Review: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

So, I'd heard about this book a lot, and when I went to Waterstones to buy a few books, it caught my eye and I decided to buy it.

I do love bigger books, as I'm a quick reader, and so that definitely made me want to read it more. (my work bag was quite heavy for the time I was reading it though).

Here it is:

It was on her nineteenth birthday that the soldiers came for Kelsea Glynn.

They came to escort her back to the place of her birth - and to ensure she survives long enough to take possession of what is rightfully hers.

But like many nineteen-year-olds, Kelsea is unruly, has high principles and believes she knows better than her elders.

Unlike most nineteen-year-olds, she is about to inherit a kingdom that is on its knees - corrupt, debauched and very dangerous.

Kelsea will either become the most fearsome ruler the kingdom has ever known... or be dead within the week.

Okay, so, this book... it was a rather quick read for me once I got into it. It follows a young female, Kelsea, as she learns to come into herself more after being isolated and hidden away for all of her life. It really does follow her personal journey from a young, untested girl, to a Queen, and when you come to end of the book you can really see her come out of her shell and actually become the Queen she is meant to be.

As you may know by now, books about personal journeys are some of my favourites, and I absolutely love it when a character really comes into herself as the book goes along. I especially love it how in this book Kelsea also learns to gain support from her Queen's guard, who, throughout the book, have been listening to Mace (the head of the guard) rather than Kelsea herself.

Having just mentioned Mace (or Lazarus, whichever you prefer he be called), I must admit he is my favourite character. I have no idea why this is, but I just like the idea of him, even if at one point I was really annoyed he didn't trust Kelsea's judgement nearer to the end of the book, despite everything they had gone through together at that point. But, even with that, I loved him, and I really hope he ends up sticking around in the next two books in this series.

We also learn little tidbits about the Red Queen in this book, and I am really intrigued as to how this character will pan out in the future books, as she so clearly wants Kelsea dead, and wants Kelsea's mysterious crystals, for an unknown reason.

So, all I can say is I'm definitely intrigued by many things, and I can't wait to see how everything all fits together in the next few books!

I give this book: 4.5 cats!

Have you read this book? Or the others in the series? What do you think of them? And who is your favourite character? Comment below!