Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Invasion of the Tearling

I really enjoyed the Lily sections. I found her story interesting and her internal life compelling. The slow evolution of her journey had a compelling energy that made those sections fly by.

However... Kelsea. Sigh. I had so enjoyed in the previous book that she was naïve but not the usual impetuous YA heroine who refuses to listen to smart people or learn from her mistakes. Alas that is all gone now.

Kelsea seems determined to make up for lost time by making incredibly stupid mistakes and decisions over and over and over again. She never once learns from her mistakes and hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people die.

I also am increasingly uncomfortable with the author's internalized misogyny and obsession with rape. You'd think that this is a book that celebrates the power of women but it's on the surface. The author/book constantly rapes and brutalizes the female characters, and makes them insecure and fragile and obsessed with their appearance or babies to the detriment of their ability to function or think clearly. The competent, reasonable people are all men with the exception of a young girl (who was sexually and emotionally abused by her father) and that girl's mother (who is mostly reduced to role of tired nursemaid in this book instead of the fascinating prickly brave woman she was written as in the first book). And Lily. Lily is horrifically abused and yet she decides to do something incredibly brave and turns out to be extremely smart and skilled.

I also really disliked Kelsea's non-consensual having sex with Penn. Ugh. She's his Queen and his direct employee/servant as close guard. The power dynamic is absolutely not at all allowing him to have a real choice in the matter despite her "I'm not Queen now" whispers. The whole thing was really distasteful to me. And I was already not really happy about where they went with Penn even before they started having sex. All of a sudden he's in love with her and has to go visit a prostitute or someone to get jacked off regularly so he can be around the person he loves without being aroused all the time I guess? Wow, okay. That's... something. He's not a teenager, does he have no bodily control? I was hoping that the real reason he'd refused her was that he was gay. They even talked about it right after he refuses her the first time and it would have been a really nice way for that situation to be negotiated. And Mace should have pulled him off of close guard duty right away. He says that it's something that happens a lot with close guards. That totally makes sense. But it also can't possibly have been a situation where it turns out well often enough that he'd tolerate it. It seems like such a security weakness.

I'm uncomfortable with the inclusion of self-harm as a way for Kelsea to deal with things. That is a very real issue and Kelsea is hiding it and forcing the only person who knows (Penn) to not talk about it (gee, doesn't that tell her anything about how much he can't consent to sex with her even if he is in love with her?). It is modeling a very troubling coping mechanism in a way that makes it seem acceptable, and I worry about that. The book/author makes it clear that drugging yourself against the pain of an abusive husband and shitty oppressive world is not acceptable so I know this book/author can let readers know when something is not a healthy coping strategy.

The whole magic/sapphires/suddenly Kelsea can do anything she needs to do to solve the plot problem at the time (deus ex... sapphires?) was annoying. Kelsea never needed to compromise or listen to her advisors or learn from her mistakes because she could simply heal the dying or blow up bridges or escape into a convenient vision or telepathically violate people and learn their deepest secrets or paralyze people or ... sigh. I didn't hate it because I'm hoping there's a good reason it works like that, but it feels like really lazy writing in this book.

I did really like learning more about the Crossing and finally getting payoff for all the "modern world" hints that were sprinkled throughout the first book. I didn't find the switch to the "modern America" jarring or unexpected, it was fun, and with Kelsea being so intolerable, I honestly enjoyed those sections more, even with Lily being so brutalized.

I'm reading the third one but only for Lily. And Aisa, my ferocious stabby girl.

Content Warnings

cmbohn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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kalmia31's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

shinypurplepants's review against another edition

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adventurous sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The second entry into the Tearling series didn't hold me in the same way of the first. The realities of war made this one feel heavier and

the changes it brought to our Queen of the Tearling made it difficult for me to continue rooting for her. <\spoiler>

In addition, the dual narrative starring Lily, while a relevant glimpse into the Old World, felt like it slowed the pace of the book dramatically.

Overall, I would still recommend those that enjoyed the first book give this one a try with the caveat that it is quite different from the first entry in the series.

Content Warnings