What a book! Really enjoyed! Highly recommend. Perfect book club pick!

This was a good start to what I'm hoping is a series! There were some pretty cool fantasy elements, but there was a lot of politics/war strategies that bored me. But overall a good read!

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine De Rey. Thank you.

When she was five years old Elanna had been kidnapped for political reasons and by the time this story takes place she is nineteen and has come to look upon her kidnapper as a father figure. That was a pretty important idea for the story which wasn't explored as much as I think it should have been. Now Elanna is involved in a political movement again, also against her will - at least in the beginning. In this fantasy world magic is forbidden and we are reminded multiple times + 10 about the witch hunts to remove magic from the kingdom. Well, guess what....or guess who has magical abilities. Now all she has to do is learn what her powers can do and how to control her use of them.

This fantasy world is superficially drawn with very little real depth to any of its elements and Elanna is not someone I want to spend any more time with. The story is written in first person so you get many gems such as "I wake." "I fold my arms. I don't believe it." That writing style is not ever going to be my favorite because I feel I'm missing so much by being trapped inside the head of one character. However, this coming of age novel will definitely appeal to the mid-teen age group I think it was written for. There is lots of talk of kings and princesses and using magical power for the world's good and romance, romance, romance. All presented in a completely fairy tale atmosphere which will be entirely satisfactory to its target audience.

I actually really liked the story, I just wish everything had been a little more fleshed out. The relationships lacked substance and some of the characters and events seemed like an afterthought. As happy as I was for a standalone, this may have been better as a duology. I just wanted a little more depth to the characters, conflict, and story.

he premise of this book sounded great and I was excited to read it. I enjoy the mythology that the book was based on, so I was really ready to dig in to this book.
I encountered problems right from the beginning, however, and it really affected my ability to enjoy what I was reading and identify with the main character. The books begins with a memory of the main character being forcibly kidnapped from her parents at gun-point (well, it was some type of firearm. The use of guns, pistols, muskets, etc. in the world the author created was a little fuzzy). Then, years later, we meet our heroine again, and she resents her parents for never trying to rescue her, feels that all of their beliefs and customs are silly and backward, and cares for the king who brutally kidnapped her and has held her hostage for all these years. And this is in spite of the fact that everyone at court treats her like she's a peasant and has no business rubbing elbows with them.
When El is forced to leave the palace and travel to her true homeland, she refuses to contemplate that other forces might have been at work, that the man who took her as a child was a bad person, and that her parents have always cared for her.
The way El acts toward the old king and her real family made her very unlikable to me. I also had a hard time reconciling the fact that she knew she had some sort of magical powers, and even "used" them at least once a year, but was continually surprised at her abilities. I really just wanted to yell at her sometimes.
If the prologue had been left out, the beginning of the book would have flowed so much better. El could have had flashes of memories, or nightmares, and then the true events of the night she was taken could have been revealed to her by her trusted maid right before she was forced to flee. That would have made all of El's confusing attitudes, feelings, and motivations seem much more believable and understandable.
I really wanted to press on with the book, even with my dislike of the heroine, because I wanted to know what would happen to her and the other characters in the book. I wanted to learn how their problems would be solved and how their world would unfold. El was just so very hard to understand that is was very difficult to do so, however. She was flopping back and forth every other paragraph, and I just wanted to shake her and say, "Why do you think this way?! That makes absolutely no sense!"
The world-building was hard to follow in the beginning, as well. There were a lot of names to remember, and many of them were similar, with lots of vowels going on. Circumstances, "historical" events, and politics were not really explained well.
This book had good "bones" but it was just not fleshed out well. I really wanted to like it, and I tried very hard. But it just did not work for me.

Meh...I really wanted to love this book. I was fascinated by the concept of the female protagonist being connected to the land but was disappointed in the story overall. The characters were not fleshed out and the story, even though it moved quickly, didn't really capture my interest. 2.5 stars

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.