An epic fantasy for the ages. What a breathtaking read! Three characters, three stories and three woven tales to keep you on the edge of your seat!

Everyone on Innis Lear is deeply connected to the stars. Some, including the King, Lear, have begun to be ruled by them. This King Lear retelling explores his three daughters, as they fight for the crown.

That isn’t the full extent of what this book encompasses, though. Queens of Innis Lear boasts an impressively large cast of characters:
→Gaela, the Goneril character, eldest and most ambitious. Aroace (word not used but definitely canonical) and there’s a lot done with her gender. Married to the Albany character; theirs is a marriage founded on ambition, but it is not uncomplicated.
→Regan, the middle, yearning to be a mother. Married to the Duke of Conley, the Cornwall character; there is genuine love between them. My personal favorite.
→Elia, the Cordelia character, youngest, dutiful and in love with her island. I found her… frustrating and decidedly the least dynamic of these characters.
→Ban, the Fox, the Edmund character: a wizard and the banished bastard of Lear’s ally, Earl Erigal (the Gloucester character). Brother to Rory, the Edgar character and rightful heir. Has a… possibly polyamorous dynamic with Regan and Conley?
→Morimaros, a nearby king of Aremoria and a beefed-up version of the king of France character. Ambitious but not unsympathetic.

There’s also Brona, the witch and lover to Earl Erigal; Kayo the Oak Earl, the princesses’ foreign-born adopted uncle; and Aefa, servant to Elia. Brona and Aefa each have points of view, and at times, I felt each of these points of view could have been left out in their role as more tangential characters. Brona is at least interesting, and relevant in her role; Aefa is not. Almost all of her point of view chapters, actually, are her observations of Elia, and though she’s not an awful character she just plays no role in the story. I frankly have no idea how this made it through editing rounds. It is excess that does not add.

This general theme of excess is exactly what I disliked about this novel. There is so much here that does not add to the novel, that distracts from solid characterization and interesting dynamics. Not every subplot needs the same detail and attention as the main conflict between the sisters. And not everything needs to be repeated three times.

Also, in terms of character writing, it’s possible I just don’t vibe with Tessa Gratton, but I find her character voices often start driving me up a wall. Specifically, Ban the Fox. He started so compelling. But his writing seems more and more as if it’s just… attempting to get us to sympathize with him. I sympathized with him. The attempts to constantly convince me made me do so less. An added romance between Ban and Elia is actually not a horrific concept, but it does not need the pagetime it gets of the two yearning after each other. It’s lovely for a time, but quickly shifts to dead boring.

I think what resonated with me the most about this book is the complexity put into the sibling dynamic between Gaela, Regan, and Elia. To Gaela and Regan, Elia was the favorite of an awful man, a murderer; they were the big sisters who stuck together, and she was the one who betrayed them in favor of their torturer. In essence, the war between them is not just about their father, but about their entire approach to life. Gaela and Regan fight against fate, hide from fate, attempt to subvert and overturn it; Elia believes in fate, worships it, attempts to work within it.

At its best, it is a book about flawed, tragic women driving themselves to ruin over a father figure who is complex at best and actively emotionally abusive at worst. At its worst, it is a 600-page book that just got tiring.

“I don’t want to be chosen above all things, one thing most of all. I want to be a part of someone’s whole.”

Overall: This was interesting, with some sections and character things that I loved a lot. But overall, I am so tired.

I'd hoped that this would be a compellingly different book in a range of titles who all boast similar premises - royalty, blood, magic, and intrigue - but as I read the story it felt like a rehash of these themes in an unexciting manner. I'll look toward other books to bring me the range I'm looking for.

This was good but also excessively long. I found myself skimming through paragraphs. The character development was wonderful and this is well written.

I tried to read this one but I could never get interested. I think the pacing was slower than I was in the mood for (not the fault of the book at all). I will try it again eventually.

I liked the preview well enough as it got me excited to read more of The Queens of Innis Lear. The writing style seems very promising, as it emanates a sort of fairytale feeling, which for me is always a plus in fantasy.

I tried several times to get into this book, however the writing style felt needlessly confusing. I don’t like Shakespeare, but I was hoping that this take on it would bring me something intriguing and interesting. Instead I was bored.

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 was so cool! Based on the Shakespeare play and it had so much that drove the plot forward. I loved the battle for the throne between the sisters and the mythology aspects. I also had the audiobook to listen along while reading and I highly recommend this! Could not be more grateful for the arc provided by netgalley and the publisher. If you are into fantasy, mythology, like the three dark crowns series and dark plots, then please check this out!

