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idkimoutofideas 's review for:
The Queen of the Tearling
by Erika Johansen
Did I like reading Queen of the Tearling? Yes. Did it seriously confuse me? Yes. Were there times I wanted to put it down and not pick it back up again? Yes. Did I eventually finish the book? Yes. Would I recommend it to a friend? No.
QotT wasn't a bad book, in fact it was very well written, but my problem with it was that I had no idea when or where it was set, and that pulled me out of the story more than once.
At first glance, it looks like it's set in fantasy medieval Europe, with big castles and warring kingdoms and nobles and all that type of stuff. There's not any technology, and in general seems like medieval times. It's set in a fantasy land that's still on Earth, and it seems that the British and the Americans sailed in ships across the ocean to get to the Tearling. Ok, that makes sense, The Crossing (when people first arrived in the Tearling) happened in the 1700's, and this book is set a couple hundred years later.
But then all of a sudden the characters are reading The Hobbit, and Harry Potter. What? So The Crossing, which happen several hundred years ago at this point, happened early 2000's at the earliest. But they don't have any technology, no cars, no electricity, or anything that would indicate that time period. They say the doctors all died in the crossing, but where are the computers? The phones? Why were they even crossing in ships in the first place? Wouldn't they have used planes? That one detail confused me so much, and made absolutely no sense. Shakespeare was also mentioned, but that at least made sense. He died in the 1600's, so even if The Crossing happened 1700's or something, they would still have Shakespeare. But why include Harry Potter and the Hobbit? It was one throwaway line that pulled me out of the story so much.
Other than that one fact, I really loved QotT. It was very well written and I enjoyed (most) of the characters.
One thing I don't think I will ever understand is why authors put homophobia and racism in their story unless it has an explicit purpose. The Tearling society is sexist, but that at least plays into the story because then Kelsea has to fight against people who don't take her seriously. But there is literally one line about homophobia and how it's considered a sin by the church. What is even the purpose of adding that to the story? We never even meet a gay character, it has no impact on the story in any way. You've created a fantasy world that has actual magic, but you still had to include that? Really?
QotT wasn't a bad book, in fact it was very well written, but my problem with it was that I had no idea when or where it was set, and that pulled me out of the story more than once.
At first glance, it looks like it's set in fantasy medieval Europe, with big castles and warring kingdoms and nobles and all that type of stuff. There's not any technology, and in general seems like medieval times. It's set in a fantasy land that's still on Earth, and it seems that the British and the Americans sailed in ships across the ocean to get to the Tearling. Ok, that makes sense, The Crossing (when people first arrived in the Tearling) happened in the 1700's, and this book is set a couple hundred years later.
But then all of a sudden the characters are reading The Hobbit, and Harry Potter. What? So The Crossing, which happen several hundred years ago at this point, happened early 2000's at the earliest. But they don't have any technology, no cars, no electricity, or anything that would indicate that time period. They say the doctors all died in the crossing, but where are the computers? The phones? Why were they even crossing in ships in the first place? Wouldn't they have used planes? That one detail confused me so much, and made absolutely no sense. Shakespeare was also mentioned, but that at least made sense. He died in the 1600's, so even if The Crossing happened 1700's or something, they would still have Shakespeare. But why include Harry Potter and the Hobbit? It was one throwaway line that pulled me out of the story so much.
Other than that one fact, I really loved QotT. It was very well written and I enjoyed (most) of the characters.
One thing I don't think I will ever understand is why authors put homophobia and racism in their story unless it has an explicit purpose. The Tearling society is sexist, but that at least plays into the story because then Kelsea has to fight against people who don't take her seriously. But there is literally one line about homophobia and how it's considered a sin by the church. What is even the purpose of adding that to the story? We never even meet a gay character, it has no impact on the story in any way. You've created a fantasy world that has actual magic, but you still had to include that? Really?