DNF at 20%

I really tried with this, I really wanted to love it! I ended up giving up at 20% which doesn't seem like a lot but that took me 10 days alone, and the book is so long so that translates to over 100 pages which I think is fair.
My main issue was simply that nothing AT ALL happened. In that whole 100 pages, nothing exciting or intriguing or plot developing hapened at all, there was simply no interest to keep me reading. There was no real development to any characters, just a fast introduction of many characters that I couldn't follow. I only managed to piece together who was who from my vast knowledge of King Lear, the shakespeare play on which this is based. I loved Lear so I had high hopes and could absolutely see how it would fit as a high fantasy story, unfortunately this just did not live up to its highly respected source material.

It was tough to decide to give up here because who know, I might have been just before where it all kicks off, but with 10 days of reading down and feeling less and less like picking up my book it didn't seem worth it. Maybe if some of my friends get through this and sing its praises I would try it again. I would definitely be open to giving it another go in the future.

DNF!!. I'm sorry, I tried, I really did. But this was just so... bland and boring. My kindle says it has 8,000 location and that is ridiculous. So while i'm a little intimidated my the length, I think the fact that nothing was happening was what did it for me. There were far too many descriptions and barely any dialogue and it felt like the plot was going nowhere. I honestly don't think I could have even forced myself through this one which is a shame because it sounded pretty good. I've read some other reviews that also state the slow pacing, some even saying they got halfway through and the plot of the book hadn't yet been reached so yeah, not for me. If you like books with very little dialogue but lots of descriptions then you might like this.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I first heard about this book a few months ago and I was immediately interested when I heard the premise: King Lear retold in a high fantasy format. I really like the Shakespeare play, and fantasy is my favourite genre so I was very excited to see where this would go.

Let's start with the positives. The writing was exceptionally beautiful. Gratton has a wonderful talent of painting beautiful and picturesque descriptions with her words alone. I felt like I could imagine every aspect of the island of Innis Lear; it's beautiful hills and moors and forests. I also really loved the magic system. The magic was tied heavily to both the gods and the island itself which I found really unique and interesting. It also just felt like the magic worked hand-in-hand with the environment and plot, and it never felt like a plot device or add-on.

Gratton's characters were all so well-developed, even those that were only there for a few pages. I will say it took me around 50-100 pages to get all the characters straight in my head as I kept muddling up the various lords, but once that was settled, each character became so unique. Ban was obviously the most complex character; making decisions that were both infuriating yet understanding. I loved his mother as well in this. I found Elia to be quite a boring character compared to her sisters, but she was also the most likeable (to an extent). Gaela was incredibly fierce in every aspect of her life, while Reagan was fierce in her mental ability. I loved how different each sister is yet how alike they also were in what they decided to do. I also enjoyed that the author didn't shy away from difficult topics and addressed them (however, I will add trigger warnings for abuse and miscarriage to this review!). Overall, all of the characters were complex and it was so easy to both empathise with them, yet hate every decision they made. They were all flawed and that is exactly what made them so realistic.

My main issue with this book was the very slow pacing and the length of the story. Normally, I don't mind a slow start or a long book (in fact I love long epic fantasies), however, this one just felt like it went on for the sake of it. Some character's perspectives were shown that felt unnecessary, and I just felt like not enough was happening to warrant the length of the book. I really feel as though it could have been shortened by 200 pages and still been an equally amazing novel.

I did enjoy this book but definitely not as much as I'd initially hoped. The slow pacing really made it less enjoyable for me personally, but I do know a lot of people have found their new favourite book in this. I would highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys character-driven stories, enjoys a slower pace fantasy, and is also a fan of Shakespeare (although I don't think it's necessary to have read the play to enjoy this!).

I received with thanks an ARC copy of The Queens of Innis Lear from HarperCollins UK & Netgalley.

This is my true and honest review of The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton. This is due to be published on 17th May 2018

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

They were not joking around with that quote.

I love Shakespeare’s plays so when I was told that we would have a full book based on King Lear I jumped at the chance to read the book. This book was amazing and it did not disappoint me at all. I would recommend looking up King Lear in Wikipedia or another site to if you have never read King Lear this does help. The three sisters are brutal and ruthless, and I could not choose which one I loved the most as the are so enjoyable to read about. They are strong feminist characters who can hold their own. The writing is so beautiful, and I could not put this down and I did not want this book to end. I will defiantly be buying this when this is released, and I know that I will be reading this again before the year ends.

