The Invasion of The Tearling by Erika Johansen

 4.5/5 stars

The second book in a trilogy, Kelsea Glynn, the Queen of the Tearling has deemed herself as a ferocious but just and fair ruler in her little time on the throne. Though in that little time sat on the throne of the Tearling, the Glynn Queen has managed to anger the Red Queen by putting a stop to the slave trade that her mother had enacted to keep peace between the two countries. 

The Tearling army is untrained and dwarfed by that of the Mort and the Red Queen’s army is poised and ready to attack- ready to take New London and the Tearling away from Kelsea and her people. 

But Queen Kelsea is caught between the blade of a dangerous double edged sword, learning that all decisions have consequences of some sort and that power can be a very dangerous thing. And then there is the fact that she finds herself being sucked into the world of Pre-Crossing by a very mysterious power. 

The Glynn Queen of the Tearling will have to fight to keep the Mort army away from her people, but also fight herself from becoming the person she never wanted to become. 

***

Oh boy I loved and hated this book. Except that I didn’t hate the book. No, instead I found myself hating Kelsea. Which is absolutely baffling to me considering the fact that I LOVED her in the first book. But the story itself? Absolutely brilliant, I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it and I couldn't stop reading it when I had it in my hands. Johansen just has this wonderful ability to suck you in and keep you engaged and she did not disappoint with the second book in The Queen of The Tearling series. 

I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think that it could get much better than the first book. I mean I thought that The Queen of The Tearling was amazing. But The Invasion of The Tearling topped it. Though, I should’ve seen that coming. Especially considering the fact that I was told by a twitter mutual that the second book was better than the first. 

I want to thank that mutual for not lying to me. 

I enjoyed the different points of views. I don’t usually like it when different POVs are broken up within a chapter but Johansen made it work. I mean, I really quite like that the books in this trilogy don’t have many chapters, it makes it seems like the story goes quicker. Having different perspectives from different characters- even the ones from different times, is kind of great. 

I also liked how things began to come together with the Red Queen and Queen Kelsea. OH and don’t even get me started with Kelsea and Pen. That poor man is SO in love with Kelsea and she doesn’t even see it. And god dammit she is too blinded by the Fetch and what’s-his-face to even seem to care. 

But the thing that brought this rating down from 5 stars to 4.5 is that of the downslide of Queen Kelsea. I had thought she had a lot of character growth in the first book and looked forward to reading about the just and fair but also plain queen. Of course she is to be made beautiful with her powers. I mean, I guess even the best of books have to have their clichés. Even if the reasons for the change aren’t so cliché. But still god dammit, I liked the idea of a plain queen! Also, Kelsea changing to the point where Lazarus points out that she’s not even close to the same person she was when she entered the Keep and her Queendom is concerning. Because it’s quite clear that Kelsea is changing and not for the better. It seemed like Queen Kelsea was on a steady downslide the whole book. 

I am happy to see more of the Mace and Pen though as they are two of my favourite characters. And also Lily, I quite liked her and her story. Watching the Pre-Crossing story and that of Kelsea’s tied together was pretty cool. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and The Fate of The Tearling is awaiting my eager hands and mind on my nightstand. 

***

As always my reviews can also be found on my Goodreads and Storygraph.