. Like.
I cannot fathom for the life of me why this book is being this highly rated.
I mean, you do you, but I can’t even count on one hand all the problems I had with it and at several points I had to roll my eyes so hard I think I sprained them.
Maybe I’ll write a complete review with everything that’s just fucking wrong with this book when I got the time.
In a nutshell: Kelsea is a dumb, whiny, hormonal brat up on her high horse and I bet Erika Johansen has never in her life picked up a book to actually do some research on warfare, armour, weaponry, city planning or actually ruling in general.
That being said, at least I wasn’t bored.
Completely redeemed the first book. I appreciate the unique storyline.
I really loved Queen of the Tearling, so much so that I wanted to wait to read The Invasion of the Tearling until I was on vacation so that I could straight-up marathon it, and marathon it, I did. In some ways, though, I wished I hadn't waited so long - I found myself needing to look at recaps of Queen of the Tearling to remember certain plot points or characters from the first book that were being referenced again. There were parts of this that I liked more than in the first, and parts I liked less, which is why I'm rounding it out to about the same rating.
Obviously, there will be spoilers about the first book from this point on.
In Invasion of the Tearling, Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, having stopped the shipments to Mortmesne, is now in a pickle because her best hope is to hold off an inevitable war that she can't really hold off. Evacuation and delaying techniques are all her small, poorly-armed army can muster. So, plot-wise, this is very much a "second" book in a trilogy in that it's a point A to point B story - all the kingdom can do is delay and await the inevitable, which doesn't make for the most enthralling narrative.
Johansen tries to splice this up and make it more interesting by offering a series of flashbacks to the pre-Crossing time, showing a very fucked America, with large socio-economic divisions, homeless camps and security systems, intense government control and surveillance - sort of Children of Men-like. (A reminder that yes, this is a post-apocalyptic fantasy, which turns a fair amount of people off the story. It doesn't bother me much - if I'm going to suspend my disbelief, at least do something interesting with it, and that's interesting.) We see these flashbacks through a woman named Lily, and while it sheds light on all the reasons why William Tear gathered his people to make the Crossing and form the Tear, it takes awhile (a little tooooo much of awhile) for Johansen to reveal how Lily relates to the current manifestation of the Tear, and why we should care. It also makes for a pretty bleak view of humanity since things clearly didn't turn into this beautiful Utopia that Tear envisioned (quelle surprise!)
What really worked about The Invasion of the Tearling is that Johansen has started adding a bit more dimension to some of the characters. My biggest issue with a lot of genre fiction is the obvious division of good and bad - these people are good, those people are bad - like morality isn't the beautifully mixed, complex, intricate, subjective thing that it is. She really took liberties to make Kelsea less inherently likable, and more like the turbulent young woman that she should be in her late teens. No young person is going to rise to be in charge of a kindgom without some growing pains and some ugly mistakes, and we finally get to see Kelsea make some, and it makes her more relatable, and a better character because of it. She also started delving further into the Queen of Mortmesne, too, which I liked, though I hope there will be even more of that in the third book.
Again, I think the second act in trilogies always ends up being a transitional, point a to point b sort of thing, and as far as this series goes, there's plenty in Invasion of the Tearling to keep you excited and ready to continue into Fate of the Tearling. That said, I can't believe it's almost over! It feels like there's still so much to be done in book three - and I hope Johansen is able to take this story all the places it wants to go.
Obviously, there will be spoilers about the first book from this point on.
In Invasion of the Tearling, Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, having stopped the shipments to Mortmesne, is now in a pickle because her best hope is to hold off an inevitable war that she can't really hold off. Evacuation and delaying techniques are all her small, poorly-armed army can muster. So, plot-wise, this is very much a "second" book in a trilogy in that it's a point A to point B story - all the kingdom can do is delay and await the inevitable, which doesn't make for the most enthralling narrative.
Johansen tries to splice this up and make it more interesting by offering a series of flashbacks to the pre-Crossing time, showing a very fucked America, with large socio-economic divisions, homeless camps and security systems, intense government control and surveillance - sort of Children of Men-like. (A reminder that yes, this is a post-apocalyptic fantasy, which turns a fair amount of people off the story. It doesn't bother me much - if I'm going to suspend my disbelief, at least do something interesting with it, and that's interesting.) We see these flashbacks through a woman named Lily, and while it sheds light on all the reasons why William Tear gathered his people to make the Crossing and form the Tear, it takes awhile (a little tooooo much of awhile) for Johansen to reveal how Lily relates to the current manifestation of the Tear, and why we should care. It also makes for a pretty bleak view of humanity since things clearly didn't turn into this beautiful Utopia that Tear envisioned (quelle surprise!)
