A #1 Indie Next Pick and LibraryReads Selection
Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler—and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her.
On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown.
Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust.
But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend . . . if she can survive.
This book will be a beautifully designed package with illustrated endpapers, a map of the Tearling, and a ribbon marker.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
63 of 77 people found the following review helpful.
Highly disappointing. If you've read Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns trilogy, you've basically read this book already.
By Jessica@RabidReads
First and foremost, you need to know that The Queen of the Tearling is NOT a YA Fantasy. As far as I can tell, HarperCollins is not marketing the book that way, but when I read this, "Young Adult" was listed as the second shelf on the Goodreads' genre list (which of course means that Goodreads users are labeling it that way), but it absolutely isn't---Kelsea, the MC, is 19 y.o. and an adult, there is language that at times borders the obscene, and there are circumstances and (hideous) war stories that have no place in YA literature.I'm kind of at a loss with what to do with this book.On the one hand . . . I really (REALLY) liked it. On the other hand . . . there are problems that absolutely cannot be ignored.I think it's time for another list.What I liked about The Queen of the Tearling:1. It held my attention despite the numerous problems. It more than held my attention; I couldn't put it down. I read ALL OF IT in less than 12 hours (and this was not a short book). Maybe in less than 10 hours. Should've timed it . . .2. Kelsea is not perfect. She's a typical 19 y.o. girl with all of the inherit insecurities and inexperience. She's not exceptionally beautiful or talented, she's just a girl who loves history and books who happenes to be born royal.3. Lots of important social and political messages.4. New and mind-blowing world-building premise:So check this out---something (we don't know what) happened (we don't know when) and the Americans and the British left (for parts unknown) on ships to rebuild civilization. And life has reverted back to the Medieval period. But with MAGIC, so it's like a real world fantasy. Pretty cool, I think.What I didn't like about The Queen of the Tearling:1. We don't know what, we don't know when, we don't know where.2. And this is the real problem . . . There are so many similarities between this book and other books I've read that I'm not entirely convinced that the new and mind-blowing world-building premise is really new and mind-blowing, and not just from some other book I have yet to read.Sound harsh?Well, there are unignorable similarities between this book and no less than THREE other book series/movies that I have read/seen, and a strong argument can be put forth for a . . . fourth. (<------can things like that happen in any other language besides English?)The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan---a "Tearling" is a person from Tear, which is also the name of one of the world powers in WoT, Almont Plain is a mere one letter away from being the Almoth Plain, which lies between the WoT's Arad Doman and Tarabon, and Kelsea is a young and somewhat sheltered royal with a fascination, but not much understanding, for the curses that men much more readily use (in her world), very much like a certain royal in the WoT (Elayne Trakand, the Daughter-Heir of Andor).The Fire and Thorns Trilogy by Rae Carson---if I were to try to enumerate everything that The Queen of the Tearling has in common with this trilogy, there would be room for nothing else. Kelsea is in possession of interlocking blue stones that give her prophetic dreams, guide her both physically and mentally, and instill her with magical power of some kind. There is a huge emphasis on religion (this time as a manipulative political machine). The adult charged with protecting Kelsea underestimates and undermines her, and is thus nearly sent away from her (male instead of female). Kelsea is overweight and unattractive, rather than the typical and beautiful princess-type, etc. Like I said, I could go for days.V for Vendetta---The IMDB synopsis for this movie is, "In a future British tyranny, a shadowy freedom fighter plots to overthrow it with the help of a young woman." The Fetch is a shadowy (harlequin mask-wearing) freedom fighter who plots to overthrow TWO governments with the help of a young QUEEN whom he manipulatively tests to ascertain her true feelings/intentions. Just. Like. V.So no matter how entertained I was by this book---and how could I not be? It's seemingly based on two of my favorite book series and one of my favorite movies---I can't in good conscience rate it highly.But will I continue with the series? I honestly don't know. There was an interesting development in the last 10(ish)% of the book that I'm curious to see where the author is going with, and I have this morbid curiosity (almost schadenfreude) to see if the pattern continues . . . but does the curiosity outweigh the incredulity at these blatant similarities? I guess we'll see . . .
