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deideo's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Bullying and Racism
Moderate: Car accident
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book has great worldbuilding, some good characters and an enjoyable plot. The worldbuilding is based on arthurion legends but it is done in a very unique way. I am not a fan of taking mythology and shipping it to America though. But I can lead it slide since it was done respectfully.
The characters are typically ya, the story focuses on Bree, a girl and twee guys. And as you can imagine with a ya novel there is a possibility for a love triangle. The characters are well put together though. The grieve that Bree goes through is done well but can also be very triggering.
I would recommend this book to almost everyone but before you decide it check the triggerwarnings.
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation
mayareadsxo's review against another edition
- 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
re-read: this was even better the second time around. one more day until bloodmarked ❤️
Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Grief, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation
kimi72714's review against another edition
- 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
This book reminds me what great YA fiction should be like, and took me back a decade to when life is hectic, and confusing, but wonderful as a 16 year old.
There are difficult themes in this book that everyone will grapple with differently, but the acknowledgement that a country was built on slavery is an important issue for everyone to work through.
I laughed, I cried, I wanted to smack some characters, my chest tingled at the romance scenes.
This book was such a great YA SFF book and I'm so glad teens gave books like this to read now. Thank you so much Tracy Deonn!
Moderate: Death, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, and Alcohol
These themes are handled well within the text, and are appropriate for a YA novel. None are particular unexpected when thinking critically about the book and it's premise as a young black girl living in the American South, and a re-imagining of Arthurian legend.roseamillerg's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
almost DNF’d multiple times, but I am happy that I finished the book.
P.s. William is *chef’s kiss* 😌
P.p.s the cover is so pretty 🥺🥵
Also can I just say SEL🦋🦋🦋💀
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Car accident
Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Stalking
cerilouisereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Car accident, and Pregnancy
axahean's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
adeliav's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I love this book. I love it. It's great ...so great.
So this author is new to me and I had literally no expectations of this book. I went in knowing only that the protagonist was a black female teenager and that the mythos of King Arthur was involved, that's it. When I started reading and found that the author didn't shy away from the heritage of their black characters or the other non-black characters histories I was like "oh okay what a refreshing way of writing adventure, but this is obviously a young adult fiction so I'm pretty sure I know where it's going." Wrong, I was so wrong and I couldn't be happier about it.
I love that I was able to be surprised by some of the twists and turns. I LOVE the level of diversity and inclusion that was written into the story. To the point where if you weren't looking for it you may miss it. So you know written realistically, not just shoved in there to make a point.
This story is clearly the first in a series and due to that has a lot of set up (hopefully) for things yet to come. If the author continues down this path for future books it'll be a new smash hit and I can't wait for the movie adaptation. If she doesn't well... at least this book was great and there are still plenty of things left to wrap up so at least part of the next book will be good. There are two major plot gaps that I am hoping future stories will fill in and hopefully not in expected (*cough* hunger games) ways. I like this authors writing style, not overly descriptive but able to paint a clear picture, very new age JK. She's easy to read and easy to enjoy.
I appreciate the development of the main character... however other characters could have had some more growth. That being said this is fast paced when looking at it from the worlds timeline... not a lot of people could (or would) change as quickly as this book has moved. This means there is a BIG opportunity for growth of other characters in future stories. I'll just say this here, the argument in the beginning is far too soon, but at least we got that teenage troupe out of the way from the start.
In short read this book... like right now read it.
Graphic: Racism and Slavery
Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual assault
supersandra's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Murder
water_violin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Car accident