Audiobook: The Invasion of the Tearling

The Invasion of the Tearling is written by Erika Johansen and narrated by Davina Porter and is the second book of The Queen of the Tearling series.

Kelsea Glynn is the Queen of the Tearling. Despite her youth, she has quickly asserted herself as a fair, just and powerful ruler.

However, power is a double-edged sword, and small actions can have grave consequences. In trying to do what is right - stopping a vile trade in humankind - Kelsea has crossed the Red Queen, a ruthless monarch whose rule is bound with dark magic and the spilling of blood. The Red Queen's armies are poised to invade the Tearling, and it seems nothing can stop them.

Yet there was a time before the Crossing, and there Kelsea finds a strange and possibly dangerous ally, someone who might hold the key to the fate of the Tearling, and indeed to Kelsea's own soul. But time is running out..

The Breakdown:
1. This book deals with the consequences of Kelsea's decisions in the The Queen of the Tearling,  and with Kelsea struggling with her ruler and becoming a woman.   This book is not as fast paced and as much action as the first book, but it is important in the development of characters. The narrator did change for this book from the previous audiobook, and I did not find her as engaging as the other narrator, Katherine Kellgreen.

2. Kelsea goes through some serious changes both in appearance and in personality.  I am not sure I like some of what she is becoming.  She is more angry and vindictive in this book.  She seems less like the fair and justice queen that came into power in the first book.  She is still extremely clever, and does always place the welfare of her people above her own. I am excited to see what happens due to her decisions at the end of the book.

3. In this book, Kelsea is experiencing the life of a pre-crossing American woman. It is interesting and terrifying to see what lead to William Tear to lead his people to the better world. The world is terrifying in how easily I can see that become our reality with the state of things today.  Woman relegated to practically property of their husbands, the poor and different thrown away from society, and morality code laws in effect.

4. There are some fantastic things revealed in this book, and still so many questions to be answered.  I cannot wait for my Audible credit next month to finish this series and what happens to Kelsea and the people of the Tearling.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read