Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Queen of Roses by Briar Boleyn

18 reviews

mj_86's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.75

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emilygibbs's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

3.5

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rowanhill's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Features:
  • Loose retelling of Arthurian legend with fae a dark twist
  • Slow burn, enemies to lovers romance; not much spice
  • Excellent world building 
  • Cliffhanger ending that will leave you begging for more

This loose retelling of Arthurian legend turns everything on its head and was a wild ride I totally didn’t expect! There are a lot of intriguing ideas introduced to this version of Camelot that makes it feel unique and fresh. Boleyn constructs this world in such an engaging way that the hunger to know more about it kept me reading through an otherwise slow start to the story. Once the real adventure starts, the plot really takes off and it becomes hard to put down. Though I loved the story overall, I still felt like there was some untapped potential, especially in the character department. If you are looking for a true retelling of Arthurian legend and/or a steamy romance, you will probably be disappointed. However, if an engaging, action packed fae fantasy with an Arthurian flavor sounds like your kind of book, I would definitely recommend this read!

Pro: Camelot reimagined

The world building in this book definitely makes it stand out. The story takes place in Camelot, but it is a Camelot like you have never seen it before. It has been shown that fae lore and magic fit comfortably into the context of Arthurian legend, but Boleyn takes it even further than expected. This world has a true sense of history and culture that has evolved, in part, through a long and tenuous relationship with the fae. Morgan’s complicated position at the beginning of the story is due in large part to how she fits (or doesn’t) into this established cultural identity and the success of the world building makes everything she experiences feel more poignant. Honestly, this has such a unique identity that it really wouldn’t be Camelot if all of the names were suddenly changed. For me, this really made the rest of the story work.

The Breakdown: An uncomplicated character in a complicated world

This book follows the story of Arthur’s older sister, Morgan. Due to having fae blood, Morgan was passed over for the crown and finds herself in the odd situation of being royalty while also being part of a group society looks down upon. As a result, she is often overlooked and experiences both freedom and vulnerability as a result. Despite all of the wonderful world building and the complicated situation Morgan finds herself in, I thought she was an uncomplicated character.

Having lived a sheltered life, Morgan is naturally naive about a lot of things. However, some of this naivety is more extreme than what is fitting for the character and her experiences. There are some moments of brilliance in how Morgan processes and questions what is happening around her, so it is sad when things become more ‘cookie cutter’ and prevent these deeper, more intriguing developments to flourish. This issue is even more prominent with the other characters and the end result individuals that feel one note in an otherwise complicated world. This improves as the story develops, but I was still left feeling like there was a lot of untapped potential.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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allisonamber's review against another edition

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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. 
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page_keeper's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful 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

3.75

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manaledi's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Very strandard quest fantasy. Not as dark as the title makes it seem. Not really sure what's Arthurian other than the names. Not bad but not particularly memorable.
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madelinel's review against another edition

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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.
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daniellereadslikealot_'s review against another edition

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

4.0

Arthurian legend, but make it fae? Count me in! I really enjoyed this book! I love reinterpretations of Camelot and all its main players and I especially love ones about Morgan. I thought the way she was written here was pretty fantastic. She was strong, but also had her vulnerabilities that made her relatable and complex. The court at Camelot was incredibly intriguing and I am 100% here for King Arthur as a ruthless king. I also really loved how Merlin, Lancelet, Kaye and Galahad were interpreted. Draven, I took some time warming up to and I’m still not fully there, but I’m very interested to see where his story goes. I did think it slightly dragged in the middle, but not so much so that I lost interest. The ending confused me slightly, but I think book two will clear it up. Overall, I very much enjoyed this fae fantasy twist on Arthurian legend and can’t wait to read the rest! 

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irenemayblack's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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cakins28's review against another edition

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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: 
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
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