Bookriot
the protagonist was a real ass-kicker with unwavering strength and fierceness (but not without realistic self-doubt), and there’s just the right combination of believable politics and fantasy realm magic.
The Examiner.com
Will keep everyone on tenterhooks until the next book is released...a thought-provoking and finely tuned flight of fancy.
Locus Magazine
Spend long enough with this piece of fiction, and you’ll emerge more keenly aware of our own pontificating pundits, our tides of refugees. Any sense of distance is quite imaginary.
Bookish
[A] thrilling sequel.
Statesman Journal (Oregon)
This compelling, intriguing read is hard to put down as the ultimate connection between the two women is revealed. {A} unique take on traditional fantasy.
LibraryReads
The Mort are coming! Johansen introduces new characters and enticing bits of history, with the second volume of her intriguing tale of fantasy, mystery and royal politics...Readers will be eager for the final volume in the Tearling saga.
Bustle
Readers — Watson included — can’t seem to put down the novels, in large part because of the Queen of the Tearling herself: spunky, complex, tough-as-nails Kelsea Glynn.
USA Today.com
A dazzling and gripping followup. . . . Expertly combining modern and medieval themes, Johansen ratchets up suspense as she weaves a magical story that crosses time . . . one of the most original and well-written series in recent memory.
Buzzfeed
Genre-bending . . . So good . . . Gripping.
Us Weekly
All hail Queen Kelsea! In the series’ second action-packed book, the teen saves her throne from a power-hungry neighbor.
Booklist
Gritty, gruesome, and enthrallingly magical fantasy.
Cosmopolitan
Get caught up with Kelsea, a heroine so badass, Emma Watson’s already signed up to play her.
Entertainment Weekly
The Invasion of the Tearling glides over the sophomore slump, carrying the series upward with it. . . . The new Tearling characters are fascinating, and Johansen introduces them so smoothly, we care for them almost the instant we learn their names.
Kirkus Reviews
2015-04-01
There's a tear in the Tearling, and Tears are falling. Seriously. As Johansen (The Queen of the Tearling, 2014) opens the latest installment in her sword-and-sorcery series, Tear troops stationed on the borders of the kingdom find themselves battling an invasion by the Mort—you know, the bad guys across the line in the Mortmesne. It's a good thing Col. Hall is on the job, a fellow fate has put in just the right place at the right time: "Fortune had taken Hall away from Idyllwild," Johansen intones, "not good fortune, but the backhanded sort that gave with one hand while it stabbed with the other." Many stabbings, catapult launches, and other gruesome maneuvers later, the Mort are repelled. (It helps that, in a Tolkienian move, the hawks, real hawks, are on the side of the doves, metaphorical ones.) But the Mort'll be back, and an ugly picture will get even uglier. Meanwhile, the queen, our ever resourceful Kelsea, is getting prettier. At least after a fashion: "She wasn't beautiful, Kelsea thought, not by any stretch. But she was no longer plain either. She looked like a woman someone might actually remember." Whether Meryl Streep or Merlin, Kelsea rises to the occasion, despite all the obstacles that the Morts—and Johansen, for that matter—throw in her path. But is she the True Queen? Ah, that's for events to decide, nicely unfolded in this long—but not too long—yarn. Johansen is a skillful maker of fantasy worlds, weaving medieval and modern themes together with the comprehensiveness of a George R.R. Martin, though without his penchant for overly long episodes of violence that would make Sam Peckinpah blush. She does both battle scenes and quiet conversations equally well, though, with all the requisite plotting, regal self-doubt, and good-vs.-evil grappling required of the genre. A satisfying, well-crafted sequel that will leave readers looking forward to what might happen next to "that fantastic vision inside Tear's jewel" and those who treasure it.