Great book for fantasy lovers of YA high fantasies and Shakespeare.

This is really hard review for me to write, The Queens of Innis Lear is epic in its storytelling and so much thought has gone into the world building, characters and history I feel like I should love it - it's a high fantasy King Lear retelling with ancient magics, twisty plot and underhandedness, pretty much ticking all my boxes (and all of Shakespears!), but it sadly fell short.  It's because I appreciate all that must have gone into writing this that I feel so torn with what to put in my review, so I think i'm going to a good old fashioned list of pro's and con's

Pro's - As I said before, this book is epic in it's story telling, 3 sisters each vying for the crown of the island of Innis Lear when their father passes.  Geala, the warrior, Regan the good wife and Elia (the youngest and favourite of the King) the Star Priest.  What follows is a richly woven tale of court intrigue, old scores to be settled and simmering vengeance.  The sisters must suffer through banishment, loss, grief and anger in order to decide who should rightfully wear the crown, all have different motives and ideas for the Island, but the old magic of an Island ruled by the stars has its own ideas too.....  Whilst I found many of the characters hard to get on with (see cons) my favourite character by far was Regan.  Her journey was one that I found solace in and her character development was off the scale.  There were many moments of brilliance interspersed in the story and at times I felt like I didn't want to put it down.  I adored the sections about the old root magic and the language of the trees, these magics were beautifully written as were the magics of the stars and made a deserving focal point in the tale.

Con's - there are no chapters in this book, it shifts around MANY different points of view in a rolling format and whilst it is separated into parts these are sparse. The book is also just far too long, I found myself skimming some parts and then having to go back because a tiny nugget of important information was nestled in the pages and pages of unnecessary explanations of things that had already been explained.  I felt that it was in need of a lot of editing as at times reading it was a was a real endurance - I knew the payoff was coming but it was just so hard to get there.  I wasn't particularly taken with many of the characters either, there was so much going on and so much subterfuge and double dealing amongst them that it was hard to really build up a relationship with them as many of them had little opportunity to build up much depth.  There is one huge question that I had throughout which never got answered either which was a real failing in continuity. 

So in fairness, this is 3* from me.

this book being a modern fantasy adaption of Shakespeare's king lear but found it got bogged down and very slow going and heavy, where it could of been more light hearted and easier flowing it had the potential to be a good book.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

sorry to say it just did not grab me...thought it would but i tried and i tried...i could see it was well written and thought out but just one that isnt for me i am afraid..it just didnt hold my attention...

I really, really loved this book. I don’t read a lot of fantasy and a book has to be really special for me to fall completely in love with it.

I love Game of Thrones, I read the books before I saw the TV show. This book reminds me a lot of the world of Westeros. That’s a good thing, a really, really good thing.

The Queens of Innis Lear is a fantastic example of great high-fantasy. It ticks all the boxes for me. In case the title isn’t a clue the book is a re-telling of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Dumb me did not even realise this until I started reading the book.

I love the way the story switches between different POV characters. This works really well, showing events from different angles. The characters are fantastic and complex. They are developed really well. The world building is fantastic.

It took a few chapters to get into the book. I was actually considering putting it aside but then it all clicked.

I want to start by saying that I did enjoy reading this book and I am not entirely sure that my rating is the right one, (3.5 stars rounded up) maybe I will take a look at this review in a while and adjust it. I read The Queens of Innis Lear as an ebook via NetGalley. And maybe this altered my reading of the book, I do find that I enjoy ebooks less than 'proper' books.

One of the first things I would like to say is that I feel like the book should most definitely come with a content warning. It discusses several topics which I feel a reader should be forewarned about, namely miscarriage and suicide. There is a rather vivid miscarriage scene fairly early on in the book, and I would have liked to have had knowledge of that in advance, (probably so I could skip over that section had I known). I found myself unable to continue reading straight away after that passage and did actually question whether or not to continue the book at this point.

Towards the end of the book there is a lot of discussion surrounding suicide and two characters do commit suicide within the pages of the text. Again, this is another thing I feel readers should be forewarned about, either so that can choose not to read the book, or read it when they are in the frame of mind to do so. Hopefully the paper copies of the book will come with an authors note or content warning (like the one S Jae-Jones wrote for Shadowsong).

