Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

8 reviews

kassidyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Grief, Abortion, and Alcohol

thesenovelnotions's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Erika Johansen's "The Queen of the Tearling" weaves a tale of political intrigue, magic, and a young queen's journey to reclaim her kingdom. Set in a dystopian future where society has regressed to a medieval-like state, the novel introduces us to Kelsea Glynn, a young woman raised in seclusion who suddenly finds herself thrust onto the throne of the Tearling.

At the heart of the narrative is Kelsea herself, a refreshing departure from the typical fantasy heroine. Strong-willed, intelligent, and unapologetically flawed, Kelsea defies the traditional princess archetype. Her struggle to reconcile her sense of duty with her desire for justice forms the emotional core of the story. Johansen skillfully develops Kelsea's character, allowing her to grow and evolve throughout the novel.

Supporting characters such as the enigmatic Fetch and the formidable Queen's Guard Lazarus add depth to the narrative, each bringing their own motivations and secrets. The complex relationships between characters, rife with tension and hidden agendas, keep the reader engaged and guessing until the very end.

Johansen's world-building is another highlight of the novel. The kingdom of the Tearling is a harsh and unforgiving landscape, plagued by poverty, oppression, and the looming threat of invasion from the neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne. Yet, amidst the darkness, there are glimpses of hope and magic, hinting at a deeper mythology waiting to be uncovered.

One of the most intriguing aspects of "The Queen of the Tearling" is its exploration of power and morality. Johansen poses thought-provoking questions about the nature of leadership and the sacrifices necessary to effect real change. As Kelsea grapples with the consequences of her decisions, the novel forces the reader to consider the true cost of revolution.

Overall, I found "The Queen of the Tearling" to be a compelling and immersive read. While the pacing can be slow at times, particularly in the early chapters, the payoff is well worth it. Johansen's richly imagined world and complex characters kept me eagerly turning pages until the very end.

As I reach the conclusion of this first installment, I find myself eager to delve deeper into the world of the Tearling. Johansen has laid the groundwork for an epic saga, and I look forward to seeing where Kelsea's journey takes her next. If you're a fan of fantasy novels that defy conventions and challenge your assumptions, I highly recommend giving "The Queen of the Tearling" a read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Pedophilia, and Classism

alixcallender's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

For me, this book ticked all the fantasy boxes that I need to enjoy it. I didn’t find the story slow the way some others seem to, and all the mysterious backstory intrigue has worked on me as intended. I want to know more! However, I do take issue with a few things:

There’s a petty disdain for beauty (particularly feminine beauty) that is hard to ignore. It seems NOT to be an important fixture of the actual story, but rather a personal hangup for the author. Beautiful women are either Very Evil (Red Queen) or Very Stupid (Elyssa) or Very Sad (Andalie and Marguerite). The only beautiful women who are “good” and earn any respect from Kelsea have been horribly punished by the world because of their beauty (either as beaten wives or beaten sex slaves). It’s an old fashioned, deeply flawed take on feminism that current thinking has outgrown, and having it at the forefront of this book leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It’s demonstrated in Kelsea’s disgust for fluffy throw pillows and gold vanity mirrors - “girlie things??? Not for me, I’m nOt LiKe tHe oThEr GiRLs.” And I don’t even know HOW to address the problematic way Kelsea treats that *old and ugly* noblewoman who dares to think of herself as beautiful. 

For someone who was isolated for literally her entire life, Kelsea is surprisingly well adjusted and ready to just, like, take charge of a whole ass country. And as for the country, I certainly hope this whole Crossing thing is cleared up in the next two books, because currently there are some major holes. Where is this magically unoccupied landmass that modern America and England can run to and colonize? Was it a space voyage? Why are there only TWO doctors in the whole country?? They really couldn’t have figured any of that out in all those centuries? The gunpowder “went bad”(????) and they couldn’t figure out how to make more?

None of these things offend me enough to put me off the series entirely, of course. What I’m hoping is that a complicated groundwork has been laid, that will be expertly resolved within the next two books. Do I expect that? Well, not really. But I’ll happily give it a shot.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Blood, Abortion, and Death of parent

themoodreader's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Some aspects of the worldbuilding was absolutely wonderful and clever! Kelsea is a complex and compelling heroine. But all this was overshadowed by a positively glaring lack of anyone not of caucasian English (possibly a little Scottish or Irish?) descent. Despite everyone in the Tearling being refugees of Britain and America. It was incredibly uncomfortable to just pretend a couple stray POC who don’t even stay longer than a page exist in the Tearling, and only got worse when slave trafficking became a big part of the plot. In addition, every historic English caricature lobbed against the French was copy/pasted against the Mort in the laziest way imaginable. It felt like the author wanted to make a commentary on imperialism, without any introspection whatsoever on which countries have had the furthest imperialist reach or what that looks like. I wanted to like this book but too many things kept jarring me from the story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

katrinarose's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The characters are a bit predictable and one-dimensional and not a whole lot seems to happen over the course of 400 pages, but I still enjoyed it. It definitely feels like a set up to the rest of the series and I think it has promise so I will continue on to book two. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

teri_b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Rating remains unchanged also this third time round. Such an intricately woven story, with a lot of history woven into and then a main character that is just thrown out into the world and has got to stand on her own two feet and see who she is now.

This first book in the Tearling series is even better the second time I read it.

What I specially appreciate is the rich history, this world comes with from the beginning. 

And then there is the inclusion of well as politics as well as economics into the story and this is very well done. Everything has its price, and in most fantasy books the question where the actual money is coming from is glossed over, but here, we are talking real people and a queen who has done her due diligence with the education she went through.

Thirdly, and definitely not lastly, I would like to point out the female point of view this story is written from, after all we see how Queen Kelsea claims her throne. And we see her deal with situations such as child care in the keep, domestic and other violence towards women and children and her own struggles she has in order for the Queen's Guard to accept her as the actual Queen. 

At times the story is very brutal and violent, therefore, checking on trigger warnings is definitely recommended.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Religious bigotry, and Murder

talkstofish's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The book centers on a 19 year old girl who has come of age to be queen of her kingdom. This first book in the series centers on her deciding what type of queen she will be (she doesn't spend time debating it - just knows what to do), and gaining the respect of key people in her kingdom. It's okay, but was not very compelling to me.

The fantasy world of this book is set in what I can only imagine is some distant future or alternate reality to our own where magic exists. It's confusing to see references to America and the UK, but then be in a completely new world with magic. It jarred me when I first realized that it wasn't a completely new fantasy world.

I also felt like this book had a lot of violent aspects for the sake of violence. I feel like the author wanted to show an entirely corrupt kingdom and how this new queen would come save it and fix it... but it just felt like way too much for me. I was jarred out of the story a lot.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Torture

Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, and Abortion

This book essentially centers on slavery and human trafficking. The enslaved people are used for labor, rape, and ritual sacrifice. There are also multiple descriptions of murder, gore, and torture.