The Invasion of the Tearling is the sequel to last year's fantasy the Queen of the Tearling. In the Invasion of the Tearling Kelsea is dealing with the fallout of the stopped slave shipments to the Mort. War is coming, and she's being forced to make tougher and tougher decisions. Meanwhile, she's being shown pre-crossing visions. And position, and her sapphires, might be changing her in ways she never anticipated. 
 I love the Johansen continues to create a lush world. And this go-around, it felt less jarring for me. Johansen paints specific imagery, and I continue to get to know more details. She's not throwing everything at me at once, but she establishes that there is a lot to know. Within the Tearling we stay in pretty familiar ground within New London. Presumably because Johansen essentially introduces us to a completely new world with pre-crossing America. And she manages to establish it in a very vivid, real way in very little space. 
 When the flashback portions of the novel started I wasn't sure I was on board. I wanted to spend more time in our fantasy world. I didn't want to get to know a whole new world that was basically a dystopian future, although I guess that could be argued of our fantasy world as well. Her pre-crossing America was good dystopia though. It was heightened, but still felt like something plausible. 
 This back and forth through time allows Johansen to pose even more questions, while continuing to string us along about questions central to the first novel. For instance, we still don't know who Kelsea's father is. And while it was a central question of the first novel, it only comes up enough in Invasion of the Tearling to acknowledge we still don't have an answer. Johansen has the pacing down. Whether it's knowing how to continue to string along her readers while keeping them invested, or when to switch back and forth between times without losing the reader. She eased us into the past, allowing us to spend more time in Kelsea's visions as time went on and we were more comfortable there. 
 Kelsea as a character in this novel became even more interesting in that she started to become corrupted a little. Johansen established she isn't always going to necessarily make morally upstanding decisions. She's got a little more grit to her. And while I sometimes wanted the old Kelsea, it's perfect development. 
 For me, this was a successful sequel. I feel satisfied, and completely unsatisfied at the same time. I need to know more. Who is Kelsea's father? What is Kelsea's link to this woman from the past? Who is exactly is the Fetch? What clues has Johansen planted that I've completely missed?