These issues aside, as I have said above, I really did enjoy reading The Queens of Innis Lear. The characters are vivid, unique and each one is a flawed and wonderful creation. I am not sure who my favourite character is, I leaned towards Aefa and also found myself sympathetic towards Regan, I found Elia, who I feel may have been the 'main character' a little too passive. We follow the story, as it happens, to several characters, the three sisters, Gaela, Regan and Elia as well as Lear -their father, Aefa - Elia's maid, Ban the Fox, Mars - the King of Aremoria among others. Each of these characters adds to what is an incredibly rich and detail story. I loved the fact that no-one was blameless, everyone was morally grey, we get to know them, flaws and all - they were selfish, they were filled with rage, they were selfless and loving.

As you can imagine the theme of 'child against father' is a strong thread woven through the story, and I am not sure whether or not, as a reader, we are supposed to forgive these children or their fathers. I found myself feeling more drawn towards the children and at times as unforgiving as Ban the Fox. Is there a limit to forgiveness? Should we forgive for the sake of others or for our own sake?

The world building was incredible and the Isle of Innis Lear really came alive between the pages of the book. Aremore too, was vivid and rich, when we visited characters who traveled to it's city. But it did not hold a candle to the wild, brutal and alive Isle of Innis Lear. But I expect we are supposed to feel that way. Everything was so detailed, not just the characters and the kingdoms but their religions and their politics. The worship of the stars and the prophecies which stemmed from those beliefs were so intricate. And it was clear to see the stranglehold the stars had some of the people of Innis Lear, most notably Lear himself. The system of magic, or wormwork was also so intricate, so unique and so well used in the book. The connection between the people and the island really added an extra dimension to the whole story.

The themes of forgiveness, love and hate, are discussed at length in The Queens of Innis Lear, and we are told several cautionary tales, throughout the course of the novel - of children growing in to adults tempered by actions or mistakes of their parents. Some of these characters like Gaela and Ban are extremes, but they still feel realistic. In fact I felt like only Elia with her passivity and near endless forgiveness was unrealistic. At times she was as unfeeling as the stars her father molded her into.

I am not sure that my enjoyment of The Queens of Innis Lear would have been improved by reading a paper copy, or reading it at a different time in my life. I will say that it was an intense read, one which swirled up a multitude of emotions. Now that I have read the final words, I am glad that I decided to carry on with my reading as it is a beautifully tragic tale filled with unique and flawed characters.

I adored this book, it was absolutely beautiful and had some of the most spectacular imagery I've read in a book - it made you feel like you were there.
This is definitely one of my top books of 2018 and I'll be buying a finished copy when I can!

It was an easy book to follow, from present to past. Her descriptions of the settings were excellent. I have to admit that throughout my many years of reading this is only the second time I wanted to shake a character and I believe that Elia deserved it. She is an intelligent stubborn strong woman, so different from her sisters. I liked Regan too..

The Queens of Innis Lear is an intriguing retelling of Shakespeare’s play King Lear where a mad king decides who shall rule his kingdom out of his daughters by who can say they love him the most. Gratton has taken this concept and built a whole new world for this dramatic play to take place upon. You can read it without knowledge of the play, but it adds something to the experience if you know the references. I’d recommend even just looking up a synopsis of the play to gain an understanding because once I did that I felt like I enjoyed the book a whole lot more.

This is a woman powered retelling of a Shakespeare tragedy with all the best bits made new. With great representation, lyrical descriptions, epic world building and with a tragic story at its centre, this book makes for an interesting read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, although it was slow at times, and do recommend it.

Full review: https://mythicreader.wordpress.com/2018/04/08/review-the-queens-of-innis-lear/

I was looking forward to this book as I love fantasy and Shakespeare retellings, so it sounded right up my street - I especially loved that there would be a diverse cast of strong and complicated women too. But unfortunately I found the book to be quite dull - it's a slog to get through, and it felt like it could be reduced by about 200 pages. Not for me, sadly.

Engaging characters and good story, hard to put down.

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I found the language too flowery and it took too long to get to the crux of the story. I don't think it's a bad book I just don't think it was to my taste unfortunately.
If you love descriptive fantasy novels, this is definitely for you.

