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kejuka's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
3.5
erinrae's review against another edition
2.0
Once & Future was an exhausting, schizophrenic hodge-podge that took me way too long to get through. The experience of reading this book can be likened to the end of an amusement park ride– the part where you're stuck in the cart waiting for your turn to disembark as the hydraulics jostle you forward only to stop quickly.
The authors don't give you much to go on. The world-building is severely lacking and the characters are underdeveloped (other than constant references to their sexual orientation and gender identity, which was distracting and awkward and completely unnecessary to the plot). This made it hard for me to invest in the story at all.
The more I think about it, this book reads more like a cheesy movie script than a novel. It was dialogue-driven and full of silly little cringe-worthy one-liners and quips.
I don't believe in DNFing, but I came close to changing my policy with this book. It was awful.
The authors don't give you much to go on. The world-building is severely lacking and the characters are underdeveloped (other than constant references to their sexual orientation and gender identity, which was distracting and awkward and completely unnecessary to the plot). This made it hard for me to invest in the story at all.
The more I think about it, this book reads more like a cheesy movie script than a novel. It was dialogue-driven and full of silly little cringe-worthy one-liners and quips.
I don't believe in DNFing, but I came close to changing my policy with this book. It was awful.
annorabrady's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.5
A great retelling of King Arthur set in a dystopian future. I did find the ending a bit too convenient though. A single person's death wouldn't have been enough to end a revolution. Especially when that person is in charge of an oppressive government. I think this book would have done well to end with that first battle and then set up for the next book to be the war.
Overall, it was an enjoyable story and I did love most of the characters.
Overall, it was an enjoyable story and I did love most of the characters.
zara_like_sarah's review against another edition
Didn't find the characters likeable
lee_noel's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
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
4.5
alexan13's review against another edition
2.0
This book....has all of the ingredients to be truly great but was so poorly executed I couldn't even give it a neutral 3 stars.
This book is a re-telling of Arthurian legend in space with all queer characters, starring an enemies-to-lovers wlw Arthur/Gwen couple fighting an evil corporate empire. Everything about this premise sounds amazing yes?
Except...the writing is so bad I couldn't care even an ounce. Everything I know about the characters is told to me, rather than shown, and nothing could make me feel any attachment towards them. I couldn't even get into the ships because there was absolutely no romantic development, and the reader was told there was romantic tension there, but the dialogue/interactions between characters did not seem to back that up. The dialogue itself was stilted and often felt out of place and...while I hate to say something so reductive... just bad. The novel also hits the reader over the head with the elements that make it an Arthurian retelling, telling the reader every. single. detail. of the analogy (actually saying this character = this character, and this plot point = this thing from Arthurian legend) and this did not work for me even a little bit. I personally like my retellings to be a bit more subtle.
Moving on to plot... For me, the issues, again, came down to problems with the writing at a sentence level, but the plot was genuinely confusing in that I didn't know what was going on half of the time because I was told a pivotal character action in one buried sentence rather than actually shown the scene evolving. Character motivations and actions were poorly explained, to the point that I often didn't know why a character was doing what they were doing, and it was hard to feel like the plot had any kind of natural cause and effect of characters making choices leading to plot. I really do think it was mostly the sentence level writing that created this issue, because looking at the ostensible plot points of the novel in summary, it had a lot of potential.
Overall this novel has an amazing premise, but worse execution than I thought was even possible.
This book is a re-telling of Arthurian legend in space with all queer characters, starring an enemies-to-lovers wlw Arthur/Gwen couple fighting an evil corporate empire. Everything about this premise sounds amazing yes?
Except...the writing is so bad I couldn't care even an ounce. Everything I know about the characters is told to me, rather than shown, and nothing could make me feel any attachment towards them. I couldn't even get into the ships because there was absolutely no romantic development, and the reader was told there was romantic tension there, but the dialogue/interactions between characters did not seem to back that up. The dialogue itself was stilted and often felt out of place and...while I hate to say something so reductive... just bad. The novel also hits the reader over the head with the elements that make it an Arthurian retelling, telling the reader every. single. detail. of the analogy (actually saying this character = this character, and this plot point = this thing from Arthurian legend) and this did not work for me even a little bit. I personally like my retellings to be a bit more subtle.
