The book world is abuzz with the publication of The Queen of the Tearling. Likened to Game of Thrones for its epic setting and brutal violence, it has poignant moments that are reminiscent of the era of Queen Elizabeth Ist, and tells the story of a burdened girl in a dystopian world. Is it any wonder why I couldn’t stop reading? And why Emma Watson has chosen to play the lead in the upcoming film, despite hinting that she would steer clear from another big budget adaptation?
Kelsea Glynn is 19, and after the death of her mother, has reached the age whereby she can take the throne, currently occupied by her uncle, who has brought destruction to the land of the Tearling under the influence of a nearby nation. Kelsea was placed away from the reach of evil as an infant and treated in her formative years as a future ruler who needs to survive to see that crown put on her and not her head on the floor. But will Kelsea grow to become the leader she was destined to be?
The book delves deeper into the mindset of someone who has always been beaten down and looked down upon by those who remember her Mother; a vain woman whose rule made Tearling ripe for the taking. Kelsea wants to change the lives of her people but her dreams remain unfulfilled, stopped by those who have only taken oaths to escort her to safety and no further.
Kelsea could be any one of us, but while we don’t have to try and survive and rule at the same time, many of us have to take things on the chin and accept that we can’t have everything we want, especially when it is at the expense of other things in life.
Author: Erika Johansen
Over the course of the book Kelsea battles against all odds to fight back against the overshadowing country of Mortmesme, which expects large and regular shipments of Tearling men and women of all different ages, a legacy from her Mother’s troubled rule. Kelsea is not strikingly beautiful like her mother, but within her there is a fight she never had. She also has a type of crystal, a crystal that makes her powerful and yet she fears the implications of using it.
Erika Johansen’s writing style is dense, full of riddles and puzzling stories. I was filled with questions. Who is her father? What is this crystal? Who is that ruling bitch from Mortmesme really?
Clearly I already need the second book, so I can start to see Kelsea grow and change into maybe not only a great leader, but a just one.
And I guess Emma Watson feels the same way.
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