lazygal's review against another edition
3.0
There were times when I thought this could be read without having read the other Tearling books but I'm still not sure. Yes, this is a prequel to the very first book, but there were many things that weren't explained that only readers of those later books would understand (eg, William Tare and the Crossing).
It was fun dipping back into the world, reading more about how the Mace, the Fetch and Queen Elyssa became the people they are in The Queen of the Tearling. Certainly it explains how the society becomes as messed up as it is, even though the reasons for things like sending people off to Mortmesne are not explained (yet, I assume).
eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
It was fun dipping back into the world, reading more about how the Mace, the Fetch and Queen Elyssa became the people they are in The Queen of the Tearling. Certainly it explains how the society becomes as messed up as it is, even though the reasons for things like sending people off to Mortmesne are not explained (yet, I assume).
eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
luckyliza13's review against another edition
2.0
I was just a bit disappointed after having enjoyed the series, but the continued focus on pedophilia and some of the dark violence was too much for me.
lexiedm14's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5.
I really enjoyed this prequel. I was nervous going into this thinking that it would not live up to the expectations of the original trilogy but this book did not disappoint.
I would recommend reading the trilogy before reading the prequel because a big part of the series is the mystery surrounding the past, particularly that of Elyssa, Kelsea’s mom. Much of Kelsea’s development is based on what little we know of her mother and in this novel we can see how Elyssa became the vain queen she was known as. Plus, it will spoil some of the plot twists.
This prequel did a tremendous job at expanding upon the Tearling world by providing more history and backstory to the characters of the original trilogy. It helped me fall back in love with this world and it tied up some of the loose strands that we never got resolved in the third book.
If you were a fan of the first three books, you will definitely love this one.
I really enjoyed this prequel. I was nervous going into this thinking that it would not live up to the expectations of the original trilogy but this book did not disappoint.
I would recommend reading the trilogy before reading the prequel because a big part of the series is the mystery surrounding the past, particularly that of Elyssa, Kelsea’s mom. Much of Kelsea’s development is based on what little we know of her mother and in this novel we can see how Elyssa became the vain queen she was known as. Plus, it will spoil some of the plot twists.
This prequel did a tremendous job at expanding upon the Tearling world by providing more history and backstory to the characters of the original trilogy. It helped me fall back in love with this world and it tied up some of the loose strands that we never got resolved in the third book.
If you were a fan of the first three books, you will definitely love this one.
tinybibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
My Review:⭐️⭐⭐⭐.5/ 5 stars
How have I never heard of this series (The Queen of the Tearling) until reading this prequel? This book blew me out of the water. This book tells the story of a feudal society called the Tearling - where the rich and poor are at each other's throats due the drought and unfair treatment of the farmers on the lands. There is a prophecy that the True Queen will come one day and save the people/kingdom. Elyssa is the crown princess and she has more socialist leanings due to being tutored by Lady Glynn (a secret Blue Horizon, the resistance against the church/feudal society). Her mother, Queen Arla the Just, is ruthless and rules with an iron fist - Elyssa finds herself constantly struggling to follow in the steps of her mother or do what’s the best for the people. Enter a mysterious witch, Breonna, and her master -who try to use their sorcery to persuade the queen to relinquish the crown sapphires. Will Elyssa stop them and not allow herself to be a victim herself? The story also tells the stories of Lazarus,a fighter from the Creche (underground), and Aislinn, local farmer’s daughter. This book had so many layers and the brutal world that Johansen created is so vivid and detailed. Some of the violence was a turn off, but easy to understand why it was included to show how terribly cruel the “noble” people in the Tearling were. I need to go read the sequels immediately. Has anyone else read this series?
Note: There are a LOT of trigger warnings - child prostitution, rape, violence against women and children that will put this fantasy novel out of the YA realm.
Thank you to Dutton Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
US Pub Date: February 2, 2021
thewoollygeek's review against another edition
5.0
This is a very dark read at times, I loved the Tearling series and I loved this too, but it just needs a warning. To me you can’t read as a stand-alone as it’s a prequel, I think you really do need to read the originals to have a sense of what’s going on. But I loved how involved I got, how I felt like I’d never left this world. with its amazing characters, the political scheming, the unanswered questions from Queen of the Tearling feel finally answered, I love this so much. Definitely recommended
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
pomegranateseedpress's review against another edition
4.0
I remember absolutely loving the first book in this series, and this book reminded me why... I had forgotten the stories and the characters but this book delved into their world and I remembered... I really surprisingly enjoyed it - as I remember not loving how the series ended (is it a trilogy?)
pomegranateseedpress's review against another edition
4.0
I remember absolutely loving the first book in this series, and this book reminded me why... I had forgotten the stories and the characters but this book delved into their world and I remembered... I really surprisingly enjoyed it - as I remember not loving how the series ended (is it a trilogy?)
greymalkin's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a difficult book to review without spoilers. It's much better than the 2nd book in the series, but there are still problems with it. However, in the end, it was probably the book that most felt like it hung together as a cohesive story better than the original trilogy.
