Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

115 reviews

liseylovesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

I’m always wary of books that everyone hypes up because I’m afraid they won’t live up to the hype; Legendborn definitely lives up to the hype. This book was phenomenal and truly made me so happy that we have diverse YA novels for kids to read today because I know that teen me would have loved this book as much as 24 year old me does. If you love King Arthur and the Knights at the round table you will love this modern twist on the old tale. Our main character Bree goes through such an amazing journey throughout this novel that helps her find her self after such a huge change has happened in her life and discover so much about herself and her family’s history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Racial slurs

Minor: Death, Medical content, Blood, Bullying, Rape, Sexism, and Vomit

rebeccajost's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Death of parent, Medical content, Grief, Violence, Classism, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Kidnapping, and Slavery

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Rape, and Pregnancy

noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

5.0

Content Warnings: Death of a parent, generational trauma, racism, car accident, blood/gore, violence, anxiety, depression, PTSD, bullying, torture, slavery, murder, kidnapping, sexism, feelings of abandonment, and mention of rape.

I started reading this book last night thinking I’d read a few chapters, perhaps the first part, before going to bed at a decent time since I had to work at 7am this morning…I devoured over half the book and forced myself to put it down around 1am to get some much-needed sleep before my 6am alarm went off. As soon as I got home from work, and got some food in my stomach, I got comfy and dove right back in until I finished.

Deonn crafted this story in a way you’re able to devour 500 pages without feeling like it took any time at all. Not only do we get a fantastic modern-day Authur retelling but we see how trauma affects generations, how sometimes a child doesn’t see or understand the pain their parents have faced, how racism can deeply affect every aspect of your life, and how our pain and loss can affect those around us.

We have a beautifully crafted story that touches on very hard and emotionally heavy topics that are important for everyone to understand and discuss. Loss can profoundly affect us, yet so many people seem to disregard it or expect us to just “get over” a loss or feel awkward acknowledging our pain. We all react to loss in varying ways and it’s crucial we’re able to grieve in our own personal ways without judgment.

So many people, who’ve never faced racism, get nervous about discussing it and try to act like it hasn’t happened in hundreds of years…while the rest of us deal with racism every day. It’s important to understand how deeply racism affects some of our lives and how harmful trying to ignore or bury it can be.

It was so easy to relate and empathize with Bree as she struggles to find answers about her mother’s death and find out who exactly the Legendborn are, and if they have anything to do with her mother’s death.

Because of all the heavy topics discussed [racism, grief, and trauma being the biggest ones] I recommend making sure you’re in the right headspace to dive into this amazing story. The sequel comes out in November and I cannot wait to continue this journey. I was also excited to see that we should be getting a TV show adaptation as well! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Kidnapping, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

zanderthenerd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

2.75

ok I've got a lot of thoughts on this book. generally, I liked it. you don't see much done with welsh/British folklore so I enjoyed seeing my heritage represented. there was a lot of representation and it wasn't forced and I really liked Brie as a character. she could be a bit a whiny but I feel like she had a good excuse to be. while she suffered from "main character syndrome" in some areas and scenes i genuinely found myself routing for her which doesn't happen in many books for me lol. 

now. the less good things. I don't have many but the things I found issues with were pretty large. her whole... relationship with nick was extremely insta-love-y nd I just didn't like that. on top of that

when Sel finally believes Brie isn't shadowborn they're just besties???despite how he essentially bullied, straight up harassed her AND threating her lite purely on a gut feeling. ON TOP OF THAT the final scene fucking killed me but not in a good way. when Sel calls Brie Cariad? that means love in Welsh. what the fuck. they had 0 chemistry or even really liked each other. at least nick was sweet nd a nice person, sel was just another morally grey dude who was last minute shoved in as a love interest. 

I also had a lot of problems with all the twists? they mostly came out of nowhere and just seemed to be thrown in for shock factor. the "big twist" made zero sense. this book could have (and should have) finished around the 350 pages mark, because after that it was just all down hill and I really did not enjoy it at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit, War, Bullying, and Slavery

notapenguin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Colonisation, Death of parent, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Violence, and Bullying

Minor: Vomit

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Slavery, Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Blood, Death, Medical content, Racism, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Rape

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Racism, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, War, Body horror, Murder, and Sexism

Minor: Bullying, Infertility, and Infidelity

cleo_wylde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

This was SO GOOD. One of the best books I've read this year for sure. I love how the author so skilfully wove together the legacies of intergenerational racial trauma with myths and legends. Definite plot twist at the end that blew my mind! I grew to really care about the characters and their growth and relationships. 
Can't wait to read the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Classism, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, and Violence

there are several accounts of violence towards enslaved Black people, particularly women. This includes sexual violence and whipping.

fuguefire's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

• 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

Loved this book! Cannot recommend it enough. A great book that centers Black voices and experiences. For those who are sensitive to the subject, it does not quite center Black pain or trauma, but does cover and include it. In my opinion, at it’s core this is a book about the inheritance of love from mother to daughter for generations, through some of the worst periods in history, and how it is stronger than any other obstacle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Slavery, Bullying, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Classism, Colonisation, Hate crime, and Mental illness

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Car accident

emably's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Abandonment, and Bullying

Minor: Rape