Erika Johansen (2014)

Synopsis:

On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown.

Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust.

But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend . . . if she can survive.

Synopsis from Harper Collins Publishers Website

Grade: Morally Offensive (O)

There are a lot of themes in this book that are offensive to catholic teachings. I will try to cover as many as I can. The setting for this book is a fictional land called Tear named after the explorer who found it after a "great crossing" from the USA to an alternate dimension where magic now exists. All of the "technology" and doctors mysteriously did not survive the crossing, and we are left in feudal Europe where no one likes to read (except for our Queen) so they do not know about all of the wonderful technology that they are missing out on like electricity. William Tear envisioned a Utopia without religion and a socialist form of government so naturally a monarchy was established when he arrived at this new land.

Religion did survive, however, and the church is one of many antagonists in this book. The church that survived the crossing is described as a combination of "catholicism and an extreme protestant sect." Kelsea (the queen of the tearling) makes her feelings well known that anyone who believes in God is an idiot and that the members of the church are not to be trusted. The "holy father" and all of his priests are corrupt, money-grabbing idiots who did nothing while all of their people were sold into slavery. They all have their own self-interests, none of which being God.

If sacrilege is not enough reason to not read this book, I shall continue. Another antagonist in this book is the Red Queen who demands hundreds of villagers each month as payment for not invading the country of Tear. She sells the villagers (half of which are children) to her nobles and earns a tidy profit. She makes her new slaves please her sexually and then offers them to the demon in the fireplace when she needs something and can't figure it out by herself. In fact, there are a lot of very graphic sex scenes revolving around the queen and I do not know how this book was given a YA rating to begin with...

There is also an excessive use of profanity, and the book perpetuates the stereotype that if you do not use birth control, you will have 7 children (the average number of children among the peasant folk). The rich can afford contraception, however, and if it doesn't work, they just have abortions. Kelsea's mother having had 3 before she had her. The nobles in Tear also keep sex slaves some of whom are kept on leashes and their nudity, fornication and other sexual acts are described in detail.

This book made me so angry that I decided to start a blog in order to prevent any other young catholics from having to read this kind of horribly offensive novel. Please do not read this book.