chaptersofamylea's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
“Legend likes to be the villain.”
“How could I forget? That was always my favorite part.”
5 ⭐️
I forgot how much I adored this book. I think I really loved my reread of Caraval for the magic and the nostalgia, but I loved Legendary for its plot. And I’d forgotten so much! What a treat it was to reread, and meeting Jacks again for the first time was a delight.
TWs: parental abandonment, ref to child abuse, blood and injury
“How could I forget? That was always my favorite part.”
5 ⭐️
I forgot how much I adored this book. I think I really loved my reread of Caraval for the magic and the nostalgia, but I loved Legendary for its plot. And I’d forgotten so much! What a treat it was to reread, and meeting Jacks again for the first time was a delight.
TWs: parental abandonment, ref to child abuse, blood and injury
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment and Child abuse
bluebreex's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I do love the world and magic of this series! Legendary is filled with lots of fun twists and turns as well as betrayal and reveals. While I did see some of the reveals coming, watching them unravel was still very fun! (Also loved seeing Jacks again he's so special to me)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Confinement
avie_j's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment and Blood
melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Sequels don’t always like up to the hype of the first book but Legendary did just that and more. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Tella in the first book but her actions made sense at the end of Caraval and I was able to get a sense of her character more in her own book than the last one. We got to see her backstory through her eyes and how those experiences shaped her into the person she is today and the way it was illustrated by the narrator was perfection. From beginning to end you can see just how different she is from her sister Scarlett in the way she decides to play the game during Caraval and the sacrifices she makes for the people she loves. Speaking of love, Dante was the best love interest for Tella in my opinion. We know that both of them aren’t the type of people to go into relationships so the way the reader is able to see the change in both her and Dante’s perception of love as the play the game together was absolutely heartwarming. From the tension and teasing in the beginning, to the jealousy in him seeing her with someone else even if it was fake, to the (many) stolen kisses in private and even their final kiss has me rooting for a happy ending to their love story in the last book of the trilogy. The twists and turns in this book were even better than the ones in the last book so I’m excited to dive into Finale and see how Stephanie Garber outdoes herself yet again!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Injury/Injury detail
1_800_fuck_off's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
i enjoyed this book significantly better than the first one.
the prince of hearts was what made me have hope that i would actually like this book and i did.
he was a big part of that reason.
i didn't dislike tella in this book, i hadn't disliked her in the first one, either, but i just didn't feel much of anything for her. moments in this book made me be like "oh, she's kind of cool for that ngl." that's kind of all i have to say about her though.
Spoiler
when dante was revealed to be legend i was inclined to not believe it,, i didn't think it would be that obvious.Spoiler
dante is just.. well.. dante, lol. he's the typical "bad boy", tortured, devil may cry, type of love interest. well, not fully, he does seemingly care a lot about donatella. but his character is built to be cocky, overconfident, seductive, funny, flirtatious, play boy sort of dude on the surface and have tragic backstory/serious, mean side which i can name many other LI like that on the spot sooo,,scarlett,, if scarlett hadn't been in the book i wouldn't have noticed. she literally has such insignificant scenes in this book but i'm sure it was to set up for the third and final book.
the prince of hearts, now that was a great character. he instantly captured my attention. the plot twists actually plot twisted. i was actually surprised when he was revealed to be:
Spoiler
jacks.Spoiler
1. the heir, 2. tella's friend, and 3. the prince of hearts.he was just a wonderfully, well done morally ambiguous character. he's confusing in the best way possible. does he actually have a soft side? is he actually a cruel person?
Spoiler
is tella really his true love?anyways. pretty good book. on to the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Murder
Minor: Death
rescuing mother gone wrong, morally ambiguous characters for the win, legend not so legendary, found family??kellan_writes's review
adventurous
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'm still not sure what I think of this series. The first book was ok, but this one was a little dull, and the characters not nearly as likable.
Instead of Scarlett we follow her younger sister Donatella, as she tries to win Caraval and get Legend's true name in order to free her mother. But there games upon games and secrets untold. The ending does leave me at least wanting to finish this series for closure, but I'm not sure I honestly recommend it. The pacing is uneven, and it goes from hate to love far to quick even if the characters don't admit it. There also felt like a bit of backsliding for all the characters, leaving us where we found them at the beginning of the first book.
Instead of Scarlett we follow her younger sister Donatella, as she tries to win Caraval and get Legend's true name in order to free her mother. But there games upon games and secrets untold. The ending does leave me at least wanting to finish this series for closure, but I'm not sure I honestly recommend it. The pacing is uneven, and it goes from hate to love far to quick even if the characters don't admit it. There also felt like a bit of backsliding for all the characters, leaving us where we found them at the beginning of the first book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
amre23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Violence, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Confinement, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcohol and Death of parent
tays_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, and Terminal illness
cady_sass's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Not as good as the first book but better than expected. I thought reading from Donatella’s perspective wouldn’t be enjoyable but I grew to like her more than I thought I would. My biggest issue with this is actually the gaping plot holes it creates in the first, which was already teetering on the edge of being nonsensical. If you can pretend that the continuity issues don’t exist this might be a 4 or 5 star read for you, but, alas, you would be a bigger person than me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
dannilmp's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The ambigious ending of Caraval certainly leads itself to a sequel in Legendary, but whether this sequel was really necessary is another question. This time around we mainly follow Donatella on her journey through another Caraval game with just as high stakes as Scarlett found in her game previously.
Firstly, I feel this book had a lot of character development for Donatella but also justified some of her more (what I personally found) annoying behaviours and traits that we saw in Caraval. This book also worked to flesh out some of the mythology of the Caraval universe, but I was certainly left wanting more. The Fates are an intersting concept and one that I hope to see given more attention and detail in the final book.
However, Tella's character development was not enough for me to want to like her character and compared to Caraval, reading Legendary was a little bit more of a chore for me, hence the slightly lower star rating compared to the first book. I also couldn't get past some aspects of Legend's character right at the end which felt like the ending of the book was a slight letdown.
Firstly, I feel this book had a lot of character development for Donatella but also justified some of her more (what I personally found) annoying behaviours and traits that we saw in Caraval. This book also worked to flesh out some of the mythology of the Caraval universe, but I was certainly left wanting more. The Fates are an intersting concept and one that I hope to see given more attention and detail in the final book.
However, Tella's character development was not enough for me to want to like her character and compared to Caraval, reading Legendary was a little bit more of a chore for me, hence the slightly lower star rating compared to the first book. I also couldn't get past some aspects of Legend's character right at the end which felt like the ending of the book was a slight letdown.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Blood
Moderate: Gore and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship