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The Invasion of the Tearling A Novel Queen of the Tearling The Erika Johansen 9780062290397 Books

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The Invasion of the Tearling A Novel Queen of the Tearling The Erika Johansen 9780062290397 Books

My Review: This is the second book in the Tearling series and it has a surprisingly different feel than the first book. From characters to genre to setting there are a lot of new things introduced to the reader.

While Queen of the Tearling focused on Kelsea, Invasion of the Tearling spends a lot of page time on a new character, Lily Mayhew who lives in the Pre-Crossing era. At first it was a little hard to wrap my head around how she fit in with the storyline because Johansen doesn't give her reader any information on Lily. Her story just appears leaving the reader to try to figure things out. Lily's story was somewhat interesting but bleak and I kept waiting for the author to make it clear as to why this character was suddenly taking up the reigns. The plot then bounces back and forth between Lily and Kelsea (oftentimes with these odd fugue states between the two that aren't clearly explained) but their stories stay quite separate.

Another thing that struck me about this book was that the author combined two different genres. Kelsea's story continues to have a medieval fantasy feel but Lily's story line was Dystopian. I can't say that I've read another book like it and it was quite intriguing the way Johansen incorporated them. There are also some good action scenes that kept me on my toes and ramped up the energy of the book. I loved Father Tyler's story line which left me on the edge of my seat but be warned that there are some very graphic scenes involving abuse, rape and assault that may make some readers squeamish.

Information is still slow in coming to the reader but things are made a little clearer as to how this Tearling world originated. Johansen continues to leave a lot of unanswered questions which left me a little frustrated but I also understand that it was done to ensure that readers will pick up the last book in the trilogy to see how all of the pieces fit together.

Some new characters are introduced into Kelsea's world which bring a freshness but old favourites (I'm looking at you, Fetch) also make some brief appearances. I still have the feeling that I don't really know many of the characters well enough - who is the Fetch, who is that dark force, what are Mace's secrets, who is the Dark Queen ... So many questions still to be answered!

Lily's story definitely takes over a lot of this book and Kelsea, who was the focus of the first book fades a little into the background this time around. Kelsea also goes through quite a transformation in personality and changes physically but these changes felt forced and rather quick. She went from a naive, yet strong, plain looking girl (we're reminded ad nauseum about this fact in the first book) to a stronger, bolder, darker and yes surprisingly a more attractive leader in a rather short period of time. She is, once again, a wonderfully flawed character who makes mistakes and feels believable. Her romantic liaisons were thankfully in the background because they fell fell flat and felt unnecessary to the plot. I have a feeling that Kelsea will come back with a vengeance in the last book.

In the end, I wouldn't say that I was as enamoured with this book as I was with the first book but it was still a good read and a bridge to the final book in the series, The Fate of the Tearling which will be released in 2016. I hope that all of the secrets surrounding these women and their worlds will be revealed to the reader because I want to end this series with all of the answers and I just hope that Johansen will deliver.

My Rating: 3.5 stars (increased to 4 stars for this site)
**This book review can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca) where I share hundreds of book reviews and my favourite recipes. **


Tags : The Invasion of the Tearling: A Novel (Queen of the Tearling, The) [Erika Johansen] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In this riveting sequel to the national bestseller <em>The Queen of the Tearling</em>, the evil kingdom of Mortmesne invades the Tearling,Erika Johansen,The Invasion of the Tearling: A Novel (Queen of the Tearling, The),Harper,0062290398,Dystopian,Literary,Alliances,Alliances;Fiction.,Fantasy fiction,Imaginary wars and battles,Imaginary wars and battles;Fiction.,Queens,Queens;Fiction.,(OCoLC)fst01423787,(OCoLC)fst01726607,AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,FICTION Dystopian,FICTION Fantasy Epic,FICTION Literary,Fantasy - Epic,Fantasy fiction.,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Fiction-Fantasy,Fiction.,GENERAL,General Adult,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Monograph Series, any,United States

The Invasion of the Tearling A Novel Queen of the Tearling The Erika Johansen 9780062290397 Books Reviews

When it comes to trilogies, it is rare to read a second book that truly is better than the first. I loved Erika Johansen's debut novel The Queen of the Tearling. To me, the main character, Queen Kelsea, while not without her flaws, was a strong and principled young woman. When faced with the shambles her Queen mother and regent uncle had made of the Tear, she bravely made decisions that made her unpopular with the neighboring country of Mortmesne. It also started a war.

Her second book, The Invasion of the Tearling, picks up immediately after the first. The army of the Red Queen of Mortmesne is advancing on Tear. They outnumber the Tear and their weapons are deadlier. As the book covers the days leading up to the invasion, there is a second story that I initially found jarring and unusual and, at first, did not like. As the reader learned in Queen of the Tearling, the countries of Tear and Mortmesne are the worlds created when people escaped the unknown horrors of our future. Using the story of a woman named Lily, the author takes the reader back to the time called the "Pre-Crossing"; when people drove cars, relied on computers, and women were considered property of men. At first, the juxtaposition of the two stories felt wonky but the more I read of Lily's story the more fascinating it became. It clearly spelled out what happened to make people want to take the Crossing from the modern age into medieval times. And, by the end of the book the reader will know why the story of Lily would be so important to Kelsea.

