Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

106 reviews

notsobinaryart's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Car accident, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Medical content, and Alcohol

rberdan's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I will be honest. I read the first half and a predictable thing I expected had already transpired so I wasn’t terribly invested, and then my Libby loan expired. I skipped my loan a few times and then it came back up a few days ago when I was in exactly the mood to read it while recovering from COVID and let me tell you… I did not put it down until I was done and promptly jumped to book two when I finished. 

I know enough about Arthurian legend to understand what’s going on, but I wouldn’t say I’m typically drawn to these stories, which is a testament to the author’s skill at storytelling. Sure, there were some predictable bits… it’s a YA novel and I expect this… but there were also some things I didn’t see coming and some different story elements in terms of both magic and the interweaving of power, elitism, and racism that were deftly woven. By the end of the noon I was already fully invested, and then when I read the author’s notes I retroactively had an even deeper appreciation for the work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Slavery, and Murder

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

ehmannky's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

A really good, fast-paced, and innovative spin on the Arthurian legends and a really beautiful look at the way that grief--both generational and personal molds can really do a number on people, especially young people of color. The strongest bits for me were the character building, when magic was actually being done, and the deep-dive into grief. I felt the Trials(TM) parts were the weakest links in this book, but hopefully they won't appear in book 2. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit

dailbrae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Car accident, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcohol

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Stalking, Alcohol, and Classism

sambolin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Legendborn took a minute to get into. Much like the main character there was a lot of world building to catch onto. It was extremely rich in lore and the world. But at the beginning it was dense, and a little hard to get into. As Bree figures things out (and we do too) the pace picks up and is a non-stop read. I loved the twists this author incorporated. Even more so, my favorite part was the intricate weaving of generational trauma and microagressions- in a way that felt real and not teachy or preachy to readers. It wasn’t glossed over or forgotten- it was clear throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Sexual violence

abisnail564's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

lqne's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Bullying

lesego_mashego's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

Absolutely amazing book. I'm disappointed that I didn't pick it up sooner. It really resonated with me; Bree's emotions reflected mine. It's amazing (and painful) how much I related to the events of the book, even though it's mostly fantasy. "It's about Black motherhood and Black daughterhood" and it's a great read. A little hard to wrap your head around at times, but it's worth the struggle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Slavery

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual violence

jasperdotpdf'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

4.0

 So I've let my thoughts on this book steep a bit and I'm still really torn on what to rate this book, but I think 4 stars is a good compromise. I read this and Bloodmarked back to back so a portion of my thoughts on this are influenced by my opinion on the sequel, just FYI.

On one hand, there's a lot of small-ish things in this book that I didn't love. The worldbuilding was really interesting but at certain points it felt contrived and convoluted. The idea of these two "types" of magic existing in the Order and Rootcraft was really cool, but the attempt to make them not only coexist in the same book, but converge in the same character didn't work too well for me.
The worldbuilding was confusing, info-dumpey and yet there were still so many terms that were never really explained that I just had to figure out on my own.
I especially struggled with the way Rootcraft was handled. It was oftentimes depicted as the more "ethical" form of magic when contrasted with the Order that is saturated with elitism, greed and racism/colonial history. And while Legendborn often critiques these things very clearly and distinctly, the way Bree interacts with magic and the world around her feels almost contradictory to this. It seems like she oftentimes chooses the Order over the community of Rootcrafters. The way her relationships with Nick, Sel and William are explored much more deeply than with Mariah and Patricia are one of the primary examples for this.

I also felt like the cast of characters was a little too big. I barely remember half of them and care about even less, as it was really easy to lose track. Especially when just being introduced to the way the Order is structured and the way the worldbuilding works, all the minor characters and the titles were really overwhelming. By the end of the book (and Bloodmarked, for that matter) the focus is on a much smaller group of characters, and I think the book could've benefitted from reducing the cast down a bit from the beginning.

This is a super small point of critique but it was super noticeable when I read the book so I did just want to mention it. Bree passes out so. many. times. There's a copious amount of chapters that end in her losing consciousness and then waking up in the next chapter, and it treads a very fine line between funny and annoyingly overused. I digress.

Despite all of this, I adored reading Legendborn. It does such a great job of taking a lot of the core elements of 2010s YA that was super popular back then, like secret magic orders and love triangles, but giving them a lot more depth.
The way the book deals with grief is so wonderfully heartwrenching and painfully realistic.
Bree is a delightful protagonist and the main cast of characters is wonderfully developed.
Furthermore I do love that the book addresses topics like racism and colonialism, even if the execution in the worldbuilding didn't 100% work for me, because they so desperately need to be talked about. Having these discussions in a YA book is gonna bring a lot of young readers closer to a topic that's so important to talk and think about, and Legendborn did a great job at this.

Deonn's writing style is engaging and easy to follow, and had me so invested in these characters so quickly. This book had me staying up all night cheering for and crying with these characters. It had me running to the bookstore on a Saturday to get book 2 without having to wait until after the weekend to get the delivery in had I ordered it online.

It's not a perfect book, and bloated at times, but I cared so much about the characters and what would happen to them. I was constantly on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next, so I can't bear to give it any less than 4 stars, even with all the things I didn't love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence