My Review:⭐️⭐⭐⭐.5/ 5 stars

How have I never heard of this series (The Queen of the Tearling) until reading this prequel? This book blew me out of the water. This book tells the story of a feudal society called the Tearling - where the rich and poor are at each other's throats due the drought and unfair treatment of the farmers on the lands. There is a prophecy that the True Queen will come one day and save the people/kingdom. Elyssa is the crown princess and she has more socialist leanings due to being tutored by Lady Glynn (a secret Blue Horizon, the resistance against the church/feudal society). Her mother, Queen Arla the Just, is ruthless and rules with an iron fist - Elyssa finds herself constantly struggling to follow in the steps of her mother or do what’s the best for the people. Enter a mysterious witch, Breonna, and her master -who try to use their sorcery to persuade the queen to relinquish the crown sapphires. Will Elyssa stop them and not allow herself to be a victim herself? The story also tells the stories of Lazarus,a fighter from the Creche (underground), and Aislinn, local farmer’s daughter. This book had so many layers and the brutal world that Johansen created is so vivid and detailed. Some of the violence was a turn off, but easy to understand why it was included to show how terribly cruel the “noble” people in the Tearling were. I need to go read the sequels immediately. Has anyone else read this series?

Note: There are a LOT of trigger warnings - child prostitution, rape, violence against women and children that will put this fantasy novel out of the YA realm.

Thank you to Dutton Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

US Pub Date: February 2, 2021

I definitively would have liked this book more if I had read it before The Fate of The Tearling. I liked getting to know Mace/Lazarus/Christian's backstory. And I loved getting to know more about Queen Elyssa and why she was the way she was. But honestly this whole book seemed completely pointless because of the way the Fate of the Tearling ended. Why should I care about any of these characters and their backstories, if they end up having completely different lives?

Prequels are always tricky because they can never have the same narrative suspense as a sequel. But Beneath the Keep does a good job of telling its own story (and filling in a lot of missing color for the trilogy) and keeping the user engaged. I have this vague impression of the Tearling books as kinda happy and each time I start reading one I'm immediately smacked in the face at how brutal and unforgiving the world is. That isn't a criticism, just interesting how the optimism from the stories is what lingers with me, while the rest of it drops away.

Man. I love this book. I love this WORLD. I want MOOOORE