im quite conflicted with how i feel about this book. the prose is gorgeous and the character development is extraordinary, but this was exhausting to get through. i found myself often skimming through paragraphs, or simply setting down the book periodically as i couldnt read this in large doses. but there was enough love for the story to get me to finish, even if it was laborious. and honestly, i dont hate the book overall!?! it actually is a very high quality retelling, this which is why im con...

I received this eARC excerpt from Tor on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.DNF'd at 33%

The Queens of Innis Lear is a fantasy retelling of King Lear.It begins with the birth of an island, with one of the most breathtaking prologues I've read in a while. It draws you in, and you'll need that, because this may be a well-written story with multilayered characters and intricate political dynamics, but it's also a very slow tome of almost 600 pages and the retelling of a tragedy.I decided to read this because I loved Tessa Gratton's Before She Was Bloody story in the anthology Three Sid...

“In Innis Lear it was believed that the reign of the last queen had been predicted by the stars--and had ended, too, because of them.” This is a reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear unlike any reimagining I’ve ever read before. Tessa Gratton stays very true to the original play, and really makes a feminist statement on all the themes, but she made something so unique, so powerful, and so much its own thing. And every book I read from her ensures that she is becoming one of my favori

See this review and more like it on www.bookbastion.net!______It's been awhile since I've really challenged myself with a proper adult high fantasy novel, and I can proudly say that I'm glad it was this one that I took a chance on. A retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear, The Queens of Innis Lear faithfully draws on the same interpersonal conflicts between complex, morally gray characters found in the original play, but also infuses their world and societies with a breath of magic that serves to

I won't deny that the book is beautifully written. The writing is elegant and rich with its descriptions and the first part, which leads up to the big gathering, sets up the story nicely. Or so you'd think. Because after the brilliant build up of part 1 nothing happens! The writing continues to be beautiful but the appeal wears off when the drama and plot starts to mimic a really boring soap opera. They're supposed to be fighting tooth and nail for a kingdom but they spend most of the book bitch...

This review is for a 'preview excerpt' I received from Netgalley. I didn't realise that it wasn't the full book and was puzzled when the book stopped abruptly. So this is a review of only the first section of the book (around 1/2 judging by the full length of the book).This is fantasy retelling of "King Lear" on an island that has it's flow of earth and water magic blocked by a king who prefers to read portents in the stars. He fails to see that the land is becoming barren and the crops are fail...

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, HarperVoyager, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.What to say about The Queens of Innis Lear?This is a book based on Shakespeare's famous tragedy, King Lear, though it is not a book that is defined by that play. I must admit that I haven't an intimate knowledge of King Lear, but I know enough about the play to recognise some departures from the "source material" — and I use that term very loosely since this book is entirely its own story.Th...

A girl whose fate lies in the maps of stars. A boy whose power stems from mud. Whilst one is always gazing skyward and the other is craning downwards, neither has noticed the destruction surrounding them. A mad king is dethroned and a kingdom is divided. Three sisters are both united and divided by what they seek to rule. And the trees whisper the name of the only one who can truly save them all.I am so impressed with this Shakespearean retelling! King Lear is a play I have read and studied mult...

A retelling of King Lear in the thread of Game of Thrones?Gimme.

What a wonderfully crafted piece of literature this novel is! Not an easy one, mind you. It took me five days to read it because of how dense and complex, how thought-provoking, it is. But let's start at the beginning, shall we?! Using works of the Bard for inspiration is quite a risky endeavor, you know? Shakespeare's plays, all of them, have a multitude of layers and allow for all types of interpretations but living up to their standard is actually quite hard, I would imagine. Gratton, however...

I enjoyed this very much. The writing has a stylized feel, with each point of view chapter feeling in a way like a self-contained scene. It is a retelling based on King Lear, but while it's been so long that can't recall much detail from the original play, my favourite retelling is the film Ran, by Akira Kurosawa. This book is slightly less dramatic than Ran, but still very engaging. It is very much the story of the daughters rather than the King, and particularly Elia, the youngest, but I loved...

That was weird and sad and good! The end! Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

It was good, but was it worth 26 hours of my time? I don't even think most tv shows are worth that much of my time. “The storm was not his father. It owed him nothing.” 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...

This is a pretty exact retelling of King Lear in terms of the events that happen. Where it is not exact is: A) the inclusion of magic and B) the lack of humor. King Lear is really a rather dark play, that’s broken up by bits of humor from the Fool and Lear’s madness.And that was one of the places where this book failed, hard. It’s all dark, and not even remotely funny. Combine that darkness with some very overly descriptive passages of setting and endless prattling about the magic of Lear, and t...

The Queens of Innis Lear is a fantasy retelling of King Lear, focusing on the young generation characters (primarily Cordelia, Goneril, Regan, and Edmund) in a fictional kingdom called Innis Lear. It starts off as a faithful adaptation (think Lear but with magic)--the titular King is abdicating the throne, and he makes a shocking choice to split the crown equally between his three daughters, provided that they pass the test he sets out for them: to each declare that they love him more than their...

Reviewed by: Rabid ReadsI love KING LEAR. When I took Shakespeare in college, I wrote my research paper on Edmund. I argued that he had little chance to be anything but a villain given the thoughtless mistreatment of bastards at that time. He wore his illegitimacy like a scarlet letter, and even more than Hester Prynn’s, his crime was not a crime. So of course when I heard that Tessa Gratton’s THE QUEENS OF INNIS LEAR was a fantastical retelling of KING LEAR, I leapt at the opportunity to read i...

3.75 stars

I received ARC in exchange for an honest review.It was initially a 3.5 review, but I’m rounding it up to 4 because it deserves it.Before I begin with the review, can we appreciate the cover? Both the UK and US edition are as beautiful as they are mysterious. I got into the story with a little knowledge of what it was about. I must admit that I read the book without being very familiarized with the King Lear’s story, I had some background knowledge but that was it. Maybe that’s the main reason

This book may not be everyone’s cuppa tea, but it ticked all of my favourite boxes. Dark fantasy, looming disaster, an animate natural world, intoxicating magic, and powerful women paired with emotionally strong men. Re-telling a fabulous tale—King Lear.It was like bitter dark chocolate, black velvet with gorgeous gold embroidery, or standing by a fire in the winter time, when only one side of you can be warm at a time. The opposites: star magic and earth magic, dark and light, poison vs. nouris...