The Waking Land was like a recipe that had all of the right ingredients, but didn't get mixed together well so it just comes out flat. I wanted to like it. I wanted to love it. But every time I got close it felt like the story fell apart. There were too many important characters who didn't get the development they deserved. The main character was constantly unsure which is okay, but it made the story feel unfinished or unstable. I didn't hate it. I liked it fine. But I didn't love it.

Fantastical! Best book I've read this year. The mythology of ancient Britain with a bit of Tolkien's Lord of The Rings all wrapped up in a young girl learning who she is and what she can do. Wonderful story, can't wait for her next book.

The idea and worldbuilding were good, the writing was fair, but it wasn't executed very well. Everything fell very flat and felt mediocre. It could have been much better than it was. I feel like the author has the talent but didn't hit the mark this time.

This novel is a fantasy about the waking of the land.

Lady Elanna has been raised by the King who appears to enjoy her company and love her despite his character. You see, he threatened her parents by holding a gun to her head and then forced them to leave. Therefore, she’s been raised with the Eren people for the last fourteen years. She’s been taught the Caeris people are barbaric, who are her people of birth. El only wants to study botany, but everything changes when the main gardener/botanist is arrested. The king has died and his true daughter hates El. Her evil partner is Denis--El knows that they will blame her for killing the king to get her out of the way. Afterall, she isn’t of their kind.

El runs. Little did she know, but her maid was there to take care of her. The maid sends El to her father’s people, but she is very stubborn and decides she won’t go. Instead, she goes to her best friend who tells her the truth about what’s been going on in Eren. Feeling lost, El just continues running--running from danger, running from her powers, and running from expectations. Thankfully, people help her. She does eventually end up with her father’s people and Jahan--a man trying to put a better king on the throne and uniting the countries. The Caerisian people want a king to give them rights and magic back. The mountain people have been hiding and are the only ones with the ancient knowledge of magic. It won’t be easy to pull everyone together. El is asked to be the Caveadear, steward of the land, which is high magic. She doesn’t believe in this barbaric, illegal magic, but the people eventually turn her around. She joins the fight.

Overall, I thought this was a good novel, not great. The character changes were never believable. The characters are presented one way and then suddenly they change to a different opinion/character with no motivation. If you can overlook the characters being manipulated by the author, you’ll enjoy the novel. The author does do a good job making you believe trees can walk, rivers can re-route themselves, and the land can move at will. It is a standalone novel, so that definitely made me happy because I really like stand alones! It’s a nice diversion on a day you have time to just sit and read something different.

The problem with comparing books and authors in promotional material is that it creates certain expectations. The Waking Land is compared to Sarah J Maas and Uprooted, two things I love, but it also created some very high expectations that this book doesn't live up to. If anything, it feels more like Susan Dennard's Truthwitch, but not as well executed. The main character has been kidnapped and grows up her her father's enemy's court. She also has a serious case Iof Stockholm syndrome, which gets frustrating after awhile. The beginning was interesting enough, then it started to drag when she returned to her family. I was also missing worldbulding. I needed a lesson in history and religion and politics of these countries to really understand what was going on. This was just a little slow and frustrating for me. I think if it hadn't been marketed as a a comparison to two books/authors I know well, my expectations wouldn't have been so high.

If you like high fantasy, magic, battles, a little romance, and a reluctant hero, you will enjoy this book, Without giving too much away, watching Elanna grow (sometimes literally) throughout this epic novel was enjoyable and satisfying, Although it is to be part of a trilogy, it stands alone very well.

There were some odd time-skippages and sometimes it just felt like you were missing a couple pages. Overall, an interesting story.

This was too far into the YA spectrum for my taste, but I think that there is a large audiance for books like this, well written with an attractive heroine. It may not be an easy sale in hardcover, but should do extremely well in paperback and become a backlist standard.

The Waking Land was a really interesting and unique fantasy with high appeal for readers of YA as well as adult fantasy titles. The plot is very fast moving and narrator Elanna is easy to like. Her divided loyalties between the King and court that raised her (and abducted her as a child) and the family that she felt abandoned her by leaving her to her fate were realistically portrayed and explained. The magic Elanna uses and that infuses her birth country is very unique and sets this novel a part from more predictable titles.

However, I thought The Waking Land had a few problems with the pacing, with Elanna's escape after the assassination of the king dragging on a bit too long considering the fast pace of the rest of the plot. Relatedly, I would have loved other parts of the novel to be longer or explored further, such as Elanna's discovery of and education about her powers, the description of Caeris, the reunion with her family, and the climax and denouement of the plot, which I felt was rushed. Moreover, while I enjoyed the romance, I'm not sure why the author included the rumors that the love interest was gay as they weren't really addressed and these rumors and the negative perceptions of homosexuality by other characters seemed to only serve as a plot device to create angst or tension in their fledgling relationship. Additionally, since these rumors added nothing to the story they at times seemed to reinforce negative assumptions and feelings about gay relationships. I would have really liked if the love interest came out as bisexual or pansexual and I hope the author addresses this more fully in the next book.

Even with these issues, I did really enjoy reading The Waking Land and am curious to see if Bates continues with this series or writes other titles.

I really enjoyed The Waking Land. It offered a great world to escape into with interesting characters and an equally interested take on magic. I got caught up in the story and found myself eagerly awaiting the next night's reading. The experience of torn loyalties was explored in an interesting, if a bit overdone, way. And, of course, a love story with some interesting twists on the standard Prince and Princess fall in love, get married, have a multitude of heirs and live happily ever after .There was much that was left undeveloped and unexplored. I am hoping that means that more is forthcoming. I will definitely read the next installment.

