cigarettekisses's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Injury/injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Colonisation, and Slavery
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Torture, and Gaslighting
tarheelreader's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery and Racism
Minor: Rape
philharmonic's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Slavery
Minor: Grief and Death of parent
yalestay's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Transphobia and Death of parent
neezii's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Racism
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Rape
alyssagracel's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book was a wild ride! It started off slow but went out with a BANG 🤯
What I liked:
• The fantasy element - The King Arthur, Knights of the Round Table, magic, demons, secret societies.. and how that all comes together with generational trauma, institutional racism.. slavery? 🤯
• The key themes (grief/trauma, institutional racism) - these are big themes and they were tackled SO well! They really added an extra layer to the story, especially the exploration of institutional racism and slavery in the US. The historical reimagining/fantasy (still deeply rooted in a very real, traumatic history) was so fascinating, and extremely powerful.
• Part Four - this part of the book was a ROLLERCOASTER! The way everything came together in this section was truly mind-blowing! I can usually guess the twists in books but I had no idea what would happen next here. (Ch. 56!!!!!!! CRAZY!) - this part of the book was 5/5!
• The diversity - there is a lot of LGBT+ rep in this book which I really appreciated! The characters sexualities are seamlessly mentioned without there being a big deal about it, and I love that there was a nonbinary character included too, again without any fuss! I know a lot of fantasies (YA and adult) are diverse, (usually just LGB rep though), but it felt especially natural and effortless in Legendborn. Bree is the only prominent Black character in the story, but it really made me happy to read a fantasy where the main protagonist is a woman of colour! As a mixed race woman I felt like I could relate to her on a deeper level.
What I didn't like:
• the first 100 or so pages of the book were quite slow and confusing, so it took a bit of effort to get into (worth it though!!). I also noticed in the first 100-200 pages the huge similarities to City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, or more specifically Clary's character (i.e.mommy issues, teenage angst). BUT there was a lot more to Bree - grief, racism, trauma, self discovery. This isn't something I particularly disliked, but I will say I initially found Bree to be just as annoying as I found ClaryÂ
• the length - there was a lot of unnecessary writing that could've been cut down IMO just to speed things up. I did find myself skimming over certain sections that were just excessive descriptions that didn't really add to the story.
What I liked:
• The fantasy element - The King Arthur, Knights of the Round Table, magic, demons, secret societies.. and how that all comes together with generational trauma, institutional racism.. slavery? 🤯
• The key themes (grief/trauma, institutional racism) - these are big themes and they were tackled SO well! They really added an extra layer to the story, especially the exploration of institutional racism and slavery in the US. The historical reimagining/fantasy (still deeply rooted in a very real, traumatic history) was so fascinating, and extremely powerful.
• Part Four - this part of the book was a ROLLERCOASTER! The way everything came together in this section was truly mind-blowing! I can usually guess the twists in books but I had no idea what would happen next here. (Ch. 56!!!!!!! CRAZY!) - this part of the book was 5/5!
• The diversity - there is a lot of LGBT+ rep in this book which I really appreciated! The characters sexualities are seamlessly mentioned without there being a big deal about it, and I love that there was a nonbinary character included too, again without any fuss! I know a lot of fantasies (YA and adult) are diverse, (usually just LGB rep though), but it felt especially natural and effortless in Legendborn. Bree is the only prominent Black character in the story, but it really made me happy to read a fantasy where the main protagonist is a woman of colour! As a mixed race woman I felt like I could relate to her on a deeper level.
