The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Reviewed by Desere

Kelsea Glynn has spent her whole life in the confinement of the forest , tucked away in a house with her adoptive parents. Over the years she is taught how to fight, how to read, write, and act as a Queen for she is the sole heir to the throne of the Tearling.

On her 19th birthday she is scared but ready to be led back to her kingdom and start her reign as ruler who is fair and just, unlike her mother who was vain and made disastrous spur of the moment decisions before her death and unlike her uncle who only cares for sex and money, and the throne for added good measure to make sure he stays in the lap of luxury he has become accustomed to since Kelsea's mother's death.

Kelsea knows more than one attempt will be made on her life and she will have to along with the help of the royal guards fight her way back into the kingdom. But she also knows this is why she was born, he kingdom needs a fearless leader and if she has to kill her uncle and the evil always looking for her pond of flesh Red Queen so be it. And so starts the journey of one girl said to be the true Queen of the Tearling and her mission to rescue her people and to never give up till she knows just why the mysterious jewel around her neck has suddenly taken on a life of it's own.

The media has described this book as a Game of Thrones for woman, in a way it is that because we do have a brave heroine who kills and fights her way out of countless assassination attempts, and even goes as far as slicing the throat of a gone a stay guard. But also being mentioned in the media is that this is great fantasy romance, that I can tell you it was not. There are one of two glimpses of romance here and there but it 's gone just as quick as it appears. I will say this, from the story line I was able to pick up that in the next part of the series we will be seeing some more hard core romance, after all the heroine is only 19 years old and has never seen a man aside from her adoptive father.

As for the rest of this book it's all guts and glory , as body parts are chopped, burned and splashed all over the place. There is a wonderful mystery along with the true meaning of the jewels that are entrusted to Kelsea, there is also the question of who the real king is to the queen or rather who Kelsea's real father is.

In all honesty I am no fan of game of throne type of books fan, yet this book had me so intrigued I could not stop reading. I wanted to know more about the jewels, the lives of the royal guards and of course the Red Queen.

All of the characters were well written and each very mysterious in their own way, but sadly the author did not do so with the Red Queen , the character was under developed and at the end of the read she was just as mysterious as she was in the start. I presume that in the next part of the series we will get to know more about her and just exactly she is as evil as she is.

To sum up we have a courageous queen to be, a stunning set of royal guards sworn to our queen, a wide range of secondary characters, people dying, children having the life sucked of them by dark forces, an enemy queen that's is over a century old yet looks like she's 22 and an journey into a remarkable world where medieval times rule.

I recommend this read for anyone looking for something a little different than the every day read, and of course for the those game of throne junkies. Word to the wise : if you don't like the odd swear word here and there, then this read is not for you nor will it be if blood and guts creep you out.

4.5 star review
" To save her kingdom she needs to find her inner queen" 

*** Copy provided by Random House Struik South Africa in exchange for a honest review 

A Clockwork Heart by Liesel Schwarz

Reviewed by Desere 

Forget about for better or worse, it's time to meet for better or curse! That is if you're Elle Chance and those are your wedding vows to your new husband, ex Warlock Hugh Marsh.

Not a pretty picture for any bride I can assure you! Elle devotes herself to her duties as the Oracle, who along has the power to keep designs of Shadow at bay. Marsh however finds himself missing the excitement of his former life as a warlock.

So between Elle keeping herself occupied and Marsh walking around in a I miss my life zombie state life for this couple seems pretty non adventurous. But then Commissioner Willoughby of the London Metropolitan police seeks his help in solving a magical mystery. Of course Marsh jumps at the chance to have some form of action in his life again, the catch . he loses his heart literally!

In place of the flesh and blood organ now is a clockwork device, the device makes Marsh a kind of zombie, and he's not the only one. A plague of clockwork zombies is taking over London causing quite the uproar and panic. Now don't forget we have poor Elle who is obviously as dutiful wife meant to do something to try and save her ill fated husband or is that heartless husband? Anyways she joins forces with Marsh's old friend the Nightwalker Loisa Beladodia to track down her husband's heart and restore it to his chest before the clock runs out.

This was my first time reading a book by this author and also my very first steampunk read. So of course I at first thought I was going to be a little lost seeing that I have no insight into the world of steampunk nor to mention that this read picks up from the first book.

I could not have been more wrong. The read played out very nicely and comes together with a fun and fast pace. I adored the whole heart missing replaced by a clock time is going to run out concept, it made for some truly entertaining reading material. I have read some other zombie related reads and it always seems like the same old story , zombie pops up is determined to destroy and gets defeated end of story, but in this read the thrill of the chase and the race against time elements made it so much more exhilarating to read.

What I disliked was the ending, oh my talk about my heart being ripped out, I cried so bad which I tell you I never thought would happen to me whist reading a book about zombies and magical devices. But of course I realize the author's intention , she is keeping us in suspense until she brings this magical world back to life in her next book.

I will also say that the battle's played out in this book in extremely vivid detail, it was as if I was right there seeing it happen, smelling the blood and feeling the fear, the author certainly knows how to send chills down my spine!

I am most certainly looking forward to the next book Liesel!

5/5 star review
" Heartless or gutless either way it's time to play. Game on! " 

Now available from Random Struik House South Africa