Definitely not for me.
The writing and the world building is confusing and I felt that a lot of infodump is just thrown without a good execution

This was an absolutely brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare's 'King Lear'. Many adaptations of any major work lean very heavily on the original, making it almost necessary to have read the original in order to understand the new work. Tessa Gratton's 'The Queens of Innis Lear' does not make this mistake. Her novel soars quite independently, the link to the famous play only serving to highlight her original take on it.

I adored the different characters Gratton creates, especially the three sisters. They are fascinating portrayals of desire, drive, anger, love, control, anger and so much more. She crafts them beautifully and within a few chapters I was absolutely lost to them. I am desperate to read more about them, to see how Gratton develops them, grows their characters, motivates their actions. This is all supported by Gratton's beautiful prose which strikes a perfect balance between magical and grounded. Whether she is describing Innis Lear's nature and magic or her characters' internal struggles, she brings it to the reader in a stunning and real way. I can't wait to read the rest of this novel!

Queens of Innis Lear is a retelling of Shakespeare play King Lear. The book is spread out in 5 pats, similar to the 5 acts in the play. The names of 2 of the daughters were changed (not sure why).

Goneril (Lear’s eldest daughter) is Gaela in the book

Regan (Lear’s second daughter) is still Regan in the book

Cordelia (Lear’s youngest daughter) is Elia in the book

The location for the book is the Island of Lear, not England. The island in itself is an amazing character, with its own language that only those with magic can hear and understand. Seeing the turmoil that the land was going through during the story was in my eyes a story in itself.

Lear doesn’t believe in the magic of the land, he rather the follow the magic of the stars, since they never change, ever constant. The stars predicted his wife’s arrival, the birth of 3 daughters and the death of his wife. He chose to let the stars dictate his life and how he should go about handling his people. After the death of his wife, the strain started building between his daughters and himself.

Outside of the daughters and Lear, there are a number of characters that play roles in the story, even if they are the outside characters whose impact doesn’t play vital parts. I found I had a soft spot for Ban the Fox, the bastard son of Earl Errigal. He never wavered over the use of his magic. He uses it while being a soldier for the King of Aremoria. Ban I felt was the most to gain or lose in the entire story, and I honestly cannot blame him for the part he had by the end.

There is quite a bit of political intrigue, masked motives, secrets, betrayals and magic in this book.

I won’t lie this is a very word heavy book, and at times it can drag. I felt that there were parts in the story that didn’t need to be there, it was just there for descriptions sake. The action didn’t show until the last part of the book, so if you are expecting action right away you will be sadly disappointed.

There were times I was considering DNFing it, but I just had to see how this book was going to end despite knowing how the play ends.

It made for a good fantasy story, even if you don’t know anything about the play, it’s worth picking up. The promise is there. Just make sure you set enough time aside to read all of it, not a quick read.

Although I only read the Netgalley extended excerpt of this book (about 200 pages I would say?), I definitely need to pick up my own copy of this story soon! Gratton's writing just gripped me from the beginning, and I found myself thoroughly immersed in this retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear.

Gratton paints a delightful, diverse, feminist spin on King Lear as we follow the stories of three sisters with a father who believes that destinies are written in the stars. The characters and their motives are complex, and I think Gratton weaved the superb magic system and character development perfectly alongside the plot. I can't wait to see where else the story takes Gaela, Regan, and Elia once I pick up a full, finished copy!

“Tell me: what is this crown in my lap made of?”
“Love and rubies.”
“The bronze is for the love, then?”
“The bronze is the island metal, the rubies its blood. What else is love but mettle and blood?”
“The crown of Innis Lear is not made of love,” said Gaela Lear, soft and challenging. “It is made of dying stars, and lying mouths.”

Originally at 3.5 stars, I’ve bumped it up to 4 in consideration of the overall elements of the book, but this may be subject to change. I read a preview of the book, which seemed to be about half the book itself. It halted abruptly at a rather key moment – where Elia finally decides to take action – and I really need to know what happens next. My full review, and final rating, will follow once I have completed the book.

