#queenofthetarling

Erika Johansen's fierce and unforgettable young heroine returns in this dazzling new novel of magic and adventure, set in the beguiling world of the Tearling. 

After such an amazing ride The Invasion of the Tearling was, my expectations got quite raised for the third and the final book of these series. And I was definitely not disappointed. Except. But. But. But. BUT. Ending. I am. I can’t start my review with an ending of the book so I am going to come back to that later.

So, Kelsea got captured by the Mort, but managed to save her country for 3 years. New World is in chaos, her country needs her, but Kelsea can’t find her way out of the dungeons. Row Finn is free and terrorizing villages with zombie-children. Red Queen is not quite what she seems and Kelsea finds an unexpected ally in her.

From beginning to the very end, this book was never boring. It was full of action, battles, rebellions and plot twists. I could barely lay it down for few hours (I spent the entire 10-hour flight reading it when I was actually supposed to sleep). As in the Invasion of the Tearling this book had a mix of retrospective storyline and Kelsea’s storyline. Retrospectives tell story of pre-crossing, that is, Tear’s utopic town. Retrospectives are told from perspective of Dorian’s daughter Katie Rice and it follows the story behind Tear invasion and decay of his utopia. They are really intriguing, answer some big questions about the past of the Tearling itself, and, trough the book, they start overlapping with Kelsea’s story.

I loved Johansen’s style and how she wrapped this whole new world in magic-filled, timeless and inspiring story.  There was not one question left unanswered, every mystery was revealed one way or another in manner that shocked me. I kept being surprised with her subtle perception that I always end up agreeing with. I loved how she showed how consequences of past actions affect the presence and that they are inseparable.

I ended up loving these characters even more after this book. I think I stated my opinion on Kelsea, her actions and attitudes in my review of Invasion of the Tearling, since she pretty much stayed the same. I loved her as a queen as well as a girl. She did everything for Tearling, every sacrifice without second thought. I never thought I would end up liking her so much, and I still can’t point a certain feature I like about her, but I guess it is everything combined.

Other characters, Pen and Aisa especially, got under my skin real fast and I loved Aisa’s perspective real much. I always end up fangirling about little crazy assassins, but what can I do she was adorable.

I almost forgot about Katie and Jonathan. They had a big role in this book and I had so much fun reading about them.

All of these characters ended up in a big mess created by mistakes of people in past and I can’t help but feel really sorry for them (especially Kelsea), that they had to fix other’s careless mistakes.

“These people are so damned proud of their hatred! Hatred is easy, and lazy to boot. It’s love that demands effort, love that exacts a price from each of us. Love costs; this is its value.”

In the end, this was story of three girls: Lily, Katie and Kelsea, and it was one beautiful, heartbreaking and inspiring story about people, society, loss and sacrifice. It was all about them and choices they made for the better world, although in such a large space, in such a long time, three individuals seem unimportant. The three of them as much as they were different, they were the same and Tear’s jewels connected them. Through the second book, I could hardly see why has author chosen Lily, because she seemed weak and pathetic, but after everything I can see why…

I don’t think I can keep writing without bringing up any spoilers so I am going to jump to the ending itself.

So, ending.

That ending.

This book had a huge number of possible endings, but I feel Erika Johansen chose the worst possible way to finish a book that was going in such an amazing direction. I know this is extremely subjective so if you liked the ending you can probably skip this part because it is going to be just a rant about it.

*also, major spoilers for ending 😊*

Since the beginning of time it has been known that I have a problem with time travel. Because, if it isn’t done properly it is just a disaster. Some authors manage to make it work by using small amount of time traveling or just being really, really careful about it, which I am not saying Johansesn wasn’t. It was just that she could have ended this differently. Kelsea got The Crown that could take her anywhere in time to change any moment in past. So, there were basically endless possibilities around which she could go, but I would rather have it she somehow won the war than this. I don’t know it feels kind of deus ex machina style.

So that was the first thing I hated about this ending.  The second thing is how Kelsea, and ALL OTHER CHARACTERS ended up. After everything she did for Tearling, her people she ends up with basically nothing. Nothing. I hate it. I really hated it. I mean I get it, not everyone gets recognition and glory, but Kelsea lives in this perfect world she basically created by sacrificing everything and everyone she loved end up having these awesome lives without her. Nope. I can’t get over Mace and Pen. I usually have nothing against good book hungover, but after finishing this it was really more a book-headache or frustration, but it was. Not. Good.  It kind of killed everything I loved about this book.

Anyway, reading these series was really crazy and I never thought they would end up where they did. I can’t throw around recommendations right now because I feel these books can impact different people really differently. You should try it if you have a thing for medieval or fantasy (although this isn’t really YA, more adult) and see for yourself.