30 of 36 people found the following review helpful.Another mediocre debut fantasy overhyped by its publisher
By Jane Easterly
I just finished Queen of the Tearling, finally. It's not terrible, but it's certainly not "The Hunger Games of Thrones." I found parts of it quite amateur, parts of it very good, and parts of it extremely boring. There were also parts that made me laugh, but not in a good way. I really had to push to finish it. The ending is the best part, but it's a long slog to get there.There is not enough world building for a first book. I need to know more about how our world got this way. (Yes, this book is dystopian, although you have to read between the lines to know that.) Frequently a first book in a fantasy series is slow because the author is introducing characters and spinning out details of the world, but world building is not what bogged this book down. I wasn’t told enough about the world Kelsea lives in.Each chapter starts with a “historical note” written at some point in the future. I found them baffling. It felt like the author was spoiling her own story. The extreme violence and language, including the F word, seem jarring. This book doesn’t know if it wants to be considered YA or not. (In my opinion, it’s not.)I did not find the main character believable or well-drawn. She’s “plain.” She loves books. Maybe if we had more background on how she was raised by two foster parents, never seeing another human, I’d like and understand her better, but she made decisions I didn't find credible and her “growth” was rapid and inexplicable. She forms an instant attachment to The Fetch, a criminal she meets briefly. To me he was the Dread Pirate Roberts/the Man in Black from The Princess Bride, only not as interesting or endearing. So far, there is nothing original about The Fetch.Indeed, most of the story's players are stock characters with no depth. The Evil Queen is a cardboard character. Her being evil for the sake of being evil made me roll my eyes frequently. But wait! She’s not even the Evilest character in the book! Someone else is even More Evil! There were two characters I found interesting – Mace and Javel - and they may be enough for me to read the next book. We'll see.In summary, this is another mediocre debut fantasy being overhyped by its publishers. I'm beginning to think that the people who decide to overhype books like The Bone Season and The Queen of the Tearling really don't “get” fantasy/science fiction or understand what makes good books good. Just because the author can spin a tale about an imagined world, it doesn't mean the author can write.The book does have a lovely cover.I read an advance reader copy of The Queen of the Tearling.
79 of 101 people found the following review helpful.Abandon all logic and consistency, ye who enter here
By Kathryn L. Johnson
I'm am flabbergasted by the amount of 4 and 5 star ratings. Those people must be friends with the author, or else they simply don't pay attention to what they actually read. Because this is THE MOST POORLY WRITTEN BOOK I'VE EVER READ.The plot and characters are fine: your generic princess raised in isolation, the heroic curmudgeonly soldier, bad guy who is totally going to be a good guy, clichéd bad guy and evil queen. Fine. No big deal, I read tons of fantasy and I'm prepared to deal with all of the classic tropes.But the writing. Oh my god. The inconsistencies, the logical errors, the blatant stupidity and laziness of the author who clearly couldn't be bothered to read any fantasy novels before actual writing one, much less take the time to develop an even slightly realistic universe/ country/ political model/ history and background for her story. She writes like she has no short term memory for what has already been described, and she certainly has no common sense. There are less than 2000 books in the entire country, and yet random peasant children can read (and it is "extraordinary" and shocking when someone can't)? Ludicrous. The main character has been raised in the woods by two people her entire life, but she is an excellent judge of character and totally adept at interpreting intention and character through body language and facial expressions? Seems legit. She has been raised to assume the throne her entire life, and yet doesn't know a single thing about anything that has happened in the country for the past 20-30 years, and no one will tell her anything because for some reason they are all sworn to secrecy. Totally makes sense.The "author" alternates between having her heroine be completely naive and bumbling and then described as visibly making rapid and complex calculations. Pick one. Either she is unprepared to be thrust into this role or responsibility and has to adapt, or she is a wunderkind with a sixth sense who makes brilliant deductions and can meet every challenge. Can't have it both ways, or at least you shouldn't. Oh, and if this is going to be some post apocalyptic future where for some mysterious reason America and Britain have created this new colony (which then has no technology or science or books or anything), then maybe explain why? Otherwise it is just a stupid excuse to mention Harry Potter and The Hobbit.As far as plot points go, this book is acceptable. It might even make a good movie in the right hands, because they certainly couldn't do any worse than the source material (although I cringe at the idea of the writer making even more money off of this lazy tripe). But as an actual book, it is inexcusable. Half an effort to eliminate the inconsistencies and create a functioning reality could have tightened this up into something really nice- if only the writer, editor, publisher, et all hadn't been so quick to cash in.ps: if you've ever aspired to be a published author, go polish up your manuscript: it looks like they've relaxed the criteria.
