"Even a book can be dangerous in the wrong hands." -The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Joh

So I would rate this beauty a good 9.5 out of 10 jellybeans ("Half a jellybean doesn't exist." Obviously you don't buy bags of jellybeans). It's delicious, divine, dark, dazzling, and defiant in a way only a dozen words beginning with "d" could diligently describe. Side note: This book isn't as obsessed with the letter d as I apparently am.

There are no road signs pointing to the Tear. In this medieval court fantasy, the small, agricultural land known as the Tearling is threatened by and in the shadow of a much greater, resource-rich land called Mortmesne, ruled by a power-hungry sorceress only mentioned as the Red Queen. And before you say it, no, she has nothing to do with the book Red Queen. The Tearling is in decay, run by the late queen's brother who the Red Queen manipulates to no end. Enter Kelsea, the late queen's daughter and heir to the throne. At nineteen years old, Kelsea is taken from the small cottage that she has grown up in to become the Queen of the Tearling. Her journey is perilous, and many wish to see her dead. It is only through help, luck, and pure will that Kelsea reaches the tattered Keep. The Tearling is falling apart. With a manipulated ruler in power and dozens of people being shipped to Mortmesne to become slaves, a desperate sense of hope is all that the people have left. Kelsea now faces her country's ruined state, but will she be able to unseat her uncle, avoid death, restore pride, and establish hope before the Red Queen invades? Or will the Tearling be ripped apart from within?

This book is super addictive. There's a lot of easy-to-follow politics, character development, raging battle, and inevitable death. What I really loved, in particular, were the countless minor characters that you could fall in love with. Pen, for example, is uber lovable and has a tiny tid-bit of backstory that adds to his super cute side. Oh, and he could also kill you. AWWW. Additionally, Kelsea is very relatable. She isn't some sort of movie star model. She likes privacy (especially when her guards are ALL MEN). And she loves reading books! She basically dies without them. And even when Kelsea doesn't make as much sense, doesn't think everything through, and trusts some people she shouldn't, her heart tends to be in the right place and she knows what she must do to fix her tattered country.

I would recommend the Queen of the Tearling to more mature young adult readers because the book can sometimes be harder to follow, there are a few adult topics, and the Red Queen is a crazy lil thing that should be kept under a close eye. It's a bit gory at parts and also incrdebily sad in others. It's also not awfully comical and shouldn't be used as cutesy, fun, light-hearted, fluffy candy reading. It's more of a YA baby Game of Thrones where your favorite characters aren't necessarilly the first to die. But there's a lot of fantasy and politics. And betrayl. And death. And death of good people. And a ravenous crazy Red Queen. Yup.

Formula: Fantasy + Crazy Sorceress + Magical Jewels + Reading = The Fetch's possessions

#death #fantasy #katie #movies #sassy