What I didn't like:
• the first 100 or so pages of the book were quite slow and confusing, so it took a bit of effort to get into (worth it though!!). I also noticed in the first 100-200 pages the huge similarities to City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, or more specifically Clary's character (i.e.mommy issues, teenage angst). BUT there was a lot more to Bree - grief, racism, trauma, self discovery. This isn't something I particularly disliked, but I will say I initially found Bree to be just as annoying as I found ClaryÂ
• the length - there was a lot of unnecessary writing that could've been cut down IMO just to speed things up. I did find myself skimming over certain sections that were just excessive descriptions that didn't really add to the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Racism
m4rtt4's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I really wanted to like this. The premise was so exciting, and both the characters and the magical system were unlike anything I'd ever seen before. However, the book was so unnecessarily long!! Especially the first part felt like forever, I think you could easily reduce this book from 500 to 400 pages and have it still (even more) enjoyable. At 20yo I may not be the target audience for a book with a 16yo protagonist, and I acknowledge that many scenes felt too teen-like and maybe weren't made for me to enjoy. But I'm an young adult as well; and I still regularly enjoy YA books so why did I dislike this then??
The world-building was quite poorly done, it took me ages to understand how the magical system works. There were so many words in Welsh that weren't translated, even Welsh creatures whose appearances still remain a mystery to me. There were too many fighting scenes for my taste, and I'm not sensitive to violence or injuries — I just don't give a fuck about who hit whom and when and how. Neither did I like the romantic aspects of the story; why must every female YA protagonist always have a love interest? Also I was promised a (boarding) school setting, but everything academic was slowly disposed of as the plot thickened :(
Positive aspects of the book would be its natural diversity in characters, the existence of Selwyn (my favourite character <3) and the subplot about Rootcraft and Bree's family history. I really wish the book had focused more on that, based on the short scenes I am already way more interested in Rootcraft than I ever could be in King Arthur and his knights' descendants. Applause to Deonn for creating such an original fantasy experience, I find it so unfortunate I wasn't able to enjoy it. I really wanted to :(
(tbh I have no idea why I listened through the whole 18 hours despite thinking about DNFing literally every half an hour. guess I really had my hopes up for nothing..)
The world-building was quite poorly done, it took me ages to understand how the magical system works. There were so many words in Welsh that weren't translated, even Welsh creatures whose appearances still remain a mystery to me. There were too many fighting scenes for my taste, and I'm not sensitive to violence or injuries — I just don't give a fuck about who hit whom and when and how. Neither did I like the romantic aspects of the story; why must every female YA protagonist always have a love interest? Also I was promised a (boarding) school setting, but everything academic was slowly disposed of as the plot thickened :(
Positive aspects of the book would be its natural diversity in characters, the existence of Selwyn (my favourite character <3) and the subplot about Rootcraft and Bree's family history. I really wish the book had focused more on that, based on the short scenes I am already way more interested in Rootcraft than I ever could be in King Arthur and his knights' descendants. Applause to Deonn for creating such an original fantasy experience, I find it so unfortunate I wasn't able to enjoy it. I really wanted to :(
(tbh I have no idea why I listened through the whole 18 hours despite thinking about DNFing literally every half an hour. guess I really had my hopes up for nothing..)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/injury detail, Racism, Violence, Death, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Car accident, Rape, Mental illness, and Slavery
nimjimm's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? No
4.75
This book honestly is so robust and well put together. The authors craftsmanship really shines through. You can see the amount of effort and time and research spent into creating this world. The world is so phenomenal to me. I was definitely confused at times with it all but I think that like at the speed that we were getting information reflected the speed at which our main character was also getting the information. The characters are so interesting and I really came to care about all of them. This book, honestly is so devastating and really pulled at my heartstrings, I was really there I believed what was happening and I feel so changed for reading it. I still can’t gauge the pacing but my heart bleeds for these characters.Â
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, Grief, and Sexual assault
shannaw's review
adventurous
challenging
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
A King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table retelling of sorts. The FMC, Bree, is so well written and her struggles with grief and racism are powerfully written in this YA fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Grief
Moderate: Rape
fivecatsinacoat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Slavery, Bullying, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Classism, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Body horror, Death, and Injury/injury detail
Moderate: Pregnancy, Car accident, and Rape