A kingdom at risk, a crown divided, and a family drenched in blood. The King's obsession with the star prophecies and his neglect of the root waters and other sources of magic on the island of Innis Lear, as well as his increasingly erratic behavior, have drained the island of its magic, almost completely. The result has been a trail of barren crops and despondent, angry subjects. Enemy nations have begun circling the once bountiful island, in the hopes of taking advantage of its newfound weaknesses and securing for themselves this ideal port for trade routes. The King's three daughters know that the only way to revive their realm is to crown a new sovereign, one that can resurrect the magic of the island and provide protection. The King must decide which daughter will be the ideal heir for his kingdom. There's the battle-hungry, aggressive Gaela; the masterful manipulator Regan; and the restrained, star-blessed Elia. Their Father, however, is refusing to choose his successor until the longest night of the year, when the prophecies will align and a poison ritual can be done. The princess refuse to leave their fates in the hands of blind faith and prepare themselves to battle for the crown. But, regardless of which daughter wins, the shores of Innis Lear will weep the blood of a house divided.

This was a very difficult book for me to rate. I had such high hopes for it. I wanted to read it before I was even approved for an ARC copy by Netgalley. I enjoyed reading King Lear so much that I had no doubt that I'd love this retelling just as much. It takes a lot of guts for an author to attempt a retelling of any one of Shakespeare's writings. After all, he is the master, himself. He's SHAKESPEARE! And, maybe I expected too much. I did enjoy the book, for the most part. But, it really dragged in places, to the point that I found myself skimming instead of actually reading. And, I considered not finishing a few times. It took me almost a full month to read this and I can't remember the last time it took me that long to read any book. Now, the story does have many positive things going for it. The prose is beautiful. The descriptions are vibrant and make you feel like you are in the story. The author did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of King Lear, while writing characters that seem to have learned from the original story. The daughters were such strong, accomplished women, it would have been difficult to choose an heir among them. While I did enjoy the novel and fully intend to read more of the author's work, I just feel like it didn't fully live up to its potential and there were times I really had difficulty getting into the story.

As a fan of fantasy and Shakespeare, I certainly thought that this book and I would be a match made in heaven. I mean, don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it. But there was a certain spark missing for me to truly love this book. This book was well-written and quite beautiful, with vivid descriptive writing that made the world feel as real as our own. One brilliant thing that Gratton added in this novel were some lines from the original King Lear. And it didn't feel out of place! The things that really stand out to me are the stunning prologue and the last words which are quite haunting.

One complaint I do have is the pacing and length of the novel. I really feel like it could have been edited down some. I found myself skimming some things. Overall, I enjoyed it. I think it's a solid fantasy that many, many will love.

This was only a sneak peak. However, from what I read, it seems to a promising read. The characters seem very complex. I look forward to reading this story in the book stores.

The Queens Of Innis Lear was one of my favorite books of 2018. This is an adult fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear, which made me a bit wary at first. However, I soon fell head over heels for the stunning writing, the brilliant characters, and the epic plot.

The sisters were all such incredible characters. Each was strong in her own unique way and so incredibly complex. (Plus they were POC characters!) In general, the characters were absolutely brilliant. They were nuanced, flawed, and incredibly realistic. While I didn’t always like all of them, I always understood why they made the decisions they did and where they were coming from. I absolutely loved both Elia and Ban’s journeys. Elia gained such an incredible amount of agency throughout the book while Ban was the sort of morally gray character I always love.

It took me a while to read this one because I wanted to savor the book. It was beautifully atmospheric and I found I enjoyed it the most when I had the time to truly immerse myself in the world. Even if you aren’t familiar with King Lear, you’ll still be able to enjoy this book! The plot is incredibly large in scope and, similar to Game of Thrones, follows all of the major characters in this time of upheaval. It works so well and I loved that Gratton provides equal space to both the internal and external struggles of the characters.

I highly recommend The Queens Of Innis Lear if you’re looking for an immerse adult fantasy book with brilliant characters (or if you’re looking for an excellent Shakespeare retelling!).

I am so relieved I read this! I'm rewriting my Shakespeare unit to be a choice unit (I teach Seniors) and they are going to compare a contemporary rewrite of a play with the original and this is PERFECT! Lear is kind of dense and the hardest for me to teach personally but this presents an awesome option for my students who love Fantasy retellings.

Tessa Gratton's fantasy novel, The Queens of Innis Lear, is not only an outstanding debut, but it also does a remarkable job of spinning Shakespeare's King Lear in surprising and magical directions, so that, IMHO, it surpasses the original.

I'm very conflicted about this book. A part of me loved it so much, the other couldn't stand it.
The prose is excellent, lyrical, quiet poetic and the character development is extraordinary. BUT this is the kind of book where the author seems a bit too indulgent in the editing process and avoid cutting a lot of useless lines because she loved the sound of them or simply went for complacency.
Believe me, i love slow books but this time it didn't feel like all of it was necessary. However, i would definitely recommend it if you want to take your time and read an extremely pleasant retelling of King Lear!

"Sometimes we forgive others because it keeps our own hearts whole, not because they deserve it or for any thought of them."

What in the world? It took me 2 months to finish this hefty tome. Now, I feel both proud and annoyed. Proud because the long and tedious journey is over, and annoyed because a lot of my time has been wasted.

Despite its 693 pages, The Queens of Innis Lear is very easy to summarize. All you have to know is that it's King Lear meets Three Dark Crowns. It's about three princesses who struggle to ascend the throne after their father becomes crazy.

