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caoimhe9876's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This is one of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Transphobia, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Dementia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality
miyaosamu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“Don't make your life about the loss. Make it about the love.”
um yeah tracy deonn, i'm at a loss for words... I just finished a reread immediately after finishing my first read yesterday and still genuinely cannot process everything that just happened at the moment, this book was absolutely breathtaking. First of all, the magic system and lore was so intricate and mind blowing unlike anything I've seen in ya fantasy genre hands down along with the charming university setting balanced it out so well. Like wow the thought process that went into the whole history behind the craft system and bloodlines, it's wholly fantasy excellence that I feel grateful to read such a phenomenal story. It touches on important topics of race and its serious history over the last few centuries and intertwines history into the lore and how the craft manifested itself. And finally we get a story fully developed when it comes to handling grief and it isn't just pushed off to the side or the character getting over it quick. Bree's story of growth, going through grief, and discovering not only herself but her history was so poignant and seeing her realize her inner strengths. Bree's inner thoughts and struggles with dealing with loss really connected with readers on the emotional level, particularly with the denial stage and suppressing so much inside. Her grief process was so utterly raw and real to read, especially particular scenes in the last 20 percent of the book with her opening up a bit more and listening to advice from the closest people in her life had me a sobbing mess. The last 100 pages of this book will go down in the books, it had my brain whirring to keep up with everything that happened. I'm still stunned it was indeed chaos but in the best way questioning like wtf was going on and just shock after shock. It was a genuine rollercoaster of reactions from me, truly left an impact. I'm highly anticipating the sequel and need it instantly, I'm reeling and beyond excited to see where the story goes.
“I recognize that sound. It's the sound of holding on to a cliff by the edge of your nails. The sound of barely containing a pain so immense that to look at it, to raise your own flesh and examine what's beneath, is to risk falling into a darkness you know you'll never escape.”
um yeah tracy deonn, i'm at a loss for words... I just finished a reread immediately after finishing my first read yesterday and still genuinely cannot process everything that just happened at the moment, this book was absolutely breathtaking. First of all, the magic system and lore was so intricate and mind blowing unlike anything I've seen in ya fantasy genre hands down along with the charming university setting balanced it out so well. Like wow the thought process that went into the whole history behind the craft system and bloodlines, it's wholly fantasy excellence that I feel grateful to read such a phenomenal story. It touches on important topics of race and its serious history over the last few centuries and intertwines history into the lore and how the craft manifested itself. And finally we get a story fully developed when it comes to handling grief and it isn't just pushed off to the side or the character getting over it quick. Bree's story of growth, going through grief, and discovering not only herself but her history was so poignant and seeing her realize her inner strengths. Bree's inner thoughts and struggles with dealing with loss really connected with readers on the emotional level, particularly with the denial stage and suppressing so much inside. Her grief process was so utterly raw and real to read, especially particular scenes in the last 20 percent of the book with her opening up a bit more and listening to advice from the closest people in her life had me a sobbing mess. The last 100 pages of this book will go down in the books, it had my brain whirring to keep up with everything that happened. I'm still stunned it was indeed chaos but in the best way questioning like wtf was going on and just shock after shock. It was a genuine rollercoaster of reactions from me, truly left an impact. I'm highly anticipating the sequel and need it instantly, I'm reeling and beyond excited to see where the story goes.
“I recognize that sound. It's the sound of holding on to a cliff by the edge of your nails. The sound of barely containing a pain so immense that to look at it, to raise your own flesh and examine what's beneath, is to risk falling into a darkness you know you'll never escape.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence
Moderate: Car accident, Hate crime, and Sexism
Minor: Slavery and Rape
boredomandwordsofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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: Death of parent, Death, Racism, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Slavery, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, and Animal death
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Domestic abuse
adeliav's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
fast-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
5.0
YES! YES!! YES!!! YES!!!! YES!!!!!
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Racism
Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs
Minor: Sexual assault
powellki's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
pseudoliterature's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Sometimes you dnf a book after a rocky start, but its plot and characters linger in your mind for longer than expected, and you start to wonder, what did I miss? what am I missing? Luckily, my will power is rather weak. And I was missing a lot!
This book explores the Arthurian mythos and its magic in a surprisingly realistic way, exploring themes that are unfortunately overlooked in most contemporary set fantasy related stories.
I loved the conversations, the characters and specially the relationships they built, rebuilt, and improved. I really enjoyed the magic system, the conversations related to it, how it worked, and the different connections with ancestors; it is also refreshing to see some not Eurocentric magic for once.
I can't wait to read more from this series.
This book explores the Arthurian mythos and its magic in a surprisingly realistic way, exploring themes that are unfortunately overlooked in most contemporary set fantasy related stories.
I loved the conversations, the characters and specially the relationships they built, rebuilt, and improved. I really enjoyed the magic system, the conversations related to it, how it worked, and the different connections with ancestors; it is also refreshing to see some not Eurocentric magic for once.
I can't wait to read more from this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Murder, and Slavery
Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Rape
kryan1's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Slavery, and Hate crime
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