I found this to be a really lyrical and poignant re-imagining of King Lear, set in a magical land where wizards cast blood magic to harness the power of the land and the ailing King just wants to follow the prophecies of the stars. First things first. This is not a quick read - the book is a hefty one and the narrative is paced languidly, which gives the reader the time to get to grips with the many characters but does not make for an unputdownable page turner. I really appreciated the detail and depth that Gratton has gone into and once I understood that it was not going to be fast, I settled in to a really beautiful character study that showed the nuance in everyone's nature. I found Regan the most interesting of the 3 sisters and her motivations were not always clear, which I thought was a wise move on the author's part. Elia had an edge to her that I found appealing and Gaela was a fascinating woman, living a man's life in a male-dominated world. Ultimately, this novel won't appeal to everyone. There will be people who struggle with the slow pacing, but for me, I thought it was a fantastic book and I will look forward to reading Gratton in the future.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Any reader who is a lover of fantasy fiction will love this book.
Yes you could compare it to Game of Thrones but in my opinion it is much better.
I loved the way the book did not have chapters but was written from different characters perspectives.
The multi layering of characters made it an interesting and fascinating read.
It is a real saga with lots of twists and turns with lots of characters to love and hate but at the centre is the main character the island of Innis Lear.
I do not know the story of King Lear so have no preconceived ideas to base my enjoyment of the book on.
I loved it one of the best books I have read this year
Five stars all the way.

My Opinion

Book itself: This is a multiperspective book following about 10 different characters. It gives the book multiple layers and views on different matters, but it can be confusing at the beginning of the book. There are also flashbacks on top of the 10 perspectives, which is a lot, but it gives you a view of what happened in the past. All views are written in the third person so the name of the character is often repeated making it easier to keep track. All the characters are very different which also helps to keep them apart.

Story: The story is deeply intertwined will all the characters. It's intriguing, dramatic and full of blood and betrayal, it gave me a GoT feel. Though there is magic and I really enjoyed the magic system and the language of the trees in which the island speaks to the characters who chose to listen. The world is development to some extent and gives a great view of the fantasy world as a first book in a series would have. I do not know if this is a standalone or the first book in a series, from reading it, it could be either.

As the multiperspective book and the GoT feel, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of sex in this book. It was really great! I believe there are two sex scenes in the entire thing. One of them is quite lovely and sweet. But sex, in general, wasn't the main focus and that was really nice. 

I really enjoyed how freely the story talks about periods and how it regularly appeared in the story from different angles and at different time, as if to represent how often we get it but without wordy repetition. 

Characters: My favourite character in the whole book was Elia. She starts off being naive and a rather soft and caring character. She doesn't care about the power she just wants to take care of their father in his declining health. She is trained as a star priest but also possesses magic and the language of the trees. Her journey through the book is very interesting and I really enjoyed it. Her general love for everyone makes her the obvious choice as the main character and someone I enjoy following through such a bloody and dramatic storyline. 

My second favourite was Ban the Fox. I got really invested in this character very early on, I believe it was his first chapter. Though for a while I believed him to be Elias half-brother which got me very confused for a while as I don't approve of half-sibling romantic relationship. But they are not, so it's all good   I enjoyed his rage and abilities both with people and with magic. I really like this guy. Even though his intentions aren't necessarily always for the greater good I was still rooting for him.

There is a bi-character who I found to be very entertaining but a bit stereotypical soft bi-male.

Reagan is the middle sister. She is the one character who makes the biggest journey in my view as a reader. She starts off being someone I believe to be a stereotypical strong bitchy cruel woman, and not very original, to become someone I became invested in and felt for at the end. I, as a reader, made an interesting journey along with her. It's important to me to have a feel for a character in the beginning to gain some sort of connection, and then join them on their journey. For me and Reagan, I was more on the outside, firstly judging then feeling sorry for her. It was an interesting journey to have.

Lastly, there is Gaela. As a reader, I really enjoyed her point of views. As an LGBT+ person, I'm not sure about how she is portrayed in this book. I have questions: Is she a woman fighting for power in a male-dominated world? or is she a trans or queer character? If it's the first I believe the stereotypical strong fierce woman was dragged a bit too far. If it's the second I feel it's not complete and a little bit ill-represented version of a trans or queer character.

Writing: Overall the writing is ok. It's not a typical adult fantasy book with intricate, several pages long descriptions, though it has some descriptive scenes and quite often, they are not tedious which is good too me who are used to fast-paced YA fantasy. 

The beginning of the book starts which several paragraphs which all start with "It begins with". The grammar of this section is confusing to me. When I started the book I didn't understand if this was past present or future tense. But that could just be my second-language English. There are similar sections throughout the book dividing the book into parts, but the first one was the only confusing one. If I had picked this book in a bookshop and read the first page, I wouldn't buy it purely based on the confusing language.

