The Invasion of the Tearling: A Novel (Queen of the Tearling, The) (utgåvan 2015)

I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS, mostly about Kelsea's father, sorry girl. BUT STILL AMAZED, IN LOVE WITH ALL THINGS, etc ( )

Oof, didn't want to put it down! Became more and more compelling as more depths unfolded. ( )

Definitely enjoyed this better than the first installment. I definitely see the first book as a slow burn start to a series followed up by an action packed sequel.

I also enjoyed that this was told from multiple POV which I find really enjoy when it comes to longer books.

Can't wait to get started on the third & finally installment of this series! ( )

In this second book in the trilogy, Kelsea has taken the throne of the Tear but now must face the ramifications of her choice to end the shipment of slaves to the neighbouring kingdom of Mortmesne. As Kelsea faces the reality of the invasion of her land, she is left with nothing but bad choices. As she grapples with what to do she is repeatedly pulled into visions of the life of Lily, a woman who lived in pre-Crossing America. What do these visions mean for Kelsea and how can she possibly preserve her smaller and weaker kingdom from the Red Queen and the massive army of Mortmesne?

It's been a couple years since I read the first book in this trilogy but I fell back into the world of the Tearling easily. Kelsea's journey is compelling as she struggles to understand her magic, grapples with the impossible choices that face her as a leader, and fights always to become anything like her mother. Intercut with this are the flashes into Lily's world - a dark but believable dystopia which feels slightly reminiscent of the world in Margaret Atwood's [The Handmaid's Tale]. It is fascinating to see the roots of this medieval-ish fantasy world come from a dark near-future world. The narrative is compelling throughout and I look forward to seeing the resolution of the plot in the final novel. ( )

Time and Flesh, they work wonders on a novel, don't they?

Enough of being cryptic. I really enjoyed this second novel; but to be honest, I wasn't sure I would. At least, this was true during the first third of it. The introduction of Lily was rather a vindication of my many suspicions that these books were, indeed, science fiction. Of course, magic is still a primary focus, but by the end I felt joyous that I got two quite different novels in one package, Kelsea and Lily tied in each other's orbits and endlessly circling each other delightfully. The viewshifts were slightly abrupt and made me wonder if I had fallen into a completely different novel, but hell, that's all right. It didn't take too long before I regained my patience and started enjoying the future of the past. The dance between the queen and the housewife grew organically and became ultimately and satisfyingly clear by the end. I can't give that part more praise, and don't mistake me on this. It is high praise.

As for the additional viewpoint characters, I tend to only tolerate the extras. The novel added two more, in addition to Lily, to the list. I'm suspending judgement as long as the little knife-girl and the deceptive-jailor have increased parts to play in the next novel, but they really didn't have much to do with the core of this book, except to prop up the recurring themes and main characters. They weren't uninteresting. They grew on me as the novel progressed, but neither of them had more than an oblique touch on the main plot.

The plot was a straight line, but there was a ton of consequence and a lot of character building. Many questions that were teased at in the first novel were answered in this one; happily and at length. As for how the book made me feel, I felt the populace's terror, but more importantly, I felt the interpersonal horror more. I was rooting for Lily almost the entire time, and like her, I thought her situation was hopeless. I suppose there's a lot to be said about hitting the reader close to home. Men can be such pricks.

After reading this novel, I'm sitting with this bittersweet empty spot in my heart that can't be filled until I get to the third book. Snatching it up is not going to be a difficult decision at all. I was moved. ( )