noxum 's review for:

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

3.75

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I liked this book, but there was definitely the potential for me to like it more. The Game of Thrones comp is accurate; this is definitely a sprawling political epic in the same style as ASOIAF and I can see where the author took inspiration from it and it worked out. There are multiple POVs and most of the characters are complicated people who have a lot of depth to them and it's very interesting to be in their heads.

The setting itself is very dreamy. The whole "star prophecy, root witchcraft" background that everyone is somehow tied to gave the book a very mystical feel. I can definitely see how this can become someone's favorite book.

There were just a couple areas where things fell short for me.

Elia as a character was overall very frustrating to me. It's stated outright that she's naive because she's been sheltered but that also never changes? Like if you're naive and seeing the world like that harms you eventually you would learn that you CAN'T be naive anymore, but Elia never really seems to do that. Until the end of the book she's hoping that she can just 'talk things out' with her sisters when it has been stated over and over again that an approach like that is NOT going to work with them. They're ambitious and ruthless and they don't like her? Why would she think for a second that they'd listen?

There were also a few decisions at the end of the book that were just really stupid to me. There was a star prophecy that King Lear's wife would die on the 16th anniversary of her first daughter's birth. Since people were so hard into star prophecies Dalat (the queen) was worried there would be some...rebellion? Uprising? Or something if the prophecy didn't come true so she KILLS HERSELF on her daughter's 16th birthday to fulfill it. All the while just ASSUMING that everything would go perfectly right after she was gone and her family would grow tighter together and everyone would help them in their grief. You had NO guarantees of that. Wouldn't it be better to stay and fight with your family rather than abandoning all of your children, the youngest of which isn't even ten yet??

The ending of the book was also stupid. All the sister's finally convene to decide who will be queen and Elia wants them all to partake in a magic ritual so the island itself will choose. The other two overall don't want to do it but Ban (bastard who was/is in love with Elia) and Morimaros (king of a foreign nation that Ban was a spy for and later betrayed) somehow end up dueling and the outcome of that duel decides the fate of the entire island?? Mind you they're fighting over a PERSONAL GRUDGE. What the FUCK does that have to do with Innis Lear??

I enjoyed this, but the stupid decisions made tanked the rating for me.

C.A.P.E Rating:
Characters - 3/5
Atmosphere - 4/5
Plot - 3/5
Enjoyment - 3/5