Two years ago, when I read the first book in this series The Queen of the Tearling if you had stretched back into the past and asked how I thought the series would end I certainly wouldn’t have predicted this.
This post will definitely have spoilers for the first two books, I may need to make a separate post that is a spoiler post for this book because I need to talk about the ending with someone other than my fiancé who hasn’t read any of the books (he just doesn’t understand!).
Goodreads Summary:
In less than a year, Kelsea Glynn has grown from an awkward teenager into a powerful monarch and a visionary leader.
And as she has come into her own as the Queen of the Tearling, she has transformed her realm. But in her quest to end corruption and restore justice, she has made many enemies – chief among them the evil and feared Red Queen, who ordered the armies of Mortmesne to march against the Tear and crush them.
To protect her people from such a devastating invasion, Kelsea did the unthinkable – naming the Mace, the trusted head of her personal guards, Regent in her place, she surrendered herself and her magical sapphires to her enemy. But the Mace will not rest until he and his men rescue their sovereign from her prison in Mortmesne.
So, the endgame has begun and the fate of Queen Kelsea – and the Tearling itself – will be revealed…
My main issue with this as an ending is that it lost everything I liked about book one and, to an extent book two. In the first two books in the series I cared so much that Kelsea stayed alive. I wanted her to do well and I wanted her to be in charge. But something about book three just didn’t connect for me. Once you’ve stopped caring whether your main character lives everything starts to feel a little bit pointless.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some wonderful bits to this book. There are some excellent characters, some poignant moments but none of those truly speak to you as much as they might otherwise if you’ve just stopped caring about the protagonist!
But I don’t just want to sit and be negative. I have to concede that conceptually these books have always been cool. The idea of what initially feels like a historical fantasy becoming dystopian (or similar) with flashbacks to our future is an interesting thing to explore. It’s done well in book two and it wasn’t done badly in this book I just found the characters less interesting than in The Invasion of the Tearling.
I won’t spoil the end for you, but to be honest the ending is the main reason I’m cross at this book. I want to rant about it. I won’t (here).
My rating: 3/5 stars (liked it, no more)
What say you? Have you read this or any of the other books in this series? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below 🙂
J
Chain Interaction 
Loved the first book. Came around to the second book. Like you, finished the third book cross. Argh.
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argh indeed
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