Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

I wanted to love this book; truly I did. Gender swapped Henry IV and such, with lesbians? What’s not to love?

Well, quite a bit it turns out.

The main problem in this book isn’t the gender swapping or the world building. These are very well done, and it is clear that Gratton has done research and read the plays. The problem is simply the total lack of characterization and a large amount of detail that is totally unneeded.

The book would have been better served by actually showing the friendship that existed between the women prior to the rebellion. The reader is told constantly about the friendship and love but there is very little showing. And when Hotspur and Hal become lovers, it just feels so empty. The parting scene between the two was incredibly boring when it should have been emotional. This is due to the total lack of chemistry between the two characters. The lack is because the reader is left wondering why Hal is so darn attractive. In the play, it can work if the actor is talented, but as presented here in this book, it falls totally flat.

And you are told everything, never shown.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I somehow wound up with three Netgalley e-arcs – one was a sample I got by mistake. One approval from the US site which I never expected to be approved for and one from the UK site (I have both UK and US residences so I use both sites).

Reading this book reminded me of the Charlie Brown episode “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown”. In the episode Charlie Brown’s class are assigned to read “War and Peace” over the Christmas holidays. A daunting task as it’s such a big book and throughout the episode poor Charlie Brown is trying his best but only ever seems to be on page 5 of the book. At the end of the episode his best friend Linus asks did he like the book? Charlie Brown replies he finished the book at 3a.m. and doesn’t remember a thing about it. 

Which pretty much summons up my experience reading the Queens of Innis Lear. No matter how much I read, I barely seemed to make a dent in (it felt like I hadn’t got past page 5!) which I actually did. That being said – I absolutely completely fell in love with this book. I loved it so much I bought a finished US hardcover, a finished UK paperback and an audio version. It did take me well over a year to actually finish it. 

The book is a fantasy themed retelling of King Lear – the mad king and the ungrateful daughters and a kingdom poised on the brink of war. King Lear is not a play I’m that familiar with and did have to read the Spark Notes a few times to familiarize myself with the original story. The novel is full to bursting, it’s richly written with the most excellent word building. It’s so lush in its details. It has the most wonderful history and magic woven into the story. There are a hell of a lot of characters to get to grips with, lots of different points of view. Emotional and romantic and violent and a myriad of other emotions. 

I remember very little of the plot the characters, just that I loved it to pieces. 

 

This fantasy novel is basically a take on King Lear with all the main characters, often with similar names, the fantasy element coming through the magic of the land as manipulated by key characters.

Quite engaging, especially if you're not familiar with the original play (as in my case) but too long at 560+ pages. I don't need as much repetition nor a description of what each character is wearing in most scenes. Characters are well- developed and the descriptions are lush and vivid. If you know the play, I am sure that the ending is different so no spoilers here! I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

I enjoyed this book much more than its companion book/prequel Blood Magic; the pacing and storyline are more exciting, which may have to do with sidelining the 'kids at school' elements of the story for more paranormal stuff. Still finding the actual magic problematic; for some reason, although I've read everything you could imagine across fantasy/paranormal/supernatural, the blood magic as described really disturbs me. Maybe it's enough to just say, trigger warning to cutters & the depressed? But if you can get around cutting to use your blood to power spells on a regular basis (it's sort of explained as pain=sacrifice/cost...), then it really is a pretty good read, with fascinating emotional complexity in particular if you've invested in reading Blood Magic first; it really takes the relationships and sacrifices of that story and builds them out.

Incredible. Normally, I can't stand short stories and flash fiction. I hate being ripped out of a world or away from characters too soon, hate the dangling, interpretative open endings, hate the overly refined clever little twists and touches.

All of which to say, I stayed up until 4 am and finished this book in huge gulps, a single day of inspiration and maddening jealousy and awe. And then I ordered all of the authors' books that I hadn't already read. I knew Brenna Yovanoff was brilliant. I didn't know she was part of a trio of genius writers. So many good things.

The stories are beautiful, tragic, shiny and shadow-wrapped. The mutual reviews, notes and doodles heighten the experience, pointing out glimmers of brilliance that you might not have (I might not have) otherwise picked up on.

Get your hands on a copy of this book. If at all possible, buy it so you can add your own notes, and come back to it, and let it make more stories out of and in and through you. Then get the next one. Then go to their website and print out the unpublished stories, hoping that brilliance is a contagion.