Something I didn’t realise until actually starting the book is that this is a loose retelling of King Lear, but far richer in detail and with its own unique take on the characters and subject matter. I LOVE King Lear, and was so excited to discover its presence here upon reading. What is better than getting an old favourite, done in detail, with a touch of magic thrown in?

The novel follows the basic premise of the original tale where the three daughters of an old king – Lear – are summoned to his side and asked to prove their love to him. He swears to divvy up the land depending on which answer he likes best. Chaos ensues. (I don’t want to spoil it!) Gratton has plucked some of the juiciest lines from the play and placed them within the mouths of her own characters. This intertextuality is most noticeable in this iconic latter scene, the ‘Zenith Court’ within the book, with the dialogue matching closely. It was nice to have this distinct marker; and both heartwarming and heartbreaking to have one of my favourite quotes and moments practically verbatim within the story:

“Nothing will come from nothing. Try again, daughter.”
“I cannot heave my heart into my mouth, Father. I love you… as I should love you, being your daughter, and always have. You know this.”

The original daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, are reborn as the titular Queens of Innis Lear, the princesses Gaela, Regan and Elia. The female characters are the best part about this novel. They are each so well-rounded and with their own unique perspective. Gaela is a battle-ready commander who wants to be King, not Queen. She loves her sister Regan more than anything on earth, and Regan loves her too. Regan is feminine, but cruel. She’s trying to have a child with the man she, surprisingly, loves – but is struggling with a series of miscarriages. Elia is the youngest and most beloved by her father – that hasn’t changed. But in this novel she’s a Star Priest who truly doesn’t know who she is.

I love the OG Goneril from King Lear as a character, so I was amazingly happy to find I highlighted SO MANY of her moments in the book.

When she fought, Gaela knew she did not need any root blessing or star prophecy. She was born to be king.

“Make or break yourself, Gaela Lear, and take this island with you.”
“I will break myself in order to make myself,” Gaela whispered, shivering suddenly with pain and promise.

Her bond with Regan is the true star of the book – where Regan is so incredibly complex, I’ve only just been able to scratch the surface of her characterisation.

All Regan knew was that her sister had the stars of conquerors in her sky, and such men did not love well. Gaela thought she was beyond love’s reach, while Regan believed herself to be composed of nothing but love.

Whilst I liked Elia, I don’t 100% agree with Gratton’s interpretation of the character of Cordelia. Hopefully she improves, because she was being really wishy-washy – which I don’t think is actually Cordelia in the original King Lear.

“Who are you?” he’d hissed, before shutting the door again. Right in her face.
Who are you? Elia wanted to scream that she did not know.

Her best friend and maid, Aefa – the Fool’s daughter, is another story. An original addition, she’s pretty awesome. Fiercely loyal and devoted to her mistress, she provides a whole other frame to the tale. She also seems bi – which is awesome.

The representation in this book is brilliant. It echoes the modern changes in theatre and stage Shakespeare that we’re seeing currently, with the roles being diversified and allowing such differences to bring out better things in the original works. There was also this little gem on the discussion of Gaela’s womb:

“This is not what makes a woman, or the lack of which that makes a man.”

The main characters are explicitly diverse, and it just goes to show how easy it is to do in a high fantasy setting.
The prose, whilst heavy, isn’t too much – and is absolutely beautiful. I have PAGES highlighted through my copy. The imagery in here is stunning and really makes up for some of the book’s shortfalls.

Both earth and stars were needed for magic: roots and blood for power, the stars to align them. Without both, everything was wild, or everything was dead. Here, it was dying. Ban couldn’t – he wouldn’t let it happen. Not to the trees and wind. Not to this hungry island that birthed him. The only thing in his life to never let him go, to never choose someone else.

The book absolutely crawls. The pace is very slow, which can be nice if you like that. I was really slogging through at certain points – particularly with the dense language – but such language, and certain character moments do make it worth it. Gratton certainly gives the narrative room to breathe, but during the first half I felt like barely anything had happened. Particularly because I’m intimately familiar with the original King Lear, I was despairing at one moment, realising I was nearing the final pages of my preview and had barely passed Act 1, Sc. 4. The book certainly fleshes out the story though, giving you character perspectives and insight into multiple characters. It provides a narrative and different actions for their invented ‘offstage’ movements from within the original tale.

