… brilliant page turner …

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I have come rather late to the Tearling party!  I loved this book.  It’s a brilliant page turner with an incredibly strong narrative and well drawn, likeable (or dastardly) characters.  On her 19th birthday the soldiers come for Kelsea to take her to be crowned as Queen of the Tearling … if she survives that long.   There’s a wicked Uncle, an evil witch, bandits, slavery and a loyal pack of personal guards.  As the book blurb quote from HEAT magazine says helpfully : “Did you like The Hunger Games?  Partial to an episode of Game of Thrones?  Then you’re going to want to dive straight into this.”  I particularly enjoyed that fact that Kelsea is not the perfect heroine.  She is not superfit, has trouble handling a sword and has a puppy crush on someone.   Yet, her heart is in the right place and she’s trying to make up for her appalling mother’s legacy.  I also was greatly entertained by the growing relationship between Kelsea and her bodyguard, Lazarus.  Highly recommended.

btw The book does have some sex and hints at rather horrid and gruesome slavery so it’s for older teens.

Erika Johansen grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and became an attorney. Now she lives in England … which means – HURRAH – she can be counted as the sixth review in my British Books Challenge 2017.  Come and join us at over at Chelley Toy’s site.

Cover design moment:  The UK cover for this book of a bear trap on a red cushion is cute and to the point, if slightly cloying for such a strong protagonist and very little romance .  The design continues through the series and are by Sarah Whittaker, a Senior Designer, at Transworld Publishers.

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen was published by Bantam Books on 16 July 2015.   It is the first in the Tearling Trilogy which includes The Invasion of Tearling and The Fate of the Tearling (Dec 16).