The Queen of The Tearling by Erika Johansen

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

An untested young princess must claim her throne, learn to become a queen, and combat a malevolent sorceress in an epic battle between light and darkness in this spectacular debut—the first novel in a trilogy.

Young Kelsea Raleigh was raised in hiding after the death of her mother, Queen Elyssa, far from the intrigues of the royal Keep and in the care of two devoted servants who pledged their lives to protect her. Growing up in a cottage deep in the woods, Kelsea knows little of her kingdom's haunted past . . . or that its fate will soon rest in her hands.

Long ago, Kelsea's forefathers sailed away from a decaying world to establish a new land free of modern technology. Three hundred years later, this feudal society has divided into three fearful nations who pay duties to a fourth: the powerful Mortmesne, ruled by the cunning Red Queen. Now, on Kelsea's nineteenth birthday, the tattered remnants of the Queen's Guard—loyal soldiers who protect the throne—have appeared to escort the princess on a perilous journey to the capital to ascend to her rightful place as the new Queen of the Tearling.

Though born of royal blood and in possession of the Tear sapphire, a jewel of immense power and magic, Kelsea has never felt more uncertain of her ability to rule. But the shocking evil she discovers in the heart of her realm will precipitate an act of immense daring, throwing the entire kingdom into turmoil—and unleashing the Red Queen's vengeance. A cabal of enemies with an array of deadly weapons, from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic, plots to destroy her. But Kelsea is growing in strength and stealth, her steely resolve earning her loyal allies, including the Queen's Guard, led by the enigmatic Lazarus, and the intriguing outlaw known simply as "the Fetch."

Kelsea's quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun. Riddled with mysteries, betrayals, and treacherous battles, Kelsea's journey is a trial by fire that will either forge a legend . . . or destroy her.

No joking, that is seriously the entire blurb. Yikes. 

Having been published back in October 2013, I'm a bit late to The Queen of The Tearling series. There is already another book . Whether I'm going to read it is still to be decided. This novel begins strong, a secret princess is found and has to leave everything she knows for a life of danger. However, it goes downhill from there. You can probably tell from the blurb but Erika Johansen doesn't want to miss anything out. It takes us almost 100 pa
ges to get Kelsea  to that goddamn palace and nothing eventful happens. She runs away from some bad guys, wakes up in a group of bad guys and then they just let her go. That is literally 100 pages of this novel. It is very slow, very detailed and very hard to keep reading. Luckily I was on holiday as I was reading this, so I could pop it down and come back later. 

Apart from the narrative being too slow, I was not sold on Kelsea as a protagonist. She's (and please excuse my language) a bit of a dick. 

"What does she see when she looks in the mirror? Kelsea wondered. How could a woman who looked so old still place so much importance on being attractive? Kelsea saw now that there was something far worse than being ugly: being ugly and thinking you were beautiful."

Because how dare anyone ugly accept themselves and love themselves with confidence. Johansen is really attempting to create this dowdy princess and that's cool, but in essence she has created a Regina George who thinks she's a Cady Heron. There is also no love interest, well officially there isn't. But of course plain, old, bitter Kelsea has hoardes of men at her beck and call, all ready to die for her honour at the slightest whim. I just really didn't care about her, even as she was saving people I was thinking, yeah that's great Kelsea - but now everyone in the kingdom will be killed in the war that you just started. 

There is honestly nothing else that happens. In two paragraphs I have summarised 500 pages of action. It's slow, it's so slow. However, if you are the kind of person who reads several books at once, a bit of this, a bit of that. Then this will work for you. This is honestly a new Bella Swan for all the people who have been missing her. Well, enjoy.

Happy Reading,
Louise