This pace highlights that this book is a different story. Things that differentiate it are the entirely different world, certain characterisations and relationships, new characters, the magic system, and the overall depth. But the fundamental difference is that King Lear is, undeniably, Lear’s tale. The Queens of Innis Lear is his daughters’.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to review! ♥

I found this to be a really lyrical and poignant re-imagining of King Lear, set in a magical land where wizards cast blood magic to harness the power of the land and the ailing King just wants to follow the prophecies of the stars. First things first. This is not a quick read - the book is a hefty one and the narrative is paced languidly, which gives the reader the time to get to grips with the many characters but does not make for an unputdownable page turner. I really appreciated the detail and depth that Gratton has gone into and once I understood that it was not going to be fast, I settled in to a really beautiful character study that showed the nuance in everyone's nature. I found Regan the most interesting of the 3 sisters and her motivations were not always clear, which I thought was a wise move on the author's part. Elia had an edge to her that I found appealing and Gaela was a fascinating woman, living a man's life in a male-dominated world. Ultimately, this novel won't appeal to everyone. There will be people who struggle with the slow pacing, but for me, I thought it was a fantastic book and I will look forward to reading Gratton in the future.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The full copy of this book was not included so I cannot live a finished opinion.

*Review based on ARC preview (200 pages) from NetGalley.

Beautiful, lush writing, excellent characterization, plus a super interesting world and kingdom made me fly through this short sample. Ok, the preview wasn’t *that* short, roughly 200 pages, but it stopped right in the middle of something I wanted to learn more about, definitely making it seem shorter than it was.

Griping aside, I adored what Gratton did with this novel. Essentially a reimagining of King Lear, but there’s a feminist twist that makes it fresh and unique while still holding true to the original. I am a sucker for any and all retellings, and that’s what drew me to this book in the first place. The pacing isn’t overly quick, and I actually prefer the slower pace of this book because there are so many intricacies, so many details, and I want to devour this beauty as slowly as I can.

Bottom line - I loved everything I’ve read in this short preview, and I’m certainly going to dive in to the full novel in the coming week or so. Gorgeous and lush writing with a feminist twist on an old classic makes TheQueens of Innis Lear a definite winner for me.

I received a preview excerpt of this book from the publisher, through NetGalley for a voluntary review.

I was very intrigued by this story from the Shakespeare version of King Lear that seemed to set the tone of this book and from the beautiful cover and synopsis. As I began the excerpt, I felt that the language and imagery that was invoked by Tessa Gratton was beautiful and described the lands well. I was drawn to her style of writing as the development of the characters began as you met Gaela, Reagan, and Elia. I was drawn to Gaela’s strength and confidence, but quickly got lost in what story was being told about her and why she made the decisions she had made. I did like that there was an LGBT element intertwined in the story to give a different perspective of the Gaela’s character. You see her struggle with becoming who she is meant to be and the physical and emotional pain she is anguishing over as she speaks to the White Witch to come to a conclusion. This might explain why, from the very start she was very power hungry and vowed to take the Kingdom from King Lear with the help of her sister, Reagan who would birth the heirs to the throne. I also grieved and felt the pain Reagan experiences as she tries to carry out a pregnancy to fulfill both she and her sister’s wish to provide heirs to the throne. I have to say I enjoyed the character of Elia and felt drawn to her the most, simply because she was kind, misunderstood, and seemed to have not been able to be an active participant in her own life due to outside influence from her father and her sister’s. The King was a bit of a madman, only consulting in the stars for every decision made which made sense as to why Gaela would ascertain that she should be ruler and strived to take it. Of the other characters, I really liked Ban Errigal and would like to have seen Ban and Elia together, however if Shakespeare’s King Lear’s story line was to crossover to this book, it would be difficult to hold the same opinion if he followed through with the tragic plot with his brother and father.

