The Fate Of The Tearling by Erika Johansen | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

"Katniss Everdeen, you have competition."—Entertainment Weekly
The thrilling conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Tearling trilogy.
In less than a year, Kelsea Glynn has transformed from a gawky teenager into a powerful monarch. As she has come into her own as the Queen of the Tearling, the headstrong, visionary leader has also transformed her realm. In her quest to end corruption and restore justice, she has made many enemies—including the evil Red Queen, her fiercest rival, who has set her armies against the Tear.
To protect her people from a devastating invasion, Kelsea did the unthinkable—she gave herself and her magical sapphires to her enemy—and named the Mace, the trusted head of her personal guards, regent in her place. But the Mace will not rest until he and his men rescue their sovereign, imprisoned in Mortmesne.
Now, as the suspenseful endgame begins, the fate of Queen Kelsea—and the Tearling itself—will finally be revealed.

The Fate Of The Tearling by Erika Johansen is the stunning conclusion to the Queen of the Tearling series. Thus, as this is the last book of the series, I cannot review it without spoiling the previous two books in the series. So, if you don’t want those books to be spoiled, click to my reviews of the first two books in the series. Otherwise, I’ll begin by saying that The Fate Of The Tearling took me a little bit longer to read than the other two books. The time spent reading was well worth it, though. I am ultimately quite satisfied with how the series resolves itself.

Erika Johansen’s The Fate Of The Tearling picks up where The Invasion of the Tearling leaves off. Kelsea Glynn, the Glynn queen, has allowed herself to be captured by the Mort queen. So, she’s basically being tortured in the dungeon by a cruel jailor. Meanwhile, the Mace is the regent in Kelsea’s stead in the Tearling. However, the Mace is super focused on getting Kelsea back and setting things to rights. Further, we also get some flashbacks to when the Crossing first happened and how they built the world. Eventually, everything comes to a head in The Fate Of The Tearling and we get some pretty excellent big reveals.

Kelsea really grows and develops by leaps and bounds with this final addition to the series. We see her come to terms with the fact that her mother kind of sucks. We see her endure some awful, unspeakable things but hold her head high. Kelsea is clever and always thinking. She’s definitely more a cerebral queen than a warrior queen. She’s playing chess, not checkers. I loved seeing her make such a tough decision in the end and the consequences it has. Overall, this book cements how much I enjoyed Kelsea’s character. All hail the Glynn queen indeed.

Probably the thing I enjoyed the most about this book was the world building. I loved finally having an answer about how the Crossing happened with William Tear. I liked learning about how Tear’s world seemed to move so far from his initial Utopian vision. There were flashbacks involving Tear’s son, Jonathan and this girl, Katie who plays an important role. PLUS THE FETCH! I mean, also, there were zombie children. That seems a bit out of the blue, but they play a big scary role in how everything goes down. Oh man, and I am forgetting how everything weaves together and connects. Even the minor characters all have their important roles to play.

So, from what I remember there were hints at romance previously within the series. Kelsea was hooking up with her guard Pen. That ends in this book. I felt like there was not really any sort of romantic undertones or anything. Personally, my focus while reading was on the endgame. The action is so intense in The Fate Of The Tearling that there’s basically not time or space for kissing. I mean, there really was no distracting from Kelsea’s story and Katie’s story with kissing. We’re just ripping headlong into how to save the Tearling on two different timelines.

I know I have not mentioned other characters, like Ewen the slow witted jailor, Javel the gate guard, Aisa who is sort of recruited into fighting, or even Brother Tyler or the Queen of Mortmense (the Red Queen). They’re all pictures that make up the mosaic of the Queen of the Tearling books. They added immensely to the reading experience. However, as I mentioned, it was all Kelsea and Katie for me. Ultimately, this book is incredibly. I can’t say enough good things about the series. I do think that your mileage may vary for this series. Myself, I loved it.

Other reviews of The Fate Of The Tearling by Erika Johansen:

• The Paperback Pilgrim – “reignited my love for the fantasy genre“
• The Book Nut – “a solid read“
• The Literary Phoenix – “an excellent job in the writing and construction of this book“

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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