Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen

11:30 PM review? 11:30 PM review.

Rating: 5/5 stars

I think we all know how I feel about this series now. It should come to no surprise that I’m rating Beneath the Keep a five out of five stars. I mean, come on, I’ve only been screaming about The Queen of the Tearling trilogy for months now. Let’s just say that like the final installment in the trilogy (pending review… I’m still not mentally stable enough to go back to the ending of that damned book), I cried like a baby. What else can be expected?

***

Since reverting to feudalism, much like the old world that the Tearling descended from, a gap between the rich and poor splits open further and further in the Queendom of the Tearling. Though, that doesn’t mean that citizens don’t have hope- even in the dark times that the Tearling is struggling through, there seems to be some sort of hope at the end of the tunnel- and that hope comes in the form of a prophecy. A prophecy of none other but the True Queen and her ascent to power that could pull the whole queendom up from the depths of despair. 

Though, it doesn’t seem that the hope of the True Queen manages to creep into the Creche where a young Lazarus was raised to fight and kill, nor in the Almont where countless families suffer to meet quotas and keep their families fed. And in the Keep, where famine doesn’t seem to exist and day to day worries seem trivial to say the least, Princess Elyssa- a few years past the age of ascension- can’t help but wonder, is there more that she can do for the Tearling? Can she one day become a better ruler than her mother, Arla the Just? Or is she just destined to let her queendom squander like so many of her ancestors before her? And what of Blue Horizon, the group that goes by the same name of the pre-crossing group led by William Tear himself. Just where does Blue Horizon stand in all of this mix and why does Elyssa feel herself being pulled to their cause? 

Whatever is happening in the Tearling, it seems that it is all coming to a boiling point and quick, and just where do Lazarus, Elyssa, and young farm hand, Aislinn stand in the fate of the Queendom?

***

I always end up kicking myself when I do something stupid. And I mean truly stupid, like what am I going to gain from reading the reviews of a book series that I truly enjoy? I mean really, there’s nothing to gain from it, besides maybe the loss of a few brain cells or the off chance that I’m annoyed. I bring this up because when I began Beneath the Keep, I found myself reading negative reviews about the book, and really, that was dumb of me. And why exactly do I bring this up? Well, mainly because The Queen of the Tearling trilogy has a special place in my heart. I have not only spent a lot of time thinking about this trilogy, but also spent a lot of time shedding tears over it. 

I do see similarities between Kelsea and Elyssa. Though, that’s to be expected. Kelsea has a strong moral compass most of the time. In the main trilogy, she attributes that to being raised by Carlin and Barty. It makes sense that her own mother, Elyssa, would also have a somewhat strong moral compass too as she was also basically raised by Carlin and the head of her personal guard was Barty. Basically being raised by two of the same people, it makes sense that Kelsea and Elyssa share some attributes. 

I personally thought that Johansen left Elyssa to be quite open-ended in the trilogy, which I enjoyed. Yes, it was described that she was vain and didn’t care about much but sleeping with her guards, but besides that, there really wasn’t much else said about her besides her poor choices that led to her downfall. Though, it’s revealed that maybe her downfall wasn’t entirely her fault.

Elyssa struggles in the book about wanting to be more, about wanting to do right by her queendom. I found Kelsea to be a lot like Elyssa, as they were both mostly guided by what they felt was right and the love they had for their country. It is clear throughout the book that Carlin was not only successful installing the original morals that the Tearling was built on into Elyssa, she was also successful with this in Kelsea. What’s sad is that Elyssa never got the chance to do what she truly thought was right. 

In truth, Elyssa was a heartbroken young woman. Being forced to murder Gareth was her undoing and the beginnging of her demise. But in the end, she was successful in setting up a new hope for the Tearling, a hope that was bright in the Glynn Queen. And if Elyssa couldn’t be the True Queen, her daughter most certainly could be.  Though, I digress as I did not come here to do an in-depth character analysis and comparison of Elyssa Raleigh and her daughter, Kelsea Glynn. 

I thought the book to be quite insightful. I enjoyed seeing what the Tearling were struggling with while Elyssa was princess and Arla ruled. Yes, the Red Queen was still out there and still a threat of some sort, but very little is mentioned about the Mortmense ruler in the novel.

Perhaps what intrigues me the most is what exactly went on in the Creche. The story of Lazarus of the Mace was something that I knew that I wanted but did not know that I needed. His character development and growth throughout the book and into the trilogy is something that I personally loved. In fact, Lazarus is one of my favourite characters. I also enjoyed the backstories of other characters that played somewhat important roles in the trilogy. 

I also found myself really drawn to Niya’s character. Not much is known about her besides that she is Elyssa’s closest maid and that she’s Blue Horizon. But her cause and her dedication to not only Elyssa and the Fetch just hit me hard. One of the biggest things that got me was this scene though:

 “…and now Niya blinked and saw once again the Queen on the silver throne, really saw her: grave and pale and sad. There were no friends in the room, no servants, no guards. The Queen was alone. All of the people she had loved were gone.

“The better world,” the Queen whispered “There is always a price.””

Oh you betcha that the passage above had me blubbering like a baby. Go ahead, throw me right back into the ending of The Fate of the Tearling. Just remind me of what Kelsea did to save her people and her sacrifice, that’s exactly what I needed. 

All in all, I found myself enjoying the book. The slow start and world-building is a bit to get through but once you get past that, I think it’s an enjoyable read. 

PS, I most definitely bawled like a baby at the end of the book. I mean, it really came full circle with the trilogy and something about that really got to me. 

As always, my review can be found on Goodreads, here.