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*4 Star's*
{An untested young princess must claim her throne, learn to become a queen, and combat a malevolent sorceress in an epic battle between light and darkness in this spectacular debut—the first novel in a trilogy.
Young Kelsea Raleigh was raised in hiding after the death of her mother, Queen Elyssa, far from the intrigues of the royal Keep and in the care of two devoted servants who pledged their lives to protect her. Growing up in a cottage deep in the woods, Kelsea knows little of her kingdom's haunted past . . . or that its fate will soon rest in her hands.
Long ago, Kelsea's forefathers sailed away from a decaying world to establish a new land free of modern technology. Three hundred years later, this feudal society has divided into three fearful nations who pay duties to a fourth: the powerful Mortmesne, ruled by the cunning Red Queen. Now, on Kelsea's nineteenth birthday, the tattered remnants of the Queen's Guard—loyal soldiers who protect the throne—have appeared to escort the princess on a perilous journey to the capital to ascend to her rightful place as the new Queen of the Tearling.
Though born of royal blood and in possession of the Tear sapphire, a jewel of immense power and magic, Kelsea has never felt more uncertain of her ability to rule. But the shocking evil she discovers in the heart of her realm will precipitate an act of immense daring, throwing the entire kingdom into turmoil—and unleashing the Red Queen's vengeance. A cabal of enemies with an array of deadly weapons, from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic, plots to destroy her. But Kelsea is growing in strength and stealth, her steely resolve earning her loyal allies, including the Queen's Guard, led by the enigmatic Lazarus, and the intriguing outlaw known simply as "the Fetch."
Kelsea's quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun. Riddled with mysteries, betrayals, and treacherous battles, Kelsea's journey is a trial by fire that will either forge a legend . . . or destroy her. }
I went into this book hearing that it was a slow read, and I don't normally like high fantasy that much. I find it really hard to get into, but this book was surprising. I loved it.
Yeah sure it was slow in places and of course somethings could of been left out but I found myself kind of enjoying the fact that it was a slow read. I didn't want the story to end.
Kelsea is the main protagonist. She is nineteen but she has just been thrown into having to be the Queen. Erika did such a wonderful job at showing us that Kelsea was younger and sometimes childish, she doubted herself heaps and relied on others, but she also showed us how Kelsey grew as a character all throughout the book. It was slow and natural. I really related to Kelsey and I am sure a lot of others do too. She is stubborn self conscious childish, a bit of a loner, and she is a really kind person who cares for her people. Erika also did a great job of showing not telling in this book. Like you know how much she cares for people because of her actions not because of what she told us.
At the start I didn't love the different Pov's, but after a while I started to learn about these characters and come to like them.
I love Lazarus! I love their relationship, how they become almost friends and how he is like a father figure to her. He has so many faults but just as many great qualities about him, he's great and I can't wait to see what else is in store for him.
My other favourite character was Pen. Does anyone else totally 'ship' them together?... No just me. Okay ;P
I didn't really understand why on the back of the blurb it says Romance. There is practically no love story in this first book, but I found that so refreshing and it brought more to the story, I thought. It was about Kelsey and her people. But saying that, I totally have a suspicion on who the father is... but I could be totally wrong.
I got really confused there for a while on what time the story was taking place and when I figured out its set in the future I was like 'wait, No.' It still doesn't make sense to me but I'm hoping in the second book that might be answered, but that was probably my biggest issue with the book. So saying that, the issue isn't that big of a deal I got over it.
It doesn't leave us on a massive cliffhanger or anything but it defiantly has a lot of questions unanswered and the author did not give anything away about the world, or the magic or really anything which I quite enjoyed. I like that it is all still a mystery and we will slowly figure it out.
Conclusion... I highly enjoyed it! I would recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy or to anyone who wants to get into fantasy but normally doesn't like it. It's easy to keep up with but still has the high fantasy element. I NEED the second book now, but I will have to wait till I get to the book store. At lease it's out and I don't need to wait for it to be released :)
