Before the pandemic and the subsequent quarantine most of us are experiencing, I think I didn’t touch the blog for a couple of years aside from embedding my IG posts. I actually debated if I wanted to start it up again, because if I did, I knew I wanted to move the blog to WordPress. And it would be a waste of effort to move if I wasn’t going to keep it up. But I missed writing about what I’ve read and watched. So, while I’m not sure how long this new normal will take place, I’m taking advantage of some of the free time it gives me. While the priority is to blog about what I recently read and watched, I wanted to also include the previous reads I didn’t get to blog about.
One of those is the conclusion to Erika Johansen‘s imaginative The Queen of the Tearling trilogy. There are days when I feel like YA reads bleed into each other, featuring differing combinations of the same elements or tropes, and I admit that I initially thought that upon reading The Queen of the Tearling. Further reading made me feel different, with a problematic kingdom with political unrest and a terrifying neighboring queen requiring humans as payment for safety. But it’s the follow up The Invasion of the Tearling that defined how different the series was from its ilk, introducing a completely different narrative voice and a surprising look into the origins of its world. I looked forward to concluding the series, but took a while to get around to The Fate of the Tearling, because…. well, I was so busy, I never got around to getting a copy. Thank the heavens for Scribd subscriptions and recommended titles to remind you about these things.
Kelsea Glynn became Queen and came into power that just might help her finally free the Tearling from the threat posed by the Red Queen of Mortmesne. But that power might not be enough, so she turned herself over to the Red Queen, leaving Mace to rule in her stead. En route to her prison in the other kingdom, her visions of Lily that have helped her understabnd how Tear was founded is now instead replaced by the memories of Katie, a girl born in the new world after the crossing and might just be a witness to the origins of the horror that Row Finn and his army of vampiric children pose across the land.
Given how long it’s been since I read The Invasion of the Tearling, I was worried that I might actually need a re-read. But getting into the groove of reading wasn’t all that hard, since author Erika Johansen focused on a few key characters that weren’t really all that hard to forget. As much as you’re invested in Kelsey’s experiences, and the interactions between Kelsey and the Red Queen, you’re also focused on how Mace is handling his Queen’s decision to sacrifice herself, the church’s attempt to wrest power in her absence, and Aisa dealing with her father’s past abuse and in finding her role in life. I also found Katie and her experiences to be interesting, sometimes even more so than Kelsey’s own. Johansen crafted a final installment that spanned two different timelines and characters spread across two kingdoms, all the while building up to a tremendous finale that just had me sitting at the edge of my seat. Listening to the audiobook did not help ease my dread every time Row Finn or murderous children are mentioned.
No, The Fate of the Tearling didn’t really get to answer all our questions. I still don’t know how the sapphires worked or how Row and the Fetch were cursed for their sins. But I found that I wasn’t bothered by that at the end. In an effort not to spoil anything, let’s just say that Kelsey made full use of her connection with Katie’s memories to change the future, and that decision caused a change to all their fates, as it should, given how horrific things could be in this final volume. It’s not an ending designed to satisfy everyone, but I don’t think it was intentionally done to be divisive. I believe it was really just the only ending available to Kelsey and the Tearling. Until the end, Erika Johansen didn’t make it easy for her characters and readers, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t for the best.
Happy reading!
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