Honestly throughout the book the positive connotations of the beautiful imagery and character development tended to grow dull and cumbersome as the book wore on. I felt that Tessa Gratton certainly wove a beautiful story and her writing style was very unique and well written, however I have to admit there were large sections of the story I would re-read or come back to read to ensure that I was following along. There were flashbacks that were wonderful to give perspective on each character, but even those sometimes felt as though they weren’t as conducive to the story as they could have been or that it drug out the storyline and wasn’t required. I would be interested in finishing the complete book to provide a final review and will look to read it in the near future to do so.

Great beginning to the book! It was a little slow to get into it at first but now I am really enjoying it. Can’t wait to finish!

I reviewed a preview of this book (about 200 pages) from Net Galley so I can't speak to the quality of the whole book, but man was what I read impressive! As a fantasy retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear I knew this story was going to be complex, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't complicated. All the characters are distinct and their motivations are clear. I never found myself struggling to remember who people were or what their relationships with each other were. And boy are there a lot of characters; probably over a dozen in the preview I read alone. But they were all so well written and complicated and INTERESTING and I can't wait to read more about them. The Lear family and their dynamics are particuarly fascinating, but even the secondary characters are so well drawn that they don't feel secondary at all.

I read King Lear in high school, and this book never shies away form it's source material. A lot of retellings are vague and you can only see the original tale in the plot if you squint. But I felt The Queens of Innis Lear followed the story of King Lear faithfully enough that I believe the author really knows and understands the original story well enough to embellish and add elements without losing the thread of the source material. As I said I only got a preview so I don't yet know how it ends, but I have a feeling it's going to be amazing and gut wrenching.

Gratton's writing style really appealed to me. It's very descriptive and poetic, but it never loses a sense of urgency. Tense scenes are tense, the landscape feels truly alive, and I never felt distracted by the flowery prose. Although I will say occasionally descriptions and dialogue can take a turn for the strange. A few times I found myself momentarily scratching my head at some of the imagery so if you're particularly offended by purple prose the may not be the epic Shakespearean fantasy for you. But my complaints are small and easily overlooked. I'll probably be buying my own copy in the near future just so I can find out what happens!

I liked what I read of this book enough to go out and buy it when it came out. Just wish at the time of download it was specifically noted to be a sampler.

The writing in this book is beautiful. I love the world building. I like that the traits of the sisters are all-encompassing. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more from this author

The Queens of Innis Lear. Some Shakespeare, some love, some hate and adventures in this book kept me going, even though it took me a while to finish it.

Too many flashbacks (when that person had been already struggling through half the book with these issues) and we finally find out why.

I don’t know if I’ll read this book again, knowing it’ll take a while of getting through the vast descriptions of the places.

I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review..

I was unaware that this was a sample of the book, but regardless I was excited to have received a copy of this. I consider myself to be a big fan of fantasy, and I was looking forward to the story revolving around three princesses. From the blurb, it seemed to be a story similar to Three Dark Crowns, targeting to an older audience. Count me in!

However, to be completely honest, it took me more than one shot at reading the opening chapter, and even then I can’t say it fully caught my interest. I was intrigued by the characters — at least, two of the three sisters — but some of the other points of view I struggled with. I can’t say that I will be picking up the full version of this one.

DNF, mostly because I thought I was receiving a full copy, not a 200 plus page excerpt. The little I did read however was very beautifully written and I enjoyed the world building. I just would have preferred to know it was an excerpt versus a completed story before requesting.

OK, I am going to be totally honest with you here and say that initially this book is what you'd say is a cover buy.
Now, This is literally what happened "Oooo Cool Cover! Ohhh I love the synopsis... but look at that cover!"

Now that that picture is going of the way, I'll honestly say that this book, The Queen Of Innis Lear is a dream to read. I would advice that you read a para or two just to familiarise yourself with King Lear's story because it does help (It's not mandatory that you read it but it does help).
Now, Back to this beauty of a book! The Queen Of Innis Lear is beautifully written. I don't know how she did it but the storyline and the characters in this book are complex, diverse and to be honest, the whole things works like a well oiled machine.