After such an amazing ride The Invasion of the Tearling was, my expectations got quite raised for the third and the final book of these series. And I was definitely not disappointed. Except. But. But. But. BUT. Ending. I am. I can’t start my review with an ending of the book so I am going to come back to that later.

So, Kelsea got captured by the Mort, but managed to save her country for 3 years. New world is in chaos, her country needs her, but Kelsea can’t find her way out of the dungeons. Row Finn is free and terrorizing villages with zombie-children. Red Queen is not quite what she seems and Kelsea finds an unexpected ally in her.

From beginning to the very end, this book was never boring. It was full of action, battles, rebellions and plot twists. I could barely lay it down for few hours (I spent the entire 10-hour flight reading it when I was actually supposed to sleep). As in the Invasion of the Tearling this book had a mix of retrospective storyline and Kelsea’s storyline. Retrospectives tell story of pre-crossing, that is, Tear’s utopic town. Retrospectives are told from perspective of Dorian’s daughter Katie Rice and it follows the story behind Tear invasion and decay of his utopia. They are really intriguing, answer some big questions about the past of the Tearling itself, and, trough the book, they start overlapping with Kelsea’s story.

I loved Johansen’s style and how she wrapped this whole new world in magic-filled, timeless and inspiring story.  There was not one question left unanswered, every mystery was revealed one way or another in manner that shocked me. I kept being surprised with her subtle perception that I always end up agreeing with. I loved how she showed how consequences of past actions affect the presence and that they are inseparable.

I ended up loving these characters even more after this book. I think I stated my opinion on Kelsea, her actions and attitudes in my review of Invasion of the Tearling, since she pretty much stayed the same. I loved her as a queen as well as a girl. She did everything for Tearling, every sacrifice without second thought. I never thought I would end up liking her so much, and I still can’t point a certain feature I like about her, but I guess it is everything combined.

Other characters, Pen and Aisa especially, got under my skin real fast and I loved Aisa’s perspective real much. I always end up fangirling about little crazy assassins, but what can I do she was adorable.

I almost forgot about Katie and Jonathan. They had a big role in this book and I had so much fun reading about them.

All of these characters ended up in a big mess created by mistakes of people in past and I can’t help but feel really sorry for them (especially Kelsea), that they had to fix other’s careless mistakes.

In the end, this was story of three girls: Lily, Katie and Kelsea, and it was one beautiful, heartbreaking and inspiring story about people, society, loss and sacrifice. It was all about them and choices they made for the better world, although in such a large space, in such a long time, three individuals seem unimportant. The three of them as much as they were different, they were the same and Tear’s jewels connected them. Through the second book, I could hardly see why has author chosen Lily, because she seemed weak and pathetic, but after everything I can see why…

I don’t think I can keep writing without bringing up any spoilers so I am going to jump to the ending itself.

“They’re good, these stories,” Mace continued, his cheeks stained with light color. “They teach the pain of others.” “Empathy. Carlin always said it was the great value of fiction, to put us inside the minds of strangers.”

So, ending.

That ending.

This book had a huge number of possible endings, but I feel Erika Johansen chose the worst possible way to finish a book that was going in such an amazing direction. I know this is extremely subjective so if you liked the ending you can probably skip this part because it is going to be just a rant about it.

*also, major spoilers for ending 😊*

Since the beginning of time it has been known that I have a problem with time travel. Because, if it isn’t done properly it is just a disaster. Some authors manage to make it work by using small amount of time traveling or just being really, really careful about it, which I am not saying Johansesn wasn’t. It was just that she could have ended this differently. Kelsea got The Crown that could take her anywhere in time to change any moment in past. So, there were basically endless possibilities around which she could go, but I would rather have it she somehow won the war than this. I don’t know it feels kind of deus ex machina style.

So that was the first thing I hated about this ending.  The second thing is how Kelsea, and ALL OTHER CHARACTERS ended up. After everything she did for Tearling, her people she ends up with basically nothing. Nothing. I hate it. I really hated it. I mean I get it, not everyone gets recognition and glory, but Kelsea lives in this perfect world she basically created by sacrificing everything and everyone she loved end up having these awesome lives without her. Nope. I can’t get over Mace and Pen. I usually have nothing against good book hungover, but after finishing this it was really more a book-headache or frustration, but it was. Not. Good.  It kind of killed everything I loved about this book.

I will more soon die that to decide how to rate this book, but it's going to be 4 starts in the end (it would be five if it wasn't for the ending).

Anyway, reading these series was really crazy and I never thought they would end up where they did. I can’t throw around recommendations right now because I feel these books can impact different people really differently. You should try it if you have a thing for medieval or fantasy (although this isn’t really YA, more adult) and see for yourself.