But no, about 2/3rds of the way in you realize what the author is planning to do and while the author carefully murders off all the other named characters who would remember Elyssa being different, she conveniently forgets EVERYONE ELSE. Fetch doesn't mention knowing Elyssa. The people on the street don't talk about Elyssa and her whiplash proclamations. The horrible slaughter of the Altmont field-slaves is somehow mostly forgotten despite only being 19 years previous. How did they even clean up after such a charnel house grave?
Anyhow I was really bummed about how they made the witch wipe out Elyssa's mind because up until that point I was really enjoying it. Elyssa was a far more interesting and balanced Kelsea, Niya was a great support character to her arc, and the Mace backstory allowed for showing more of the Tearling's festering blight. I wish that it had just been some other characters, perhaps some early queen in history, a brief bright blip of hope, it would have been my favorite of all four books if it had stayed that way.
Of course, I was once again disappointed at the overreliance on rapes and child rape & abuse to indicate depravity. I was hopeful that there was going to be one scene of a man being raped to balance out all the explicit rapes of women, but no. There's a single scene where it almost happens but he's saved before anything explicit happens, and it frames the victim as rather cowardly and weak which is awful. True, a male child is sexually abused, but that's not exactly the kind of egalitarianism I mean. The notes of all the rapes in war "oh and of course some men were raped too" always seem tacked on by someone who reminded the author that men can get raped too. There's a lot of "if you're beautiful you get raped, if you're ugly enough maybe you can avoid it" which is a fundamental misunderstanding of rape, it's not lust for attractive people, it's toxic abuse of power. Pairing this attitude with the blanket disapproval of sex work, and it means that sex can only ever be used to make people feel shitty. The guy's wife in Book 3 couldn't possibly actually be happy being a prostitute, despite her saying that she has her own business, her own friends, is treated well and better than she ever was in the Tearling. Ugh.
Spoiler
The first half reads like a fanfic redemption of Elyssa, where I kept getting taken out of the story by thinking "but that's not how it was in books 1-3, is this some kind of alt-history or did the author just not re-read the books before writing this one?" Then after a while I started to settle into the idea of it being an alt history because I realized how did all those little "historical quotes" used at the start of each chapter get written? In book three just about everyone dies while Kelsea does her jaunt into the past, so presumably even if that timeline continues, how was Father Tyler alive to write them? And when did he get those quotes from her? They barely talked in the trilogy. Kelsea "comes back" to the modern day future and the other people she cares about are all about the same age as she remembers them so my assumption is that this is supposed to have been the same "moment in time" just with everything all happy hunky dory now.But no, about 2/3rds of the way in you realize what the author is planning to do and while the author carefully murders off all the other named characters who would remember Elyssa being different, she conveniently forgets EVERYONE ELSE. Fetch doesn't mention knowing Elyssa. The people on the street don't talk about Elyssa and her whiplash proclamations. The horrible slaughter of the Altmont field-slaves is somehow mostly forgotten despite only being 19 years previous. How did they even clean up after such a charnel house grave?
Anyhow I was really bummed about how they made the witch wipe out Elyssa's mind because up until that point I was really enjoying it. Elyssa was a far more interesting and balanced Kelsea, Niya was a great support character to her arc, and the Mace backstory allowed for showing more of the Tearling's festering blight. I wish that it had just been some other characters, perhaps some early queen in history, a brief bright blip of hope, it would have been my favorite of all four books if it had stayed that way.
Of course, I was once again disappointed at the overreliance on rapes and child rape & abuse to indicate depravity. I was hopeful that there was going to be one scene of a man being raped to balance out all the explicit rapes of women, but no. There's a single scene where it almost happens but he's saved before anything explicit happens, and it frames the victim as rather cowardly and weak which is awful. True, a male child is sexually abused, but that's not exactly the kind of egalitarianism I mean. The notes of all the rapes in war "oh and of course some men were raped too" always seem tacked on by someone who reminded the author that men can get raped too. There's a lot of "if you're beautiful you get raped, if you're ugly enough maybe you can avoid it" which is a fundamental misunderstanding of rape, it's not lust for attractive people, it's toxic abuse of power. Pairing this attitude with the blanket disapproval of sex work, and it means that sex can only ever be used to make people feel shitty. The guy's wife in Book 3 couldn't possibly actually be happy being a prostitute, despite her saying that she has her own business, her own friends, is treated well and better than she ever was in the Tearling. Ugh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Child abuse, Drug use, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
Moderate: Rape, Torture, Addiction, and Suicide
caitlintaylorford's review against another edition
5.0
This is an INCREDIBLE prequel. But it’s hella dark so I can completely understand why it might not be some peoples’ cup of tea. I loved it though. I would read many, many more stories from this world. This will forever be one of my favorite fantasy series. Thank you, Erika, for blessing us with this!!!! ❤️