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lover97's review against another edition
dark
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
4.0
4 ⭐️
It's been a while since I've read a series that's a true slow burn, I've missed it. This is definitely giving all the vibes of a romance that's going to take a while to develop.
I wasn't expecting this to be a camelot reimagining, but I enjoyed that aspect, and lancelet quickly became a character I liked. Morgan having that female friendship is important in showing us a bit more of her personality and providing some lighter moments.
As far as the plot goes, I felt this was really well paced. Sometimes books with a journey in can drag, but there's enough happening that i never felt bored.
I thought i had predicted the plot twist, but then that last chapter happened now. I can't wait to pick the next one up. I'm hoping we're going to get some much needed world building on the magic system going forward as it's unclear at the moment.
I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
It's been a while since I've read a series that's a true slow burn, I've missed it. This is definitely giving all the vibes of a romance that's going to take a while to develop.
I wasn't expecting this to be a camelot reimagining, but I enjoyed that aspect, and lancelet quickly became a character I liked. Morgan having that female friendship is important in showing us a bit more of her personality and providing some lighter moments.
As far as the plot goes, I felt this was really well paced. Sometimes books with a journey in can drag, but there's enough happening that i never felt bored.
I thought i had predicted the plot twist, but then that last chapter happened now. I can't wait to pick the next one up. I'm hoping we're going to get some much needed world building on the magic system going forward as it's unclear at the moment.
I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
strawberryymoonlight's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcohol and War
Minor: Slavery
dxmxus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
While this is definitely a slower paced book, primarily focusing on world building and plot development, the characters are easy to connect with. Definitely a difficult book to put down, however, there are moments where the main character seems almost too naive. Readers see through much of the foreshadowing well before the character realizes the warning signs.
I fully plan on finishing the series, however, I hope the next books focus more on character development as the MC feels somewhat flat and unwilling to learn unless absolutely forced into it.
I fully plan on finishing the series, however, I hope the next books focus more on character development as the MC feels somewhat flat and unwilling to learn unless absolutely forced into it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Murder, and Sexual harassment
allisonamber's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Definitely a slower pace but because of that it helps the world building. A different spin on Arthur and the knights of the round table mixed with fae. The FMC is very innocent and naive so not always relatable or a character with a lot of depth but I’m sure that will help develop throughout the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
madelinel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Waaayyy too violent for me. The only character I liked was Lancelet and she was barely in the story. Would not classify as a romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment
lilybonilla's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5⭐️/5⭐️
That this was a solid book and a pretty fun read. I think the authors twist on King Author was interesting and entertaining. This is a VERY slow burn enemies to lovers with little spice, but I’m excited to see the development of the main characters relationship in the next book.
I loved the story building in the book. The author took a lot of time to explain and give proper backstory for this fantasy world. I think the downside to this was that it made the book feel a little slow paced. The plot does move along and is entertaining, but I think the first book lays down a lot of ground work for the rest of the series which is why it feels slow.
One thing I really liked about this book is the characters themselves. The way they were written invoked a lot of emotion. I deeply hated a lot of characters and also really loved others. Each character had depth and a purpose. Until the end, I didn’t know who to trust and believe. I also loved how diverse the characters were!
Overall, it’s a pretty solid book and I’m already planning on reading the next book! Happy reading🫶
That this was a solid book and a pretty fun read. I think the authors twist on King Author was interesting and entertaining. This is a VERY slow burn enemies to lovers with little spice, but I’m excited to see the development of the main characters relationship in the next book.
I loved the story building in the book. The author took a lot of time to explain and give proper backstory for this fantasy world. I think the downside to this was that it made the book feel a little slow paced. The plot does move along and is entertaining, but I think the first book lays down a lot of ground work for the rest of the series which is why it feels slow.
One thing I really liked about this book is the characters themselves. The way they were written invoked a lot of emotion. I deeply hated a lot of characters and also really loved others. Each character had depth and a purpose. Until the end, I didn’t know who to trust and believe. I also loved how diverse the characters were!
Overall, it’s a pretty solid book and I’m already planning on reading the next book! Happy reading🫶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
cakins28's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
The first in the Blood of a Fae series by Briar Boleyn, this novel follows Morgan Pendragon, sister to King Arthur, as she discovers her true identity and the power that comes with it. Morgan, first born child of King Uther, is stripped of her right to inherit the throne of Camelot when her younger half-brother, Arthur, is born. Despite this fact, she never holds any ill-will toward her brother. She grows up alongside him, loving him and trying to protect him from their drunk, power mad, abusive father. In the end, though, it’s not enough to stop Arthur from becoming a bigger tyrant than even their father was.