Moving on to plot... For me, the issues, again, came down to problems with the writing at a sentence level, but the plot was genuinely confusing in that I didn't know what was going on half of the time because I was told a pivotal character action in one buried sentence rather than actually shown the scene evolving. Character motivations and actions were poorly explained, to the point that I often didn't know why a character was doing what they were doing, and it was hard to feel like the plot had any kind of natural cause and effect of characters making choices leading to plot. I really do think it was mostly the sentence level writing that created this issue, because looking at the ostensible plot points of the novel in summary, it had a lot of potential.
Overall this novel has an amazing premise, but worse execution than I thought was even possible.
snowreo's review against another edition
5.0
any time i pick up a book that starts with “james patterson presents” i know it’s about to be bomb as HELL.
i impulsively picked up this book at my local barnes n nobles because i had just finished merlin and my heart was yearning to go back to camelot. i also have been wanting to get more into a sci-fi. so obviously this was the perfect choice! i was weary as i think the beginning of this book starts really fast and may be hard to latch onto but im so glad i kept going. because i can say this is certainly one of my favorite reads of year.
the representation! an arab wlw mc, a gay mc, a wlw love interest, a black nonbinary side character missing a hand, a black gay character, an ace side character. it was lovely seeing the legend of king arthur just a little more diverse. and on another note with the characters, their banter was amazing. the dialogue and the jokes flowed really naturally and didn’t feel forced. plus, found family for the win. it was also really easy to see their motivations and their backstories, and to understand who they were.
i love how themes of capitalism and consumption, imperialism, gender and sexual identity, and climate change were introduced and adapted to fit the universe. it was an excellent piece of world building
the one thing i had a hard time with is gwen’s characterization. don’t get me wrong, i don’t dislike her. i also understand why being vulnerable and sharing her last is hard for her. but it just didn’t make sense to me that she would willingly offer all of her life story to kay, who she had only been intimate with out of grief and the sake of conceiving a child, and not ari, the woman she claimed to be in love with and whom she is married to.
also not that this is a bad thing but just a note when [redacted] died i felt my heart crush into a million little pieces. my boy
all in all it’s a lovely book and i cannot wait to pick up the sequel
i impulsively picked up this book at my local barnes n nobles because i had just finished merlin and my heart was yearning to go back to camelot. i also have been wanting to get more into a sci-fi. so obviously this was the perfect choice! i was weary as i think the beginning of this book starts really fast and may be hard to latch onto but im so glad i kept going. because i can say this is certainly one of my favorite reads of year.
the representation! an arab wlw mc, a gay mc, a wlw love interest, a black nonbinary side character missing a hand, a black gay character, an ace side character. it was lovely seeing the legend of king arthur just a little more diverse. and on another note with the characters, their banter was amazing. the dialogue and the jokes flowed really naturally and didn’t feel forced. plus, found family for the win. it was also really easy to see their motivations and their backstories, and to understand who they were.
i love how themes of capitalism and consumption, imperialism, gender and sexual identity, and climate change were introduced and adapted to fit the universe. it was an excellent piece of world building
the one thing i had a hard time with is gwen’s characterization. don’t get me wrong, i don’t dislike her. i also understand why being vulnerable and sharing her last is hard for her. but it just didn’t make sense to me that she would willingly offer all of her life story to kay, who she had only been intimate with out of grief and the sake of conceiving a child, and not ari, the woman she claimed to be in love with and whom she is married to.
also not that this is a bad thing but just a note when [redacted] died i felt my heart crush into a million little pieces. my boy
all in all it’s a lovely book and i cannot wait to pick up the sequel