Thursday 14 March 2013

Review: The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner


I dont really know how to rate or review this book. Im afraid Ill be kicked out of the cool kids club* for not absolutely adoring The Queen of Attolia. Im really upset that I didnt, because I was expecting to. I had super high expectations. Pretty much everyone I know told me how amazing it is. How you only read the first book in the series to get to this one. But I have to say, I think I like The Thief more. Its not that I didnt like The Queen of Attolia. I did. I just didnt love it, no matter how much I wanted to.

What I did like about it was the world, the characters and the plot overall. But I really didnt like the frequent, tedious descriptions of politics and war maneuvers and meetings. Yaaawn. I also didnt like the big twist towards the end. The plot point itself isnt what bothered me, its that it wasnt even alluded to beforehand. It was too much of a surprise and wasnt plausible to me. Of course I thought the story was heading there eventually, I just didnt expect it to have already happened behind the scenes (trying to be as clear as possible without being spoilery!). While I admire Turners capacity to intricately build a plot and surprise the reader, I dont like that we end up so removed from the inner workings of the main characters. I read to be immersed in not only a different world but a different person, including their thoughts and feelings. One of my only reviewer friends to have given this book less than five stars, Steph Su, used the analogy that it feels like the characters are acting and talking behind soundproof glass, and this is exactly how I felt. It was as though I couldnt quite get at the action and emotions. It was quite frustrating. The few times there was raw emotion on display and intimate interaction between the characters, it was stunningly rendered, making it even more frustrating to be cut off for the rest of the book.

Im glad I had already bought The King of Attolia when I finished this, because I probably wouldnt have continued with the series otherwise. Thats how disappointed I was. Thankfully I did have The King, so I read it and ended up loving it. It makes me think perhaps I should reread The Queen; I might get get more out of a second reading. As it is I feel like I missed something, because I didnt love this anywhere near as much as pretty much everyone else. 

*Not that I was ever in it. 

Rating: 3/5

Spoilery Talking Point
-OK, as I alluded to above, I did think Eugenides and Attolia would fall in love. But after he kidnapped her. I did not expect him to already be in love with her. I could get behind it if the fact that, you know, she CUT OFF HIS HAND, was resolved. I felt like this wasnt addressed enough, especially Eugenides' feelings about it. Surely he must have been conflicted and thinking twice about his love for her. It would have been good to see how he had managed to come to forgive her – if he did at all. You spend most of the book thinking he hates her, and then all of a sudden youre supposed to believe he loved her all along? It just didn't make sense to me.


10 comments:

  1. Oh no! No cool club for you! Kidding, mostly.

    I do remember being puzzled by the relationship too. I find it difficult to believe you could be that emotionally connected to someone who had done that kind of thing to you.

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    1. Ha! I know. I wish it was addressed in the novel.

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  2. me too! I had almost exactly the same complaints that you did when I read The Queen - it was too removed from the characters and therefore all the politics and war things weren't that interesting; the twist was completely unfounded; and there wasn't enough Gen.

    But then I'm so glad you said you loved The King because I was going to say, "Read The King!" I loved it. It's probably my favorite book of the whole series because it is all about the characters again (Gen!) and the twists are surprising but totally believable.

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    1. I'm am soooo glad that someone else agrees with me. I liked The King so much more than this one. I ordered a Conspiracy of Kings but it doesn't seem to be about Gen that much so I don't know if I'll like it as much.

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  3. I hate the kind of books that you feel guilty for not liking. I still need to read Whalen Turner's books. Everyone - on the whole - seems to rave about them. Should I start with The Thief?

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    1. Yes, The Thief is the first in the series. It's good. A lot of people prefer this one to The Thief but I'm the odd one out!

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  4. Actually, this is my LEAST favorite of the four in the series--so don't worry, I still think you're cool! I can totally see why you felt this way given THINGS, but I'm really glad to see you went on to read KoA. My favorite is actually A Conspiracy of Kings.

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    1. Oh really? That's so interesting. I wasn't sure if I'd like the A Conspiracy of Kings because it seems quite different from the original trilogy but I'm glad you loved it, especially considering this was your least favourite and that's how I feel about it out of the three I've read.

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  5. "But I really didn’t like the frequent, tedious descriptions of politics and war maneuvers and meetings." --> Haha, I live for all that! :) I found Attolia to be such a compelling character. I'm so glad you continued on with King. That was probably my favorite book in the series.

    -Maggie

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    1. Noooo not me, they just make my eyes gloss over. I agree Attolia is very compelling and complex.

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