Having said that, The Queen of Innis Lear is slightly on the slower pace when it comes to storytelling but If you hang on to it, I swear you have a gem of a book here. This writing of this book is almost poetically lyrical. The vastness and character descriptive is amazing in this book.

If you haven't read this book yet, read it! I highly recommend you to read this book because The Queen Of Innis Lear has captivated me!

Happy Reading!

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

3 stars DNF

I read an excerpt, an incredibly long and misleading excerpt that must have been around 200 pages, of this novel. If I had known that I was reading an excerpt and not the full novel I would have DNFed it. However, I will be considering this novel read because I have no desire to pick up the entire novel. I’m massively peeved about this and I feel like I wasted a large chunk of my time reading a novel that I thought was the first in the series and now I know why I felt like I was reading so much exposition. I was wondering why new characters were being introduced 98% into the novel and it’s because my ARC copy was only excerpt. I have a lot of problems with this novel that goes beyond feeling betrayed the publisher and mislead because when I downloaded the copy it did not state that was excerpt until AFTER the publication date did this become a subtitle on my Netgalley dashboard.


Moving on, this is a standalone retelling of King Lear by William Shakespeare. I am a massive King Lear fan and I think it is one the easier plays of Shakespeare’s as well as being overall brilliant in concept and themes. I have a great passion for Lear and so when I saw that there was a fantasy retelling coming out for this novel I was excited and intrigued.


A Breakdown of the Pros and Cons of this novel:
There are talking trees and magical elements that are vastly fascinating. However, if I’m being honest these magical elements did not seem fully expanded upon and they lacked believability within the world created.
Gaela, Regan, and Elia sticking close to the original characters, but being heavily expanded upon. I always associated Goneril with gonorrhea and she was easily my most hated character of the original play, but Gaela is much more human and she is a force to be reckoned with. I also greatly dislike her, but I dislike her actions not her character and that is a huge plus. Regan stays true to the original Regan, but she is much more fleshed out. Regan struggles with miscarriages and failed pregnancies and it really makes her devotion to Gaela real and understandable. Whereas in the original play, it just is. Elia does stay true to Cordelia in a sense, but she is easily the most boring of the sisters. I loved Cordelia, but I can barely stand Elia. I think Gratton struggled with this character.
The best thing about the original play is the Fool. Gratton stays true to the Fool’s wise, but confounding phrases and it is so enjoyable.
My favorite line from King Lear is in the opening scene when Cordelia tells Lear “Nothing, my lord.” When she is asked how much she loves him. I loved the way the scene was done in this retelling. It’s told from the PoV from the Fool’s daughter (who does not exist in the play) and it is done so brilliantly. It was the part of this entire excerpt I read. The problem is that it occurred 50% through the 200 pages I read.
The lyrical prose is trying too hard. I love lyrical prose, but I also know that not all writers are able to capture this style with grace and ease. Gratton is one of those authors who struggles. A vast majority of her descriptive language is redundant and pointless. Early on, I considered DNFing because of the style, but I pushed on because I love King Lear and wanted to see how it would end. I didn’t even get a conclusion, so I should’ve just DNFed.


I’m mainly disappointed because I don’t know how Gratton approaches Gloucester losing his eyes, the Edmund obsession that all the sisters eventually acquire and the death of everyone. I really just want to know how everything is handled so send me spoilers because I won’t be seeking out this novel to find out.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 3

Character Scale: 3.5

Plotastic Scale: 4

Cover Thoughts: It’s so wonderful to see PoC hands on the cover of an adult fantasy novel.

Thank you, Netgalley and Tor, for providing me with an excerpt of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A truly riveting story, each character draws you in. You can't help but love or hate them.

It's quiet good but I realized it's not my genre. But for those who love magic and politics then this one's for you. The world building took a while for me to get in to, there were so many things I need to keep in mind and I just can't go through with this book. It's not for me but it is for someone else.