"If I take a true thing, and dance pretty words around it, the prettiness doesn't ruin the truth. A good story isn't a lie."
For starters, my recommendation for Lady Hotspur would be to read The Queens of Innis Lear first because then you can truly enjoy the foreshadowing and references to past characters/ relationships. It’s a whole different experience with that background, and I can’t recommend it enough. Plus, you then have this background on the world, lore, and politics, so you’re understanding is nearly instantaneous since you learned it all before. 
Now y’all know I’m a huge Shakespeare nerd, but this installment was refreshing because I’ve never read Henry IV. I was able to compare King Lear to QOIL the entire time, but Gratton’s version of Henry IV is purely her in my head. Not to say she doesn’t make the story wholly her own, cause she does, but I wasn’t comparing it to its inspiration. Like QOIL, Gratton is able to mold this perfect ending that fits her stories so wonderfully. It’s modern too, which is a complete bonus in terms of enjoyment.
I think besides her artful descriptions and enthralling world building I’m a sucker for her characters. Gratton builds these dynamic and imperfect characters that mimic the real world so perfectly. Morally ambiguous characters are my favorite, and she emphasizes that to a T!
Lady Hotspur was by far my favorite character, and SOMEHOW my annoyance with Prince Hal in the last 200 pages turned to admiration and pride. How Gratton made me change my mind so quickly?! To me that speaks to her ability to create such realistic characters. They have their faults, and they’re utterly human. Nobody makes the right decisions every time, so it’s always refreshing to read about characters who constantly work to better themselves even in the face of their mistakes. I think the only character that I never cared for at all was Rowan, but that was because he gave me vibes that he only cared for himself. Maybe that’s just me but couldn’t stand him. Though even with his less than favorable qualities, I still heavily enjoyed his part to the story because he added a depth that became vital to the ending. None of these characters are irrelevant.
"Queens do not perform loyalty, it is owed to them."
Moreover, did I mention the diversity?! *throws hands in air* I. Loved. It. From racial to sexual orientation and even a character who I would describe as transgender. I don’t want to label them incorrectly, but the prophetic stars called her a she when her body showed a male. Then when she told her family she preferred to be a female, they accepted readily. She’s not a main character by any means, but the fact that Gratton emphasized her in a fantasy book was great.
Countless of the main characters are in the LGBTQIAP+ community, and it just makes me so happy. Plus, these novels tend to have significant amounts of interracial couples and a wide range of acceptance for differing cultures. All around just a wonderful aspect to this complex world, and an example I wish our world would look up to/ strive to emulate.
Finally, I’ve seen quite a few people complain about the dense plot/ prose, but I didn’t find it like that at all. There’s constantly something happening, and it all does culminate to the end. Gratton’s endings are the peak to her writing in my opinion. She did it perfectly with QOIL, and she did it again with Lady Hotspur. Now there was a few elements at the end to Lady Hotspur that weren’t my absolute favorite, but it didn’t take much away from the story.
I wish I could talk about the plot more, but I’d recommend going into this story blind besides the synopsis and knowledge of QOIL. We see the culmination of decisions from the past and the examples present characters try to make from them. It’s complicated, but it’s fascinating. I hope you give Lady Hotspur a chance because it truly is a phenomenal book.
P.S. Just look at this last beautiful quote because Tessa has such a way with words.
"A love story does not trump a stable line of succession any better than love can stop a sword in its killing arc."
I’m probably going to return to this review to edit/ potentially add more thoughts, but for now a final thanks to Tor Books for sending me an ARC to review.