As a young child, Elanna is held at gunpoint and then hostage to a king in a nearby land thus keeping her father and mother in line and away from the crown. She is raised as one of the royals and treated well until the day comes when the King has been found murdered and the number one suspect is Elanna. Spirited away by her own people she discovers the truth about who and what she is and what is expected of her. A love triangle, political intrigue, rebellion and some cool magic involving all things growing and you have a delightful start to a new fantasy series that is sure to please fans of "The Tearling" or "Game of Thrones". Elanna doesn't conform easily to her new role and it is refreshing to find a princess with her own mind about her future. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Inventive, with lovely writing. I can definitely see crossover appeal to a teen audience. While there is a brief sex scene, it is no more graphic than many teen novels. Comparisons to Naomi Novik's Uprooted are definitely on the mark. It had a similar feel, with a unique storyline.

This was an engaging book and well written for the most part, but the transition between chapters 27 and 28 was exceptionally rough and disorienting. I felt like a chapter or 2 had been left out.

This fantasy has some unique aspects, mostly related to the power of the main protagonist, Elanna (“El”) Valtai. El discovers she not only has magical abilities, but she is the designated "Caveadear" - someone who can “wake the land” after having taken certain ritualistic steps. For instance, she needs to drop her blood on the land and stones from time to time. On certain occasions, such as the Day of the Dying Year, a sort of Halloween, when the veil is thinner between this world and the world beyond, she must actually “wed” the land. Oddly, this means having sex outdoors.

El was captured from her home land of Caeris when she was five and taken to Eren, a rival kingdom. But shortly after the story begins, the king who protected her for 14 years is murdered; his evil daughter Loyce has taken his place; and El is suspected of regicide. With a little help from sympathizers from Caeris, El escapes, and begins a new life.

At first she fights her saviors; she is 19 but acts more like a typical 16-year-old protagonist: bratty, self-centered, ungrateful, and a know-it-all. Gradually, she is deprogrammed from the propaganda of the Ereni, and taught to be the Caveadear. She also jumps right into the sex in the park idea, even though she has been inexperienced up until this time.

Eventually, the forces of Caeris and Eren come to a head, and El must waken the land and save the day. This she also jumps right into, suddenly able to speak to the mobs of people and change their centuries of loyalties. She grows up fast, it appears. But not everyone survives the confrontation.

Discussion: There are some pretty sketchy plot threads in this book, as well as some likable elements.

One of the “bad guys” is actually nuanced, but the rest are quite caricatured. The whole idea of having sex on the ground to wake up the land struck me as absurd, as did El’s instant metamorphosis from bratty teen to world leader. Her love interest, Jahan, was pretty much perfect, however, and El’s female friends are much better and more admirable characters than she. But she was such a big baby for most of the book, and so improbably changed at the end, that it all seemed silly. At one point she even declares: “The land is awake. The city is mine. Lord Gilbert is mine. Caeris is mine.”

Moreover, the whole back-story about how a Caveadear comes to be didn’t hold up; according to the book, Ancient King Ossian was supposed to name the next one, but he was dead. El just somehow came into the power after a two-hundred year hiatus with no explanation. Finally, I thought the ending was overly contrived.

What a wonderful new world and culture Bates has created. Her characters were well-developed and the story line was so rich! I hope to see more from Callie Bates!

I found the storyline to be interesting, but the main character to be childish and annoying. However, as a coming of age story for a teen/YA, the angst and conflicted emotions and frankly childish actions of Elanna may find a more sympathetic audience. I frankly couldn't finish it due to my irritation at her constant whining and waffling loyalties. The world-building is good and the magic mythology as well. Nice storyline too, I just couldn't stand any more of the main character to be frank. I won't be recommending this to any adult readers of YA and only suggest it to younger teen or pre-teen readers interested in fantasy.

I wanted to love this book, based off the description. I find myself liking it, with some reservations.

My main drawback was not connecting very well with El - she feels a lot of feelings that don't seem to resolve. Her tumultuous childhood gave way to a precarious existence living at the king's mercy, all the while being teased and bullied by his daughter and heir. Never-the-less, El strives towards creating a life for herself that is full of connection and opportunity. But after learning an unpleasant truth about someone important in her life, she struggles to understand it and the reader is left struggling with her. - and nothing really comes of the revealed truth. Being reunited with her parents brings uncertainty- but even as she proclaims her disinterest in becoming their daughter again, they appear unconcerned and forge ahead as though no time lapsed between them seeing her last and today. While their is grief displayed over the lost years, there is also a certainty that everything will turn out alright in the end - which I didn't believe or have faith like El's parents seem to have.

Additionally, I found there were a some "off-screen" characters, who, when mentioned, caused me to pause and reflect on who they were before I was able to continue with the story. They didn't add to the story, rather, they distracted me from the main plot.

Concerns aside, I enjoyed this read - not without it's limitations, but still entertaining.

I was pulled in by the beautiful cover. Then the description hooked me next. So I was intrigued and I must say that I am so happy I read this story. It was beautifully written with great characters you can relate to. I love that the main character is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants. Which is hard considering she was taken from her family and then taken back by her family after a period of years.

The story line is great and keeps you guessing. The character development is wonderfully done and makes you really want to root for the characters and what they are facing. The ending was fantastic and wrapped things up nicely.

A pleasant although not groundbreaking YA fantasy. The pseudo-Celtic setting may be a point of appeal for some readers.