Basically, this book could have been a great novel. The author made a lot of effort in character development, world-building, and plot construction. Unfortunately, I think that she made TOO MUCH effort. And just as the saying goes, too much of a good thing can be harmful.

The Queens of Innis Lear had too many characters, and not all of them were interesting. To be fair, I appreciated that most of the characters were people of color. Out of the 7 or 8 POVs, I only really cared about Princess Elia's and King Morimaros's since they were my favorite protagonists. The other characters were just meh in my eyes, so I wanted their chapters to be over ASAP. Too make things worse, there were just so many unnecessary flashbacks to the point that it felt like I was being spoon-fed by the author. I honestly didn't need to know all those backstories to understand the characters' motivations.

Of course, the plot also contributed to the book's overwhelming thickness. Come to think of it, The Queens of Innis Lear would still be a cohesive and comprehensive novel if it had only 350 or 400 pages. More often than not, the said flashbacks got in the way of the main story line, making the pacing so dragging. The primary conflict (the fight for the throne) could have been solved much sooner. I probably wouldn't have finished this book if I hadn't listened to the Audible version at 1.40 narration speed.

The only thing that was perfectly or adequately done was the world-building. The island of Innis Lear had a very rich history that was rooted in magic and religion. There was a dichotomy between those who valued the stars/heavens and those who valued the earth/air. Innis Lear itself was sentient in that it was capable of choosing or anointing its monarchs. All in all, I really liked how the author created her fictional world.

Nonetheless, I didn't thoroughly enjoy this book. I kinda regret requesting a galley from the publisher because I ended up giving it a low rating. I know that shipping books from the USA to the Philippines is expensive, and this one probably weighs more than a pound. If The Queens of Innis Lear is on your TBR, I hope that you will enjoy it more than I did.

I was so excited for The Queens of Innis Lear. Now, I've never read King Lear, so I'm not sure how accurate it is as a Shakespeare retelling. I'll tell you this: the world building is intense, the characters are so complex, and the plot is dark.

So overall, I enjoyed the novel. One of my favorite things was the fact that the sisters are black, and that their dark skin is never forgotten, which probably doesn't make sense lol. You know how there's been a whole string of novels claiming to be "diverse" just because one of the more important characters is ethnically ambiguous or is a POC but it's only mentioned once. Yeah, so that's why I liked that we're constantly reminded of the sisters and their heritage.

While the characters are complex, I did think they were difficult to understand. Like, I know that some of the characters are morally gray, but they would say they were going to do something in one chapter and then just do the complete opposite the next chapter. With no indication of having planned it. So yeah, I got confused a lot.

Also, this book is long. Now, I knew that going in, but reading it on my phone was definitely a mistake. The only real reason I finished this book is because I forced myself to because I was bored in the car. If you pick up this book, I totally recommend getting a print copy if you're able to.

There has been no lack of books designed to be the next Game of Thrones, but Queens of Innis Lear is truly the first one in the post-Martin landscape that both achieves the breadth and scope.

The story follows three heirs to a throne, each with its own different claim. The king has his preference, but the world, with some subtle magic involved and with each queen having their own motivation, the result is the typical chaos that one might expect.

There are plenty of surprises here, and a lot I really enjoyed. Some characters end up more compelling than others, and I found it difficult not to root for one specific result in a way other like stories do not, but as a full and complete concept, this was a super compelling read.

I feel like we’re currently in an epic/traditional fantasy rut, and this balances out the overcomplicated efforts with the really compelling narratives. Bump this to the top of your list.

I requested this book as soon as I saw it because:

1. The blurb makes it sound similar to Three Dark Crowns which was something I really loved

2. I studied King Lear in IB and heard that this was a retelling.

Anyway, this retelling of King Lear is infused with magic of both the stars and sky. King Lear is obsessed by what the stars say to him, leading him to require his daughters to publicly declare their love for him (among other things). His two older daughters, Gaelan and Reagan are one in mind, but his favourite, Elia surprises him with his answer. If you've watched or studied King Lear, you know how it goes.

Because this is a series, we don't get as far as say, the Storm Scene. Well, this book is really a set-up for the world, so it ends a little after the public declaration contest, which you may recognise as the start of the play. But I can see why this world and the new characters require so much word-space, so I don't mind waiting to see my favourite parts of this play retold.

As for characters, the three daughters of Lear definitely steal the show. Elia is my favourite because she's the kindest, but both Gaela and Reagan were very well-written and true to their inspiration. The book also introduces new characters, such as Ban the Fox and the Fool's daughter (who's also Elia's lady-in-waiting).

The only thing I wasn't too crazy about was the language. It's very deliberately lyrical, sometimes to its detriment because it distracted me from the story. Then again, if you know me, you know I put story first and feel that language should be used to enhance the story rather than placed in the limelight for its own sake.

Overall, though, this is definitely a book for fans of King Lear and those that like darker retellings. Even though I know the ending (or at least, I hope I know the ending), I cannot wait to see how the later books will interpret the rest of the play.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.