Narcissistic, power mad, Arthur is paranoid of everyone and everything around him, including his older sister. But this is more than a simple sibling rivalry - Morgan is part-Fae, making her a social and political outcast, even in her own family. When food in Camelot becomes scarce, and the civilians begin to get restless, Arthur decides that he has to rely on his sister to retrieve the legendary sword, Excalibur.
Embarking on a quest, in the middle of the night, with the captain of the Royal Guard, Kairos Draven and a rather detestable mercenary named Whitehorn, Morgan steps into the great unknown and will discover her true power and identity.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars based on the following:
- The world building was exceptional. While the geographical and political terrain of the kingdom aren’t terribly complicated, the world of Queen of Roses is just complicated enough to hold interest. Each area within the kingdom has it’s own distinct features. The fact that the world is much larger than Morgan originally believes it to be is an important detail that makes the political aspects of the book much more intriguing.
- The characterization in the first half of the book is excellent, and the characters act exactly within their characterizations throughout. There is never a moment when I thought “I can’t believe that character did that!” The choices made by each character fit precisely within the boundaries of how you expect the characters to act.
- Despite the fact that it is a romance novel, the adventure and fantasy were much stronger than the romance was. Of course, there’s romantic, and even sexual, tension between Morgan and Draven, but it isn’t such a huge part of the story that it detracts from the rest of the plot. The love triangle is short-lived, which makes it much more bearable. Morgan’s naivety makes the love-triangle and subsequent betrayal much more believable.
- The fact that the twists were predictable does take away from the story somewhat. I do enjoy being right when my predictions come true, but I would still like some surprises to remain surprises.
I predicted Arthur turning on another nation very early on. I predicted the reality of who Draven was, I predicted that Morgan was more powerful than anyone realized, I predicted that the medicine she was taking was actually meant to subdue her power. All of those “twists” were glaringly obvious from the outset of the novel. F-boy (whose name I genuinely can’t remember) got his comeuppance too quickly. I genuinely hated him, and assumed that he would be going with Draven and Morgan on their quest. His death came to early in the book. He definitely deserved what he got, but we had just been introduced to the stakes of Morgan’s success/failure. Removing him from the equation before she set out for her quest removes some of her personal interest in the success of the quest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism
mileapo's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
soniajoy98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Slavery, Kidnapping, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lastblossom's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
tl;dr
An interesting take on Arthurian legend. Too dark for me, sadly.
Thoughts
I keep telling myself to give dark fantasy another chance, and I should stop telling myself that. My feelings on this book are split. On the plus side, some great twists on fae and Arthurian legend. The story had some great reveals, and I liked all the supporting friends. But it turns out I am tired of things being miserable always and at all times. While this doesn't go all the way into "gritty" territory, the storyline is definitely dark enough, with our MC constantly being kicked around from all directions (mostly from her really terrible brother), with barely a sliver of relief. At one point, I started to wonder why she was even still doing the quest, when she'd probably be better off just running away. Or perhaps using the time away to build that secret army her brother thinks she's got going on. But if you want a dark fantasy, this book absolutely fulfills the prompt. There's also a decent amount of spice, and a very slow burn romance (that looks like it won't really see completion until later installments), and I liked the world building.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
An interesting take on Arthurian legend. Too dark for me, sadly.
Thoughts
I keep telling myself to give dark fantasy another chance, and I should stop telling myself that. My feelings on this book are split. On the plus side, some great twists on fae and Arthurian legend. The story had some great reveals, and I liked all the supporting friends. But it turns out I am tired of things being miserable always and at all times. While this doesn't go all the way into "gritty" territory, the storyline is definitely dark enough, with our MC constantly being kicked around from all directions (mostly from her really terrible brother), with barely a sliver of relief. At one point, I started to wonder why she was even still doing the quest, when she'd probably be better off just running away. Or perhaps using the time away to build that secret army her brother thinks she's got going on. But if you want a dark fantasy, this book absolutely fulfills the prompt. There's also a decent amount of spice, and a very slow burn romance (that looks like it won't really see completion until later installments), and I liked the world building.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Xenophobia