Challenge Corner discussion

Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler—and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her.

On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown.

Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust.

But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend . . . if she can survive.

Started this, but only at Chapter 2. Not many thoughts yet, except that chapters are long, and this reads a bit like a standard fantasy, but I think there is potential for a compelling story.

I’m going to start this one after I read How to Fake it in Hollywood

Ashlyn wrote: "I’m going to start this one after I read How to Fake it in Hollywood"

Thank you for letting me know! Now I've finished "Book 1" the thing has become interesting, not sure I can resist reading a bit more! :)

Thoughts about "Book 1":
(view spoiler)[So, this started rather slow, and there are some long description that are not super necessary.
What's that I see, a sort of Robin Hood character? :)
The instant attraction is a bit blatant though, come on...
I'm very interested to see what's going to happen now that Kelsea stopped the shipment, I hope we don't just get a time-jump or change of perspective in Book 2...
I like Kelsea as a protagonist, I hope there is a good reason for the masked thieves to have let her go and trusting her so much, and not just "because of reasons". Very interesting reveal about how the old Queen bought the peace, and go Kelsea for stopping it! (hide spoiler)]

Page 176: There's a lot happening in a little time, but very little time is passing...
This book is going to leave everything open, isn't it? :(
Well, at least I'm enjoying it, so it's going to be ok if I have to read the other two as well! ;)

End of Book 2 (probably won't be able to continue till monday,uff! I want to see what happens!):

(view spoiler)[I'm so into the story! :) I really like Kelsea, she feels quite like a real person, despite the very different circumstances of her life. Of course like all good booklovers I feel a kinship to her for her love of books and learning. She is reasonably clever, though not the most cunning, which I think is a good middle ground.
I wish Javel would turn good and make the right choice! :(
I also think there's going to be some romance eventually, and I wonder if it's going to be with the obvious choice or not...
This book definitely is not going to give me all the answer! Noooo!!! :-P I will want to read the next!

I still dislike the interminable chapters though. I need shorter chapters, because I tend to read entire chapters at a time, and with this one it's a bit too much. (hide spoiler)]

I’m going to try to read this over the weekend. I’m glad your enjoying it so far.

Ashlyn wrote: "I’m going to try to read this over the weekend. I’m glad your enjoying it so far."

I like it a lot so far! Is this going to be a re-read for you? If you were planning to read the sequel soon-ish I might join you if I get the book in time! ;)

Andy wrote: "Ashlyn wrote: "I’m going to try to read this over the weekend. I’m glad your enjoying it so far."

I like it a lot so far! Is this going to be a re-read for you? If you were planning to read the se..."

Yes, this is a re-read for me. I haven't read the others in the series though. I just started and only got through chapter 1 so far. Hoping to read more tonight.

Chapter 3 (view spoiler)[I can’t believe the Red Queen had that done to the slave! (hide spoiler)] So far, I’m not liking it as much as I did the first time.

Ashlyn wrote: "Chapter 3 [spoilers removed] So far, I’m not liking it as much as I did the first time."

I think it started quite slow, but I got into the story more and more as it progressed, especially after they arrived at the Keep, so it might be the same for you!

Finished!
Last thoughts: (view spoiler)[There is quite a lot of cruelty going on and, though things are not super-graphic, the fact that a few involve children was a bit hard for me to read.
The ending was good, a release of tension ending on a positive. Nice. I stand by my statement that this is a bit more of a standard fantasy than I've read recently (good vs. bad, the good win for now, gruesome stuff we are fighting against, evil witch...) but it's written well, and the characters are compelling. I enjoyed it a lot. (hide spoiler)]

Andy wrote: "Ashlyn wrote: "Chapter 3 [spoilers removed] So far, I’m not liking it as much as I did the first time."

I think it started quite slow, but I got into the story more and more as it progressed, espe..."

I think I just enjoyed the audiobook more than reading the ebook.

Book 1 (view spoiler)[ I'm glad Kelsea freed all those people. She is going to make a lot of enemies though. Hopefully this book picks up a little more. (hide spoiler)]

What do you think of the chapters' length? It really felt too much for me! :P

They are way too long! I’m speed reading this and it’s taking me forever.

Agreed! I feel understood now! ;)

I wrote random thoughts as I was reading. Book 2 (view spoiler)[I like Kelsea
I don’t like her uncle. I can’t believe he acts the way he does and thinks it’s okay.
I’m glad she made it through her coronation even though she didn’t take the church vow. That’s probably going to be an issue to come up later though.
And now the necklace talks.
I love that she wants to bring books to everyone.
It was good that Thomas finally gave The Fetch information.
(hide spoiler)]

Ashlyn wrote: "I wrote random thoughts as I was reading. Book 2"


This: "(view spoiler)[And now the necklace talks. (hide spoiler)]" made me laugh!

Finished! (view spoiler)[I don’t know why I had a hard time reading it. I think like you said, the graphic scenes were a little too much for me. I knew that her foster parents were dead, so that didn’t really surprise me. I honestly liked this better as an audiobook. (hide spoiler)]

Sorry you had a worse time with it than expected!

(view spoiler)[I also imagine that the adoptive parents had died early on. There was a lot of unpleasant scenes, and even the overall idea of the lottery feels viscerally horrifying to me as a parent. But I could read it because I felt we were going to do something about it all. (hide spoiler)]

Let me know if you want to read the next, I have managed to find a copy!

I think that’s what it was for me this time. I’m a parent now where the first time I wasn’t, so I didn’t like reading those parts. I just checked out the audiobook for the second one. It will take me longer to read it though because I’m much slower at listening to audiobooks.

I understand! I had a similar experience with another book where there was child endangerment - I felt it more strongly there because it was a more realistic setting. I seem to tolerate things better in Fantasy (but I sort of skimmed through that last scene with the Red Queen and the boy...).

Let me know if/when you want to read/buddy! I can try to go slower, sorry! This was paired with a book that was boring me, so I ended up reading this quicker instead.
Don't want to pressure you to read the next though, if you'd rather not!

No worries! I can definitely try to read it, but I don’t get as much time to read audiobooks and the next one is 18 hours long.

That scene was awful!

18 hours??? Oh dear!

Let me know when you want to start, I can pair it with something else (multiples) and wait for you to read along slowly. I might end up reading it in chunks though (chapters or books) otherwise I'll loose the tread!

Andy wrote: "18 hours??? Oh dear!

Let me know when you want to start, I can pair it with something else (multiples) and wait for you to read along slowly. I might end up reading it in chunks though (chapters o..."

Do you want to stat next week?

Sure! From tuesday onwards should be ok!

I’m camping until Wednesday, so is Thursday good with you?

Yes,even better! That's a holiday in the UK! :)

Here's the thread for The Invasion of the Tearling:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Andy wrote: "Here's the thread for The Invasion of the Tearling:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Thanks!