G617 Book Review of The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
Author: Erika Johansen
ISBN: 978-0-06-229039-7
Publisher: Harper Collins
Part of a Series: The Queen of Tearling Trilogy
Type of book: Fantasy/dystopia, set in future, immortality, jewels, utopia, socialist, losing status and power, strong women, wealth, dark pasts, New London, Tearling, picking up pieces, survival, complex vs simplicity, corruption
Year it was published: 2015
Summary:
With each passing day, Kelsea Glynn is growing into her new responsibilities as Queen of the Tearling. By stopping the shipments of slaves to the neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne, she crossed the Red Queen, a brutal ruler whose power derives from dark magic, who is sending her fearsome army into the Tearling to take what is hers. And nothing can stop the invasion.
But as the Mort army draws ever closer, Kelsea develops a mysterious connection to a time before the Crossing, and she finds herself relying on a strange and possibly dangerous ally: a woman named Lily, fighting for her life in a world where being female can feel like a crime. The fate of the Tearling —and that of Kelsea’s own soul—may rest with Lily and her story, but Kelsea may not have enough time to find out.
Characters:
There are a lot of characters in the story, but main ones include Queen Kelsea Glynn who is about nineteen, very strong and resourceful and will do anything she can for her kingdom and to make sure her people have good lives. The Red Queen is the antagonist and is ageless (some sort of immortal?) and has a mysterious and hidden past that she doesn't want others to know. She is best described as a terror of sorts and is desperate to gain or hold on to more power. Mace, aka Lazarus, is Queen Kelsea's guard and he is the one that Queen Kelsea desires to please and pays attention to. He is loyal, fair and has his own secret past. Lily is the woman born in pre-Crossing Era and in beginning she is a terrified wealthy woman who knows she isn't happy, but isn't sure what to do. She is strong, curious and is loyal to the cause.
Theme:
In order to create an ideal world, teamwork is needed and required
Plot:
The story is in third person narrative from multiple characters' points of view, although the primary characters are Kelsea, Lily. Aisa and the Red Queen. The story is not focused on finding a soulmate but instead is focused on survival, ruling, growing up, coming of age, mysterious visions, trying to make sense of life and so forth. It is also a mixture of dystopia and fantasy, dystopia because it takes place in the future where the characters have to rebuild, and where characters have to change themselves. Fantasy elements include immortality and mystical jewels. But yes, although I enjoy reading love/romantic stories, once in a while I would like to come upon a book that focuses on a lot more than just better half.
Author Information:
(From TLC Book Tours)
Purchase Links
About Erika Johansen
Erika Johansen grew up and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She went to Swarthmore College, earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and eventually became an attorney, but she never stopped writing.
Opinion:
Never did I imagine in my life that I would give a dystopia/fantasy mixture five stars, yet that is what happened, and the book deserves all of the five stars. I haven't read the previous book, thus I speak as someone who barely knows or understands the world of Tearling, yet I found the book, oddly enough, as a good stand-alone novel, although I imagine that reading the prequel will make the experience much more richer. The world and the characters easily sucked me in, and the story-line is very addictive and engaging, even for someone who never read or heard of the world of Tear before. What I also appreciated is that men and women were painted three dimensional, there are both bad and good people and neither is superior or inferior.While I was reading the book, I couldn't help but recall the Song of the Lioness Quartet, and while reading Song of the Lioness Quartet, I wondered why they bothered me? The books have a strong heroine who can defeat everyone, but upon further reflection maybe what bothered me is that women were one dimensional or perhaps I felt discomfort with the fact that the main character pretended and continued to pretend to be a boy. This book has very strong heroines but they don't pretend to be someone they're not and instead they grow into their roles and strengths.
This is for TLC Book Tours
Erika’s Tour Stops
Tuesday, June 23rd: Books Without Any Pictures
Wednesday, June 24th: 5 Minutes For Books
Monday, June 29th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Tuesday, June 30th: Bibliophilia, Please
Tuesday, June 30th: Reading Lark
Wednesday, July 1st: Fuelled by Fiction
Thursday, July 2nd: Book Loving Hippo
Monday, July 6th: Reading Reality
Tuesday, July 7th: The Reader’s Hollow
Wednesday, July 8th: fangirl confessions
Thursday, July 9th: booknerd
Monday, July 13th: Spiced Latte Reads
Tuesday, July 14th: A Reader of Fictions
Wednesday, July 15th: A Dream Within a Dream
Friday, July 17th: Into the Hall of Books
5 out of 5(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
I'm so excited that you loved this book so much! I hope you enjoy the previous book just as much.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour!