Blog Tour + Giveaway: The queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gartton

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A kingdom at risk, a crown divided, a family drenched in blood.

The erratic decisions of a prophecy-obsessed king have drained Innis Lear of its wild magic, leaving behind a trail of barren crops and despondent subjects. Enemy nations circle the once-bountiful isle, sensing its growing vulnerability, hungry to control the ideal port for all trade routes.

The king’s three daughters—battle-hungry Gaela, master manipulator Reagan, and restrained, starblessed Elia—know the realm’s only chance of resurrection is to crown a new sovereign, proving a strong hand can resurrect magic and defend itself. But their father will not choose an heir until the longest night of the year, when prophecies align and a poison ritual can be enacted.

Refusing to leave their future in the hands of blind faith, the daughters of Innis Lear prepare for war—but regardless of who wins the crown, the shores of Innis will weep the blood of a house divided.

Title:The queens of Innis Lear
Author:Tessa Gratton
Published: March 27th 2018 by Tor Books
Genres: Fantasy, Retelling

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Praise for THE QUEENS OF INNIS LEAR

“I adore this—rich, epic, blood-soaked—a glorious and grand sweeping fantasy.” —Kate Elliott, author of The Poisoned Blade

“A gloriously symphonic, thematically rich variation on the story of the daughters of Lear. The danger of seeking certainty makes this a tale for our time; the power of truth and mercy makes it a tale for all times. Prepare to devour every word, for Innis Lear will consume you.” —Karen Lord, author of Redemption in Indigo

“Messy, beautiful, and dark, darker than Shakespeare could have dreamed.” —E. K. Johnston, author of Star Wars: Ahsoka

I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This book wasn’t exactly what I expected maybe because I didn’t read King Lear so I didn’t have the right idea what a basically retelling of the story is going to be like. Maybe it’s a retelling but if I’m correct the author took quite a few liberties with the story.

The book itself is long and for me it took me a while to really get into it but it has an enchanting writing style. It’s full of metaphors and symbolism and other poetic tools which give the narration a lyric atmosphere. It was beautiful and a really uplifting experience to read. On top of that, the author, using the writing style created colorful, lush, vivid visual pictures for the setting of the story. I loved this part of the book, it was really enjoyable.

The plot on the other hand wasn’t really my style. It was full of political intrigue, masked motives, secrets and betrayals with close to none actual action. It is a beautifully built up and complex storyline, and while I can enjoy a good mental and strategically conflict, I like it better when it is balanced out with a bit of a spark and physical action. To top it off the pace of the book was quite slow and even sluggish if you ask me.
The book is narrated from several different points of views and it helps you to gain a better understanding of things in this incredibly multilayered scheme of events. However, while most of the points of views were important for a clear storyline there were a couple of pretty useless ones as well and when a book is as long as this one I have an aversion for unnecessary chapters. For example some of the ‘past’ chapters could have been incorporated into other ones without a lengthy explanation since there were only one or two sentences that mattered from them in the end, or Aefa chapters could have been left out completely because her point of view didn’t give anything to the story at all. Don’t get me wrong I liked her painfully honest and blunt character but her chapters were ‘empty’.

All of the characters are so well rounded and fleshed out that it’s amazing. It doesn’t mean I liked all of them, because there are quite a few anti-heroes in this tale. Let’s see:
Ban The Fox: In the beginning I thought that he is going to be my favorite character in the book, however his thirst for revenge came out and it ruined his clearheaded views and his pure heart. He made a lot of horrible decisions, especially around the end of the story because of his need for acceptance, he didn’t even realized he was already accepted by the ones that really mattered.

Elia: She is the youngest princess and she grew up without ambitions or grandiose dreams. She just wanted to live a simple, humble life and in my opinion she was too soft and a bit ignorant for court life. I think she was the representation of pure love. However, when things got more complicating and life demanded her to take up the responsibility of a royal princess, she simple refused to even consider it. I hated this in her, I saw her reasons but the way she dragged out the time until she finally acted in favor of her country was a bit annoying. Still she was the best option among the sisters.

“I never do anything, it’s as you said. I’m always the buffer, the balm and comfort! A bridge, perhaps. But the bridge doesn’t soar or even move; it never even sees the end of the river. I thought the stars were enough, the choosing them for him was enough, but I’ve spent my entire life doing nothing. Studying what others do, what the stars say we should do. Reacting. Being what I’m supposed to be. I held the course, tried to be kind and listen, but did you know? Even the trees do not speak to me now. I spent myself with the silent stars and forgot the language of trees.”- Elia

Regan: The middle princess, the fanatic and the user. She is titled the cunning, manipulative and scheming one but in all honesty she rarely aced it. Yes she had a knack for manipulating men but she was basically a follower and not a leader. I hated her

Gaela: The oldest princess, the warlord and the most ruthlessly ambitious us one of them all. She is really bitter and in her grief and fear of love she created a vicious fighter and someone who is just as fanatic as her father just with different tools. I really liked to admire her power and determination, how she fought her way to the top but her methods were really wrong and somewhat childish as well. She broke when her mother died and went into a drastic direction to avoid the hurt again.

Marimaros: A neighboring king, a prospect for marriage options. In the end I think I liked his character the most. He is a great king and takes the wellbeing of his country and his people really seriously. Yes, he has ambitions and hopes to gain things from Innis Lear but in the end he makes the right choices. Among the fanatics and vicious usurpers he was a light .

There are a couple of important supportive characters as well, whom by keeping secrets enabled the catastrophe of the Lear family to play out.

This one wasn’t my favorite read of the year but it was interesting nonetheless. I’m glad that I got the opportunity to read and review it.

3.5 stars

About the author:

Tessa Gratton is the Associate Director of Madcap Retreats and the author of the Blood Journals Series and Gods of New Asgard Series, co-author of YA writing books The Curiosities and The Anatomy of Curiosity, as well as dozens of short stories available in anthologies and on merryfates.com. Though she’s lived all over the world, she’s finally returned to her prairie roots in Kansas with her wife. Her current projects include Tremontaineat Serial Box Publishing, YA Fantasy Strange Grace coming in 2018, and her adult fantasy debut, The Queens of Innis Lear, from Tor March 27, 2018. Visit her at tessagratton.com