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A review by ashndean88
Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen
3.0
I finished this book early in the morning and I'm still thinking about how I should review it. There's a lot of opinions going on in my head and I don't know what to make of it!
So I loved the original trilogy. The third one, in my opinion, has its faults at the end, but overall I loved the series and always recommend it. When I discovered this book had come out, I got it immediately, but didn't get around to reading it until now.
I liked how we got the story building up to Kelsea's birth and the components behind it. I knew these events were important and always wished we got more insight into it overall. This book gives me that! I always believed that Elyssa was more than the original books made her out to be. It was nice having a reason behind her elusive personality and seeing how strong she actually was. I also enjoyed getting more of Mace's backstory. His portion in particular I enjoyed reading, and I really wished we'd gotten more of him! A lot of his past was explained, but I felt like even then it could've been more.
Although I did enjoy reading everything that went on, I also wished the book had been from mainly one person's perspective. Possibly two. I guess mainly I just wanted more of the Mace? Or maybe just Mace and Elyssa. I got tired of hearing of Brenna and Arlen, and after a time Aislinn's story got a little old too. There was just too much perspective changing for me. I kept everyone straight! But know more details could have come forth if there was a more focused story.
Only had two other small issues. First, with this being a prequel story, if a main character in the book was introduced but they weren't in the main series, I figured they weren't going to make it. That's just the misfortune of prequels. I did enjoy the new characters though! The second was I felt Johansen used this book as an opportunity to change a disappointing discovery in the last book of the trilogy. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'm keeping it vague. I'm fine with the change, but I needed more of a reason in the prequel for why it was made to be this person in the series. I was not given that, so was still ultimately left unsatisfied.
So overall, I still liked the writing and how gritty/real it was. I enjoyed the characters and how I gained a deeper understanding of the ones I loved in the trilogy. Plus backstories are always great! I would still suggest this book to anyone who loves the Tearling series.
So I loved the original trilogy. The third one, in my opinion, has its faults at the end, but overall I loved the series and always recommend it. When I discovered this book had come out, I got it immediately, but didn't get around to reading it until now.
I liked how we got the story building up to Kelsea's birth and the components behind it. I knew these events were important and always wished we got more insight into it overall. This book gives me that! I always believed that Elyssa was more than the original books made her out to be. It was nice having a reason behind her elusive personality and seeing how strong she actually was. I also enjoyed getting more of Mace's backstory. His portion in particular I enjoyed reading, and I really wished we'd gotten more of him! A lot of his past was explained, but I felt like even then it could've been more.
Although I did enjoy reading everything that went on, I also wished the book had been from mainly one person's perspective. Possibly two. I guess mainly I just wanted more of the Mace? Or maybe just Mace and Elyssa. I got tired of hearing of Brenna and Arlen, and after a time Aislinn's story got a little old too. There was just too much perspective changing for me. I kept everyone straight! But know more details could have come forth if there was a more focused story.
Only had two other small issues. First, with this being a prequel story, if a main character in the book was introduced but they weren't in the main series, I figured they weren't going to make it. That's just the misfortune of prequels. I did enjoy the new characters though! The second was I felt Johansen used this book as an opportunity to change a disappointing discovery in the last book of the trilogy. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'm keeping it vague. I'm fine with the change, but I needed more of a reason in the prequel for why it was made to be this person in the series. I was not given that, so was still ultimately left unsatisfied.
So overall, I still liked the writing and how gritty/real it was. I enjoyed the characters and how I gained a deeper understanding of the ones I loved in the trilogy. Plus backstories are always great! I would still suggest this book to anyone who loves the Tearling series.