Lady Hotspur by Tessa Graton is a superb read. The author creates a familiar but unique world and then unleashes an epic story within. I really enjoyed this novel. I found it fun, refreshing, and immersive, which is really all I can ask for. I was really excited that the entire storyline happened in a single book, because one of the biggest trends of modern publishing (last 6-10 years or so) is to make everything a series. Which works if you 1) are popular enough to warrant it, 2) are an established author, or 3) already have the entire thing written but don’t want to publish it at once. Most of the time you get the beginning of a series that is never finished and therefore are left with only part of a story. This book doesn’t do that!! Besides making the right call to put the entire story in a single volume, this story is great! I really enjoyed reading through the various character POV and learning how they think and interact in the story.
Lady Hotspur follows a trio of warriors, Hotspur, Hal, and Banna Mora. These women are knights, princes, and firmly believe standing up for their own beliefs. Mora is the heir to the throne when Hal Bolingbroke’s mother overthrows the current king and replaces him as queen. Now Hal, who has always been content to live her own life, has to shoulder a whole new set of responsibilities that thrust her firmly into the limelight and perhaps take on a role she isn’t sure she can do a good job at. Despite the change, Mora is convinced she still is the best choice to rule, even if she has to take the throne by force. Hotspur is the quintessential knight, allowing her own moral compass to guide her sword and her loyalty. The changing of the ruler stirs up the destiny of the trio, showing up in the prophecies of the stars. As Hal, Hotspur, and Mora go through their own journeys of growth and exploration, their destinies are slowly being revealed.

First and foremost, great cover art! Second, great read a little spotty on a few of the characters but great read.
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This book had the potential to be so good, but unfortunately, it just didn't deliver and I found myself frustrated and bored in places. It tells the story of Prince Hal and her lover, Lady Hotspur, in a gender-bent re-telling of the Shakespeare play and that premise alone was enough to make me interested in this book. I also read and really enjoyed The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton, which makes this book a double disappointment. Firstly, it is far too long and at times just feels really self indulgent. I found myself being drawn into the story in certain places and thinking to myself that now things were finally getting going, only to then have another few chapters of repetitive action and questionable dialogue. Secondly, the characters just really didn't have very much depth to them, with the possible exception of Connley, and as a result, it was difficult to get invested in their plight when there wasn't much offered to grab onto. The plot felt meandering for the majority of the book and then really rushed towards the end and although the prose was beautiful in places, for the most part I just found the action dull and uneven. Overall, I was disappointed with this book, but I will give Gratton another chance for future books as I do like her writing in general - this one just didn't work for me unfortunately.

(2/5⭐️) Coming January 7, 2020.

I was let down by the telling-not-showing writing. DNF at 15%

Lady Hotspur is a retelling of King Henry IV, a classic Shakespeare play. I’m always a sucker for these types of retellings. “Strike fast, love hard, live forever.” The motto of the Lady Knights, a league of knights sworn to serve the ruler of Aremoria. The story largely follows three women: Prince Hal, Mora of the March, and Lady Hotspur.

When a deep betrayal shakes the kingdom of Aremoria, Mora of the March is faced with an agonizing choice: give up everything she's been raised to love, and allow a king-killer to be rewarded--or retake the throne, and take up arms against the newest heir, Hal Bolingbrooke, Mora's own childhood best friend and sworn head of the Lady Knights.

I did not finish (DNF) this book. As with all books I decide to abandon, I always read to chapter five, or more, before making my decision. I actually read a little further this time, hoping, longing for redemption. I kept thinking, “Maybe if I read a little further, I’ll find something to hook me.” I found a number of problems with this book. The writing itself was fine, but everything else felt problematic. A few things I liked: the gender bending aspects, though I didn’t feel that they were done well. The majority of the characters are queer, but commonly fighting the issue that they aren’t accepted for who they are, which is a heavy topic that I don’t feel this book did an adequate job portraying.

That being said, the pacing was too slow and detailed, leaving me bored. I found times that I read entire paragraphs only to realize that I’d been thinking about something completely unrelated to the book. What I mean is: I wasn’t engrossed, except with Rowan’s character. I actually found his character and story the only one I was interested in. The chemistry in the scene with him and Connley was perfect. If all the chapters had been like that, I would still be reading it.

The biggest flaw was the telling but not showing aspect of the writing. The reader is plopped into moments where things have just happened—important things like the opening battle scene, the fights during the tournament event, and even a few intimate first kiss moments—and we are told about it.

Excerpt from a tournament fighting scene:

“...Hotspur rolled her shoulders to loosen the tension a bit, and bent her knees. The judge called the match and Hotspur attacked.

