Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

183 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

insidious_toxins's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

One of the best books I’ve read in a long time this story absolutely enveloped me. Between the struggles of being black & being a woman is clearly seen throughout the book. The plot twist was absolutely fantastic in my opinion & it was pretty fast paced for me I can’t wait to start the 2nd book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

joey_estrada's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I started this book during a reading slump and I prefer 3rd over 1st person narration so it was hard to get into at first. Once I got about 70-80 pages in though, it really hooked me in. 

The fighting/action sequences were very captivating and well written.

The POC representation is very refreshing and relatable. I appreciated that this book showed the different ways racism presents itself as well as how racism can affect someone in ways you wouldn't even think of. It's rare to see racism, slavery, and ancestry talked about in the way this book did. It was comforting in a melancholy sort of way.

This book is about magic, but it's also about colonialism. Neither of these aspects felt overshadowed by the other. There was a perfect blend of both.

The subtle LGBTQIA+ representation was also a nice touch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Cursing, Physical abuse, and War

findingt_ri's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Rape and Vomit

plasticpansy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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, Blood, and War

Moderate: Gore, Rape, Slavery, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

alexiconic's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

legendborn manages to be a great action-filled book that made me turn the pages as fast as i could and have a main character that struggles, has feelings she is processing, and side characters that were fun and (mostly) different. it has a serious message and bree is struggling with the real questions of coming of age, but she is also in love, and she does badass magical things. it was great fun all the way through. 

i don’t know if this is a perfect book.

i am on the fence about the sel/nick/bree relationships, for example, and was afraid for a long portion that it would be a typical “she falls for the blond good guy but now here is a dark mysterious hottie and she will go for him” situation. buuuut it feels like that is a misread of the situation - the three have complicated relationships with each other (and really each other person). sel is bound to nick, has loved nick, nick and bree are in love, but bree is also in a unique relationship with sel because of their ancestors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

risaleel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Sexism, Slavery, Xenophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

shaynicole's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Forced institutionalization

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.