Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

79 reviews

sophieamreacher's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Loved this so much. I loved the history and magic system. I loved the depth and sadness. I loved the world building and the characters. I especially loved Bree and I have a crush on Sel. Can’t wait to continue this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

savanah's review

adventurous challenging hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The first approximately 80% of this book was a steady 3 stars. Not bad, but a lot of what I had experienced before in books as far as plot. The last 20% is really what brought it to the next level. All the loose ends and questions that had been drawn out in the first part were not only thoroughly answered, they made sense with the story and changed the context of some judgements I had made. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery, Violence, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

corsetedfeminist's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think this is the first American fantasy novel l've ever read that actually takes the racist history of this country into account in a profound way that actually affects the plot. That one plot twist at the end? My brain exploded with some combination of horror and wonder. 

The magical world and system itself is probably one of my favorites of all time, just from a magic perspective. I loved the discussions of the differences between the Order's magic and Root magic, and Bree trying to live in both worlds. 

Bree. Look, I love many FMCs, but Bree was an instant favorite. She feels so real and raw and strong, and she actually acts in understandable ways in the various situations she ends up in. I love her depth, and her stubbornness, and her fire. I love the way her grief is shown, and how she finally manages to work through it to the other side. I almost literally screamed at That Moment in the last couple of chapters, when she finally comes into her inheritance. 

Nick is so sweet, so strong, and somehow I care about a straight relationship. I also love that he's 100% there just to love and support Bree, and he didn't want to be here anyway. 

I didn't know what to make of Sel, but, surprising no one, by the end of the book I just loved our angsty, traumatized half-demon baby and I'm looking forward to his relationship with Bree going forward. Cariad? Really? How am I supposed to cope? 

I loved so many of the side characters in this book- Alice, William, Sarah, Patricia, Greer... And also hated quite a few. Besides Lord David and Isaac, when I get my hands on Tor...... 

Also, as someone who is a UNC fan by reason of half my family being alumni, I loved the discussion of the school's troubled history and the repeated appearance of Carolina Blue. 

In conclusion- this book rewrote my brain, I'll be reading book 2 today, and then somehow waiting for book 3 to come out. Also, when do we get a movie, because I badly need it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mycarefulcardinal's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Slavery

sarahyjackson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture

laureloreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, and Death of parent

74laura74's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, and Pregnancy

danysgirl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

bzliz's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I waited a long time to read this because people spoke so highly of it and I was worried it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. I’m so delighted to say I had nothing to worry about because it exceeded my expectations in every way. 

I immediately fell in love with Bree and I wanted nothing but good things for her. I’ve never been hugely into Arthurian legend but I enjoyed the dip into that world in a modern context and I was completely engrossed in every twist she encountered. The beautiful balance between aether and root was so cool and Bree’s journey to learn both paths was so fun. 

The biggest compliment I can give is that I want to immediately dive into Bloodmarked but I need to give it a few days so I don’t get them confused with each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery and Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Car accident

Child abuse (off page):

mentions of the way Nick and Sel were raised involving physical abuse under the guise of being part of training for their duty.

Rape (off page): Mention toward the end of the book of one of Bree’s enslaved ancestors being raped by the master of the house, then threatened after she became pregnant. It’s not explicitly called by that name but it’s definitely what happened. Racism (on page):

Bree faces multiple instances of micro aggressions and overt racism. Nobody outright calls her any slurs but it’s pretty unrelenting because just like in real life even people who don’t mean harm can still cause harm.

peppermint_pink's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Wow first let me just say that the plot is so engaging - it got me reading 60-90 pages a day. Just be aware that this book is LONG. The magic system was also so interesting and I can't wait to learn more about it. 
I was just a little disappointed mostly because the hype around the book elevated my expectations too much and it didn't meet my initial expectations. Some things that bothered me: 

• The timeline. Like 60% of the book happened within the first week of school? It gave me whiplash. The whole thing happens in two weeks. What. I also kind of wish the author just made Bree 18 instead of 16
  because the age and early college thing mixed with how fast everything went is throwing me off a little.
• The love triangle. This is more of a personal preference. I don't like love triangles at all, especially not when it felt like Bree didn't have much chemistry with one of the dudes in the love triangle.
  Also two white boys?!
  But that's what you get when you read YA - you've got to accept that teenage melodrama will be part of the story. 
• Her relationships. I really needed her to have more Black friends or at least TRY to look for more POC friends.
  Her one friend kinda got pushed to the wayside and it was lowkey disappointing and felt underdeveloped.
• I know that the story represents the reality for a lot of Black people who are in PWIs but it really felt like there were TOO many White people. Maybe that's just me. I just thought there would be more Black people but I can count on one hand the number of (named) Black characters she interacts with
  not counting the ancestors.

 Still, I loved seeing the growth and discovery in Bree in the last third of the book. Tracy Deonn really showed the impulsivity and anger that comes with being a teenager, not to mention a grieving one.   Overall, it wasn't bad at all. I just didn't love it the way I expected to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Vomit, and Car accident