A Thousand Lives Lived: Review: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling #1), by Erika Johansen
Publication: July 17, 2014, by Bantam Press
Genre: Adult Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy
Pages: 640
Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed
Rating:

It was on her nineteenth birthday that the soldiers came for Kelsea Glynn. They’d come to escort her back to the place of her birth – and to ensure she survives long enough to be able 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 many nineteen-year-olds, she is about to inherit a kingdom that is on its knees – corrupt, debauched and dangerous.
Kelsea will either become the most fearsome ruler the kingdom has ever known . . . or be dead within the week.

My Thoughts:

Expectations, expectations... This is a book that I've been wanting to read for ages. And by ages, I mean a long time. Told in a kind of Throne of Glass kind of way, Erika Johansen's cover for The Queen of the Tearling captivated me from the start. Is this young adult fiction or adult fiction, you may ask? Well, you'd better think about it. Kelsea's nineteen years old, and she's about to be the queen, and there's no sex although it's classified as adult. I'm pretty sure that everyone can find something good and positive throughout the whole novel.

After hearing about the rave and hype that this book has given out in its first year of being releasing, I had a feeling in my guts that this would become a movie. Guess whose prediction was correct? Emma Watson as Kelsey? This is going to be fantastic, and although it wasn't the best book for me, I'd surely go and see the movie, because I adored Johansen's characters and am looking forward to see the world of Tear come to life. Let's get started with the chaos of this gorgeous world setting!

Everyone living in Tear is self doubting who they are, because of Elyssa, the last queen who reigned and practically didn't do anything. On the other hand, Kelsea has been living in the woods for years, waiting for the right moment when she can become queen. Now that her mother is gone, she leaves the woods and her loving "parents" and goes for it. She finds that it's a horrendous job and the kingdom is at its last straw, almost corrupted as the other kingdoms around it are rich and healthy. She spends a large portion of the book discovering her role and who she is, and everyone's view of her.

It's so interesting to read about these family issues. Kelsea has never met her mother (at least not since birth) and has no memories of a childhood that doesn't have to do with her being the heir to a large throne. And then when she gets to Tear, her uncle is such a loser and sits on the throne like it actually belongs to him. He then protests that the crown is lost when Kelsea goes for her coronation. It's complete bulls**t. I'm so glad to see the decision that she made at the end of the novel having to do with her last name come to life. Kelsea's one of those protagonists in fiction that you'll remember forever, even if you hadn't enjoyed her story so so much, you know?

You'd expect Kelsea to become an assassin and do these mighty tasks that'll help her discover her role in her kingdom. No. She's a normal girl, who may be a queen, but I loved her sense of personality. She loves reading, staying outdoors and learning new things, but often acts like an introvert and loves her job. She sleeps on one pillow, not ten as it's been provided for her. Johansen tries to gear this story away from the obvious and what readers expect it to become, as it does deal with magic and fantasy elements. You'll find a spell or two that'll make the story's plot more captivating, at least when it tries to, but it's mostly about the kingdom, the slavery and hardships that Kelsey will have to deal with. I predict that the sequel goes into more of the action-related scenes, but I don't think I'll go for that anyways.

Johansen's writing is nice, fresh, new, but I was kind of lost through the middle. By lost, I mean bored. The premise and storyline seems nice, but it was slow, with 640 pages. It took me a real long time to finish, too, totally not normal for my typical fast-reading self. FAST-PACE WRITING, WHERE ART THOU?

This took me practically more than five sittings to read. I was ready to fall asleep and rather take a nap than read this, but the ending surely did make me smile and found that it was better than the rest of the novel, which does tell me something. Johansen could've gotten my feels to go all over the place, but it hadn't happened, which totally stinks. At least I had sweet Kelsea by my side to entertain me, her personality and decisions stayed so close to home, reminding me of my relatable self. I WOULD GO AND GET BOOKS PUBLISHED IF I WAS QUEEN!

No medieval cool knights in shiny armour stuff and no action. That was the final outcome of the novel. If you're fine with seeing Kelsea spending night after night by the campfire before she arrives in Tear, then you could enjoy this, and I kind of recommend this for lovers of fantasy, but don't expect all of the magic and dreams coming true. There wasn't any romance, either. So what is left? A nice heroine who can surely make book-lovers smile because she relates to us, and a nice setting. Other than that, I'm just face palming myself, knowing that I won't pick the sequel up in the coming years, I wouldn't waste my reading time like that. *snickers*