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megan_deppe234 's review for:
The Queen of the Tearling
by Erika Johansen
It has been a long time since I've tried reading a new fantasy book, and it was a little hard to get myself back into it. That said, The Tear is a very well constructed fantasy world, and I was very invested in all of the details that I was fed as I followed Kelsea on her journey to becoming queen. I am particularly intrigued by all the hints that this world is actually futuristic, and at some point we as a culture regressed by to a Middle Age style of living, but still have access to pennies and Lord of the Rings.
Kelsea herself is a good protagonist to follow - occasionally she borders on a bit "too good" because of her sheltered upbringing (of course, she's the only one who will stand against the selling of people to aa neighboring kingdom; of course she's the only one who cares about reading; of course she's the only one who is thinking about the poor people, etc), but she doesn't fall into what could have been a very easy Mary Sue trap. She is often described as being very plain (to everyone; it's not a 'oh I think I'm not pretty but somehow the rest of the world disagrees with me' trope); despite her studies, she does not know automatically how to rule or fight or be a queen - she gathers around other interesting and complex characters to advise her and give her another perspective, but she still makes her own decisions. Mace in particular has set the stage for in-depth characters to stand with/against Kelsea, and The Fetch is a mystery that is just on the edges of the story but leaves his mark. The gate guard Jarvel is another one who, in the next book or two, I look forward to seeing an arc arise.
Some characters do get left behind in the large cast of characters - Kelsea's adoptive parents, Barty and Carlin, as well as the original guard Carroll, were only meant to be introductory anyway, I know, but I would have still liked to see more from them. The Red Queen, too, is often presented as a very frightening and imposing figure, but not much in the brief chapters we have in her presence stack up to that (again, maybe the groundwork is just being laid here, but I feel like a good antagonist is pretty important to start showing early). I also can't decide if I like the little introductions at the beginning of the chapters or not - they do continue to world-build for us, which is fascinating, but it's also giving us insight into the world after this book, and that may give us spoilers we don't want.
Kelsea herself is a good protagonist to follow - occasionally she borders on a bit "too good" because of her sheltered upbringing (of course, she's the only one who will stand against the selling of people to aa neighboring kingdom; of course she's the only one who cares about reading; of course she's the only one who is thinking about the poor people, etc), but she doesn't fall into what could have been a very easy Mary Sue trap. She is often described as being very plain (to everyone; it's not a 'oh I think I'm not pretty but somehow the rest of the world disagrees with me' trope); despite her studies, she does not know automatically how to rule or fight or be a queen - she gathers around other interesting and complex characters to advise her and give her another perspective, but she still makes her own decisions. Mace in particular has set the stage for in-depth characters to stand with/against Kelsea, and The Fetch is a mystery that is just on the edges of the story but leaves his mark. The gate guard Jarvel is another one who, in the next book or two, I look forward to seeing an arc arise.
Some characters do get left behind in the large cast of characters - Kelsea's adoptive parents, Barty and Carlin, as well as the original guard Carroll, were only meant to be introductory anyway, I know, but I would have still liked to see more from them. The Red Queen, too, is often presented as a very frightening and imposing figure, but not much in the brief chapters we have in her presence stack up to that (again, maybe the groundwork is just being laid here, but I feel like a good antagonist is pretty important to start showing early). I also can't decide if I like the little introductions at the beginning of the chapters or not - they do continue to world-build for us, which is fascinating, but it's also giving us insight into the world after this book, and that may give us spoilers we don't want.