There are also sentences and paragraphs which contradict each other. The sentence/paragraph might start off with something that will not happen, and end with that very thing happening. This makes me confused again and I have to re-read the section, sometimes several times, to fully get the meaning. It's annoying, but I can look past it.

Overall: I have issues with this book, but the story and magic system were entertaining and intriguing enough, with the additions of my two favourite characters, for me to give it 4 If I had read King Lear by William Shakespear, I think I would get more from this book.

I never studied King Lear in school, instead being forced to read Romeo and Juliet every year until my final year of A levels when I read Othello. The first time I encountered King Lear properly was last year when we went to see it at the Globe Theatre as part of our honeymoon. It was an awesome performance (though in October we had to snuggle up under a blanket).  I think I know the story of King Lear well, though not the specifics of the Shakespearian dialogue.

I love that Tessa Gratton wrote this because she didn’t like King Lear. What a way to remake a story. I completely agree with her that the three daughters should have been the main characters of this story, if you look up the dramatis personae in King Lear often they appear right at the bottom of the list! Tessa’s choice to elevate these three women to the forefront of the story and to flesh them out to be more than ‘two who just want power and one who is basically a saint’ was so wonderful and it even made me view the original play in a whole new light!

The other big change is the heavy fantasy element in this book. While the original play has some ‘works of God’ and such it’s nowhere near as thick with magic as this setting is. The divide between star work and ‘worm work’ (kind of earth magic) was done incredibly well and gave the entire book a grounding in the mystical while still feeling incredibly real.

This book does a wonderful job of getting you to fall in love with every character, no matter how wicked they may seem. There wasn’t a single character that I didn’t feel sympathy for at some point or another (even King Lear). It’s a book with many a twist and turns, one moment you’re rooting for two characters to get together, the next minute you despise one or both, it’s certainly an emotional rollercoaster (as any of my twitter followers will know).

This book is certainly long, but as with The City of Brass, it more than earns it’s right to be long. It’s a very descriptive book, sometimes teetering on the edge of being quite purple but always managing to pull you back into the action at the last minute. If you are the kind of person who enjoys politics, plots and plans then you will enjoy this. If that’s the kind of thing that threatens to bore you to death then there are plenty of other things going on to keep you occupied.

This is one of the most powerful retellings I have read this year (and I’m basically an expert at this point). I think the fact that it draws from a non-fairy-tale inspiration and isn’t afraid to call out the flaws of the original material make it a wonderfully strong example of a retelling and of a fantasy novel.

Would I recommend this book? 100%, if you have the time and the energy to get into an emotional story such as this then definitely grab a copy asap.

My rating: 5/5 stars

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Through severing the land from the influence of wild magic, the increasingly erratic decision making of the King of Innis Lear has sent his kingdom into an alarming decline. But who of his three daughters will finally earn the right to wear the crown and restore Innis Lear to its rightful place in the scheme of things? The soldier, the manipulator, or the one possessed of great tenderness in touch with all that is the magic of Innis Lear?
This is an elegant reworking of King Lear. The quality of literary-style writing is evident from the start, and the expressive description of this imaginary place really draws in the reader straight to the soul of the island as they experience the world of Innis Lear through its sights and smells.
The original story with its epic unfolding lends itself to magical elements. But even so, weaving them into the narrative in a way which appears natural and unforced makes The Queens of Innis Lear an ambitious project. Tessa Gratton has done well with her vision, as her writing gives a sense of something organic developing throughout the story arc.
Choosing this literary style of writing and generally formalised dialogue, as well as the initial fairy tale, storytelling type of introduction, has the potential to distance the reader from the main protagonists and challenge their ability to become as emotionally involved with them as they might in a plot of such high drama. There is also a great deal of moving backward and forward in time to provide backstory which can at times break up the general, present day narrative. But the actions of the characters, well observed minutiae and the exquisite descriptions of their surroundings and landscape go a long way to offset these potential issues.
The story moves slowly, but this is not necessarily a problem, because it gives the reader's mind room to manoeuvre around and become acclimatised to the relationships, past and present, as well as getting to grips with where they are positioned within the different seats of power.
In all The Queens of Innis Lear is an example of how lyrical writing can bring out a sense of place in fantasy writing and provide a new interpretation of a well-known drama.