It was a good fight, but in the end Banna Mora made sure to lose. Both of them were sweating, their grunts low, neither speaking, and Hotspur did not know which of them would have been fairly victorious. Mora was strong and precise; she herself was fast and determined. Shieldless, their swords served as both offense and defense, along with hips and elbows. But when Mora turned her wrist and nearly disarmed Hotspur, Hotspur was so focused on breaking away she didn’t see Mora plant a foot where Hotspur would trip her. Mora went down, crying out as she landed on her own arm and her sword flew several paces off.”

There are a couple of bits of dialogue after that, but it’s very abrupt, and goes on to say who won what. All in all, we were told all about the tournament, but didn’t feel like we were there living it with the character. It leaves no bonding moments between the character and the reader, creating a huge disconnect.

Ultimately it was this, the lack of character depth, lack of character chemistry, my inability to relate with the characters or get invested with them, and the pacing that ended it for me.

Thank you @Netgalley and @Tor for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me, but I can see how it would appeal to others. For those of you interested, tread carefully before buying...

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book. I really enjoyed The Queens of Innis Lear and still think the premise of this one is really good, but it's just not working for me.

I've rated based on the quality of the section I read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I did not read The Queens of Innis Lear yet, however, I do think this book can be read as a companion rather than a sequel.

This is a gender bent Henry IV story, and it was a decent story. I find Tessa Graton to use long winded explanations and random name drops. This pulls me out of the story ever time. In my opinion, if you are going to name drop people we should get a bit of their history included as well.

The writing and dialogue in this book were very lackluster which also kept pulling me out of the story.
I wanted so badly to love this book but sadly I didn't love it. I however did enjoy the majority of it, the characters were decent and the plot kept me somewhat interested.

This was an amazing premise just not the best execution in my opinion.

I sadly didn’t enjoy this book, and gave up about halfway through. It was really sad for me because I enjoyed the last book by this author so much! I still like her writing style but with this book I was missing that connection to the main characters, I simply didn’t care for any of them and that made me not care about the story. I still think this book will probably be good for someone who likes fantasy/retelling type books so if that’s you definitely give it a try.

Two stars from me because this was a struggle all the way through for me. I struggled to read the whole book when what I really wanted to do was put it down for good. I struggled to like any of the characters. I struggled to see how the story had advanced much when I finally finished it. Yes, gender bending, I got that and I was fine with it as something new or different or both but that Shakespeare play isn't a favorite of mine anyway. Yes, a lesbian love story, but that's not exactly earth shaking. Yes, court intrigue all over the place, but not very interesting intrigue. Yes, there are magic elements but written in such a way that it was hard for me to grasp exactly what was happening. Add to those things writing which was overblown and flowery to the point of making me laugh. Even the ending wasn't an ending but a series of let's-peek-into-the-future segments which seemed to go on much too long. Sadly, not a good fit for me. But I loved the cover.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an e-galley of this novel.

I just couldnt get into this book. I really tried to like it but it didnt connect with me in the way I like books to. The story seemed interesting, but I was missing that element thats makes me want to keep turning the page.

Wow, ok, I'm a little emotionally whiplashed right now. LADY HOTSPUR was fantastic, complex, beautiful, fierce, tense, and really just everything I've craved in a fantasy novel.

It's a very loose retelling of the Shakespeare play, and a similarly loose sequel to QUEENS OF INNIS LEAR (which I hadn't read). Although there a multiple POVs, we mostly focus on Prince Hal, the charismatic, riotous heir to a usurper queen; Banna Mora, the steel-hearted royal displaced by Hal; and Hotspur, a knight torn between her love of Hal and her sense of duty to her country. It's already a politically complex situation, but toss in a good handful of prophecies, meddling earth saints, and personal passions, and the tension just *explodes.* Each voice was distinct and sympathetic. I won't say much in case of spoilers, but these three ladies will 100% steal your heart, even at their worst.

The worldbuilding was so, so good. We have rootworlds and star magic and witches who live in ruined cathedrals, wind with a voice and ghosts who walk between worlds and dragons as large and slow as mountains. And to counter this beauty, there are blood-drenched battlefields and caverns of debauchery, all knitted together to create an incredibly vivid society.

What can I say? It is a little long, yes, but I adored every minute. Every line sings, it's apologetically queer, and tbh I'm not sure how I can write a review that will do it justice. A high recommend for lovers of fresh epic fantasy. 5/5

In many ways I preferred this to the Queens of Innis Lear and I do love Gratton’s prose in general. But it really didn’t need to be this long IMO. Having said that there’s no faulting Gratton’s research or her faithfulness to the spirit of Shakespeare’s plays. Didn’t love it but it was still a good read. If you fancy a chunky, slower paced gender bent Henry IV this might be right up your street.