While Queen Kelsea prepares her country for the inevitable invasion, she still must deal with painful lessons that come to the nineteen year-old queen. She may have arrived in New London book-ready to rule, her previous life experiences left her ill prepared for the colossal undertaking of governing a country. Fortunately she has the superb right hand man, Lazarus; a character that I adore. He's stoic and irascible. His advice is spot on. His relationship with Kelsea is like that of a protective father who must still let his charge make her own decisions. And mistakes. And she does make some doozies.

I loved the flow of the story with the intertwining narratives. As the situation grows darker for the Tear, Lily's story grows dire as well. Both women need to make decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. Both grow courageous in adverse circumstances. And while I love how the author has painted the teenage Kelsea to be a strong character I could not help but notice how much Kelsea fretted about her appearance. Many women dwell on their looks, for good or bad, but in Kelsea's case, I wanted her to not care what others thought. There are extenuating circumstances within the book that make Kelsea's appearance important but I felt it dwelled too much on them. I was also startled when Kelsea started to cut herself; again, extenuating circumstances but still disappointing.

It's a great series and I cannot wait for the third book. There are some unanswered questions and a reasonably survivable cliffhanger that promises to make the next book an epic finish. I cannot wait.
I loved QUEEN OF TEARLING and have been recommending it right and left. I'm hoping this book is just the 'sophomore' slump you see with many middle books of trilogies, and perhaps the concluding book will make the second book more relevant in retrospect. In interviews, Johansen said she really wanted to explore the pre-Crossing world more. The Lily chapters do this, but I found them incredibly boring. If you've read THE HANDMAID'S TALE and some dystopian YA of late, you've read that story already- and it's better told elsewhere. After a while, I skipped right over the Lily chapters so I could return to the Tearling world. I'm also very disappointed in some choices Johansen made in regards to Kelsea's appearance; in her interviews after the first book she stressed the importance of having a plain heroine. I really hope she hasn't jettisoned that perspective. I would give the Tearling chapters 4.5 stars and the Lily chapters 1 star, so I'm averaging it out to a 3. I look forward to a more-Tearling-focused final book!
My Review This is the second book in the Tearling series and it has a surprisingly different feel than the first book. From characters to genre to setting there are a lot of new things introduced to the reader.

While Queen of the Tearling focused on Kelsea, Invasion of the Tearling spends a lot of page time on a new character, Lily Mayhew who lives in the Pre-Crossing era. At first it was a little hard to wrap my head around how she fit in with the storyline because Johansen doesn't give her reader any information on Lily. Her story just appears leaving the reader to try to figure things out. Lily's story was somewhat interesting but bleak and I kept waiting for the author to make it clear as to why this character was suddenly taking up the reigns. The plot then bounces back and forth between Lily and Kelsea (oftentimes with these odd fugue states between the two that aren't clearly explained) but their stories stay quite separate.

Another thing that struck me about this book was that the author combined two different genres. Kelsea's story continues to have a medieval fantasy feel but Lily's story line was Dystopian. I can't say that I've read another book like it and it was quite intriguing the way Johansen incorporated them. There are also some good action scenes that kept me on my toes and ramped up the energy of the book. I loved Father Tyler's story line which left me on the edge of my seat but be warned that there are some very graphic scenes involving abuse, rape and assault that may make some readers squeamish.

Information is still slow in coming to the reader but things are made a little clearer as to how this Tearling world originated. Johansen continues to leave a lot of unanswered questions which left me a little frustrated but I also understand that it was done to ensure that readers will pick up the last book in the trilogy to see how all of the pieces fit together.

Some new characters are introduced into Kelsea's world which bring a freshness but old favourites (I'm looking at you, Fetch) also make some brief appearances. I still have the feeling that I don't really know many of the characters well enough - who is the Fetch, who is that dark force, what are Mace's secrets, who is the Dark Queen ... So many questions still to be answered!

Lily's story definitely takes over a lot of this book and Kelsea, who was the focus of the first book fades a little into the background this time around. Kelsea also goes through quite a transformation in personality and changes physically but these changes felt forced and rather quick. She went from a naive, yet strong, plain looking girl (we're reminded ad nauseum about this fact in the first book) to a stronger, bolder, darker and yes surprisingly a more attractive leader in a rather short period of time. She is, once again, a wonderfully flawed character who makes mistakes and feels believable. Her romantic liaisons were thankfully in the background because they fell fell flat and felt unnecessary to the plot. I have a feeling that Kelsea will come back with a vengeance in the last book.

In the end, I wouldn't say that I was as enamoured with this book as I was with the first book but it was still a good read and a bridge to the final book in the series, The Fate of the Tearling which will be released in 2016. I hope that all of the secrets surrounding these women and their worlds will be revealed to the reader because I want to end this series with all of the answers and I just hope that Johansen will deliver.

My Rating 3.5 stars (increased to 4 stars for this site)
**This book review can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca) where I share hundreds of book reviews and my favourite recipes. **