The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen Review

Title: The Queen of the Tearling
Author: Erika Johansen
Age Group: Teen/Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Queen of the Tearling, book one
Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
The bottom line: An epic, engaging fantasy with something for everyone, I had trouble with The Queen of the Tearling at first--but when I picked it back up, I was utterly enchanted!

This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Kelsea Raleigh Glynn has never wanted to shoulder her mother's burden: become Queen of the Tearling. All she wants is to live with her foster parents and read her beloved books. But as her 19th birthday approaches, she knows she has no choice: she must step into her mother's shoes and take the helm of ruling the country, however reluctantly. But dark forces all around her are plotting to destroy her.. And she must become queen if she has any hope of survival..

What I enjoyed:
-Kelsea--I really felt a kinship to her, not just because of her name, but because of the way she loved books and the way she felt very uncomfortable in her own skin--her character development really sold this book for me, and the mystery about her heritage as well
-The vibrant, complex, and long cast of characters that surround Kelsea, particularly The Red Queen and Mace
-This book was absolutely epic in scope--the reader is taken to many, many different point of views throughout the novel
-I loved the way this book was a high fantasy, and that it had everything--magic, darkness, evil villains
-The Red Queen, and the mystery surrounding her

What could've been better:
-At the beginning of the novel the pacing really suffered and at first I had to put the book down because it was just so slow and incredibly detailed--so much so it wasn't holding my attention
-At times the violence and the sexual matter got a little out of hand for my taste
-The worldbuilding was very vague--I didn't really understand it and it wasn't explained very well

Despite some issues, I liked The Queen of the Tearling--it was an interesting book! Next on deck: The Torturer's Daughter by Zoe Cannon!
-In the beginning

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