I loved the beginning of the story, however It was interrupted by many irreleveant scenes and information about the world. The world-building was also very confusing in a long fantasy novel like this. The storytelling wasn't very interesting and was very unoriginal. The characters were to me, very bland and had no unique or aspiring personalities. Perhaps I was not the intended audience for these types of books, but Lady Hotspur just wasn't an ideal book for me.

In the end, I gave up around maybe a quarter through. I know, maybe I should have read more, but I honestly did not have the tolerance nor will power to continue.

However, if you loved Shakepspears stories and type of writing, I definitely recommend this book with all the references.

I really enjoyed this book! Not only was the plot clever and intriguing, but I felt that the characters were ones you could empathise with and fully comprehend their emotional depth! I will absolutely be buying a physical copy and recommending this to everyone!

This is a gender swapped retelling of Henry the IV. The concept is interesting, but fails in execution and world building. Even within the logic of the story it's hard to tell when the "lady knights" are breaking norms and when they are the norm. There's a heavy dose of faux druid magic as well (I assume this is being drawn in from the author's other works, as little is explained about it) and moments of surprising and unnecessary obscenity. Not for me, but possibly of interest to fans of the His Fair Assassins series.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

I wanted to love this book; truly I did. Gender swapped Henry IV and such, with lesbians? What’s not to love?

Well, quite a bit it turns out.

The main problem in this book isn’t the gender swapping or the world building. These are very well done, and it is clear that Gratton has done research and read the plays. The problem is simply the total lack of characterization and a large amount of detail that is totally unneeded.

The book would have been better served by actually showing the friendship that existed between the women prior to the rebellion. The reader is told constantly about the friendship and love but there is very little showing. And when Hotspur and Hal become lovers, it just feels so empty. The parting scene between the two was incredibly boring when it should have been emotional. This is due to the total lack of chemistry between the two characters. The lack is because the reader is left wondering why Hal is so darn attractive. In the play, it can work if the actor is talented, but as presented here in this book, it falls totally flat.

And you are told everything, never shown.

I am very sad to say that Gratton’s “Lady Hotspur” is the most boring book I’ve read thus far into 2019. I got lost very early on into the story, but I struggled on because I don’t like to not finish things, especially when the publishers were kind enough to accept myrequest to read this novel. It’s very hard to keep the characters apart, even in their own title chapters which 1) was very confusing for me and 2) made me not care about the characters or the story as a whole. It was very hard to focus and I found myself forcing myself through which is never a good sign when reading.

I can not describe the story as I did not understand it very well, more than my previous knowledge of the source material Gratton took use of – Shakespeare’s Henry IV – and I wonder if this is because I didn’t really get into Gratton’s previous work “The Queens of Innis Lear” (which I tried to read before starting this one) either, mostly because of the same factors as mentioned above.

On a more positive note I could tell that Gratton likes to experiment with language and that she does that experimenting well. Even though I had a hard time focusing when reading the language itself stood out and it felt very much like I was reading an epic poem á “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” or something similar, so well done on that point.

I wish I’d enjoyed it more than I did, but here we are.

I will post my review on my Goodreads-page on January 5th 2020.

Unfortunately DNF this one at 22%. While I loved the immediate tension at the beginning, I found it was constantly interrupted by too many irrelevant name drops and seemingly irrelevant details about the world. I’m not against front-loading exposition and world-building in a long fantasy novel like this, but it just seemed to get in the way of the storytelling and was mostly not of interest. Perhaps I was not the intended audience (since I haven’t read the referenced Shakespeare plays in a very long time and didn’t remember much of them). I really wanted to like this one, especially for all the queer themes, but found my mind constantly straying from the text, which is usually a sign that I should just give up.

#LadyHotspur
Wow. Oh wow! Lady Hotspur is a hunk of a book. It took me a week to get through. I loved Queens of Innis Lear, so when I read that this book was available I had to read it! I am not giving any spoilers first off. It doesn't come out for a while and I think it is worth reading without giving away details. Tessa Gratton is a world building writer. Lady Hotspur has a lot going on, but the story moves at a quick pace.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review the E-arc copy of Lady Hotspur.

In full disclosure, I did not finish this book. I was immediately turned off by the dialogue and clunky exposition; while the concept is good, the gender swapping was not done well and resulted in characters that were at once unbelievable and uninteresting.

As spitfire as the title suggests, Lady Hotspur whisks you away to a land of lady knights and lethal fights. This title possesses all the hallmarks of excellent epic fantasy: multifaceted characters, multilayered worldbuilding, scintillating writing, and a gripping plot. I highly recommend,