What really worked about The Invasion of the Tearling is that Johansen has started adding a bit more dimension to some of the characters. My biggest issue with a lot of genre fiction is the obvious division of good and bad - these people are good, those people are bad - like morality isn't the beautifully mixed, complex, intricate, subjective thing that it is. She really took liberties to make Kelsea less inherently likable, and more like the turbulent young woman that she should be in her late teens. No young person is going to rise to be in charge of a kindgom without some growing pains and some ugly mistakes, and we finally get to see Kelsea make some, and it makes her more relatable, and a better character because of it. She also started delving further into the Queen of Mortmesne, too, which I liked, though I hope there will be even more of that in the third book.
Again, I think the second act in trilogies always ends up being a transitional, point a to point b sort of thing, and as far as this series goes, there's plenty in Invasion of the Tearling to keep you excited and ready to continue into Fate of the Tearling. That said, I can't believe it's almost over! It feels like there's still so much to be done in book three - and I hope Johansen is able to take this story all the places it wants to go.
I don't understand how this is considered "YA" with all the rape and domestic violence but maybe I am being old-fashioned.
This book is a great big mish-mosh of fantasy and sci-fi and time travel and romance. Not sure if it works but I definitely wanted to see where it all came out, so maybe it does. And now I have to read the last book in the trilogy which cone out next year, because I guess waiting for George R.R. Martin's next book wasn't frustrating enough.
This book is a great big mish-mosh of fantasy and sci-fi and time travel and romance. Not sure if it works but I definitely wanted to see where it all came out, so maybe it does. And now I have to read the last book in the trilogy which cone out next year, because I guess waiting for George R.R. Martin's next book wasn't frustrating enough.
DEFINITELY BETTER THAN THE FIRST BOOK! The author really stepped up with this one. There's more action, more mystery, more character development and more plot points laid out! More gore and graphic violence and mature themes as well, so I'd probably argue about this being defined in YA.
Trigger warning: Domestic violence, rape, torture
So, read at your own risk!
I enjoyed this more than the first book. I loved the mystery and the intrigue surrounding Kelsea and what's happening all around her. I loved the Lily plot. I loved how that whole plot point was really confusing at the beginning, but as soon as you understand what's happening, everything is WORTH IT. The author keeps you guessing, and I suddenly wished I took down notes while reading this! You may want to, if you like, coz I think that'll help. I loved how Kelsea's dark side is emerging as she starts to uncover her whole potential. I loved Pen... my poor cinnamon roll. At first I was intrigued by Fetch's character. I guess it's that whole mystery of him that's keeping me hooked, but now, it seems I'm leaning towards Team Pen now.
The bit that I wasn't very keen on is the long chapters. I'm really not a fan of long chapters. Plus some of the chapter cuts don't seem to make that much sense for me. And the ending was a bit anti-climactic for me. I guess I expected more But that just adds to something that we may see in the finale. I have so much expectation now for this series!
There were still so many open questions that really got me craving for the next book. I truly enjoyed this book and the story was just leaps and bounds better than the pilot. All of my disappointments from Book 1 are erased. Now I understand the hype!
Trigger warning: Domestic violence, rape, torture
So, read at your own risk!
I enjoyed this more than the first book. I loved the mystery and the intrigue surrounding Kelsea and what's happening all around her. I loved the Lily plot. I loved how that whole plot point was really confusing at the beginning, but as soon as you understand what's happening, everything is WORTH IT. The author keeps you guessing, and I suddenly wished I took down notes while reading this! You may want to, if you like, coz I think that'll help. I loved how Kelsea's dark side is emerging as she starts to uncover her whole potential. I loved Pen... my poor cinnamon roll. At first I was intrigued by Fetch's character. I guess it's that whole mystery of him that's keeping me hooked, but now, it seems I'm leaning towards Team Pen now.
The bit that I wasn't very keen on is the long chapters. I'm really not a fan of long chapters. Plus some of the chapter cuts don't seem to make that much sense for me. And the ending was a bit anti-climactic for me. I guess I expected more
Spoiler
battle with the Red Queen! I expected a showdown!There were still so many open questions that really got me craving for the next book. I truly enjoyed this book and the story was just leaps and bounds better than the pilot. All of my disappointments from Book 1 are erased. Now I understand the hype!
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A sequel as good as the first. Kelsea was a little more annoying but she's 19 and can't be perfect, and of course, there was no good choice in her conundrum.
I loved the look back in time with Lily and am so glad I finally got some answers about where and when the Crossing people had come from. Very proud of Lily and Kelsea working together.
I loved the look back in time with Lily and am so glad I finally got some answers about where and when the Crossing people had come from. Very proud of Lily and Kelsea working together.