A goregous fantasy novel that is perfect for spring. You'll lose yourself in the descriptions of this world, and the characters will keep you hooked to the page! It was hard for me to believe that this was a debut novel. Bates has a gift!

Elanna Valtai, stolen from her true family as a child, is raised by the King like a daughter, despite her real father’s status as a traitor to the crown. When the King is murdered, Elanna is accused and forced to run to the home and family that abandoned her as a child. In court, she hid her small magical abilities to make plants grow, but when she steps foot in her homeland, she feels a strange, powerful, and deep connection to the land. With rebellion rising, and Elanna as the symbol, she must find a way to save both her homes.

The Waking Land‘s strength lies in its vivid lush imagery, including flowers blossoming and trees uprooting, stone circles that come alive with dead ancestors when human blood is spilled in them, and traveling by land shifts, in which the path forward is never the same as the path back.

The romance between Elanna and Jahan is cute if lacking depth. I admire that marriage is not a necessary step of their relationship, but they do talk about marriage before they say, I love you. When Elanna and Jahan are finally intimate, the act turns into a plot point as Elanna also “weds the land”. On the one hand, the myth proclaims it is a sacred act that allows Elanna to increase her connection to nature, but the characters around her also treat it lightly, either with disgust or humor, because everyone felt it.

Despite multiple enchanting world-building elements, many elements of the novel fall prey to the tropes of the young adult genre. The heroine’s thoughts and motivations are repetitive. Elanna anguishes over her place in the world internally, but outwardly makes reckless decisions without forethought. Her immediate companions easily sway her thoughts, feelings, and priorities. In fact, the primary motivator of her movement from place to place is being kidnapped, captured, or tricked.

Recommended for fans of YA fantasy who love to read under the canopy of a tree!

An ambitious debut novel that I inhaled over two days, The Waking Land has a lot going for it: a passionate heroine, complicated politics, lots of magic, and some colorful characters.

It was also a rocky read in places, though I wonder how much of the confusing opening is due to the heroine being nineteen years old, which is not an age for emotional logic much less rational logic. In that sense, Bates did a terrifically believable job, though (view spoiler).

It is written in the currently hip first person present tense, which works during the action sequences, but tended to stand out awkwardly during the history lessons, and the many reflective scenes.

Elana Valtai has been a hostage since she was five, and she was taken from her home with a pistol (not a gun, though muskets and pistols are repeatedly called "guns" and there doesn't seem to be any artillery, which was what guns were originally) to her head. She dashes off this way and that, impelled by passions that contradict from moment to moment, even when told facts that she seems to believe, and then to forget.

We do not learn why the two kingdoms tragically divided two centuries ago speak completely different languages (one faux Welsh and one faux French), but the grief handed down through the years, the shadows of violence, and the result of failed revolution all resonate through current politics with grim effect.

Elana finally gets away from the really evil Princess Loyce and her equally slimy lover Denis, after the king is mysteriously murdered and Elana gets the blame. Even though we suspect from the gitgo who really did the deed, it is regarded even by apparently far-sighted characters as a mystery until the end.

Elana has been brainwashed by the ex-king, and bit by bit has to face what she was told and reevaluate, amid action, emotional turmoil, and meeting some cute guys who may or may not be allies.

I especially liked Finn, the prince most revolutionaries favor (though not everyone, a step away from "the peasants all think alike" trope of many fantasies, that I thought a plus); the politics are not so simple. Finn was raised to this revolution, and his conversations with Elana about the not-so-hot aspects of being raised for 'great' purposes I thought were among the best points in the book.

Treachery abounds, Elana meets her parents again, and discovers that they are human beings, and she is called to action, while dealing with the responsibility of growing powers.

It's a fast-paced read, and I think older teens especially will have no problem with the emotion-driven decisions and the vivid action and magical razzle-dazzle. I look forward to seeing what Bates writes next.

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 really enjoyed this title. I found the first person narrative exciting and enjoyable. The author introduces a new world that really drew me in and kept me interested. My only setback was the difficult spelling of names and places. Other than that, the magic and mystery was just awesome.