I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen Series: The Queen of the Tearling #2
Published by Bantam on June 30, 2016
Pages: 572
Format: E-Arc
Source: Netgalley
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A fierce young heroine and unforgettable characters return in this dazzling novel of magic and adventure, set in the beguiling world of the Tearling.
Kelsea Glynn is the Queen of the Tearling. Despite her youth, she has quickly asserted herself as a fair, just and powerful ruler.
But power is a double-edged sword. Small actions can have grave consequences. In trying to do what is right - halting a vile trade in humankind - Kelsea has defied the Red Queen, who rules through dark magic and the spilling of blood.
Now the Red Queen's armies are poised to invade the Tearling, and it seems nothing can stop them.
Yet there wa a time before the Crossing, and there Kelsea finds a strange and possibility dangerous ally, someone who might hold the key to the fate of the Tearling, and perhaps to Kelsea's soul. But time is running out...
I have to be honest, for some reason the first couple of chapters in The Invasion of the Tearling threw me. I’m not really sure why, after all the last book was told from different perspectives and the chapters were just as long (yes I still have issue with this!). But once I settled into this book it was pretty hard not to stop!
The most excellent thing about this book is that we get to find out more about the mysterious crossing. Yay! So that nicely solved those questions I had previously and we got to find out a little more about the founder – William Tear of the Tearling and why they lost all their doctors etc.
The pre-crossing story is told from Lily’s perspective and she was the character I most cared about, mainly because so much time is actually devoted to her, but she was a compelling person acknowledging her flaws while at the same time trying to do better. Also a lot of horrible things have happened to her and in pre-crossing America she has no say to do anything, all she has is hope for ‘a better world’. I did at time feel that this story was a filler because there is only so much doom and gloom and battle rubbish that can be in a story. But for me it didn’t matter because that story was better than what was happening with Kelsea.
Also talking of Kelsea, she changed in this book and not for the better. Basically she makes herself pretty and gets angry all the time and hurts herself. OK other stuff happens but that is all I can focus on, at the moment, like seriously? Anyone else have this problem? I miss the old Kelsea and I want her back for the next book!
Annoyingly I still have questions! Gah. But some of them are a bit spoilery because of things that occur at the end so I’m keeping quiet. I think my questions are leading up to the final book but I’m not really sure how. I guess we just have to be patient and wait a year. Sigh.
Overall The Invasion of the Tearling is as good as the first novel and should have you gripped from start to finish (despite little grievances) and may make you wonder if time travel is possible… so go read it!
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