The Queen Of The Tearling

In a post-apocalyptic rendition of Earth, civilization has returned to medieval technology, and the rightful queen who was hidden away as a child seeks to regain her throne. Johansen attempts several interesting and noteworthy moves in this series, beginning with the remarkably un-pretty heroine. Though she back-pedals on this premise by making her into an ugly duckling scenario later on in the series, it is rare to find anything other than a skinny, pretty woman in a lead role, so kudos for the attempt. She confronts many current social issues throughout the story, including rape, self-harm, and sex trafficking. Kelsea is 19 and struggling to learn who to trust, how to lead, and what kind of queen to become. Johansen's prose is engaging and the pacing keeps you turning pages throughout her journey. Kelsea is strong, even stubborn, and determined to rule with integrity, even when she risks losing her kingdom over it. She is a great role model, but while it's sometimes categorized as YA, readers should know that it contains a lot of swearing, deals quite explicitly with sex, child rape, war violence, and abuse of all kinds. Survivors of abuse have mentioned it should come with a trigger warning on the back cover, sooo… think carefully before recommending it to your 12-year-old niece. Emma Watson was so smitten with this series that she's taken on the task of producing and starring in a film adaptation.