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chrissie_whitley 's review for:
The Fate of the Tearling
by Erika Johansen
Sporting a polarizing ending that leaves you gobsmacked no matter what side your opinion lands on, The Fate of the Tearling was just as enthralling and riveting as the other two books in the series. With such a stunning ending, from which I am still recovering and collecting my thoughts, I have no choice but to plug in some spoilers at the end here.
The Fate of the Tearling was, like its predecessors, a lovely mix of the fantasy and dystopian genres. In this go-round, we are introduced to Katie, a first generation after The Crossing. Through Kelsea's fugues we get to finally experience how everything went so wrong so quickly for William Tear and his followers. Once again, Johansen's brilliant characterizations and fantastic world-building are front and center for the richly complex plot and conclusion for this trilogy. Every character is nuanced, every place detailed, every subplot is addressed.
Like so many have already said, this book was utterly brilliant and unstoppable until that odd last chapter. While I didn't have the qualms and didn't experience any book-chucking urges, I can quite obviously see why so many did. It's a questionable decision and it's endings like that one that make me very aware of the author, instead of focusing on the characters and their stories.
However, there is no way that ending sucks all the life out of the series for me. It's a fantastically done trilogy and I would totally and completely recommend it for those who are attracted to these genres. Johansen's writing is top-notch and her characters and settings are enthralling. I have a floaty kind of ambivalence to the ending, but ultimately I'm okay with it.
Here there be spoilers:
However, my big issue with Kelsea's parents was after the earthshaking, time-traveling, butterfly-effect event. I love me some time travel, but it needs to retain some modicum of sense and a certain level of continuity. Honestly, I'd rather Kelsea have woken up and not remembered the alternate history of her life. But she did and that leaves this huge gaping hole for me...if her mother Elyssa had never been anyone of importance (much less a QUEEN), how is it that she and Mhurn still met at the exact right time to create Kelsea? Where's that story? Is Elyssa not married or involved with Mhurn currently? Did he somehow, in this more perfect future, still become an addict? I really need more explanation for this, and I don't see how I'd be satisfied with any. Ultimately for me, that was my big beef with this ambitious and sad, ambiguous ending.
While I was a little down about Pen/Andrew, I was ultimately accepting of the new situation—after all, though Pen had fallen in love with Kelsea, she was never truly in love with him, and I'm fine with her needing to find her own way in this new world. I do like how she bumped into several people she used to know, and how Carlin is her boss, and that everything seems to have worked out for everyone except her. The unseeable future hurt her because she was left with her memories of the past—interesting take on the butterfly effect. However, that time-travel business has me question the outcome in a general sense. Hundreds of years after Katie and Kelsea together saved the Tearling and its future, everyone (at least to that point) of significance in Kelsea's life still met and married and had the same children? The only thing that was affected really was the setting? And thus the emotional development of the people? That was a hard pill to swallow and the longer I think on it the less believable I find it to be.
But, as I say, I still found this book to be a fantastic finale to an incredible and entertaining trilogy.
The Fate of the Tearling was, like its predecessors, a lovely mix of the fantasy and dystopian genres. In this go-round, we are introduced to Katie, a first generation after The Crossing. Through Kelsea's fugues we get to finally experience how everything went so wrong so quickly for William Tear and his followers. Once again, Johansen's brilliant characterizations and fantastic world-building are front and center for the richly complex plot and conclusion for this trilogy. Every character is nuanced, every place detailed, every subplot is addressed.
Like so many have already said, this book was utterly brilliant and unstoppable until that odd last chapter. While I didn't have the qualms and didn't experience any book-chucking urges, I can quite obviously see why so many did. It's a questionable decision and it's endings like that one that make me very aware of the author, instead of focusing on the characters and their stories.
However, there is no way that ending sucks all the life out of the series for me. It's a fantastically done trilogy and I would totally and completely recommend it for those who are attracted to these genres. Johansen's writing is top-notch and her characters and settings are enthralling. I have a floaty kind of ambivalence to the ending, but ultimately I'm okay with it.
Here there be spoilers:
Spoiler
The revelation of Kelsea's parentage was shocking and I was completely surprised by her mother's appearance in the book. I think I would've rather her father have either been a more prominent character, or a completely new one...I really was rather dismissive of this reveal and at this juncture in the plot, I couldn't have cared less about Mhurn.However, my big issue with Kelsea's parents was after the earthshaking, time-traveling, butterfly-effect event. I love me some time travel, but it needs to retain some modicum of sense and a certain level of continuity. Honestly, I'd rather Kelsea have woken up and not remembered the alternate history of her life. But she did and that leaves this huge gaping hole for me...if her mother Elyssa had never been anyone of importance (much less a QUEEN), how is it that she and Mhurn still met at the exact right time to create Kelsea? Where's that story? Is Elyssa not married or involved with Mhurn currently? Did he somehow, in this more perfect future, still become an addict? I really need more explanation for this, and I don't see how I'd be satisfied with any. Ultimately for me, that was my big beef with this ambitious and sad, ambiguous ending.
While I was a little down about Pen/Andrew, I was ultimately accepting of the new situation—after all, though Pen had fallen in love with Kelsea, she was never truly in love with him, and I'm fine with her needing to find her own way in this new world. I do like how she bumped into several people she used to know, and how Carlin is her boss, and that everything seems to have worked out for everyone except her. The unseeable future hurt her because she was left with her memories of the past—interesting take on the butterfly effect. However, that time-travel business has me question the outcome in a general sense. Hundreds of years after Katie and Kelsea together saved the Tearling and its future, everyone (at least to that point) of significance in Kelsea's life still met and married and had the same children? The only thing that was affected really was the setting? And thus the emotional development of the people? That was a hard pill to swallow and the longer I think on it the less believable I find it to be.
But, as I say,